Merry Christmas!

A home, a life, a way of living

-reflections on the year gone by...

December 2010

I have to come to love Mundri,

though it took a few months to sway me that way.

Nearly nine months have gone

since I arrived in this diverse southern Sudan place.

My first favorite respite was the Yei river and its mango tree banks, as they welcomed me to a cool shelter in the heat of dry day and provided my bathing and swimming hole spot.

Unfortunately my health was good always not,

as my skin transformed into rashes and hives with the heat of the sun,

but then the rains came and dispersed my sickness away.

Early on I immersed myself in language learning and intentional relationship building tasks, then recently I began teaching a community health class.

The first few weeks and months had me sitting for many, many hours each day, taking notes on words and sounds and interesting thoughts,

as everyone here became my language and culture teacher of sorts.

I would stay for hours in one place, listening and asking questions as I strived to enhance my local Arabic speaking and hearing lack of forte.

I started working at the local health center - the situation is dire there -

drugs, supplies, and staff are not anywhere near.

Still, I find rest and comfort in meeting people's physical needs in that setting, and feel so very welcomed there, but I only wish I could do more than see a few patients and provide so little care.

The crux of my time has been spent with youth and young men,

but also with peers- talking of life, Christ, education, work, sex, and dreams.

I love these moments - glimpses of heaven, when I see, listen, and speak openly and honestly with friends about the essentials of life.

Telling them about Jesus, and hope, and forgiveness, and a place that is the end of all strife.

The pain, scars of war, destruction, disease, and death are raw and markedly seen.

I long to help a hurting race.

I long to see Jesus lifted high and praised in this beautiful place.

Hearts to turn to love towards his most awesome and glorious face.

The end of wounds from conflictual time, torture, betrayal, and sin wrought from this town,

and God's healing love to come pouring down.

I am leaving on January 4,

as the referendum date of January 11 draws near.

On that day southern Sudan will vote for unity or secession.

My hope is that you will join me and pray for intersession.

That war and fighting would not again be found here,

as the memories of the recent 20+ year civil war cause people to greatly fear.

I will be in Uganda, in Bundibugyo in fact, when the voting is done,

as many people are waiting for and will be welcoming me there.

I will help in the medical realm for two or three months,

as I step back into the pediatric ward I know and love so dear.

I am already sad to say goodbye to this, my Sudanese home and missionary work place,

but God is good, and I hope to return here - maybe in March or April if all is well.

I have much discerning to do over the next few moths, as I think about my role as part of the team and within the community I love so dear.

I am not sure what 2011 will look like, or exactly where I will always be,

but times of doubt, anxiousness, and uncertainty leave me clinging to the one who was born in a manger - the one whose birth we celebrate now.

Christmas is a season of glad tidings and joy - even in a sunny and uncertain place such as this.

Christ came down to change the course of humanity.

Because of that great gift my life has never been the same,

as I freely choose to look into my own sin and calamity.

I strive to follow the heavenly path marked out for me -

a journey to lay down my life so that others too may know and feel the joy that transforms all things anew.

Thank you for loving me and encouraging me in all I do.

I am not on this journey alone,

but only through your prayers and support am I sustained.

We are fellow sojourners on a path leading us Home.

PLEASE PRAY FOR ME AS I PRAY FOR YOU.

-that peace would stay in this most remarkable Sudanese place

-that God would be seen regardless of outcomes or race

-that I would lean on His understanding instead of mine

-that all my Sudanese friends would turn to Jesus and that someday in Heaven together we would dine

-that as I say goodbye to so many amazing, wonderful, Sudanese friends, that my heart would be gracious and open and loving to them

-that my time in Bundibugyo, Uganda, January - March (or April) 2011 would be a time of joy, respite, friendship, and answers or direction from God regarding my questions of 'how' and 'where' and 'when'

I am loved by a Savior so much bigger and greater than I. I have known a life of joy, trial, happiness, and humility. I am thankful, honored and blessed to lead a life such as this - to live, serve, and love where I am.

I am a follower of Christ, to the ends of the earth. I have no regrets.

I love and miss you dearly.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

-Scott J. Will

* To read more about my adventures, and to see some photos with commentary, visit my blog or Facebook page:

http://yoggerinuganda.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/yogger

**To see a recent article, written by Ray Cooney, and published in the Commercial Review, Portland, Indiana, that highlights my life - my journey to find Christ and how I ended up in Sudan - please visit the following site (it is a large file, so it may take a few minutes to open): https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B8ERUTI7yUj6YjZhMWRkMjEtNDMxZC00NzA4LWI5MGQtMDRlYTA2YTJhYjJm&hl=en

***I am a faith-based missionary, and I am solely dependent on the generosity of people like you. To partner with me through financial giving, please visit World Harvest Mission's website:

http://www.whm.org/give/missionary?ID=51713