News from Sarah Casson, November 2008
Working with SIL in Arua, Uganda.
Dear friends,
Greetings from a sun-baked Arua! Things are 'hotting' up, and the dry season is just around the corner. I've been back here a month now, and my six months in the UK already seem like another life! I'm very happy to be back 'home', even if this will only be home for another couple of months. I've been making the most of all the 'hellos' here, after the hard goodbyes of leaving the UK. I'm especially overjoyed that my friends, colleagues and adoptive family, the VanderMeers, are back in Arua, albeit briefly, before they move to Isiro in Democratic Republic of Congo.
The last month has had its share of difficult news. I know that the appalling situation in North Kivu near the town of Goma has been in the international media spotlight over the last few weeks and that you will have heard lots about it. One of our translation teams is based in Goma itself. They are amazingly resilient and committed to continuing work in the midst of the instability. Nevertheless, things have been very hard for them. They say that the town is inundated with displaced people who are desperate for help. Their own meagre resources are stretched to breaking point as they try to help the displaced members of their extended families who are seeking refuge with them. It's very difficult to get food as some supply routes are blocked, and prices are sky high. Please pray for them, for courage, protection and the basic resources they need. Please continue to pray also for the situation more generally, that God will bring about a miracle and bring peace and justice in this very complicated conflict which has its roots in the Rwandan genocide and in the exploitation of the mineral wealth of the area. Sometimes I find it difficult to know how to pray for this situation because the suffering and injustice is beyond words, but I know that if we bring it to God in prayer even without words he hears and answers the prayers of his people. I also believe that there is a fierce spiritual battle raging over eastern DRC and our prayers are important in this battle.
We also heard two weeks ago that the workshop series on Romans and Philippians that I was to have led together with a Congolese colleague, Mapuma, has been postponed indefinitely because of funding issues. This is a big disappointment. Five translation teams were to have participated in the workshops, and I had come back to Arua at this time especially to lead it. We already have a sense, though, that perhaps God wants us to work in new, smaller scale ways with the different teams to help them to translate these books. In general we are facing many funding difficulties in our work in the Eastern Congo Group. Please pray that God will show us the way forward as we struggle to continue our work with the limited resources that we have.
A month ago there was news of fresh militia activity in the area around Bunia, an area that had been peaceful for the last four or five years. The situation does appear to be calmer now. Please pray that peace and stability will be fully re-established, and that the UN force will fulfil its peace-keeping role effectively. Now that the Philippians and Romans workshop has been cancelled, I'm hoping to visit Shalom University in Bunia for a week in the middle of December. I want to get more of a feel for the place in preparation for moving there in February next year. At the moment, though, I am waiting for the renewal of my Ugandan work permit to come through. I can't leave Uganda till it does. Please could you pray that I will get my passport back in time to travel to Bunia in December, if that is what God wants me to do?
Thank you for your prayers. They are not just a big encouragement to me, but also to my colleagues. The team in Goma asked me to send you their greetings and to thank you for standing with them in prayer in the midst of this crisis.
With love and prayers,
Sarah
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