Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Salaam alaikum! Peace be unto you! This is the typical greeting here in Sudan, a country that is badly in need of peace, both the peace that the world gives and the peace that Christ gives. For decades there has been conflict of one sort or another between tribes, between religions, and between races, as well as within those groups. Much has been written knowledgeably and eloquently about these problems. . . .problems that can seem overwhelming if looked at only in the light of the world's peace. However, God's grace and peace are still manifested daily.

Despite the larger conflicts and the many, many problems they face, the Sudanese are among the most hospitable and friendly people I have ever been blessed to know. After exchanging the peace greeting, they then inquire after your health and your family's health, not once but several times. Once they are assured that all is well, they praise God. No doubt much of this follows the same formula that our own greetings take, but it often seems genuine. They will also greet you with the same enthusiasm after an absence of a day or a few months. And, as with so many who have so little compared with much of the world, their generosity is abundant and unfailing. If one of my students is around, I'm never allowed to pay bus fare. . . .a small sum for me but not for them.

Who are my students? They may be pastors, evangelists, church workers, seminary students or English teachers, and they may be Christian or Muslim. Since January of 1998 I have been working with the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) as an English teacher in a variety of settings. My primary call is to train English teachers in the SPEC schools. Since most of them are not university graduates and have had little formal training, their course is a very practical one. In my last class there was a young woman named Gwen who teaches at the SPEC school in Wad Medani—she has 84 six-year-olds in one class and no aide. What challenges they face! For Gwen, gaining new confidence in her own ability to use English was probably as important as any of the teaching techniques she learned. This term I have also been teaching the preparatory class at Nile Theological College, founded in 1991 by the SPEC and the Presbyterian Church of Sudan to provide a baccalaureate degree for pastors and Christian educators. While extension classes are taught in Arabic, all regular classes are conducted entirely in English. Students are now given a year to concentrate on English and Bible study skills before continuing their studies.

Although appointed to Sudan in June of 1996, I first had a semester of Arabic language study in Amman, Jordan, a semester that stretched into well over a year when my first visa request for Sudan was refused. God has provided me with many lessons in patience! As usual, the delay was a blessing in disguise because the extra time for Arabic study has proved invaluable. I'm far from fluent and still struggle to create a coherent sentence or follow rapid speech, but I do get the gist of things, can cope with daily transactions and, best of all, have a far better understanding of the problems Arabic speakers face in trying to learn English, enabling me to find creative ways to explain things. An added bonus of learning to read an unfamiliar script from right to left has been discovering that it is possible to read music from right to left as well. That new-found skill is used each Sunday morning when I play for the Arabic worship service in the Khartoum SPEC.

When asked why I teach in Sudan now (I'm now on my third posting since 1986, when I went as a PC(USA) mission volunteer to Zhejiang Medical University in Hangzhou, China, as part of the Amity Teacher's Project. Next I was four years in the English department of Satya Wacana Christian University in Salatiga, Indonesia, then spent a year as missionary-in-residence in the Worldwide Ministries Division in Louisville.), I often answer that I am as surprised by God's plans as they are. Having said I'd never work in a hot climate, I find myself in one of the hottest countries in the world with summer (mid-March to early October) temperatures commonly reaching 120 F (hotter than my home state of Arkansas, for sure). No need for a water heater here! Despite the heat and the power cuts and the dust and all the vagaries of life in Sudan, it seems the right answer to God's call for me. We are all, no matter where we may be, called to do God's will and to be witnesses for Christ. We may be preachers or doctors, but we may also be teachers, singers, accountants, mechanics or cooks. God uses us all! Offering someone a drink of water on a hot day is truly God's love made visible.

Now that we've been properly introduced, I hope to communicate with you more often. I'll share more stories about your Sudanese sisters and brothers as well as about life in general here. In addition to your prayers, I'd be delighted to hear from you. . .and will try to reply within the year! I leave you with the request that you continue to pray for the all of the people of Sudan; for an end to the conflict; for all those who are struggling to learn or to teach English; for the churches; and for your PC(USA) mission workers here. I also leave you with one of the common farewells, ‘allah yibaarik alaikum—May God bless you. And may Easter truly be a time when all the world rejoices that ‘ilmesiiah qaam! haqqan qaam! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Yours in Christ,

Sue Ellen Hall