It's now time for our journey back to the states...

When I left off yesterday's post, I mentioned that Friday's update would include information about how we can pray for the people of South Sudan.  One thing that I think that it's important to remember (this is just my opinion, though) is that we are DESPERATE for the LORD!  We need to remember that we bring nothing to the table except dirty, nasty hearts that are not worthy of love or grace or mercy in any way.  We are all guilty of rebelling against God and we are desperate for Him!  If it were not for Him giving us air to breathe, lungs to breathe it, blood and a heart to pump it through our bodies, we are not here.  All of this are pictures of God's grace and mercy to us......He gave us life!  And, there is NOTHING that we can do to repay Him!!!  That's a key when it comes to remember how to pray for the people of South Sudan.  There is NO WORK that a human can perform that is worthy of earning God's grace and salvation.  It's a free gift and is offered to all......we are responsible for how we respond to this gift.  In light of that, the first way to pray for these people is pray that God will open their eyes to the truth in scripture that we are God's workmanship, created in His image and we are saved by grace, through faith alone, and that not of works so that no man can boast.  Pray for their purity.  When I say purity, I am simply asking that you pray for the pure peace of God to reign in their hearts and to draw them unto Himself.  As technology and communication abilities increase and as the people of South Sudan are shown pictures of the affluence and overwhelming waste in America, pray that God would guard them from the distraction of the desire for earthly riches and kingdoms here on earth.  Pray that God will continue to give them a spirit of hospitality

Our sweet partner Jeffries with his wife and youngest son

Friday morning, we started the day like all of the others with waking up - although, the rooster was now gone.  We were also able to find the cricket that had spent the past 3 nights in our room serenading us ALL NIGHT LONG (of course, just to be awakened by the rooster several mornings) and help it's serenading come to a quick end.  Then, we made sure that all of our things were packed well and put in the appropriate places and then we had breakfast, which this creature of habit was very excited about - Mundri bread and eggs.  :0)  Then, we visited with a few of the children who are needing sponsorship through 4 Corners and said hello.  The next hour left us starting to say our goodbyes to our new friends and our brothers/sister in Christ.  Jeffries's wife was able to come and say hello and it was such a nice treat to be able to meet her, the woman that has joined with a such a sweet man whose desire is for the LORD and to see his people come to know the LORD.  We also said our goodbyes to Paul (Archbishop of the world), Repent, Sudanese Mark, Herbert, and a few others and took a few more pictures.  Then, it was 9:30.....the time that we needed to be loaded up in the truck to head to the Mundri "airport".

one last South Sudanese sunrise before we leave

Bethany, Archbishop, and me

We were able to spend some more time there with a few of these men while we waited for our plane to come.  We also had another committee of small children to see us off.  Greg (our pilot) landed the plane.......just so you know, the place were the planes wheels actually touch down is the main road that leads to Juba from Mundri!  Yep....we had to stop traffic for the plane to land.  Greg then loaded our luggage under the plane, gave us our boarding passes and then we boarded the plane to head back to Juba.  As we were about to take off, we saw our friends who were there to send us off and a flood of emotions came to me.  I wonder what Archbishop of the world would think of being inside a plane and coming to the US?  What about Coffee?  They have only seen pictures of where we live and heard stories about the excess and the worldly comforts that we have and only recently have they come to know a land without war where the people no longer have to live in the bush for fear of being of killed by the oppressive army from the north.  What would they would think if they could see their own homeland from the sky?  Would they wonder the same thing that I do......where in the world to all of the people live?  From the sky (even flying low), it's almost as if there are so few people in South Sudan, yet there are so very many.  Would they pray for them the same way?  How will my prayer life for them be different now that I have seen them and experienced a moment of the life that they live?  I was overwhelmed with happiness that they don't have to experience the battle that we do with materialism and all of it's faults.  I was also very sad knowing that they still have many areas of struggle that pull them to things of this world before the draw them to God.   From what I understand, Mundri has experienced a lot of development and there is now bars a lot more noise there than before......so, it's only a matter of time before the things that we in America struggle with start to creep into South Sudan.

Bethany and me

I decided to make myself useful and learn how to do a little work here.

And now, the plane is here.....

It was only about a 30-minute flight to Juba, but it seemed so lonely in some ways.  When we got to Juba, we deplaned and headed in the airport to obtain our permission to exit and then head back to Uganda.  WELL.....this was a much more lengthy and confusing stop than we had a imagined.  Apparently, when we came in the country on Saturday with our letter of invitation from GOSS (Government of South Sudan), they did not issue us our entry visas.  SO, now we had to obtain entry visas - on the way out of the country - before we could get our stamps of exit in our passports......interesting process!!!  But, we were able to obtain our entry visas and our exit stamps, then we had to sign out on the ledger as a record of our visit.  We then flew about 2 hours, through rain and some decently rough winds for the little charter flight that would seat 9 passengers to get to Entebbe where we would go through customs and obtain another entrance into Uganda.  Another, very short (about 5 minutes) flight awaited us to get back to the MAF hanger where our drivers were waiting to take us to the guest house to get cleaned up and have a late lunch.  Well, we didn't really have time to eat a whole meal (and it was like 5:00 and the 4 Corners staff in Kampala, Uganda was getting us pizza for dinner), I enjoyed a little cheese and bread.  I knew that my days of being able to simply eat were coming to a QUICK end because my trainer was going to put her foot down when I returned the week of Thanksgiving.  10 days of eating Clif bars, fresh chicken, rice, cheese, etc....then Thanksgiving week was going to mean that I would probably have A LOT more rules to follow until the end of the year.  :0(  Oh well.......

After this, we all loaded up in the cars again and headed to the house of the 4 Corners staff and, let me just say, the had the absolutely BEST pizza in the world in Kampala, Uganda!!!  Or, maybe it's just that I haven't eaten real pizza in almost a year.....OR the fact that I haven't really eaten cheese since May.  Yep, that has to be it!!!   But, while we had pizza, we were able to meet a few others who were instrumental in the ministry that 4 Corners is doing in Uganda......1 guy who actually said that he knew my mom!!  SERIOUSLY???  I went all the way to Africa and met someone from Alabama who knows my mom!!  TALK ABOUT A SMALL WORLD!!!!!  We also met the lady that helps the staff members in their home and were able to purchase a few items from her to help her in caring for her 6-year old daughter....what a treat to be able to share with her and help her in a way that we could....and for it to be a reward to her for her hard work.  After a short time of fellowship, we loaded up and headed to the airport in Entebbe, Uganda and our trip was now quickly coming to an end.  We were able to spend a few minutes getting some souvenirs in the airport......before the power went out.  But, no worries, there was back-up lighting, only no back-up air conditioning.  :0(

Well, the plane was just a couple of minutes behind schedule, but we were able to board and were on our way to Amsterdam.  The flight was great on the way to Amsterdam, and now we are on the final leg of our journey.  I type this with about 7 hours left before we get back to Atlanta (it's Saturday now), then onto Birmingham and back to the "real world" of work on Monday.  I hope that the things that I've seen and experienced in South Sudan change the way that I live in Birmingham (or wherever the LORD leads me in my life) differently than I have.  I only pray that the LORD will use this 2-3% of 2011 to make His name great in my sphere of influence and that He will be praised by the works that He has already ordained for me to do and the life that He has given me to steward.  I will 1 day be accountable to Him for it.....I pray that I've allowed Him to lead me and not taken over it myself.  John 3:30 says, "He must become greater, I must become less" and that is my prayer.