Tuesday, May 17, 2005
At last! I'm finally getting around to ending the tale of the Sudan trip. What follows is just a series of photos of our last day in Lui, the flight to Nairobi and our day there. Sorry this has been so late in coming ... I'm amazed this blog gets any hits at all with as slow as I've been.

More to say later, but for now I hope you enjoy the photos! |
Mike at 5/17/2005 12:48:00 AM



The farewell party they threw for us at the compound with all the diocesan clergy who were able to stay after the funeral and church on Sunday. |
Mike at 5/17/2005 12:46:00 AM



Snapshot of two bishops. When he doesn't have use of the car, Bishop Bullen gets around his diocese on bicycle. This is a new one he had just received after his old one was stolen. |
Mike at 5/17/2005 12:41:00 AM



Bishop Bullen and the people of the Diocese of Lui are committed to building a theological school so that they have a place to educate their clergy (and the clergy of surrounding areas). Many of the clergy do not receive much or adequate training. Some are fortunate to travel to Nairobi or Kampala (Uganda) for education. Bishop Bullen's dream is to have a cooperative effort with us to build the school and fill it with teachers. On our way to the airstrip, he took us to the land on which it will stand and Bishop Smith blessed the land. Since this picture was taken, the land has been cleared and made ready for building. |
Mike at 5/17/2005 12:38:00 AM



On our way to the airstrip, something went wrong with one of the front wheels of the truck so we stopped and wondered how we were going to get the rest of the way. Behind us pulled another truck -- the one that had been carrying our bags -- and we stood around trying to figure out how we could get everything and everyone into it. They ended up fixing the wheel somehow, so it was moot ... but this picture does give you a look at David Charland, the Church Missionary Society missionary who gave us such interesting insights into the history, culture and current situation. He's the one with the beard standing left of Steven. |
Mike at 5/17/2005 12:32:00 AM



People traveled on foot and by bicycle from 50-100 miles away for Mama Jarusa's funeral. Some of them got rides back home in this truck that passed by the Lui-Mundri airstrip while we were waiting for our plane to arrive. |
Mike at 5/17/2005 12:23:00 AM



Whenever the planes came in to the airstrip, they were full of supplies. Here they unload various medical supplies and also new prayer books. |
Mike at 5/17/2005 12:19:00 AM



For the entire trip, Emily had been wanting to pet the dogs that we had seen wandering around ... something that was pretty difficult as they were shooed and kicked away from us by our hosts whenever they got hear. Finally, at the airstrip, Emily got her wish. Peggy helps out with some water for the thirsty pup! |
Mike at 5/17/2005 12:16:00 AM



Lisa and Susan especially were extremely conscientious about journaling and taking down every aspect of the culture and language. Here Lisa gets one last Moru language lesson from Steven as she writes down several pages of vocabulary as we wait for all the cargo to be unloaded from the plane. |
Mike at 5/17/2005 12:14:00 AM



Whenever there was activity at the Lui-Mundri airstrip, it drew a crowd ... mostly children. Lisa went up to this group and showed them her plastic hand mirror. From their reaction it was very possible that they had never seen their reflection in a mirror before. In a "Gods Must Be Crazy" moment, the one girl to whom Lisa gave the mirror did not want to share it with the others. |
Mike at 5/17/2005 12:12:00 AM



Lui from the air. It's hard to see from the intense dust blowing from the North, but you can make out some of the buildings. |
Mike at 5/17/2005 12:05:00 AM



Back at Lokichokio, this time on the way back to Nairobi. The airport was considerably busier this time. You can see all the UN and World Food Programme planes lined up.
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Mike at 5/17/2005 12:03:00 AM

Monday, May 16, 2005

The Masai Market in Nairobi. A small market compared to some of the markets I'd been to in Accra ... and definitely one that was accustomed to Western tourists. The prices were pretty high (by African standards) and we were surrounded immediately by people volunteering to be our personal shoppers and show us great deals. Like Nogales on steroids. I was able to get in the right frame of mind for the experience, having been through the Arts Centre in Accra ... some of our more introverted people were momentarily traumatized by the experience. I got a great hand-carved chess set for the boys. But the highlight was as I was leaving I traded the $10 watch I got at Target for a really cool shirt. Can't do that in America! |
Mike at 5/16/2005 11:54:00 PM



The exterior of the Methodist Guest House in Nairobi. Beautiful grounds ... and electricity and hot showers! |
Mike at 5/16/2005 11:49:00 PM



The Anglican Cathedral in Nairobi. Oh ... and hello all of you who have migrated this way from http://titusonenine.classicalanglican.net/ I know the link provided only gets you this picture of the Anglican Cathedral in Nairobi, but if you go to the full blog you'll get the tale of our 10-day trip to be with the Anglican Christians in the Diocese of Lui in Southern Sudan (and lots more pictures) ... also some news of a wonderful woman -- Jennifer Coil -- who is working through the Anglican Diocese of Mpwapwa in Tanzania to care for AIDS orphans. Lots of great stuff. Thanks for surfing on over ... Mike+ |
Mike at 5/16/2005 11:47:00 PM



At Ambrose's house in Nairobi. We met with representatives from the Diocese of Lui who have essentially been living in exile from the war. They are beginning to hope for return, but are skeptical the peace will last. What they are also is a thriving community. They showed us amazing hospitality and we had some wonderful conversations. From here we went to the airport and headed home! |
Mike at 5/16/2005 11:42:00 PM