{"id":329,"date":"2009-10-15T05:54:06","date_gmt":"2009-10-15T10:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/?p=329"},"modified":"2009-10-15T05:54:06","modified_gmt":"2009-10-15T10:54:06","slug":"wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2009\/10\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\/","title":{"rendered":"WOW &#8211; What a welcome in Sudan!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The reception in Malakal was overwhelming.\u00a0 We arrived just before noon and there was a small choir <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-330\" title=\"parade-to-church\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2009\/10\/parade-to-church-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"parade-to-church\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/>welcoming us just outside the airport grounds , another along the road half-way to church and finally a choir and parade the last 4 blocks to the church.\u00a0 Upon arrival at the church we were escorted along a red carpet to the church through the singing congregation.\u00a0\u00a0 As soon as they settled us in our seats the women came to wash our feet.\u00a0\u00a0 New this time was not just washing our feet, but also our hands and arms and even our faces.\u00a0\u00a0 Having visited the Covenant Church of Sudan twice before I knew this was coming, but it is still very humbling to have people kneeling before you washing your feet.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-331 alignleft\" title=\"curt-face-washing\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2009\/10\/curt-face-washing-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"curt-face-washing\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-332 alignleft\" title=\"pete-arm-washing\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2009\/10\/pete-arm-washing-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"pete-arm-washing\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-334\" title=\"choiriste1\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2009\/10\/choiriste1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"choiriste1\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Wed.\u00a0 Sept 23 we flew from Nairobi to Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan.\u00a0 We were hosted by World Relief International at their guest house and base.\u00a0 Thursday, Sept 24 we flew the last leg to Malakal.\u00a0 Malakal is the capital of Upper Nile State in Southern Sudan.\u00a0 It is a large, very flat city.<\/p>\n<p>We stayed in the South Sudan Hotel.\u00a0 It costs to be in an air-conditioned hotel, but the AC is really helpful to rejuvenate us and allow good rest after the heat of Sudan.\u00a0 Yes, it was hot as you can see by the sweaty shirts in some of the photos.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand?moderation_action=report_form&object_type=post&object_id=329&width=250&height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The reception in Malakal was overwhelming.\u00a0 We arrived just before noon and there was a small choir welcoming us just outside the airport grounds , another along the road half-way to church and finally a choir and parade the last 4 blocks to the church.\u00a0 Upon arrival at the church we were escorted along a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-world-mission-events-trips"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>WOW - What a welcome in Sudan!  - Ekstrands in Congo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2009\/10\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WOW - What a welcome in Sudan!  - Ekstrands in Congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The reception in Malakal was overwhelming.\u00a0 We arrived just before noon and there was a small choir welcoming us just outside the airport grounds , another along the road half-way to church and finally a choir and parade the last 4 blocks to the church.\u00a0 Upon arrival at the church we were escorted along a [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2009\/10\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ekstrands in Congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-10-15T10:54:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2009\/10\/parade-to-church-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pete &amp; Cindy Ekstrand\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pete &amp; Cindy Ekstrand\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Pete &amp; Cindy Ekstrand\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/08990b6f91da9939c5c3b5649490a92e\"},\"headline\":\"WOW &#8211; What a welcome in Sudan!\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-10-15T10:54:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":236,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"World Mission events-trips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\\\/\",\"name\":\"WOW - What a welcome in Sudan! - Ekstrands in Congo\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-10-15T10:54:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/08990b6f91da9939c5c3b5649490a92e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"WOW &#8211; What a welcome in Sudan!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ekstrands in Congo\",\"description\":\"Glimpses, profound and mundane, into our life\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/08990b6f91da9939c5c3b5649490a92e\",\"name\":\"Pete &amp; Cindy Ekstrand\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2b31b551d30c8a82b127b0ec8f1572498d62b706e89148248d8776b1d0402ecf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2b31b551d30c8a82b127b0ec8f1572498d62b706e89148248d8776b1d0402ecf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2b31b551d30c8a82b127b0ec8f1572498d62b706e89148248d8776b1d0402ecf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Pete &amp; Cindy Ekstrand\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/author\\\/ekstrand\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"WOW - What a welcome in Sudan!  - Ekstrands in Congo","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2009\/10\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"WOW - What a welcome in Sudan!  - Ekstrands in Congo","og_description":"The reception in Malakal was overwhelming.\u00a0 We arrived just before noon and there was a small choir welcoming us just outside the airport grounds , another along the road half-way to church and finally a choir and parade the last 4 blocks to the church.\u00a0 Upon arrival at the church we were escorted along a [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2009\/10\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\/","og_site_name":"Ekstrands in Congo","article_published_time":"2009-10-15T10:54:06+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2009\/10\/parade-to-church-150x150.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Pete &amp; Cindy Ekstrand","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Pete &amp; Cindy Ekstrand","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2009\/10\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2009\/10\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\/"},"author":{"name":"Pete &amp; Cindy Ekstrand","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/#\/schema\/person\/08990b6f91da9939c5c3b5649490a92e"},"headline":"WOW &#8211; What a welcome in Sudan!","datePublished":"2009-10-15T10:54:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2009\/10\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\/"},"wordCount":236,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["News","World Mission events-trips"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2009\/10\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2009\/10\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2009\/10\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\/","name":"WOW - What a welcome in Sudan! - Ekstrands in Congo","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-10-15T10:54:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/#\/schema\/person\/08990b6f91da9939c5c3b5649490a92e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2009\/10\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2009\/10\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2009\/10\/wow-what-a-welcome-in-sudan\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"WOW &#8211; What a welcome in Sudan!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/#website","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/","name":"Ekstrands in Congo","description":"Glimpses, profound and mundane, into our life","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/#\/schema\/person\/08990b6f91da9939c5c3b5649490a92e","name":"Pete &amp; Cindy Ekstrand","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2b31b551d30c8a82b127b0ec8f1572498d62b706e89148248d8776b1d0402ecf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2b31b551d30c8a82b127b0ec8f1572498d62b706e89148248d8776b1d0402ecf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2b31b551d30c8a82b127b0ec8f1572498d62b706e89148248d8776b1d0402ecf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Pete &amp; Cindy Ekstrand"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/author\/ekstrand\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":336,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions\/336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}