Change of Organisation

First of all, happy Easter and I hope you all got some rest and spiritual insight over the last few days. Alison has come and gone and we had a fantastic time together. Thanks so much for all your prayers for her trip and our time here. Unfortunately, I developed a mix of Malaria and gut infection the day before Alison came and had high fever when she arrived in Goli, though praise God, I recovered fairly quickly from it and we did manage to see all the people we had to, as well as spending many hours talking.

Unfortunately, the problems concerning the contract between Elim and ECTC could not be resolved and I will stop working at Goli by the end of April. Despite the bushfire and the problems re contract, I had a wonderful time at Goli and loved teaching here. ECTC and Elim split with no hard feelings on either side and I am sure I will visit my friends out here regularly in the future.

I am more than grateful that my contract was taken over by a Christian NGO called Across (see www.across-sudan.org), which has a base in Yei, about 20 miles away from Goli. Across has been working in Sudan since 1972, ie also during the 20 years of war, and have a lot of experience here, as well as bases all over southern Sudan of which the one in Yei is the largest. In Yei, they run the Sudan Literature Centre (SLC), which produces and prints all the Christian material for the churches in southern Sudan. They also have a large training college for Christian teachers and are involved with Spirit.FM the Christian radio station in town. The details with Across still have to be finalised, but it will likely be the following:

1. For the first 6 months or so I will be involved with the SLC, where some short-term work needs to be done
2. Long-term there are two main areas in which I will probably get involved:
- Fundraising with large donor organisations such as the EU, USAID and UNHCR
- The Christian Radio programmes: drawing up on-air bible courses, discipleship material and later on also presenting them. This work also includes networking with the churches here to identify the needs for the radio
3. There is also the option of Across using me for the teacher training, but that one should be short-term only if need arises that cannot be filled otherwise

Personally, I am very excited about the new opportunities since Across will also use my theology degree more than ECTC did. However, Across does not have staff accommodation, thus I was offered a room/kitchenette/bath on another NGO base, run by the Church Mission Society, who have a Vocational Training Centre there. I will move there at the end of April to take up my position some time in May. Since the Across headquarters are in Nairobi, I will have to fly there before I start working in Yei, to sign contracts and to get some orientation from Across. The Nairobi trip will probably be at the beginning of May for one or two weeks, which will likely be my only time outside Sudan/holiday for this year. So lots of changes ahead….

Bearing in mind all the organisational changes that we neither planned nor foresaw, we also had to look at our budget again as the costs of working with Across are a lot higher than those I had with ECTC, since I have to pay for room and board now on a monthly base which will come up to 250 pounds each month. In addition to that, we are now trying to raise the money to cover the trip to Nairobi, which was also not planned, but Across requires me to go. The trip itself will come up to about 700 pounds. I dislike talking about money issues in newsletters, but do want to ask if anybody would like to support me on a more regular basis monthly to help cover the ongoing costs or give a one time donation to cover the trip costs. Please contact me personally if you do or Alison Atkinson at acsah1960@yahoo.co.uk

Considering all this, there are a number of prayer requests that I would love you to pray for:

1. Moving to Yei: Please pray that moving house will work out fine and that I will feel at home quickly. Also pray that cooking will be ok, since I now have my own kitchen but also have to go shopping for myself, which will prove difficult. I will probably have to find somebody to do that for me everyday (there are no fridges here and food spoils quickly), as also it takes half an hour to get to the market and another half an hour back.

2. New friends: Since I am quite people orientated, I am anxious about having to find new friends again, also because the staff on the Across base is much older than at ECTC. There are a few other bases around where there are younger people, but generally, please pray that I will not feel lonely and that I will find good friends fairly soon.

3. Work at Across: Please pray that I will get to know the Across base quickly and that my work will be a blessing there. Also pray that I will get along with my new co-workers well and that strong relationships will also be formed there.

4. Financial Issues: Please pray that the flight to Nairobi will be covered and that more regular monthly support comes in.

Thank you so much for your continuous prayer and financial support. I always love to hear the news from home, so please keeping sending me your emails.

Blessings,Verena