Knowing that the roads will be chaotic, I wolf down far more
chips than I should so we can take an early taxi to the MAF hangar. It’s the same
driver who met me two days ago when I first arrived in the country. We probably
would have made faster progress through the traffic by borrowing his mountain
bike.
Today is a day of two halves. In the morning I train Katie,
one of the MAF Kenya team who is helping us gather the reports, stories and
photos that MAF UK needs to publicise the ministry. In the afternoon, I’m
scheduled to board my fifth flight in three days, heading to Juba in South
Sudan where MAF has an extensive operation.
Although MAF does operate shuttle flights between Nairobi
and Juba, I’m flying direct with another airline. At least, I am hoping to fly... Upon check-in, I’m told
that the flight has been delayed by a couple of hours. Needing to let people
know I’ll be arriving later, I scan the walls, the car park and the terminal
building for a payphone, to no avail. Eventually I ask a bystander if I can
make a call from his mobile and he willingly agrees.I have been reassured that Juba’s roads don’t yet have enough vehicles on them to do traffic jams and upon arrival that certainly seems to be the case. Driving around the capital of the world’s newest country, I’m also making a mental checklist of what else Juba doesn’t ‘do’ – buildings more than four storeys’ tall for a start.
My main contact on the Juba team is Judith, an extroverted Newfoundlander who I’ve met before at a training conference for MAF staff working in information-gathering roles. She has a Bible study that night at her place and we head straight there. Somehow she’s found out that today is my birthday and a plate of brownies, one including a candle, is produced. A group of mostly South Sudanese friends from the local church she attends perform a wonderful rendition of happy birthday, and the ice is broken for a study on Jeremiah. This is my first visit to South Sudan and within an hour, I am studying God’s Word with my brothers and sisters in Christ. What a privilege to belong to the largest and greatest family on earth!
