After 23 years...

Yesterday's airstrip visit went smoother than the last. Clear skies
allowed Laura to land the plane easily on the dry runway. Eight guys
from West End Pres and their church plant, City Church stepped off the
plane and we said goodbye to Pamela who returned to Uganda on that
same flight.

They were settled into the new MRDA guesthouse, each with their own
cozy room, bed and mosquito net.

West End Pres is Christine's home church and they have supported us
for some time. It is great to have them here to see the place and the
people they are investing in.

It is exciting to have Joseph as a part of this team. He is a Moru
man now settled in Virginia and attends the Sudanese Church at West
End Pres. He has not been in Mundri for over 23 years. As we left
the guesthouse, and were moving toward the church compound, he was
saying how he couldn't figure out where he was. Then he saw it... his
old house!!! While his father was headmaster at the secondary school,
they had lived in on-campus housing. Unlike most stick and mud homes,
this house was made of brick, stone and cement. Its crumbled walls
had withstood bombings, leaving it only a shell. Bright flowery
bushes grew in his old bedroom. It can not be repaired.
How amazing it is for us to experience this return with him. Despite
the decaying structures, Joseph is still able to look around Mundri
and feel hopeful. What Joseph sees is that Mundri is being restored.
May we also have such hopeful eyes!