Sunday 19th October

Imagine a young lad, who will be nineteen in just a few days, arriving in country such as Sudan which is dry. Indeed, if we are caught with alcohol it means forty lashes of the whip. That was the position of Phil, who certainly enjoys his beer. He had been teased by his mates before leaving England about this predicament.

Two hours after arriving in Khartoum, Leoma took Phil to a reception at the British Embassy, which since it is British Territory, can provide alcohol - so Phil got his beer. Meanwhile, Elizabeth took Fiona and Stan to a restaurant about ten minutes walk from her house. This was situated on the banks of the Nile, and we sat outdoors eating and drinking (bottled water) as the stray cats looked for the scraps under our table.

Next morning, Stan had his first experience of the shower. Stepping into an unheated shower was a shock at first, but was soon remarkably pleasant. A shower later in the day was almost too warm, as the water had heated up in the sun during the day.

Elizabeth took us to the Souk in Omdurman for an hour or two today. The range of colours and smells was amazing. There are different sections of the Souk, some selling fruit and vegetables, others concentrating on spices and herbs, fancy goods, cooking utensils, fabrics (with foot powered sewing machines in use), meat and live animals. Unfortunately we do not have our photography permits yet, so could not take any photos. Hopefully they will come on Monday.

Traveling to and from the Souk, we went by bus. There are no bus stops, so we just walked to the main road and stood there waiting. Elizabeth held her hand across her body to show which direction we wished to go once we had crossed the river. The buses are mainly the excess from the Korea Olympics, and carry about 20 - 25 passengers.

The middle of the day is so hot, we just rested back at the house, before setting off for church at about 5:00pm. The church, at first sight, looked similar to many non-conformist churches in England. Going round the side however, we found that one side of the building was missing, and that the congregation spilled out. Indeed there were more seats outside than inside the building. The congregation was about half ex-patriots, from a whole range of countries including the UK, US, Canada, Australia, China, etc. Leoma led the service, which was a typical service of the word, such as would be experienced in many places in Britain. Most of the music was from Mission Praise.