A word from Curt

Amazed.  It’s a word that we often use in Africa.

Our upcoming ebook,  Trampled Grass, will be released in late September.  It contains forty stories about the amazing people of South Sudan and northern Uganda.

Its subtitle says it all,  “Stories of Courage and Hope.”

We’ve met so many heroes among the South Sudanese refugees as well as the many Madi and Kakwa nationals who’ve opened their hearts and doors to thousands of the homeless.

The purpose of Trampled Grass is two fold:

1. To share stories that put a face on what is happening in a country we’ve come to love,  South Sudan.

2. To encourage Americans to get involved by praying, giving, sending, and going.  Trampled Grass will retail for $1.99 and proceeds will go to our organisation’s mission fund,  The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

Get your passport out.

Pack your bags and load your camera.

You’re going to an Amazing place.

Africa.

Enjoy the journey.

CHAPTER 1    I STAND AMAZED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the mirror: may we never lose the curiosity that defines a child.

 

 

Pay Attention.

 

Be Astonished.

 

Tell Others.

 

-Mary Oliver

 

 

That’s basically what our two years in Africa have consisted of.

 

Paying attention to the people and places around us.

 

This Continent never fails to astonish.

 

We daily stand amazed.

 

We see beauty and hospitality beyond words to describe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karuma Falls on the Victoria Nile River is where Uganda’s “Up Country” region begins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also experience painful suffering that astonishes the soul.

 

It’d be easier to ignore these astonishments.

 

But we must tell others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you leave a refugee camp or small village, residents will grab you by the arm and say, “Please don’t forget us. Tell other Americans about us.”

 

I’m trying to keep that promise.

 

My job is to tell their stories. That’s the purpose of this small book.

 

I hope you’ll laugh at some of the stories.

 

Some will make you cry. That’s the effect they had on me.

 

I pray you’ll take all of these tales into your heart.

 

These are stories of courage and hope.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John, a courageous pastor who returns to the middle of a war to “find his people.”

 

You’ll meet a hero named Margaret who took her own experience as a refugee and uses it to bring hope to an entire refugee camp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter, a Dinka refugee on the run with his family, who adopts a lonely boy from the Anuak tribe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we begin, a word of advice:

 

I love Africa but often have hankerings for things I miss from back home. Right now, I’ve coveting a bag of Cheetos.

 

Not just any kind—but crunchy Cheetos. I hope someone will bring a bag (or two) over soon.

 

When those of us in self-exile get these delectable treats, we face a conundrum: do we devour the entire bag in one fell swoop or savor a few Cheetos each day?

 

We have friends over here that nearly needed marriage counseling after the wife scarfed down a whole care package of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups while the husband was away!

 

Trampled Grass is like that bag of Cheetos (or Reese’s Cups); you can read through it quickly bypassing (for now) the links.

 

Or you can slowly savor each chapter with its portals, photos, songs, audio and video.

 

Snippet calls these links “discoverables.” They allow you — the reader — to delve deeper into the stories.

 

Unlike those eaten Cheetos, these links will be present on your next visit.

 

I’ve tried to capture it with my journal, camera, and soul.

 

It’s now your book.

 

Enjoy. Be astonished. Pass it on.

 

S.C. Iles

 

Entebbe, Uganda

 

August 2014