Ask Mark ... FAQ'S

Frequently/Ever Asked Questions

 

 1.  How can I get involved?

      - Pray for the orphans, the missionaries including the doctors,

        South Sudan, the people who go.
      - Check out www.hrtn.org for more information and ideas.

 

2.  Why do you go?

 

      - I feel called.

      - I am blessed to have the health and time and resources and

        employers who allow me to go and a wife who goes with me

        and adult children with encouragement to us and ...

      - It is fun!

The roads around Yei.

 

3.  Why go again?

South Sudan is a beautiful country of hope and promise.

And have I mentioned the kids.



       - There are needs and death, and yet promise and hope.

 

4.  What about here, where there are plenty of needs?

        - That is true.  I do what I can, but we are called to help the poor
       (Philippians), including orphans and widows (IJames),
       throughout the world.  I do what I can wherever I can, and try
       to do more.
 

5.  What was a typical day?
(All team members had varying tasks and schedules.  It is dark there everyday from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.  Below is my weekday schedule.  Weekends were more flexible.)
      6:20 a.m. Devotionals with orphans .
      7:00 a.m. Breakfast.
       8:20 a.m. Devotionals with teachers at the school.
                       Observe in classrooms, other tasks.

Team members, from l - r, Doug, Michelle, James, Denise and Clint use drama to teach a Chapel lesson, a regular part of the school schedule for all Primary students.

       Noon  Lunch
       1:20 p.m. Observe in classrooms, other tasks.
       3:40 p.m. School is out.  Play with kids, relax.
       5:00 p.m. Go out from the orphanage on Community bible
                       cells with Secondary and Primary School kids from
                       the orphanage.
        6:15 p.m. or so Supper
        7:30 p.m. Team time - meeting/Bible Study/
                         relaxing/journaling.

 

6.  Did you feel safe?

The "Guest House", great accomodations, where we stayed both last year and this year.  Below is

my bed, with the precious mosquito netting.

We are blessed with much better accomodations than the people of South Sudan live in.

Physically, for me, it was an adjustment.  I do not drink coffee and took myself off caffeine on Labor Day.  I had an allergic reaction to Cipro (for gastro-intestinal) and ant bites that I had to work through.  The diet is an adjustment but is healthy.  We sleep under mosquito netting (pictured above), which is important along with medication to avoid malaria.

Students in class at Nehemiah Secondary School, a private school.

When orphans successfully complete Primary School, Harvester's pays their tuition to this school.

It is located about 1/4 mile down the road from the orphanage.

Chemistry and Economics classes.

Safe from harm, yes.  Not a concern.  Yei is located in the far south of South Sudan, far from the northern border where disputes and conflict occurs with Sudan.  Yei is actually close to the Ugandan border.
 

 

7.  Are you going again?
     - God willing, yes.  I most certainly want to go.  We went 18
       days and I felt we accomplished a lot as a team, and I felt well-
       received at the school.

We saw, and heard, a LOT more roosters this year.  This one picks through scraps outside the kitchen area where the adult meals are prepared.

 

Inspired by a story from Lopez Lomong in the book "Running for My Life", the team bought a special treat of a chicken dinner for all orphans at Yei and Terekeka, where the 2nd orphanage from

Harvester's is flourishing.

 

8.  What is behind the name "mark-stand"?
      "Stand.
        In the end you will be you.
        One who's done all the things
        you set out to do. Stand" - Sly and the Family Stone

Setting out for 4 weeks or exams, with a dream of being a medical doctor.

        "I'll stand with arms high and heart abandoned
          in awe of the One who gave it all.
          I'll stand. My soul Lord to you surrendered.
         All I am is Yours."  - Kristian Stanfill
         

 

9.  After 31 years in K-12, don't you miss the kids?

Wow!  Kinda personal. For those 31 years - 4 as a speech/language special education staff member and 27 in administration - my purpose and passion was doing good things for kids.  Did I fall short sometimes?  You bet.  Do I miss those kids?  Sure do. 
In this new phase of my life, God has placed additional chances for me to serve Him by serving others.  Growing where I am planted.  I am blessed with children in my life, be they my 6 grandchildren or kids I see in schools/teachers I work with, or these orphans.

 



... HOSPITAL ...; and 2012 S. Sudan stories.

House of Hope - "Bet Eman" Hospital, on the orphanage grounds, focuses on serving women and children in the community.

So, a Coloradoan, a New Zealander, and an Aussie walk into a hospital, and moms and babies live!
Just in the 2 weeks we were there, at least 3 babies' and 1 mom's lives were saved due to the increased quality of health care available.  The hospital/clinic is bursting with business, increasing since it opened less than a year ago.  Dr. Jeff Perry from Colorado, Nurse Catherine from New Zealand, and Dr. Graham Poole from Australia, and their families, have answered God's call.  The hospital is on the "bleeding edge" - dealing with life and death issues every day, in a different culture, speaking a different language.  They need our prayers everyday as they persevere through the stress and weight in pursuit of a vision - vision of a thriving clinic/hospital to serve women and children staffed entirely by South Sudanese health professionals!
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Fact:  The South Sudan has the highest maternal death rate during birth in the world!  They also have the highest illiteracy rate in the world, and is one of the poorest nations (along with Somalia) in the world.
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Giving Blood

"Would you be willing to give blood?  We have a 3 year old in the hospital with a severe need due to malaria."

"Sure, I'll try.  In the US, I used to give blood but they have a hard time finding my veins."

So, upon reporting to the clinic, the South Sudaneselab technician typed my blood and then prepared to take some.  As anticipated, he had difficulty finding my veins.  "Let's take you to the theater, where the lighting is better."

"Theater?" I thought.  This sounds interesting.  As we approached a room, I saw bright lighting in a room with the door open and windows with just bars, and I heard a distinct sound a father never forgets.

"Boom, boom, splish, splash, boom, boom, ..." That's the audio of a baby monitor OF A BABY STILL IN UTERO!

The lab tech entered the room.  I stopped.  He motioned for me to follow and, sure enough, there is the mom sprawled on a table with a baby monitor on her belly.  I was lead to lay down on a table right next to her, so my shoulders almost touched the mom's.

"Well, this is a different way of giving blood," I thought, diverting my eyes and attention away from the delivering mother. 

Unable to tap a vein, the lab technician requested I turnaround so he could try the other arm. Turnaround?!  So, you guessed it, my head is now right next to the pregnant mother's feet!  After a couple of minutes, someone put a screen between our 2 tables.

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P.S. I was unable to give blood, but another team member (Michelle) was able to and the baby responded very well to the healthy, well-nourished blood!

P.S.S.  As I said, bleeding edge.

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Leaving School Early?

"We have seen an increase in students with notes to leave early.  When you leave early, you are disrespectful to your school and your education," the School Administrator told the school assembly that morning.

"If you bring a note and leave early to play futbol, do not come back."

"If you bring a note to work in your community, which we know is not true, and leave early, do not come back."

"If you bring a note to go home early to a funeral, we will check with your neighbors to make sure it is not a lie."

The School Administrator speaks to the students at an Assembly at the start of each school day.



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Shelvis and Nancy

Missionaries from Atlanta expecting their 1st child, this couple's baby decided to come 4 days before their scheduled flight home, and at only 33 weeks.  In South Sudan, that is at-risk premature.

But prayers, great medical care, and the best medical facilities around (and great medical insurance) resulted in baby and mom getting a medical evacuation by plane, with the baby in an incubator (of sorts) to Nairobi.  Praise God!  "Bleeding edge".

They are a great family!

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Art on Saturday

Michelle helps kids in my art class.  "Your room had the most chaos, Mark."

For the 2nd year in a row, we had an activity day on the Saturday between our 2 weeks there.  The kids love art and do not get much of a chance to do art during school.

Again, I got the little ones.  "Mock, I need paper!"  Mock, I need colors."  "Mock, Mock, Mock."

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"Running for my Life", by Lopez Lomong

This book is written by a "lost boy" of South Sudan.  He recounts his abduction from his mother's arms, his escape from a military camp, being found by a UN convoy and put in a refugee camp in Uganda, his adoption by a United States family, and his rise to Olympic fame.

After reading this book, given to me by Doug and Janet Smith, I gave the book to Enaku Patrick, an upper grade teacher at the school.  I suggested he read the book and, if he was comfortable with it, read the book to a classes as a part of English class.

A couple of days later, I asked him if he had begun to read it.  He shared that he was reading it to his P4 class (and later his P7 class) AND THE KIDS BEGAN TO SHARE THEIR STORIES OF THEIR FAMILIES OR SIBLINGS GOING TO REFUGEE CAMPS IN THE CONGO OR UGANDA, FAMILIES BEING BROKEN UP.  HE SAID IT JUST POURED OUT!

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Intermission - I believe in, I pray for:

Emmanuel

Sikilly

Our secondary school friends.

All of South Sudan.

And all of the orphans! Amen.

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"I am not in America"

 

I am sitting in the P6 classroom observing one afternoon, when I look outside to see an armed military man walk by our classroom.  Not seeing anyone else, I wonder "Does anyone else know he is on the grounds?", just after thinking "Mark, you are not in America!"

Thinking that the wisest course of action was to stay put, 10 minutes passed and a government entourage arrived.  After visiting P7, the South Sudan Minister of Gender and Social Development was introduced to the class. 

She asked the girls in the class to raise their hands, she said "Fifty percent.  That is better than I saw in P7.  Girls, this nation is YOURS!  You need to stay in school.  You need to get an education."  I was introduced to her and she thanked me for my work in South Sudan.  Very nice.

 

The government entourage that visited Harvesters to honor them for their work with the orphans, including housing, the school and the hospital/clinic.

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Four Women

I love these 4 women in the community, and will see them again.  Seated in this picture, the 4 women are an inspiration.  Their husbands are all gone.  They each have a story, a trauma, and they shared a lot with Chris and I. 

The woman in the white, seated on the ground, is blind.  She told Chris to tell her family and friends that "A blind woman in South Sudan says 'hi'.' We went out to see this group twice.

The woman in the foreground sells her handmade baskets to make a living.

I watched Helen teach this group.  She read from an English-written Bible, but the words she spoke were fluent Arabic.  Amazing.  Helen, standing in the white top and coloful skirt, is an S3 student (junior in high school) and is very high-performing.

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And, I tried vegemite!  Look that one up!

See a Wonderful School in South Sudan!

I was privileged to visit Yei Christian School, in South Sudan, Africa for 2 weeks in October, 2012.  This is the same school I visited in October, 2011. 
This is a delightful, high-performing school in Yei County.  The teachers are dedicated, skilled, caring, and want to grow.  The students value education and work hard in the face of new opportunities - peace, safety, caring adults, food, clean water, school, love, God.

 

School starts everyday with an all-school assembly.  Students uniforms are inspected, announcements made, and the assembly starts by raising the flags, singing the South Sudan anthem, pledge, singing and prayers.

 

Pre-schoolers fidget just before the assembly begins.  Older boys are in the background.

 

Teachers park their bicycles and motorcycles (boda-boda's) behind the building that houses their desks and administration.

 

Kids cooling down after recess.

 

 

Preschool teacher reads to his students with one of the Big Books donated from Elmbrook and Merton.

 

Enrollment chart for each classroom.  Grade/total enrollment/boys/girls.

One classroom for each grade. Preschool, not shown, has 40 kids in one class.

This visit I observed 32 classes in preschool - P7, which is the highest grade in primary school.  My charge from the School Administrator was to collect data in several areas that I had reported on last year, and also facilitated an in-service around.  Again, I was asked to write a report on the data as well as facilitate another staff meeting on my last day there.

Futbol!

 

We used 4 classrooms for Saturday Art fun.

Out in the community

We are family!  The ties that bind us.

 

The orphanage reaches out into the surrounding community.  Pastor Pooshani has set up a number of community bible cells, with the orphans leading bible lessons and discussion with children and adults in the area.  Visiting short-term missionaries to the orphanage can choose to go with the orphans to the homes.

I love these, and I did last time. 

Why? You get a sense of the living conditions, the faith, the hope, the beauty, the friendliness - "One" by U2.

This cell is taught by Helen, who is an S3 student (junior) at Nehemiah Secondary School.  Helen is special to me, and we had a fun time the 2 times we went there.  Some of the women remembered me from last year. 

They were talking Arabic and laughing the first week we went.  When I asked her what was funny, she said "I told them you were greeting the baby chicks!"  Well, we were off and running.  The following week, you guessed it, I made sure to say "Hi" to each of the 4 baby chicks.  The women told me that they might name one after me and, who knows, maybe it will even be alive when I come next year!

The blind woman in white spoke to Chris, which Helen translated into Arabic, saying, "Tell your family and friends a blind woman from the South Sudan says 'Hi!'.

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"Kwaja! Kwaja! Kwaja! Kwaja!"

 

 

Peace (P4 or Primary 4th grade), John (S3), and Jellis (P5) took Chris and I with them to a Friday community bible cell about 1-1.5 miles away from the orphanage compound.  Two times, little kids maybe 2-3 years old in the community saw us coming on the road and screamed "kwaja! kwaja! kwaja! kwaja!", which is Arabic for "white man".  It was a great laugh.

John, who aspires to a life in Public Administration, is an impressive young man.  During a school break, he went to the Terekeka orphanage to help build school rooms.  On Fridays after school, he teaches up to 52 kids in a tukul about Jesus, the Pharisee and the tax collector, as well as other lessons.

The walk included a stretch through a fantastic vibrant neighborhood - filled with kids playing football (our soccer), women and children getting water from the community well and carrying it on their heads, and women cooking outside - as well as walking on narrow paths in the bush country.  Several times I told the girls I was lost, which I was, but that I thought the path right there would take us to America.  We shared a laugh. A great time.

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This is another community cell I was able to visit again this year, with Nunas on the far left and Moses, Nunas's brother, on the far right.  Moses, a P6 student, taught the lesson.

Moses and Nunas's grandpa and I remembered each other and made a nice connection.

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A family attending yet another bible cell.  This cell is just down the road from the orphanage. Below grandma and grandchild from this community group. 

 

 















The rest of the Team

Meet the Team

The team was a Klepp family reunion, with Dave, his son, his sister and her husband - all together with Pastor Dennis, who founded the orphanage with Mama Lilly over 10 years ago!

Most of the team came from Crossway Church in Germantown, WI.  Doug and Denise hail from Minnesota. 

Janet, Chuck, Chris, me, James, Clint and Michelle.  See Doug, Dr. Doug, Denise, and Dave below.





Michelle

 

Team leader Dave and his sister Denise.

 

Dave's son Clint.  In the background is Doug, Denise's husband.

 

 

Chuck, in a pile of kids.

 

 

James and Michelle taking pictures.

 

Dr. Doug

 

Doug and Clint serving an ice cream treat to the orphans.

 

Anna, Chris, and Ruta

 

Happiness, speaking for the whole team, was the word for the 2 weeks!