112 years of Chrisitanity

Greetings!!!!!
I am so sorry I have not written sooner. The internet is inconsistent and I really dislike just sitting around waiting for the internet.
I have had an exciting past 2 weeks!! The Church is celebrating the anniversary of the Cross of Evangelization. Let me explain. One hundred and 12 years ago Christianity was brought to South Sudan by Italian missionaries. Later specifically Comboni Missionaries.
So the original Cross brought by the missionaries travels the country to each parish. So our Parish of Regina Mundi has the privilege to have the Cross now.
We have many outpost remote Chapels and our Parish Priest Fr. Jacinto wants everyone to have the opportunity to celebrate our evangelization and Christianity.
So I have been going to all these remote chapels in the "bush".
I have walked 12 miles to one chapel, 6 miles to other ones. Then I sleep there. With all the parishioners and the parish priest.
I almost started to cry last week because when I went to this one very remote jungle "bush" chapel. They prepared for me under a tarp an actual brand new bed with brand new sheets. So every one else slept on the ground on mats (as I had planned) but I was treated like a special person.
They were so happy to serve me and treat me so well. So much hospitality!!!!
I would hope if any of them ever came to the USA we would treat them as well as I have been treated.
We start on Friday afternoon walking to the place. Then on Friday evening we have talks on the Cross of Jesus, Faith, Forgiveness and Peace. Then we have supper all together. Then we have the Rosary, then we have singing for 3 hours. Clapping, dancing and moving to the songs. I am the only one sweating.
Then we have 2 preaching sessions. Then we have spontaneous prayers. We go to sleep at midnight. Then we wake up at 6 AM to prayers being sung by some women. Beautiful!!!!!
Then we have the most exciting and joyful Mass at 10:30 AM. Then after mass which ends at 3 PM, we eat together and then we walk home (the 6 or 12 miles).
These people are so humble, so holy, so hard working. The women work, hard manual labor for 14 hours every day then come to the church and pray and dance. Amazing!!!
I love these people. They are so kind to me. I do not deserve the treatment and kindness and hospitality and generosity.
The church here has been the best thing to happen to me!!! I love the parish priest Fr Jacinto, he always invites me to eat in his tent with him and the seminarians and Deacon. They serve him special food. So I get the best food!!! He always says to me, "Feel at home, you are welcome. This is your home."
He always gives me excellent advice. He is a true priest. He lives very humbly. He works 7 days a week and all day. When they call him at night to give Last Rites to the sick and dying he goes.
I am so grateful to God and to these beautiful people for all these wonderful experiences.
Praise be Jesus Christ!!! Now and forever.

1 Peter 4: 8-10
8Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. 9Be hospitable to one another without complaint. 10As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.…

AMEN!!!!!!

Excuse me, are you Chinese?

So everyday I wake up at 6 AM and walk the almost 2 miles to daily morning Mass at my parish Regina Mundi, on the way there, I am greeted by many people.
Almost every day, I see a man who drives by on a bike. He greets me and I great him in the local language Azande or Pazande like the local say.
" Senoooo" (Hello)
Response: " OOOOOO"
"Guinea Pai" (how are you)(literal translation: are you there)
"Pai Te" (I am fine) (literal translation; I am here)

The other day, he said to me in English, " So Madame Doctor are your Chinese or something?" So with all the self control not to BURST out laughing I said, "No I am not."
He said, "What are you then? Because you are friendly like Americans and you are Christian like the Italians, and eat our food like the Bangladeshi".
Wow!!!!!! hahahahahaha!!!!!!
So I explained, " I am from Italian people but I am American."
Isn't that funny, that I must be Chinese?
Even though I do not feel like I look Chinese, when I was in China in Beijing, I was asked at least 5 times things in Chinese because the locals thought I was Chinese.
My brother Edward is my witness that this is really true.
My goal is to be confused for a South Sudanese, Azande.

HIV: the Disease of the "Beautiful" People.

As I have shared previously HIV is quite prevalent here.
The WHO and the CDC estimate about 80%. This is here in Ezo County in the Western Equatorial State. The tribe here is Azande and because of polygamy and promiscuity the rate is so high.
The rest of South Sudan is mostly Dinka tribe and they are usually monogamous and proud of NOT being promiscuous and their HIV rate is less than 0.5%.
So at our Antenatal Clinic on Wednesday, which is one of my favorite activities by the way because I love these pregnant women and girls. A lot of our new Obstetric patients were tested for HIV and were positive.
What surprised me was their reaction. No sadness, no regret, no tears. Some smiles. Some holding their heads proudly.
What??????
So I asked the interpreter to ask them what they felt about this new diagnosis.
ALL of them stated, "I am fine because HIV is the disease of the beautiful people."
What do you mean?
"Well, it means handsome men have had sex with you and now you have HIV and the government and NGOs give you free medicine, free extra food, free programs for help."
Then I realized that most of these young people have not seen anyone suffering with AIDS.
Because they are started on medicines soon after diagnosis and we achieve a low to non existent viral load. thank God. Their children receive prophylaxis after birth and usually are negative.
When I shared this with some of our compound working staff, they agreed that beautiful people get this disease. One of the guards said, "My mother has HIV and I know I will eventually get HIV." I explained that actually this is not necessarily true. But he is convinced.
The HIV nurse, who runs the clinic for the HIV medicines told me that on Friday, they saw 229 patients. They are seeing more and more. They average 100 patients daily. This is out of about 100,000 population.
How to convince a culture that what they feel makes them part of the "beautiful" people is actually NOT a positive of healthy trait.
We also have that problem in our culture with anorexic women feeling that being so underweight is beautiful, also women who have many plastic surgeries and feel that a very "plastified" face is beautiful.
I just think, why can't we feel beautiful because we are so loved. God our Father, our Abba loves us so much. He gave His only Son to us, who dies on a Cross for each and every one of us to feel beautiful.
Abba, I belong to you.
Abba, I feel beautiful because I am your beloved daughter.

Romans 8:38-39King James Version (KJV)

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen....