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Jon is probably gonna kill me for doing a Clemson post, but so be it!  Go Tigers!  All the way from Yei, South Sudan!

Our class at the Harvesters Vocational Training Center.  Ronald, the ag instructor at the VTC is helping hold that Tiger rag!

Today we finished up our training in Yei.  Our morning started about 6:15am with the children’s worship.  I will try to post a segment of the video later.  It will bless your heart.  I was glad that it was dark and Jon couldn’t see the tears coming down my face.  To know these kids have nothing and to hear the love and the joy in their voices is just overwhelming.

All of our attendees came back today for our hands on session.  We started with tea and doughnuts again.  Jon led a small devotional and proudly displayed pics of Mary Grace (his daughter) killing a wild hog with a knife.  Some of our participants are not Christians, so it was good for them to hear the Gospel.  I explained a few last minute things and then we headed to the garden.  I led them through the installation of a drip line.  We planted some okra seed provided by GAIN USA in this first bed.

None of us have any room to complain about how hard we work.  The nursing mother who came was working in the garden with a baby strapped to her back.  And I could tell this wasn’t the first time she had done it.

Once we got the line in and working, I challenged the students to put in another one.  They did very well.  We planted crowder peas in this bed.  We then had a presentation by one of the Vocational Training Center’s graduates about a solar food dryer.  By this time, it was lunch.

After lunch, we gave each participant a certificate of completion along with a couple packets of GAIN seeds.  The VTC also gave them a little bag of dried tomatoes to try.  We took a picture of everyone with my Clemson Tiger Rag, but Jon is holding it hostage or I would be posting it now!  We bade everyone farewell and sent them off.

This afternoon, we have relaxed a little.  Jon went over to the hospital and gave blood.  The doc told him he was walking gold….O negative.  I wanted to give, but last year after I did, I got really sick.  So we decided it would be best if I did not.

We are packing up tonight and will leave Yei at 8:30 in the morning (12:30am in the US) and fly to Uganda.  I emailed the pastor there this afternoon and somehow he was expecting us first thing in the morning.  I told him we would not be there until lunch time.  Gotta love African communication!  We are hoping for a little break in this heat in Uganda.  We are both drinking water like it is going out of style but still feel thirsty.  Not much sweat….think it all evaporates too fast.  Thanks for your prayers!

Our training was to start at 9 this morning. The participants were provided tea and doughnuts for breakfast.  In typical fashion, it was around 10 before we actually started.  As I got over to the Vocational Training Center at about 8:30, I was able to see the preparation work that Ronald and his helpers had been doing.  Ronald is a Ugandan who is the ag instructor for the VTC.  They had some beautiful beds prepared.

We ended up with about 15 participants this morning. There was a nursing mother, another lady who runs several businesses in Yei, some former students of the VTC, a man who runs a crop advisory service here in Yei, and some other farmers from the area.  Pastor Hillary, who runs the church at the Harvesters Compound, led us in a song.  He then said a few words and prayed for our day.

 

Everyone was excited about what we presented. Many questions were asked by many of those in attendance. Jon helped keep me on track by asking some clarification questions along the way. We decided to postpone the outdoor session until Thursday morning as it was so hot by the time we finished up the classroom material at 4.  One of the attendees was disappointed by this as he wanted to see the irrigation in action.

On Thursday, we will put in the drip irrigation and plant some seed!

111 degrees yesterday under the shade of a big old mango tree.  It is seriously hard just to think straight.  We made it to Yei this morning, albeit on Africa time.  We got out of Juba without too much trouble but the man in Yei didn’t like our boxes of supplies.  Have to take him some paperwork to show we aren’t smugglers.  Every trip to the airport is met with a new twist.  We spent time today setting things up for training tomorrow.  I think we will have between 15 and 30 people here.  This is going to be a short note as I still have some prep work to do and I don’t fully trust this internet yet.  More tomorrow night!

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Things started with some hurry up and wait this morning.  My host, Gabriel had to drive around looking for gas. One of his team ended up waiting in line most of the morning to fill up.

We sorted the container that had the supplies we had sent.  It was shipped here by GAiN. Can’t tell you how excited I was to find the box with the rest of the fence parts!

The headmaster of the YMCA school in Juba came to pick up the school supplies that Shandon Baptist collected.  He and the chairman of the school were waiting on me tonight when I got back to the hotel. They were very thankful for the supplies.

Later this afternoon, we drove out to a farm near the airport.   We installed a bucket irrigation kit and planted some Mississippi Silver Hull Crowder peas.

Everyone is very excited about the training I have done.  I think it will have been worth the effort.

Tomorrow I will worship with Pastor Gabriel and then travel to his home farm.  It is about 2 hours outside Juba.  I may not get another post done before Monday.  Wordpress still won’t upload pictures for me and I’m typing this on an iPhone!  Check Facebook for some pictures.

 

Boy, is it hot!  Sleep has been at a premium.  Working Internet, an even higher premium.  Cannot get pictures to upload here on WordPress.  Not happy!  I will be posting some on my Facebook page (Jim Mixson).  The first training class was today.  Glad that my voice held as I don’t usually do much talking….I leave that to my wife!  We had nearly 50 in this class. It was very well received.  These pastors are excited about having these video tools to take back to their people.

In talking today about the ups and downs of farming, I shared about the flood that occurred in Columbia last October.  I shared with the pastors a little of Earl and Cynthia Pierce’s story.  They were amazed at God’s provision for the Pierces.

On Saturday, we will unload the container of supplies that was sent over by GAiN USA.  We have to find the fence parts and get the items sorted for distribution.  I am hoping that we can get done before it gets too hot.  Also praying we have the needed supplies for putting up the electric fence.  The controller was stolen and I’m not sure what else.  We have new controllers with us, but not sure about the rest at this point.

Did I mention it was hot?

I have been running on about 3-4 hours sleep since Sunday.  I finally got a little nap this afternoon after we finished the training.   That.  Was.  Nice.   Need to hit the bed now as we are getting an early start tomorrow.

Pray for my partner, Jon Ozmint, as he leaves Columbia on Saturday.