It's incredible!

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When was the last time a doctor made a house call to your home? I remember my last time: when I was a freshman in high school, I caught pneumonia and the family doctor came to see me. When was the last time you were told how much the cost of the medicine and doctor consult was and you said, "That is way too low!" I had to come to a small (by U.S. Standards) town in a country that is only two years old to have both those experiences. The doctor at His House of Hope came to see me today in between delivering numerous babies (three sets of twins in 24 hours) and when I asked how much the medicine cost, the price was less than the equivalent of $8! Without insurance!

We all can name times of suffering in our lives, but today we heard from a newly graduating seminary student, now pastor, one story of the incredible suffering that has gone on in this country for decades. In January, 2011, there was a referendum in which the people of South Sudan overwhelmingly voted to secede from Sudan, and the new country was "born" on July 9, 2011. Unfortunately, the Nuba Mountains area, which borders Sudan, was supposed to have its own referendum, but the president of Sudan will not allow that. The area is being bombed horrifically, and the pastor, his wife, and 7 children have many times had to hide in a deep hole he made in the floor of their tukel (mud hut). The children cannot go to school (there are none), there is never enough food, and yet he plans to return there because he feels God has called him to do so. There were four young men present today from that area, two of whom are going to school at Excel Academy (run by Africa.ELI, for whom I have done teacher training) here in Yei to hear him speak. When they graduate, they, too, plan to return to their homes. What courage these men have.

I have written previously about Libby Dearing's vision come to reality, Grace Home for Children. It has things such as solar powered electricity that most of us don't have, and it's children live in families, not dorms. Libby has so many moe plans, and I believe she will see them come to reality, too. The founder of Harvesters, formally called Harvesters Reaching the Nations, also was a woman with a vision. Lily Klepp attended a conference in 1999 about the war going on in Sudan and was so moved that she asked God what she could do to help. His answer was very clear:build an orphanage. With the support of her husband, Dennis, she established Harvesters in Yei around 2001 and another in Terekeka in 2009. The one here in Yei has grown incredibly; it has a hospital that specializes in women and children, a church that is full every Sunday, a woodworking area, a school for 450 children (more than 2/3 are village students), the orphanage for 150 children, a home for young men who are still in school, and in February they will open a vocational center (picture included). The Terekeka compound is much smaller and more isolated, but it also provides a home for many orphans and a school (that is expanding) for them and village children.

In the Bible study Ellen, Karen and I attended this afternoon, one of the main points was to go and do what God tells you to do. The many people who volunteer here, work at Harvesters (such as the doctors, nurses, teachers and administrators like Mourice, in the photo, and Ben) for a fraction of what they could earn elsewhere, the women whose visions came to life, and the pastor returning to an embattled homeland are doing just that, and I salute them!

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