"This has been a very significant trip for each one of the team"

Before I pass on the latest news from Don, I need to explain one thing about the cattle camps I mentioned yesterday. If you're like me, you may have thought, "Surely, the kids leave the cattle when they go to eat, right?" I visited with Amy Rogers about this today, and she explained that the Dinka people, like East Africa's Maasai, live off the blood and milk of cows. So the children who live among the cows and tend to them drink only milk and cow's blood to survive!

One Australian university's Web site explains that, "Still today, the Dinka lifestyle centers on their cattle: the people's roles within the groups, their belief system and the rituals they practice, all reflect this. Cattle give milk (butter and ghee), urine is used in washing, to dye hair and in tanning hides. Dung fuel fires from which ash is used to keep the cattle clean and free from blood-sucking ticks, to decorate the Dinka themselves (body art), and as a paste to clean teeth." (Italics mine.)

Keeping all of this in mind and understanding how incredibly significant a role cattle plays in their culture, I can better understand the impact it had when a woman declared that she would sell her cow if it meant that her child would get an education. This comment was made during a meeting after church this morning. Jim preached at this church Steven Reech had founded several years ago. It was a powerful service and an amazing time of worship (in Dinka). Many of the songs testified to how God has seen these people through many trials.

Several pastors as well as at least 50 community members got together after church to talk about their needs. (This, you may know, is typical of how ELI works. Rather than come into a community and dictate what we think should be done, we enter into dialogue to determine the needs as expressed by the community, and after prayerful consideration of how we see God leading us, we work with the community to address these needs.) One of many needs that was discussed was the need to expand the school.

All the meetings they have had in Sudan have been outdoors. This evening, as it grew dark and the sky was covered in stars, the team gathered around Steven Reech and prayed for him and the work that lies ahead.

Tomorrow, discussions will continue after a journey to Bor and the White Nile.

The team is doing well, but as you know by now, "It's just really, really hot." They've been trying to rest at the hottest time of the day, but the facility where they are staying consists of only tents. No cold showers. No air conditioning, let alone a fan... Despite the heat and the difficult circumstances, each one of the team members have expressed to Don that this has been a "very significant trip" for each and every one of them.

As they prepare to wrap up their time, please pray that they will be able to discern what God would have them do as a result of what they had experienced and seen.

A Christian Web site specifically mentions these prayer points for the Dinka people:

1. Pray that the lost and suffering Dinka will be reached with the compassion of Christ.
   
2. Pray for Christian workers who will go and work among the Dinka. Pray for clear Biblical teaching for all Dinka, especially those who are in training as Christian leaders and evangelists.
   
3. Pray that Dinka Christians will be willing to lead other Sudanese to Christ.
   
4. Pray that the Bible, which has been translated into the Dinka language, will be readily available to the Dinka.