Ministry and Home Life in Yei

Yei, South Sudan is a city of about 200,000 people. This city sits near South Sudan's border with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2001, Harvesters Reaching the Nations founders Dennis and Lillian Klepp moved to Yei to start an orphanage in what was then the country of Sudan. Sudan had been through over 20 years of civil war when they arrived.The Klepps felt God calling them to begin a ministry among the scores of widows and orphans that the war left behind. They were given some land from the EPC church outside of Yei and started their work with an orphanage and school. Harvesters' orphanage now provides care to over 150 orphans. (There are children who need sponsors!) They have also established a Christian school that provides education to an additional 400 children from the area.

One of the missionaries gave us a tour of the school which was fun for our kids and informative for us.

To continue on with their vision, Harvesters began a partnership with Pioneers to establish a medical component to their ministry. A hospital was built and in March of 2012 His House of Hope opened its doors. This hospital serves the women and children of Yei and surrounding areas. During our two week stay in Yei, Marc filled in for one of the physicians who had to take a medical leave of absence. Though he was very busy, Marc really enjoyed his work at the hospital. I was unable to break away from the kids during our stay to take pictures of the hospital and see the medical work, but here are some of the pictures Marc took and some stories he wanted to highlight. Some of his pictures are a little blurry as he took them on the fly with his iPhone while trying to be indiscreet.

While we stayed in Yei, Marc worked alongside a South Sudanese resident physician doing a rotation at His House of Hope. His goal was to learn how to perform C-sections during his stay at His House of Hope. Many African physicians are not able to gain enough procedural and surgical experience during their training and have to learn by trial and error once they are in independent practice in rural locations. Marc really enjoys teaching and one of his passions is medical education in Africa. So, getting to help teach medicine and surgery to a national physician during our stay was certainly a highlight.

Morning hospital staff devotions led by a local chaplain

Incubator for preterm infants

30 week preterm infant doing very well

Marc was amazed at the quality of neonatal care His House of Hope was able to provide with such limited resources. In general, infants greater than 30 weeks had a chance at life. The hospital was able to provide a warm environment (even with the duct taped incubator!), oxygen with a nasal cannula or with nasal C-PAP (through an ingenious device that used a nasal cannula attached to an oxygen concentrator on one end and submerged in water in a pill bottle on the other end to provide positive pressure), umbilical vein lines to provide IV fluid until the baby was taking enough by mouth, nasogastric tube feeds, IV antibiotics, and an apnea monitor. Having neonatal services for preterm infants in remote parts of Africa is amazing and truly life saving. It is a testament to the gifts and abilities of the missionary medical staff at His House of Hope.

A healthy full-term female newborn 

 Labor and delivery ward

On several nights, Marc arrived home when the kids were already fast asleep. He would come in looking like this after finishing a c-section... 

I was always shocked when he told me the surgery went fairly well. He was really missing the water proof gowns he used for surgery back in Galmi, Niger. Those will certainly be on our packing list next time around!

We felt like the temperatures in Yei were not as hot as Galmi (I don't know if we'll ever visit a place quite as hot as Niger) but a little hotter than Bundibugyo. The climate was more arid than Bundibugyo which meant grass was more sparse and a play area for our toddlers was tough to find. There was a dirt pile from construction work right next door to our home that became a source of outdoor fun for our kids. On a many occasions the orphan children from Harvesters joined us for our play time. I loved watching the kids play together. Our hot wheels cars, buckets and shovels were certainly a treat for the African children, but I think having new companions to play with was probably even more exciting. :)

Another favorite activity for the kids was playing soccer

We really enjoyed one of the families we met during our stay from New Zealand. Their boys were close in age to our kids so they joined us quite often to play.

And my little "dirt-ologist" sure had a good time getting dirty. At some point in the past I might have been more concerned about my little boy being covered in dirt...in Africa. But, I think I have loosened up a bit. Maybe it is because he is our third child, or maybe it is because I have lived in Africa and "clean" to me now means "free of visible dirt." I read this article a few weeks ago someone posted on FB that made me feel a little better for the laxity I have gained. Maybe dirtiness isn't so bad after all. :)

The church that was started by Harvesters is located on the mission property. One of the Harvesters' missionaries told us it consists mostly of the children and staff from their school, but we did see some locals and a few patients in attendance on the weeks we visited.

On one of our Sundays at church, we saw two of the women Marc had performed c-sections on a few days before. They nodded their heads at Marc in acknowledgement and I couldn't help but think how differently things might have been for them and their babies if a doctor had not been there, able to perform their surgery. It was encouraging for me to see those faces. Marc's work days in Yei were long. He spent many late nights apart from our family which was a challenge for us all. We learned so much during those two weeks about the need for balancing family and work life in a missionary setting. It is always hard to turn away from the endless medical needs that exist in these challenging places. We have been praying over this issue much since returning home as we decide whether God is truly calling our family to serve in this capacity in the future. One of our wise friends reminded us after we got back that Jesus didn't heal everyone around him with a physical need or ailment. He knew when to retreat to be with his disciples and when to retreat to be alone (Matthew 14:22-23). The crowds always came, but Jesus didn't always stay with the crowds and he didn't always do what they wanted. The crowds and the disciples were not always happy about that, but Jesus had Kingdom priorities that didn't always involve healing everyone. I think that is an encouraging truth we have both been processing lately.

We did some celebrating while we were in Yei! We celebrated Eli's 5th birthday and Easter Sunday. I had packed surprises for both occasions and the kids were quite delighted after a month in Africa to see some fun treats. Marc told me if he had known I had been hiding a bag of Starburst jelly beans for a whole month, the kids would have been without some of their candy on Easter morning. They sure didn't last long once the bag was opened.

Brownies were a treat for all!

Even our new baby girl got a little chocolate fix in her system. :)

Easter buckets full of treasures!

Our family picture on Easter Sunday

We had a great time getting to experience yet another beautiful country. I'm thankful that God showed us in many ways over our two week stay in Yei why he chose for us to make a trip there. We made some great memories, gained some new friends, and learned a few life lessons that we will keep with us. We are thankful for your prayers as well! We know this portion of our trip made many family and friends nervous with South Sudan's travel warning with the recent political conflict and violence. Thank you for praying for us and trusting us to discern God's leading for our family. We know that is not easy! We love you all and look forward to your continued support for our family as we make some decisions in the coming months about where we will be heading next.

Travel to South Sudan

Travel between African countries is sometimes challenging to arrange. Unless you want to fly back to Europe first, it often involves arranging smaller flights that can take you directly from one location to the next. We contacted Mission Aviation Fellowship to see if they could fly us from Bundibugyo to Yei, South Sudan since they make stops in both of those areas. They said yes, and we were excited it was all working out so well. Then, we saw the grass runway in Bundibugyo and became a little nervous. A grass runway in the rainy season can be a challenge for even an experienced pilot. It poured the day before we left which left a few muddy spots on the runway. It took us two tries to get off the ground, but we were eventually up in the sky. For those with fear of flying, a small propeller plane is probably not something I would recommend!

That other little one seen below is not a stow-a-way. Eli and Hailey's new friend just wanted one last picture from inside the plane before we left. :)

We had the most amazing aerial views along the Dem. Rep. of the Congo/Uganda border. The lush, green landscape with winding rivers was so beautiful. I think this river below is the Semliki River.

That is Lake Albert off in the distance which is another major lake in Uganda.

This map shows you a little more of our trip up along the border into South Sudan.

Our babies have all slept best in their bed. They don't fall asleep well on someone's lap. This is wonderful when we are at home since I just lay them down and they fall right asleep, but it does make travel harder when that bed it just not available. Isaac was a trooper through it all.

Our MAF pilots were great. There was lots of experience among the three of them which helped us relax and enjoy the flights. They also treated us to a flight on this brand new plane!

Eli and Hailey sat in the row in front of us and loved the whole experience.

And sweet Isaac finally drifted off to sleep. :)

We landed in Arua, Uganda where we checked out of the country with immigration and then had one more quick flight across the border into Yei, South Sudan. South Sudan has been having some political conflict since December, and we really weighed the situation heavily before we continued on with our planned visit. The region we visited was very close to the border with Uganda and had not experienced any of the violence seen in the northern part of the region. We felt we could trust the assessment coming from the families living there and they felt safe. We encountered no problems during our stay which we were very thankful for. We really appreciate all who were praying for us during this trip. 

We ran into a friendly face at the immigration office in Arua! We knew Jonathan from the fellowship program we did in Wichita. He had just finished up working at the hospital that we were headed to in Yei. It is always fun to cross paths in Africa with people from home. It doesn't happen very often. :)

This is unfortunately where my pictures of the landscape and local people stop. I actually don't have any pictures of Yei outside of the missionary compound because it is illegal to take photographs without a license. You can obtain a license for $100 to take pictures, but we were told that wouldn't guarantee our camera would not be confiscated by authorities. I do have lots of pictures from our time working with the team in Yei and those will follow soon!

Favorite Memories in Uganda

Marc and I took over 500 pictures during our two week stay in Uganda. I am having a hard time picking through them. I thought it might work better if I finish off our time in Bundibugyo highlighting our favorite memories. This post is still monstrously long. :)

A bit about the home life...

The missionary homes are all nestled together on a "compound" of sorts though it is the most integrated Western/local setting we have visited. A few local families live on the property that belongs to Serge and many others in the community bump right up to it. The local kids come and go freely which I really enjoyed. I frequently had knocks on the door requesting water or food or if my children could come play. I'm sure this is a challenge for the long-term missionaries as they try to establish boundaries for the continual requests. I learned a lesson or two in compassion from Eli who was always quick to go scrounging for our leftover breads and food when I would have politely just said, "No, we don't have anything for you." Eli referred to every child as a friend so it didn't make sense to him that you wouldn't help a friend who has a need. If he answered the door before me he would come and tell me, "Mommy, my friend is at the door and he is hungry. Do you have anything I can give him?" I think Eli might understand more about Jesus' teachings on some days than I do.

Some local children playing on the compound basketball court

We stayed in a two bedroom house on the compound that had indoor plumbing and electricity. There were no ceiling fans or swamp coolers but we had two plug-in fans that we used on hot days or on days I was in the kitchen cooking. The temperature was in the high 80s to low 90s though the humidity always made it feel much hotter. It cools down at night into the 60s and 70s and most nights we were comfortable sleeping with a light blanket. The electricity was a bit unreliable. Many of the homes have solar panels to back up their freezers and refrigerators to protect their food. The longest we went without power was about 2 1/2 days. Those were also cloudy days so the solar panels could not charge up. Our fridge/freezer did not have access to the solar back up so we did lose all our food at that point. It was thankfully towards the end of our trip and we were able to do without the meat and dairy products we lost. I had to revamp our meal plan for the last week and we just ate a little more vegetarian than I had originally planned. I also had packed some foil packets of chicken and tuna that came in handy. :) This is an issue that the missionaries living in Bundibugyo deal with on a regular basis.

There is real milk in Bundibugyo! This was a surprise as I had initially expected shelved milk or powdered milk. There are two cows owned by the missionaries that provide fresh milk each day for the team to use. It has to be pasteurized, but it was a real treat for the kids to have fresh milk for breakfast a few times. Our kids actually drank the shelved milk without hesitation. The powdered milk they had to drink in Niger took a bit more getting used to.

Isaac getting his first taste of fresh milk while enjoying the banana bread one of the families made us

Groundnuts (or g-nuts) are what they call the local peanut. The taste varies a little from the peanut, but when roasted they are still a nice snacking treat.

Rwenzori Mission School (RMS) is a one-room type schoolhouse providing the education for the missionary kids living there. There are six kids currently on the team ranging in age from 1-10. They have two teachers working with the school age kids. Eli and Hailey joined the preK class (and the addition of our two doubled its size!). You certainly get a great student-to-teacher ratio! They had an amazing time with Miss Alanna. Hailey, nearly two months later, is still taking about how she misses her school in Africa and often asks when she can go see her teacher again. She has been eagerly anticipating starting school this Fall so RMS was just a little taste for her of how much fun school can be.

The kids took a language lesson a few times at school with a Christ School grad. Lubwisi is the local language of the Bubwisi people.

A science experiment..

 ...turned into a writing project.

Half-way through our trip, we were able to spend a few days in Fort Portal. We enjoyed the break from the heat and humidity and having access to groceries, restaurants, and even a swimming pool! It was a real treat for us and we had the best time.

No, this isn't a pond. It is is indeed a pool. The only pools we have come across in Africa have been a little on the green side in color. If I can smell chlorine, then I consider it swimmable. :)

We stayed at the Rwenzori View Guesthouse and were so impressed. Granted our standards and expectations get shifted quite drastically in Africa, this place was nice. The food was delicious as well!

Our back sitting area view

Enjoying some soup appetizers at dinner

We had the family suite which had two rooms separated by a bath. This was much more relaxing than all squeezing into one room space. However, our bed was huge and a favorite place to gather. :)

They even provided us a tub to help bathe Isaac in the shower.

The Dutchess is a pizza restaurant in Fort Portal that has delicious wood oven pizza and homemade ice cream. We loved it so much we ate there twice. :) The kids loved watching the workers make pizzas. This is where we were able to meet up with Serge's regional directors for East Africa, the Myhres, for lunch during our stay. They are both physicians (now working at Kijabe Hospital in Kenya) who worked in Bundibugyo for 15 years and raised their family there. They are an amazing family and have a wealth of knowledge on the medical issues facing the Nyahuka health center. Though short, we really enjoyed our visit with them.

We took some dessert to-go after dinner one night and enjoyed an ice cream party before bed!

One of the missionary homes in Bundibugyo also has a wood oven for baking pizzas. Every Friday evening the families all get together after their team meeting to makes pizzas. Because Fort Portal is so close, mozzarella cheese is now easily accessible (previous missionaries were making their own cheese from the fresh cow's milk) as well as fresh pepperoni. Pizza is a family favorite for us so this night certainly made a big impression on our kids! The Stevens also have a great yard and the kids all loved running around and playing together.

 The oven master for the evening

Time to make some pizza with a little CHEESE

Some other favorite pics...

 Bundamalinga Church

 A walk to the river with the Stevens

 Tasting cocoa beans for the first time

The produce market in Fort Portal was large and plentiful!

 Hailey enjoyed watching Frozen with her new friend the night before we left for South Sudan (and it poured rain that day so all the clothes on the clothes line had to be brought in to dry, which they didn't, and I ended up just packing them wet. :))

And just in case the pictures don't represent all the reality of missionary life, here is one of the MANY creatures we encountered during our stay. This one had made his way onto our bedroom wall, but don't worry, he's harmless. :)

Eli sure enjoyed playing with the millipedes.

I killed plenty of ants, cockroaches (bigger than I thought possible), spiders, and centipedes to fully qualify this trip as a "missionary experience." :) And the bats in the attic serenaded us to sleep each night. Even with all the above mentioned unenjoyable things (and the unmentioned creatures that slither with fangs that I kept my eyes peeled for), we all had a great experience.