Sudan Update

Greetings from Khartoum !

Today (11th of July) God would have me up at 6 am. My study, went through most of the rest of Revelation, but returned to the word overcome. Romans 12 and I John 5 were in agreement: obey God. Do what is out of character for this world. Do not be conformed. Let God’s love so shine that people look at you funny. Give them a reason to ask about the hope that lies within you in the first place. How can they ask if they do not see it? How can people be made jealous for the Holy Spirit if they can not see Him? The veil is rent for us. Show them what is behind the veil. Is it written on our faces, in our speech, in our hearts, and minds? Be Being Transformed, says the word.

Lord, please help me to be given over to your transforming today…everyday that I still have breath. Help me to bring a smile to your face because you fill me and work through me. Overcome, Lord. Bless Your name.

Today was an administrative day. Marco made his phenomenal spicy lentil soup for breakfast. Tony asked me to create job descriptions for the staff, and I was able to get through two. We mounted a new fan in the kitchen (you don’t want to know how we reached that high), and we went out to eat at the local poor-man’s shish kabob place (very tasty – they know how to do shish kabob in Sudan ).

A man named Oman shared our small, plastic table outside with us, and we got to chat. The conversation was great. He really did not have much of a soft spot for America , and wanted to talk politics right away. The local government has been stating that America is making life difficult for the Sudanese. This man believes it. He compared Sudan to a little 3-year old child, saying that America was asking it to run to the store. “Little injections,” Oman said “That is what we need.” He said that he did not want the fast democracy that America brought to Afghanistan and Iraq , resulting in so much bloodshed. America wants to take over, he says. He is direct about not wanting the Sudanese way of life disturbed. He makes several statements about loving his culture, and feeling secure with the government, even though it is a dictatorship. He says that he can depend upon it. When I brought up Darfur , he tried to be dismissive. He believes that America is using Darfur as an excuse to get into Sudan , and make it suitable for America ’s oil interests (which China is doing a good job of holding, currently). Oman also stated that he did not believe that the Janjaweed had committed the crimes that they are accused of, but he did say that they were gangsters. “Just like in America ,” he said. He said he knows that there is more crime in America than in Sudan because of the movies that we make. Yes, the Sudanese get satellite, and American movies are on nightly with Arabic subtitles. I did not argue with him regarding the American appetite for watching other people sin, but did mention the reality of fiction vs. actual crime, here. Having been to the city with the highest crime rate in the nation, Camden , NJ , helped this conversation get back to reality a bit. We spoke of the necessity for security, to bring to justice the gangsters, as he called them. I spoke of there simply not being enough police or other security force in Darfur to keep the peace (to get the bad guy), nor is the region stable. Again with the fear of America ’s medaling in Darfur spilling over into some form of trouble for the country and the culture. We talked back and forth for some time and could have gone on much longer, but his brother called him away to their business (running a backhoe). We shook eachother’s hand warmly. I reminded him that we were both sons of Noah. That made him and me smile big. “I hope to be together in heaven,” he said. I hope to continue my conversation with Oman another day so we can. May God bless him.

I noticed that the US is getting quite a bit of news regarding NGOs being attacked in Darfur . While there last week I attended a UN OCHA security meeting. OCHA is the wing of the UN that tries to organize, coordinate, and referee humanitarian aid. They have a weekly report in each office of the happenings in the surrounding region. If you want the actual detail, you can see it at their website. The data at the meetings is specific: a group of men, believed to be IDPs broke into so and so company’s NGO compound, beat the two security guards, one to unconsciousness, looking for money it is theorized because the security gaurd was seen going to the bank earlier in the day. The reports go on like this. OCHA issued a warning that no person should enter an IDP camp alone, they should have nothing of value with them, they should never show money (difficult, because neither credit cards or ATMs are accepted anywhere in the country. But a new hotel in Khartoum is expected to take credit when it opens), they should always be facing an exit, and should be on with business and get out as soon as possible. I know that the picture of the IDPs is different in the American mind, but just like anywhere else, when people are crowded and desperate, they do bad things. Not everyone is bad (though we are all sinners without fail), of course, but the incidents are increasing. For the most part, vehicles are being stolen, but there are killings. The week of the report, there were SLA killing three defectors, and two local tribesmen killing a woman and a man (this was believed to be associated with adultery), several assaults, and many thefts.

On the flight back to Khartoum (a very full, sweaty, long delayed flight) God blessed me to sit next to the Darfur director for a major NGO. We spoke of the trouble the NGOs are having. He stated that the women of a camp beat up his women staff during a food distribution. His response, “We did not come back for three weeks.” The camp tribal leaders sought them out to ask for help and why they were not there. He told them what had happened and said that they must deliver the women responsible to the police, or they would not return. While another NGO would likely have picked up this camp, the sheiks handed over the women and accepted personal responsibility that it would not happen again. Back on track. He was adamant in stating that they tolerate so much abuse just being in Darfur , but stated, “We will not tolerate abuses from the IDP camps we serve.”

May God bring order to the region, and peace to the people’s hearts swiftly.

Todd