The Church is Universal

Happy feast of Corpus Christi!

I realize how long it has been since I wrote last on my blog… so I will dedicate another entry to life over the past few months at my new site, Maridi! But first I wanted to write a bit about my retreat to Kampala, Uganda and my time in transit in Juba!

Last week the SLM’s from Juba and Maridi made a retreat to Uganda! It was an amazing experience! There were so so many highlights, including, but not limited to, MEXICAN FOOD!!!  A burrito the size of my face was amazing after the monotony of daily rice and beans!

Another high on the retreat actually hit me on the first full day, in mass.

We found the nearest church and saw that they had a service at 6:30AM. Uganda’s official language is English, so I kind of assumed that the mass would be said in English. I was wrong. Everything was in the second ‘official’ language spoken in Uganda, ‘Luganda.’ And I thought to myself, how beautiful is this: I have no idea what the priest is saying… But I know EXACTLY what he is saying, all at the exact same time!!

Then it all came together today, on the feast of Corpus Christi or ‘The Body of Christ.’ I was jumping into a car with 1 father from India, 1 sister from India, 1 sister from Japan, 1 deacon from Vietnam, 2 pre-novices from South Sudan, 1 lay collaborator from Italy and me from America… The feast of Corpus Christi is celebrating Christ’s Universal body! The same body that brought 8 people from 6 different countries together in South Sudan to celebrate His life, death and resurrection in 3 different languages at once. That body is the same Body that brings 5 missionaries together for a mass in Lugandan! Even though I doubt anyone at mass knew all 3 languages that were spoken at mass fluently, we all spoke one language… that of the Body of Christ, LOVE!

*Let me clarify, the 3 languages spoken were English, Arabic and Bari (the local tribal language). The majority of mass was spoken in English and Arabic, but some of the prayers and songs were done in Bari. AND on top of all of that, the Arabic that father was speaking was a bit different of a dialect than many of the local tribal people speak!*

Mass in Mogiri, South Sudan

The reason I felt so comfortable at mass in a language that I was literally hearing for the first time was because we were all there for the same reason- Corpus Christi, Love! When I walk down the street in South Sudan, all eyes are on me because I stick out like a sore thumb… But at mass, even though I still stick out like a sore thumb for the same reason, all eyes are on Christ in the Eucharist! Love comes down, and nothing else matters because the Body of Christ is Universal, He goes beyond the 6 different nations represented, or the 3 different languages spoken. That welcoming feeling that I felt a week ago in Kampala, Uganda… That welcoming feeling that I felt today in Mogiri, South Sudan is the feeling of being unified under one Body of Christ! It is the same unity that keeps me closer than ever to my family and friends back home, even though I am thousands of miles away.

Love is not a feeling, it is an action.

We were NEVER told, “Make disciples of the nations that speak the same language as you and only go where you feel most comfortable” we were told, “Go, make disciples of ALL nations!”

When we forget the Universal Corpus Christi, we forget Love. When we remember Corpus Christi, we feel nothing but love regardless of language, color, tribe, nationality or physical distance.

May the Body of Christ unite us all under the universal language of love!

~Dan

Johnny leading the children before mass!

Road Trip!

Well, there is a lot new in my life! It includes a site change and a last minute road trip across pretty much all of South Sudan.

A few weeks ago, after a lot of praying and some emails, it was mutually decided that a site change would be in the best interest of all. Between being a lone SLM and the work that was offered in the Vocational Training Center and parish (I do not speak Arabic and I do not know a trade, so both of those ministries were difficult for me to fit into) of Wau, it was felt that I could better serve the mission at a different site.

Enter Maridi: The town of Maridi is a few hundred km from the capital, Juba. They have a few Primary school teaching opportunities for me, I will be teaching Math to Primary 7 and 8 students, some engineering related work as well as working on the opening a secondary school (funding, logistics, etc.).

After knowing my new site I was set to leave on February 2^nd. To make a long story short, the flight on the 2^nd was fully booked and the other flight I was supposed to be on was not operating yet and would be canceled, so I departed by car from Wau to Juba with a stopover in Tonj for a night. Tonj is about 100km (2 hours) drive from Wau. Tonj to Juba is about 500km (11 hours). If you do the math, you can see that this is about 50km/hour… and if you look in your car next time, you can see that this speed is quite slow (as I am sure, like me, 50 km/hr does not mean much to you unless you convert it to mi/hr)… The road was dirt the whole way with pot holes the size of the car itself! Yes, my back paid a HUGE price on this road trip.

Just after Tonj

 The long road!

 We only stopped 3 or 4 times the whole way

There was a hut at one of our stops where 3 little children came running out to the car to see what was happening... Their smiles were one of the blessings I talk about at the end! : )

In a 13 hour car ride you have a lot of time to think. I realized that I was not happy about leaving, but I was very excited about going! Seems contradictory, right? Wrong. Let me explain!

I loved Wau! The children, the town, everything… Wau was a great place to be! It was difficult to say good bye and leave the town. In fact, on my last day, at oratory, I was saying good bye to the kids and I told them, “I have to thank all of you! It was a true blessing and joy for me to come here every Sunday knowing that I would be sharing time with some of the most well behaved, loving children there are!” When I would look at their smiles I felt nothing but joy and love for life! I would look at their smiling faces as they ran around in all their innocence and I saw nothing but Christ in them… then I realized this was my last day in Wau with them… I questioned: “Am I making a mistake with this change?” “Did I get it all wrong and am I leaving the place God wants me to be?” “Am I leaving because I failed at responding and rising to the occasion, or am I leaving because it is where God wants me to go?” It hurt. Good byes are ALWAYS hard. So, that is what I mean when I say, ‘I was not happy to be leaving Wau.’

Trouble! This one is from the summer camp.

Brother Roger made hats for everyone in honor of the feast of Don Bosco!

 Oratory is ALWAYS a good time! : )

At the same time though, I am so excited to be going to Maridi. I know I have work to do, I know I have 2 AMAZING fellow SLMs, I know I have a family and community there to support me in love and faith! I could not be more excited to spend this time of service with Grace and Caitlin! The growth and self realization I found in Wau was amazing, but the work and service I can provide in Maridi will be amazing, and of course, Christ will always provide growth in Him, especially in Maridi! : ) So, I can firmly say that I am excited to be going to a site where there is more fitting work and a stronger community!

As for the questions I asked myself last Sunday at oratory: Since God is amazing, He thoroughly answered them in the car ride and when I arrived in Juba. Little things like a beautiful sun rise/set, no mechanical issues in the car, a warm welcome from the Tonj and Juba communities where I spent the night, and a gift from Luke from Jerusalem when I arrived in Juba all made me feel so happy, at peace and loved! These little blessings are God’s way of saying, “You are my son, and I love you!” Indeed I am, and indeed He does!! : ) Never let blessings pass you by, they are God’s way of telling you that He loves you abundantly and unconditionally! He is in every breathe and every breathe is sent from Him. If we want the most out of life, we can never forget that!

For now, I am safe in Juba waiting for a ride to Maridi. I think I will be leaving early next week! Please pray for the rest of my journey and my new mission!

Peace and Love, Forever!

Cool Story

So, I have a pretty cool story for you. Actually, it is not as much cool as it is funny. But I will warn you in advance, I am typing this online and not in Word first. Please ignore the bad grammar (I am doing that because there will be a lot of pictures I do not feel like worrying about the formatting afterwards, this way I can just do it all at once).

Anyways, something wierd happened about a week ago. All of a sudden EVERY person in the whole city of Wau knew my name. I could not walk more than 10m without hearing someone yell "Daniel!" I was confused. But what confused me more was that they were saying "Daniel Bryan" or "Daniel Brown" So I was thinking to myself:

"Okay Dan... you started summer camp a few weeks ago, I guess word spread that the only white guy in Wau's name is Daniel, and I guess there is some famous guy named Daniel Bryan, so they just yell that since it his name is Daniel too."

So I convinced myself that word spread around town what my name was... Well, then I noticed older guys saying the samething... So then I thought:

"Okay, that is wierd... that guy is like 30, camp is for students through Primary 8... how did word spread to him being in a completely different age group?"

I had to get to the bottom of this, so I looked this Daniel Bryan cat up...

Okay, so that is Daniel Bryan. It became abundantly clear why all of a sudden EVERYONE "knew my name"

....This is me...

This is me at a football tournament that our parish is hosting.

Yes, my beard has gotten rather unruly.

But as soon as I googled him I realized they did NOT know my name.... they knew this WWE star and saw that I was a white guy with a beard too.... it was just 100% coincidence that we are both named Daniel!!

I was a bit bitter. One sister asked me, "Daniel, are you not shaving for style or because you are lazy?" I said, "Sister... Jesus had a beard, and we are called to be Christ like." Okay, so it actually is just out of laziness that I have this beard...

But, this is what I was going for with the beard...

Or this...

Why does no one say, "Francis of Assisi!!!!" or "Jesua!!!" (Jesus in Arabic, not a typo**) when they see me and my beard?!

In their defense, not every picture of St. Francis has a beard. So they are off the hook for that one. But in almost every picture, Jesus has a beard! So, why do I hear "Daniel Bryan!" not "Jesua!?"

I joke around about my beard and all, but it should make you think... where do religion and Christ place in my mind... Behind Daniel Bryan or at the forefront?

No, I do not think my beard should make everyone think of Jesus, but putting my beard aside, when we see other people do we think of them in terms of pop-culture and how beautiful or not they are... or do we think of them as being children of God with Christ dwelling in them?!

Jesus dwells in every single one of us (yes, even those that you struggle to love and frustrate you to no end), how often do we bring that to mind?

Peace and Love,
~Dan

Shenanigans!

New Years and Christmas have both passed, and 2013 is starting off well! I just thought I would share how each of those 'big days' went with a few pictures! : )

I talked about my Christmas day before, so I will just post a few pictures! They are all taken from a part of town that we call Loyola (it is where the Jesuit fathers stay and work). It is set up on a hill a few kilometers away from the downtown, market and where we live, so it was the perfect opportunity to take a panoramic picture of all Wau.

This first picture shows most of the downtown of Wau off in the distance, with the closer houses being the Loyola area. The white dot on the horizon, on the right side of the picture is a hotel, we live pretty close to that hotel!

 Same as the first picture, you can see Wau off in the distance, with the Loyola area up front!

You can see the big UN tents over on the left side and a bit in the center. The UN camp is huge!

Now that the pictures finished loading, I notice it is hard to see everything... I was just using my phone... sorry about the quality! : (

As for December 31st, we had a fun game day for the children! To celebrate the new year, Christmas and the feast of the Holy Innocent, we organized a day with some games and prizes to be won for all. Then the day finished with lunch!

Each game was worth a ticket, and tickets could be redeemed for prizes (suckers, biscuits, pens, notebooks etc.) We had a...

 three legged race!

 a fishing sort of game with bottles and sticks

 sack races... and many other games!

And, as mentioned, we finished with lunch for everyone!

All in all, I think the day went pretty great. Although, I think I miss-priced the prizes... sweets were 2 tickets, pens were 5 and notebooks were 7, i gave out about 200 sweets and just about 20 notebooks. haha As soon as they would get 2 tickets they would come straight for the sweets! (But eventually we ran out and they had to save up for the pens and notebooks and other prizes)

The beautiful thing was- One boy bought about 6 lollipops and I asked him if he was going to be sharing them to everyone else... and he said his sisters were at home that he was going to share with! So that was really nice to hear!

Anyways, overall, the holidays went pretty well and all had fun! : ) New Years day was pretty anti climactic. Just life as normal! I did stay up until midnight though, we had a nice prayer service in our community right at midnight... great way to ring in the new year! :)

Peace to all!