This is the third of a series of four reflections on life in Southern Sudan, from a western perspective. These reflections are written by members of St. James’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia, who returned from a mission trip to Hope & Resurrection Secondary School in May 2009.
An Interfaith Mission: Janie Molster
Before we left Richmond, a group of generous Jewish ladies raised money for us to purchase sewing machines to take to Sudan. A resourceful friend in Nairobi tracked down two antiquated, yet new, pedal-operated models, which we picked up on our way in.
We got the machines to the school, and started to assemble them. Assembly instructions were included, but for a different, model. Undaunted, dirty and soaked in perspiration, through trial and error and pure imagination, by the end of the day they got them functioning!
What started as a nice idea was now a reality. We were faced with the challenge of finding good homes for the machines. We began to quietly ask around the school and village if there were any seamstresses. We had cloth, needles, pins, but was there someone with motivation?
Janie meets with the female students at Hope & Resurrection.
We were cautious in our search for homes for the machines, and there were no obvious placements. Any possession is rare and unusual, and I had visions of the machines ending up being scrapped for metal parts or the stands used as dining tables in one of the mud huts.
Days later on Sunday after an uplifting church service, we met with church leaders to discuss their pressing needs. With needs so vast and so valid, I began to feel powerless and deflated. My mind raced to find solutions for their problems but they were all logistically complex and very expensive... so many homeless children in need of an orphanage, students who walked hours to school wanting boarding, the list went on and on.
Then Pastor Gabriel – also a student at Hope & Resurrection Secondary School – took a turn to talk. His wife and others were studying with a tailor in the village and could we possibly help them with a sewing machine? Our entire team beamed and felt like Santa on Christmas morning. Less than a quarter of a mile away was just what was needed, and we could deliver that day. Problem solved!
Note: The second sewing machine was given to the students and staff at Hope & Resurrection Secondary School.
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