|
Sudan was still at war when Jen Ahlbrecht, a 24-year-old college grad from Dassel, MN, began wondering about the next step in life.
She knew she wanted to teach overseas. Ever since she became a Christian at 13 Jen wanted to work in the developing world. But after researching several options including the Peace Corps, she was left with more questions than answers.
So when Jen, sipping on a cup of coffee at a local café, overheard a girl talking about teaching in Africa.... Jen couldn't help but eavesdrop.
Children attending Jen's
school have nowhere
else to go.
“Liz said she wanted to go to Sudan and my heart leapt!” recalls Jen. “I introduced myself."
Jen called Liz two weeks later. She was surprised to hear that Liz had just hung up with Africa Inland Mission. Moments before AIM had agreed to help Liz reach south Sudan, but on one condition: she find a partner.
Jen was intrigued, and soon after the peace was signed in early 2005, the girls left for an 11-month teaching assignment near the Sudan/Congo border. They became AIM’s only missionaries in Sudan working west of the Nile.
“The idea of being called—to ask people for support—was a bit of an obstacle,” admits Jen. “Whether it's missions or not, you need to know the Lord’s leading.” "The idea of being called-- to ask people for support-- was a bit of an obstacle."
“It was cool how we complemented one another,” she says. Though Liz initiated the project—teaching English to Sudanese pastors—Jen has expanded the program. After a short break in Minnesota this past spring, she returned to Goli on her own, kick-starting English classes for children who have nowhere else to learn.
“I started with 30 kids,” says Jen. But by the end of the week, 80 children were walking up to seven miles to attend classes in an improvised classroom. Jen, now pursuing a master’s in education, will continue teaching through May.
Schools, like this one, were
destroyed in the last civil war.
“I don’t know what the future holds,” she admits, explaining that two volunteers have agreed to carry the torch through the next school year.
“I love what I get to do,” she muses. “The fact that I’m doing what I’m doing—the fact that I’m living in south Sudan...
“It’s wild…just wild.”
|
