Living in a place of war...part 1.

Living in a place of war...part 1.

I've written a several page long reflection on something that happened during my last week in South Sudan. Unfortunately South Sudan has a very long history of war, fighting, death, disease, and destruction. There is currently fighting in South Sudan and there has been, most recently, since December 2013. Much of my time living in South Sudan during 2014 was directly and indirectly affected by the fighting and instability. Please continue to pray for South Sudan. Someday, I hope, I trust, and I pray, peace will reign.

Here is the first part of a multiple post series on some of my reflections, as fighting literally found its way to my front door.

THANK YOU SPEECH – January 3, 2015 – MUNDRI, SOUTH

…those were the words I started to write on 28 December, 2014. I had meant to coin my speech for the following week’s goodbye celebration. A party I would be hosting on my own behalf. But I never finished. I only had time to write SOUTH, not even finish it with SUDAN, before the events of the night took a tragic turn.

Sometimes I wonder why I make plans, as the Lord will no doubt have his way. Even my best made decisions and strategies and ideas can be turned upside down if the Lord wills. However I do not doubt for even a moment that the Lord has blessed many of my actions and attempts, and I have seen the wondrous ways in which he has turned my plans to veer back towards his will to produce something much more magnificent than I could ever have imagined.

Sometimes I wonder why there is so much perceived evil in the world. I know it relates to the fall and depravity of man, and the brokenness within my own heart, but still, why must some suffer so much as compared to others. Why must injustice, and greed, and murder, and theft, and abuse have their way in this world? I ask not expecting an answer, but more so of the realization in my own mind that I see such a contrast of whom we were originally created to be and what we, as humans, have become. There is so much good in this world, and I have seen it over and over again, and it gives me hope in spite of the evil I see wrecking the day. I suppose hope is more powerful than I once thought, and through experiences of my own, hope has carried me through on many a dire occasion. I pray I never lose hope.

And so it was, as I was sitting down at my computer, finally trying to organize my jumbled thoughts into some semblance of a speech, my final thoughts and words for the friends and family I would soon be leaving. Then as often occurs at 7:30 or 7:40 pm at night, I could hear the shift of the ground outside my door as my friend Thomas pulled up on his bicycle. He had made a habit of coming to my house several times per week, on his way from his house carrying food for his father and his uncle, both working on the other side of town. He always stayed on his bicycle just outside of the door, as I would come over to greet him. That part was routine. But what happened next was far from normal.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOOM! BOOM!!! Very close to my house. “What was that?”, I said, somehow needing to confirm what I already knew to be true.

“It was gunshots!!!”, yelled Thomas.

POP!POP!POP!POP!POP!POP!POP!!! Even closer to my house, as in less than 100 meters away at most!

...to be continued...