S o u t h S u da n
Muddy Roads and
Mysterious Paths Lowell and Neria Jenks serve as missionaries in South Sudan. They’ve just returned from their annual leave, refreshed and determined to continue with the task the Lord has given them to do in their corner of the world. The following is an excerpt from one of their recent letters.
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he Lord has blessed us with safe travels from New Orleans to Brussels to Entebbe to Kampala to Arua and eventually home again to Eyira Adventist Vocational Academy in South Sudan. Presumably, we’re in the middle of the dry season, but last night in Arua we went to sleep to the sound of rain. That’s not a big deal where the roads are paved and well-drained but with 210 miles of dirt between Arua and home, it was reason for concern. I’m glad I wasn’t driving because the roads were awful. A trip we’ve made in less than eight hours in the
past took twelve hours. Poor Neria was so stressed, she broke out in hives. I told her that next time I’ll blindfold her and give her a sedative. Ha! The driver and I repeatedly got out to lock/unlock the front hubs. We passed semis that were stuck, turned over, or jackknifed, and detoured through new trails hacked in the bush. The Lord is good—we didn’t have to spend the night stuck on the road somewhere, and for that we’re thankful. When we got home, we
Right: The road we traveled home. Top: A mud hut church that we are hoping to replace with a new brick structure. Far right: Students in my small-engine mechanics class.
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hit the ground running with dust rags, brooms, mops, and lots of elbow grease. The openings above the windows and doors allow all kinds of dust and ash to blow into the house, not to mention the armada of spiders
