In the Movies

A couple of months before we evacuated, AIM's On Field Media team filmed this professional TIMO promotional video in the Didinga Hills.

If you have the bandwidth, you can see the video entitled, Think About It, here:

http://www.vimeo.com/6533645

Hope you like it!

"Surprise" Photos and Sad News from Didinga

The promised photos:

Surprise!!!

Making my Entrance

Lily and Auntie Kim

And some sad news from Didinga...
Hector, the Didinga man who had moved onto the Miller's compound and started the new church in the Hills, has reported that his brother-in-law was accused of being a rain-maker, was bound, beaten and thrown down a valley to his eventual death. As the rains have still not come to Eastern Africa or the Hills of Didinga, the community has taken their anger and fear of imminent starvation out on those they believe are responsible for rain production. In this case, the rainmakers.

Hector's brother-in-law leaves behind a wife and 6 kids. Hector and his wife have taken in 2 of the children.

Also, our dear friend Lino (learn more about Lino at the end of this blog) was stabbed last week three times while guarding the Miller's old compound and new Napep church location. The extent of his injuries are not clear at this time.

Nagishot's, Pastor William, has asked the authorities (well, this part of the story is a bit unclear to me, as I never once heard of or saw any "authorities" in Didinga...) to arrest the young boy who stabbed Lino. William has promised that if the boy is not arrested, he will remove Hector from Napep and will close the new church.

After talking to Tianne, my old Didinga hutmat, she pointed out what now seems to be obvious...
God's timing is perfect. The rains have not returned to Didinga. People are still angry, continuing to take out their frustrations on the innocent - Hector's brother-in-law and Lino.

Attempting to not be overly dramatic, I think we all knew that it was only through prayer that David, Dario and the girls were not harmed that infamous trial and evacuation day in June. However, it wasn't until Tianne said it that I finally realized the probable trouble our team would have stepped back into if we would have returned to the Hills.

After the evacuation, Deborah, our team leader's wife, must have reminded us fifty times a day that, "The Hills are in a spiritual balance. We must pray for them to turn from the dark and into the Light."

I think that she is right... Let us pray.

Here is bit my teammate Elly wrote about our good friend, Lino:
"Lino Chunny, of whom I've mentioned before as a reformed thief, had been attending our Sunday church. (Ironically, all the men who attended had stolen from us on at least one occasion.) Lino had been to church before when he was studying in Torit, but when David preached a sermon on the prodigal son, it finally began to penetrate Lino's heart. My team member Shawn did some follow up a few weeks later and asked Lino what he thought repentance meant. Lino replied, 'Let's say God is standing by that bush. Now I have turned like this, I am not looking at God but am facing and walking the other way. Repentance is turning around walking back to that bush where God is.'"

One Cold Didinga Evening
Janette, Dominique Roundface, Lino, Me, Tianne,
and Little Regina w/ Baby Thabon on Back

During the last weeks we were in Didinga, Lino wold ask us regularly to help him sing this children's song. It's a song he learned at the church in Nagishot this past Easter. It goes: 'I am happy today, so happy. In Jesus name I am happy, because He has taken away my sins today. I am happy, so happy today.' On another occasion, he told a teammate that he would go to bed each night praying that God would keep him from doing wrong and that God would grant him another day as good as the one he had just had. His happiness was so childlike, pure and contagious. The week before we left, this cross appeared on a newly made hut in Lino's compound. We never got to ask him about it but, my hutmate Kim took this photo as a reminder of what we left behind. One joyful soul for Christ."

Surprises

Surprise Pictures are coming soon...maybe tomorrow. I thought that I should share this news sooner, rather than later.

After three months of living out of a suitcase, I packed one last bag, boarded four more planes and after 26 hours of travel, landed in a little place called... Spokane, Washington.

Since mid-July, shortly after we learned that our team would not be returning to Sudan, I have been planning to make a short trip back to the States. In fact, at our TIMO debrief, AIM strongly encouraged each of us to take a few months of what they call, "Compassionate Leave". A time to travel home, rest and regroup before moving onto our next assignment.

Sorry I didn't mention it, but it was sort of meant to be a surprise...
Keeping it undercover, I only told my sister Stephanie (she was let into the loop as the logistics coordinator for the Surprise of the Century's, or that is what the crowds are calling it, isn't it?) and a few long distance friends, that were sworn to secrecy.

I arrived late Saturday night, spent the night and the rest of Sunday hiding out and, let's be honest, sleeping, at my sister's friend's house. Monday morning, my parents, sisters, nieces, aunts, uncles and cousins gathered at my sister's house for an African Skype date (or so they thought). My sister gathered them in the backyard, claiming we needed a Skype photo in case the African connection was rotten...never. Once Stephanie had everyone gathered, she asked, "Who's missing from the picture?".

At this point, I jumped out from behind the fence and yelled, "What about me?"

To say the least, my family was pretty surprised. Most stood there, mouths wide open, staring. My Dad was the first to regain consciousness, coming forward to hug me. Mom just kept saying, "This is the BEST surprise ever! I just can't believe it!" Pretty emotional.

My favorite part was seeing my little nieces and meeting my new nephew, Oliver Ellis Jones. He is the very definition of adorable. While I hugged my older nieces, Cassidy, Tanner and Josie, four year old Lily stepped back and stared at me in disbelief. It was a sweet, sweet moment when she ran up to me, wrapped her skinny arms tightly around my neck and declared, "I wanted to see you SOOOOO much. I missed you, Auntie Kim!"

I missed her too!

I plan to be home for a few months resting, praying about the future and processing the past. I hope to make my way back to Africa by the first of the year.

For now, I am looking forward to long and uninterrupted walks, apples, playing with my nieces and TWO brand new nephews, Fall, sewing with my Mom, seeing friends, Stumptown coffee, climbing mountains that won't get me kicked out of the country... You know, the usual.

Photos

A few months before our June evacuation, AIM's On Field Media team traveled to Didinga to photograph and film for their upcoming TIMO promotional movie (the video will be out soon).

Here are some of those AMAZING photos...

An OFMer filming at the Grinding Stone -
MurKuzhen, the cone-shaped mountain we were said to have stolen the rain from, is in the background.

My Homestay brother, a Didinga shepherd boy, Loekahtoe.

Beautiful Didinga from the 206

Definitely, one of my all time FAVORITES!

"You say what?"
Tianne bridging the communication gap (and world gap) at the Clinic.

Grinding corn with my Didinga friends.

Wide Leg Jean Thabon -
sporting a charm necklace from the witchdoctor.

Roasting Didinga's version of Corn Nuts

Our Didinga TIMO Team
Starting from the left: Bill, me, Deborah, Tianne (in background), Amber, Janette, Shawn (in background), Carly, Elly, Deborah, Danny and David (in background).

My mud hutmates: Tianne, Janette and Elly

One of my favorite Didinga pastimes...
holding babies at the Clinic.

A Didinga Cattle Raider
The scorpion scar on this man's arm signifies his status in the community as a fierce warrior.
Most Didinga men carried a handmade knife similar to the one attached to his arm.

SUDAN

Baboo - Tobacco
Tobacco was wrapped and smoked from a leaf when a pipe was not available.

"Ahvelenoo?" - Do you have a headache?
In a society that drinks beer, instead of water, this was one of our basic clinic questions.

Mother and Child

Waiting their turn at the Clinic

...so that the sower and reaper may be glad together

This following is an email I received from a friend. I read it five times and still can't believe it.

Hector Loki is a Didinga man who used to live in Nagishot, Napep's nearest neighboring village.

"Now onto the really good news! Almost 3 weeks sago Hector Loki and his wife Joyce and their baby Jan Natuko were sent as missionaries to start a church in Napep. They took over the TIMO team leader's compound and immediately started to spread news in the community that they would be holding church services in their house starting that Sunday (August 9th). Eunice was telling me that their first Sunday they had 30 people show up to hear the world of God. Then the second Sunday they had 225 people! Hector has even started having morning and evening devotionals that some people have been coming to, in fact they must like it because he said they stay until 10pm some nights. It seems a lot of people in the community are remorseful for what happened to the TIMO team and their hearts are being softened to the Gospel. They have expressed a need for a church building as Hector's house can't accommodate 225 people and have spent the past week in the forest chopping down poles to build their own church (and not even asking for payment!). They have even begun to return some of the items they stole from the TIMO team's houses and are bringing them to Hector's house. Hector has been communicating with Eunice through walkie talkies and each evening we get a new report on the wonderful progress that is happening there. This past week 4 people turned their lives over to God! It's such an amazing thing that has happened in Napep! Please pray for their growth and for Hector as he continues to disciple these people. The Napep church has invited us all over for worship to share in their excitement and also show us how committed they are to having an established Church. I think once William returns from Kampala Eunice and I will make the hike over to encourage them. Please join me in praising God for the work He is doing in Napep and praying for their continued growth!"

Lately

*So, the layout/fonts of this blog are really weird. I am not quite sure why, but it bothers me. I tried to fix it, but couldn't. Also, I wanted to add a load of other pictures, but the internet has been super-dooper uncooperative. I have no idea how that movie downloaded. Go figure.
Maybe later...

Mayfield Guesthouse - Nairboi, Kenya

I met Joe, a teacher and coach at Christ Gift Academy, a school serving orphans located in Mbita, Kenya, at Mayfield one night at dinner. After a few days of sharing our team's story and hearing more about his work in Kenya, he asked if I would like to plan a visit to the school.

While I was still considering whether or not to take Joe up on his offer, I met Darla at a Mayfield breakfast. As the Mayfield trend goes, conversation centered around our work here on the continent. She spoke of her work with street boys in Kisumu, Kenya and almost immediately, already aware of our Didinga situation, asked if I would be interested in accompanying her and her family to Kisumu the following day. With my interest in the ministry already peaked, Darla sealed the deal when she offered to pay for half of my plane ticket to Kisumu (the very city I planned to take the LONG bus ride to en route to Mbita!!!).

Agape Boys' Ministry - Kisumu, Kenya
And while traveling with individuals one meets the previous day is not entirely commonplace or by most even suggested, I was very well taken care of and for that I am thankful.

The first four days were spent with Darla and her family, visiting and learning more about Agape, an outreach center and boarding school serving street boys in Kisumu. I was incredibly impressed with the patient and loving manner in which the all male Kenyan staff interacted with the center's boys. Good things are happening at Agape, but it is no place for a single, white, female.

• It is a small, small world... Darla, her family and I also visited a baby home in Kisumu. While there, I ran into a fellow AIMer I met last January in Northern Kenya. Turns out the friend she's traveling with is from my home church, Imago Dei, in Portland, Oregon. She had already heard our evacuation story and had been praying for our team and the Didinga people. It was pretty encouraging.
  

Suba Lakers Football Team -Kisumu, Kenya
I left Darla and her crew or rather, she left me, at the sports center in Kisumu. I had been instructed to meet Joe there between the hours of twelve and five. He promised to be easy to find, as the only white male present, and I couldn't imagine that an African football field could be all that crowded. So with that in mind, I assured Darla that I would be fine, stepped out of the car, into the sports park and away from my only Kenyan contact. I was surprised to find not only one, but two VERY crowded football fields at the Kisumu sports center. Fortunatly, us mzungos stick out like sore thumbs and after asking only a few spectators, I was directed right to the guy.

Three days were spent with the Suba Lakers Football Team. Most of the girls on the team come from broken homes, foster families and/or economically stressed households. Many are students at Christ Gift Academy and oh, did I mention, these little ladies can play some football! Both the Senior and Junior teams won first place in the weekend's tournaments. For me, the best part of the weekend came when the Junior team scored their winning goal in front of hundreds of cheering fans on the main football field Kisumu. Hearing their names and each play by play announced over the loud-speaker was so exciting!

These girls are not only learning how to play football on the Suba team. They are learning something about themselves, they are learning who they are in the Lord. Beautiful women of Christ.

Suba Lakers Football Team - The Champions!!!

African Travel: Five adults, 14 teenage football champions, 19 backpacks, two trophies and one trusty Land Cruiser.

Lake Victoria Ferry - En route to Mbita, Kenya

Christ Gift Academy - Located on the shores of Lake Victoria in Mbita,Kenya
I spent about five days observing elementary classes, working with small groups of students at CGA and getting a general feel for the Mbita area. After visiting and working short term in several schools here in Africa, I can boldly say that Christ Gift Academy is, by far, the best school I have ever seen on the continent. Teachers are teaching, students are learning. And the basis of it all, is Christ.

This little sweetie was finishing out her first year at CGA.
I couldn't believe the quality of her penmanship, she was only about four years old!
She could have taught my 2nd graders back in the states a thing or two.

The Islands
I traveled to the Islands on a Thursday and was immediately struck by the natural beauty of the place. The turquoise blue waters, white sand beaches, green, cloud covered mountains and busy spice markets, absolutely bursting with color, were an ironic contrast to the loads of garbage strewn up and down the coastline and pitched alongside most every Island roadside.

I spent a week on the Island, getting to know the team leaders and team a good deal of that time. They're pretty great! Without the least bit of hesitation, I would gladly serve beside each and every one of them.

I had the opportunity to observe an adult English lesson, visit several Island families, tried to partake in some of the sports ministries and broke fast with a local family (the food is AMAZING!!!). Ramadan gave the Island an almost holiday-like feel and proved to be an excellent bridge towards discussing the foundation of a Christian fast.

Strangely, I was surprised by the unity the Islanders experienced throughout this time of communal fasting and by the joy they shared in their feasting.

Nairobi - Mayfield Guesthouse
I am, once again, at Mayfield Guesthouse (the closest thing to home sweet home these days). Yesterday, I said goodbye to my Didinga teammate Tianne and after seeing Bill off to his new assignment with TIMO setup this morning, I am left alone.

Walking to Java House this morning, Bill and I were in agreement, we just can't believe that our team won't be reconvening, boarding a caravan and flying back to the Hills. Sipping our lattes, under the electric lights of this modern world, we speculated how Abahbook spent his morning back in Didinga. This slipping in and out of worlds...

I never thought that it could happen, but I have grown weary of new landscapes. Craving a bed that I can call my own, I plan to stay with a generous family who has opened their home to me until the path ahead is clear. For, although the opportunity to teach at Christ Gift Academy in Mbita or minister in the Islands seem "perfect", I feel no peace at this time in accepting either offer. I need time to pray, I need time to rest, I need time to reflect. I need time to wait on Christ to show me the next step and I know that He will.

AIM Air Crash

Our Africa Inland Mission family is grieving the AIM AIR tragedy that happened yesterday in Nairobi. Please pray for a missionary family minus a dad and husband, and another dad/husband seriously injured.

For further details please follow this link:
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/633268/-/uljr0h/-/index.html

This is a statement released this morning on the AIM-AIR website.

August 02 2009
An accident occurred on August 1, with an AIM AIM Cessna 206. It occurred around 2:30PM (EAT) near the Nairobi Wilson Airport. There were four people on board; AIM AIR pilot Frank Toews, AIM AIR mechanic Ryan Williams and two Americans. At this time there is still medical evaluation being done but this is what we know: The two passengers have some broken bones, minor burns, cuts and bruises. They are both being kept in the hospital for treatment and further evaluation. Ryan Williams' injuries currently include a fractured pelvis, multiple contusions and some significant burns. However, his prognosis is good and he is receiving good medical attention in Nairobi. Frank Toews, the pilot, did not survive the accident and has gone to be with the Lord and Savior whom he loved dearly and served well.

Please pray with us, specifically for the timely return for health of those who are injured, their families, and particularly for Frank's wife and 4 children as they trust God for strength and comfort during this difficult time.

We are trusting God, with all of you, to show Himself to be good, even beyond our expectations and understanding of what good could mean, in a
situation like this.

Denny Dyvig
AIM AIR General Manager