PRAYER RETREAT

                                                    Yo! WHAT IT BE LIKE!

After 40/40 I was ready to get back to the Sue, but God had more he wanted to reveal to me. All of the famous Sudan six meet up and we all went to LuKenya fro a prayer retreat. The purpose is just to search your heart and search for God and talk to Him about everything and praise Him and lift our prayer to God. We met together and told each other are prayer request the first day and then the next day we went by our selves to be with God the hoe day.

Man I had such a blessed time! I can’t even began to describe the feeling that God gave me! The next day I just walked and talk to God all day! I walked through the fields of Africa just letting God lead me to where ever he lead me! I kept talking to him and asking him questions. I thought of Jesus when he walked in the desert or Elijah and how so many times in the Bible it said they went to a mountain or place by themselves and just talk to God! That is just what I did.

 As I walked and talked with God he showed me some gazelles and impalas and even a giraffe! It was amazing! I also walked up a mountain and looked over God's beautiful creation and just began to praise Him. He reveal things to me that I had on my heart for a long time. I tried to really search for God's heart out there and I feel so recharge and ready to get back to work in Sudan! Continue to pray for me and my team as we have these prayer request.

Pray for the Lewis family, as they are coming into Sudan with in a week or so and waiting for their house to get approved to come in Sudan by the government. Get a helper, language, and a nanny (they have three kids), that they get settled in, so they can ministry to the people of Taposa who are currently unreached!

The Jur people group, that the Dinka and Jur will stop fighting so someone can minister to the Jur. 

Our health!

Job replacements for our ministry

To bring an Logistic coordinator , for our team

Hygiene ministry for the young ladies,( Lura and Jamie)

Volunteer teams, That we are able to use the teams as to help Logistically strategies a better ministry.  That God clearly reveals to me and my team on how to use the teams.

Abraham, is church planting great and fast! he is a leader of the Dinka pastors..so pray for him.

Cattle camp and (CAP), Jenifer and Whitney as they work to minister in the cattle camps and that God bring someone to minister to the camps. That God use CAP to teach the Dinka people effectively about Aids.

Youth Centerr, God had blessed this Center so much! That God just let us use this center to bring more to Christ! That God moves all through the Youth Center!

Thank you so much for these payers

Jermaine Edwards

 

Well I made it through 40/40. I really enjoyed myself and I had a lot of fun! But when I first got there it was so COLD! Man was it COLD! I was freezing and I didn’t bring enough warm clothes! I slept with all my clothes on plus a hoody with cover! Then I got a cold within the first week or so. I was so mad. But I just said Lord just get me through this. My throat was soar and I had dripping of the throat too! I became very weak and my sinus filled with mucus!

   So I just laid in my bed and let my Daddy heal me. I got all those symptoms in one night and then I got up and went out to do my DFA sick as a dog! We road into town on a flat bed, while the wind cut my ears and nose! It was the worst! But Imma wolf and God has blessed me since birth with the gift of a healing factor. So I did my DFA and then got back to the seminary and crashed! I just laid in my bed and missed dinner. Than my healing factor kicked in after a long night of swallowed mucus, sinus head ach, and a wasted roll of toilet paper of my snot! Man I woke up feeling so good.

Ok enough about how I was sick, lets talk about 40/40.

So when I got there it was cool seeing the people I went through FPO with. Just to see God using others all over Africa is hot to me! Our Lord using each and every ones talents and gift to glorify His name, man that’s tight!

Hmmmmm…man I don’t know what to write about. How do sum up a month? Ok lets see. Everyday they sent us out on these assignments to find out more about the Zams (Zambians). So we basically sat down with them and got to know them and let them know who we are and tried to learn from them to be able to present God’s word better to them. I was with Ethan who is a journalist/videographer for the IMB. Now as we go out on these assignments we get to witness to them if God allows it.

So one time Ethan and me and are guide Elias saw some bed makers, so we thought…. lets go talk to them. God really lead that conversation to witnessing to those brathas! They really open to hear what we had to say. So we just kept witnessing to them. Ethan was talking to one dude who knew God but could not stay with him. He said he knew the things he did was wrong and he wanted to change. So Ethan told him “you know it’s like two dogs fighting in your body and which ever one you feed will win. You gotta feed the good dog” We prayed with him and had are guide get with him and invited him to the Bible study they had there. That was cool to see.

We got to visit a lot of people in Lusaka, Zambia. O yeah one thing I must say. Man Zam is beautiful with beautiful people! Man it is such a nice place! Everyone is so cool and welcoming, I love them! Ethan, Alias, and I got to sit and visit Miss Ireen F. Sakala, who is a widow. Man I think she is one of the strongest women I met. Ireen was so dependent on Christ and just wrap her self in His love.

You see talking to her, me and Ethan came to find out how funerals work in Zambia and it’s a lot that goes on but the one thing that stuck out to me is the fear that comes over surviving spouse especially a woman. Traditional beliefs and witch doctors come to play at the bringing of death. The traditional beliefs have the women taking out all the pictures and paying unnecessary money to the witch doctors to protect them from their spouse ghost hunting them. So this is what I got from are sit down with Ireen.

You can have a young Christian widow at her husband’s funeral and the witch doctor will come up to the young lady and say, “ your not Christian let me protect you from husbands ghost!” Than the next thing, she is paying the doctor to help her. But you see Ireen is an older lady who is strong in Christ and other elder ladies of the church made these type of situations their ministry. When they hear of women that lost her husband they go and help her with the funeral and witness to them and also give her strength against the witch doctor, who talks in her ear and putting fear over her. Ireen had been through all of this and told them I am Christian and God will protect me.

Now you people in the States might say why would you listen to a witchdoctor in the first place their fake. Ha ha ha ha ha ha…lol! But man! It’s real over here! Satan has got Africa in his hand of fear. They see things we don't see!

 Satan gets us at whatever he can do. In the States satan get’s us by money and the total opposite of a God thought. “Man I don't see no God, I am a science man and I can explain everything through science”! Satan goes to Africa by revealing himself to them. Actual physical fear! I will talk more on this later.

 So back to Ireen, basically funerals really become a spiritual battle. Man Ireen is so strong in God. She got all her children in school and she don’t know how they going to get through but she knows God will take care of her. She was smiling so big as she told us how God provided for her after her husband’s death. Man that’s what is about! Ireen Sakala asked that you pray for her and her two kids, Charles Sakala, that he finish school, and Smut Sakala, her legs, that they be healed.

I think the best part of Lusaka was going to church and seeing these young men, I mean younger than me and up to my age, was holding Bible study before Church! Man I thought that was awesome! They really got into God’s word! Than after church we went to a youth rally. As I was in church dancing in Africa with my Zam brothers and sisters praising God, I just felt out of world but in God’s arms. I wish I could hold on to that feeling forever as that feeling grows stronger and stronger.

 I have to give a shot out to our guide Alias. Man he took such good care of us out there and he was so wise in God’s word. Please pray for him and his family when we left his dad died from a bike accident.

We went on to Petuke and did kind of the same thing we did in Lusaka. But at Petuke I got to stay in my own tent…Yeah! I seen some cool things at Petuke and learned a lot as well!

One day we had to share are testimony, but in a way that Africans can relate to it. For example like in America we refer to God in are testimony as “saved us and guilty things we had”. But in Africa they relate to fear, control, and power because that’s what satin does in Africa he physically blinds them, controls them, and puts fear over them from getting to God.

So I told my testimony in words of power, control, and fear. When I did this I felt God really spoke to me and reminded me how far he has brought me. It felt really good, I know that and it was a better testimony to me I thought.

O yeah before this I got to talk to a witch Dr.! It was pretty awesome! It was just said to see how lost they really are though, man satin really has them in his hand. But one of the other missionaries got to tell a bible story to an x witch Dr. and at the end he asked him if he want to except God and not have those demons, and he said yes! Then Mike the missionary, had the translator to hook up with the x Dr. to make sure he gets disciple and stay on the right path. So I thought that was a real blessing to see!

But the Witch Dr. we interviewed was an odd experience. We where to interview them to see how things work and just to know the knowledge of something like this. So as we were interviewing him I felt cool at first until one of the other missionaries asked “Have you healed anyone?” he said “Mmhhm yes, her over there. She was mad when they brought her to me.” And it was this young lady peeling corn on the ground, then I looked at her again and she did not look up at us once the whole time we were there. I started to feel a dark feeling come over me. She just did not look right, kinda tame you know.

The hardest thing though was to sit there and listen and see how lost they are! I was constantly praying for them and looking to see if God is showing for us to witness to him, but he wanted the demons, spirits is what he called them. He told us that he healed people by whatever the spirit tells him to do and what traditional meds to give the sick people that come to him. I looked around and he was pretty wealthy for in the village.

He told us that he got his powers when he went into the bush and got thrown into the lake and stayed there for a month under water. And when he finally came up he could talk to the spirits with his little object.

You see how satin works out here, man he totally blinds them completely from God in fear and power and even money. It was very sad to see that and hear him.

Lets see….next we went to are home stay, which is when we went and stayed in the village at someone’s home! This was my favorite, cause of the great food and just seeing the everyday life of an African. I loved each day and I thought it was a great experience! The family served us so willingly. The best part was working beside them picking maze and helping them build a Maze (corn) storage. They really didn’t let us help much and they did most of the work but it was cool to work with them and learn new things.

 So that’s all folks, that was manly 40/40, now I’m ready to get back to work, in the Sue!!!!!

 

 

 

Pray for william

Today I was reading Judges in the Bible. Man, and as I was reading, the Israelites just would not stay on with God! They would leave Him and serve false gods and God would put them under hardship or taken over by some other people. Than they would cry...God, save us, save us. God would alway come at their aid sending them an deliver and the Israelites would get like 80 years of peace, than they would leave God again. 

I started thinking man God came to them every time! When they called on Him to help, only when their in trouble. From that I feel God wants us to lean and depend on Him. We can’t do the things God ask us to do on are own! He wants that relationship to rely, love, and obey. It’ sounds pretty easy but is it.....Read Judges 10:10-16

Man, I got back from the prison and could not stop thinking about him. 

As I sat there stuffing my fat face all free and nothing to do to help, I thought about other prisoners that I don’t know and won’t get no help!

How much help can you really do out here? That’s why it is up to God. You will go crazy out here thinking you can do it by yourself! 

Was up my peeps!

On Sunday March, 29th, 2009, me and Jamie went to another church this Sunday.

Both pastors in our regular church we attend where in Akot for training other pastors. So we decided to visit our other church neighbors in the city of Rumbek. I really enjoyed myself! It was great to get a memory of how home churches are ran. What a great message the Dinka pastor gave! So awesome! He challenge the people about talking about the story of the unfruitful tree. 

It was a real encouragement to see!

But I think it was Friday morning I sat down to chat with some of the Kenyan workers of my compound. So I say "hay where is William I have not seen him?" William is kind of the manager for are compound. Francis, John, and Sahid ( might have spelled that wrong), Say "O big trouble William is in. You do not know?" I say "no what happen?" Then they say again "O you don't know?" "Naw I aint heard nothing!" I say. Then John says "O you are unaware." I say "yes! I am unaware! now what happen?"

They say "William was taken to the jail! "What!" I say in shock! They say yeah "He was taken Thursday" "Why?" I say. Then they finally explain! They said money was stolen from one of the guest on are compound on Wednesday and on Thursday the police came and took William! I asked them "why did he steal it?" They say "We don't know? We don't know what happen!"

So I say "Will you take him some food and see if he is alright?" "Yeah but we have to wait a few days or the police will say why you bring food to this man are you apart of it?" They replied. 

Man that's messed up I thought! I wanted to go visit him as soon as I heard, guilty or not, I thought we should show some Christ love at this time. But I get confused since I been here between showing the love of Christ and just being stupid in Africa!  

So Sunday rolls by and on the way to church I ask Jamie did you hear about William? She says yeah. So we planned after church to go visit him and bring him some food and water. So after church one of the Kenyan pastors came up and greeted us and we introduced are selves. Then as we started to leave in the truck, are friend and Kenyan coworker Wycliffe comes up and says "This pastor wants a ride" the same Kenyan pastor. We tell him that we are going to see William in jail first and the pastor and Wycliffe come along to visit William, as fellow Kenyans I thought that would be a good encouragement.

So we all hop in the truck and get some fresh baked bread and water and soda for William. We first go to the jail but we found out that he has been taken to the prison. So we go there. 

I just love how God works! Me and Jamie had never been to the prison before or even know how visiting works, but God sent the Kenyan pastor with us who just took over in getting us in. 

We wait for William in this little side room with a blown out wall, what looked like a broke down building but still in use. As we wait the Kenyan pastor says lets just be encouragement to him and pray for him. I hear the drag of sandals approaching the the room and William comes in with his regular huge smile and says "I was just thinking about you all, that I hope you pray for me!" 

The guards told us we only have five minutes so we pray right away. William looks fine, no marks of harm  I can see. As a pastor and Kenyan the pastor talks of encouragement and Jamie also gives him some encouraging words of the word of God. Then the Kenyan pastor begins to try and work out his situation as a Kenyan community council member. Contacting his family, follow the case, and making sure there is no mistreatment. The Kenyan pastor is even going to take his case to a Kenyan UN women to follow his case. William say “the food they have for me I vomit up”. The Dinka worker of the prison says “the food is for the locals and a lot of foreigner can't handle it”. He tells us that food can only be dropped off only on the weekends, but you can pay to have someone of the prison go and get some food he can handle through out the week. The Kenyan pastor will arrange that. This Pastor is basically going to make some noise for his case so it won't just get looked over. The Dinka prison worker seems to even work with the pastor to be his inside man.

So God really knows how to work situations. We don't do anything, we try and put in are work with faith as the Bible says to do and God takes over.

William says he is in jail cause the money that was stolen was the same day he sent money home to his family. The money stolen was a lot and the money he said he sent home was a lot less.

Please pray for William and his family. Pray that God be glorified in this situation and William take this time to lean on God and talk to him and for this problem. Pray for his health please. It is not the best place at all from what I seen. Pray for him....      

     See you my peeps

Jermaine 

Yo! 

William has been released from prison. Praise God. He got released while I was at 40/40. They did not have any proof on him. So he got out and left to go home to Kenya with his family. I will most likely never see him again but please pray him. Pray that he grew closer to God in this situation and really choose to have a personal relationship with God and not just take God for granted. 

Jermaine

When God moves!

Man when God moves, God moves! That’s just it!

It aint about us telling Bible stories or how many people I get to talk to! It’s about God’s word getting out and people accepting it! He don’t need us, but it is by His grace alone that we can ride his space ship!

He is the pilot! we just along for the ride. It took me a minute to realize that! Thanks Brown Suga!

Man What a blessing it is to see God work! Tuesday March 24, 2009.

Me and my partner Andres went to the bush with three pastors from America and three Dinka translators and are boss Mark. We went about 75 mile into the bush to visit the people and tell them the word of God. Sudan is so beautiful! All the land I got to see while traveling was so awesome! 

We get to the village and all the little kids come running up to the car yelling kawaja, kawaja, which means foreigner. Than the chief comes out with all his other officials. They have people to get us all chairs to sit under a tree and have a meeting. We all sit down in a circle, half the circle is us and the other have is the Chief and his men. 

Sometimes I imagine we are some type of gang or secret agency, like Metal Gear Solid, trying to fight some evil in the world. Man I mean that’s what it’s like sometimes. You got Mark who is the big boss the commander. The Volunteer teams which are under Mark and assist you out on the field with medical and  new kinds of weapons to help you get the job done. Than you got Andres and the four other J-gales, who are the weapons, the soldiers, the hands on work! Finally me, the rookie to the field! Still green boy! The new solider coming in, the gopher! So I watch everybody! I try and take in everything they do and how they act! I mostly watch my partner Andres who is training me even if he does not know it! He is an amazing man of God and I could not have a better partner! He is crazy just like me! It’s cool! He’s Snake and I’m Raven. 

OK back to the blog...sorry. So we all sit down to have a meeting, Mark in the middle with the three pastors from the States and me and Andres on the side.

Now All this is done by the Dinka people because of are boss Mark. He is an older white man with white hair and the Dinka see that and it is immediately respect! Plus he has been in Sudan for about 15 years. So he knows what he’s doing! Mark talks to the chief about why we have come. That we come to tell the word of God and we want to be encouragement to the churches out here and see how they are doing. We did three of these same meetings with three different villages. 

It was all a true blessing to see and be a part of but the best part was the last meeting we went to. 

Mark begins to tell the people why we have come here. Than he asks “is there jak here?”, which is evil spirits. They all laugh because they are surprised that Mark knows about them and they say yeah other people go to jak. Mark and Tim, one of the pastors from america ask where is the jak in this village? They say some other people and other villages go to the tree.

Mark tells them but who created the tree. They all smile and say God. Mark says why do you worship the created when you can worship the creator!

 

Now let's back up to the night before. When we all sleep under a tree in tents. We sat around a pot of beans and rice and ate under the stars! I really enjoyed my self! It was such a blessing to be there seeing Mark and Tim tell Bible stories and try to figure out ways to bring medical help to the villages! This was all earlier that day! All the chiefs said that they are making peace with each other and stopping the fighting. 

We head out to the other village where we stay the night.

As we sit under the star lit sky of Africa Tim and all of us discuss how we want to give God's word to the next village. Tim comes here each year so he remembered the next village was doing a sacrifice for a dead witch doctor last year. So he suggested we tell Bible stories that dealt with God’s power over false gods. 

So that is just what we did. Mark and Tim picked out the Bible stories and we all took one to tell the next day. The next morning we got up way to early to go to the village and tell the Bible stories. So we sat around under the tree as the Lord gave us a nice cool breeze and even some rain! O yeah because the day before that was HOT! I mean HOT! I really did not want to move it was so HOT! I was sweeting like a fat mans arm pit!

So the cool morning was nice. Children stayed by are side under the tree all morning. So Tim told the translators, Shadrach, Sunday, and Isaac, to gather the children around I want to teach them a song. These Dinka translators are great guys! Their all pastors and we could not get anything done with out God sending them here! 

Baka! Baka! Baka tin! Says the translators, means to come. Now as wild as these kids play they really listen and have a natural respect for adults. They came over and all sat down as if they were in class. Tim taught them the song...Jesus “loves me this I know”, than the translators put it in Dinka right than and there! I’t was pretty cool to see! Than the translators taught them the song in Dinka and another song in Dinka, that was about God creating everything even satan and the power he has over all!

Isaac explained to them what the song meant and How God has power over all!  

What a blessing to see the kids get the word of God through songs! They all got up and started playing again and you could hear the kids singing the songs as they played! All man my heart smiled!

So after that we got in the trucks and headed to the next village over to tell Bible stories. So finally we are back to where we left off, sorry. 

OK, We all tell are Bible stories to the chief and the village. As the Bible stories were told myself and others prayed that they hear God’s word!

The Story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal, Moses and the golden calf where told. Mark told the story of Saw and the witch doctor, another told the story of Paul and the fortune teller and how paul got put in jail, I told Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Naego, and Andres ended it with the story of Jesus rising from the dead. They all stayed and listened! Thank you Jesus!

When we where done the chief sat back in his chair with his cool pimped out sun glasses and said “In our generation no one has told us these stories and explained it like this”. Man My heart melted! Than Mark said “now who all wants to go straight to God and not to the jak?” All the people surrounded us raised their hand! Thank you God! Now they have a choice!

Mark and Tim will visit them again.

Pray for these people! Pray that they go straight to God and rely on Him for protection. Pray that the peace talks work and peace remain in the villages of Malak to Myan. (might have spelled that wrong all well)  

see you my peeps!

Jermaine 

Check in!

My brown plaid look a like converse slammed down into Dinka planet’s red dirt for the first time!

Check in! This is just an intro to my blog and I will not be able to tell the rest of what has happen in the last 2 months....mostly just language learning and bike riding.

The first week I went to Akot and a volunteer team came out here and built a training center to teach the word of God to their own people. It was wild to see God move in only my first week! The team told Bible stories to the Dinka people on their lunch breaks.

I followed Jennifer as she lead the way because she has been on Dinka planet for about a year, a lot longer than I have, and she knows how to survive on this planet.

I guess we had to get check in. I didn’t know what was going on! So she led me to this little broke down building with a small concrete porch. We where the first of the passengers to get there and I assumed this was the check in. We went in the door way by the porch and we where met by this huge, stern, mean, Dinka man in a red button up shirt. He came toward us and kind-of pushed us back out to the porch saying and gesturing, “back!, Back!” With aggression in his voice, it was very intimidating. Then he say’s “NO! line!” I have no idea what he wants because it is only the two of use and he wants us to make a line..OK. He pushes us off the porch an he keeps saying “line!” with a stern aggressive voice. Jennifer is in front of me. Then he let’s her go through and I follow her to the desk of an older Dinka man who is checking her in, but a blur of red comes into my sight of vision and I am being starred down again by the huge Dinka man!

He says “No! Line” and he aggressively guides me out of the building and back off the porch. So Jennifer gets check in as I look through the arm pit of the huge Dinka man blocking the door way.

I was a little confused with all types of different thoughts going through my head. Jennifer got through with no problem but I have been waiting here for like 8 minutes maybe, and the line is building up. OK that’s cool she will get treated like an American, an earthling, but I am black and they probably think I’m Kenyan. I read about this, I knew this would happen, but not so soon! In Kenya, me and Jennifer where treated like equals and in fact I think I had more of a bond from the Kenyans. So for this to happen I was a little thrown off but not scared or hurt, I expected it. So finally a Dinka man tells me to come in the check-in building.

That’s another thing, on Dinka planet at the airstrip the workers have no identification or uniforms, they just wear whatever they have on that day. So you don’t know who is who, so I figured who ever is giving me orders like he’s my daddy must work here.

I went cautiously checking for the big Dinka man with the red shirt. I get to the check-in desk and they check my papers . It seemed like I went to three different men for the same thing, just to check my papers. “Who you for?” What” I said, “Who you For?” I said “ I am with Baptist Mission” The tall Dinka man with the red shirt, stares into my eyes as I stare at his, and then he gives me my papers. So I grabbed my suitcase and my camera bag and my stupid plastic covered pillow and headed for freedom out of this intimidating place but I was stopped once again right at the door to check my bags! Than they went through all my bags!

I look to the right of me and I see an home free exit door to get out of here, where Jennifer is peacefully waiting for me. Than the guy checking my stuff pulls out my camera! O crap! Red Alert, Red Alert!(I’m a photographer so my camera is big..that’s how I roll!) ‘’You, Journalist!, Your Journalist!” yells the big dinka man with the red shirt! Everybody and the building looks at me some people even get up from their desk. I can feel the tension all on me! I say “No I am with Baptist Mission” I strain my ears to understand their broken English as everybody talks at the same time...”Your personal camera?” I say “yes it is my personal camera”. Than everybody calms down. Good Lord I’m thinking! The guy finishes checking my stuff and than I high tail it outta there!

Check in!

Welcome to Dinka planet as seen through my eyes

Hi my name is Jermaine Edwards. I’m a missionary/photographer serving in Africa. At the time I am living in Rumbek, Sudan. I have been living their since New Years day. So I am about two months behind as I start this blog page. Sorry if anyone cares...probably no one does. But I’ll try to keep this updated as much as I can.

Let’s see how can I catch my peeps up? O I kept a journal here let me get it, hold on......OK

I got it! The last job I had in the States gave me this journal book as a going away present, Thanks TRG! I will just pick certain things in my journal to catch you up, OK.

Welcome to Dinka Planet!

1/10/08 (when I wrote it)

I’m writing this as I go and as I feel so bear with me as I hop around in my mind a little bit. I came to Dinka planet during the dry season (mei in Dinka language) which for beauty in my eyes, is not the best time to come. It is a lot of dust and dirt, red dirt and dust similar to mars. Dead grass from the heat and gust of wind hits my eyes as I get off the ship (plane.) I can feel the hot temperature of Dinka planet that everybody has been telling me about. Wait hold on let me start at the airport. OK Dinka planet’s airport is not like other air ports, as a matter of fact it is not an airport but an air strip or dusty dirt strip.

The Ship(plane) that I was on the pilot tried to park next to another ship that had people getting off. The pilot of my ship, let’s call him Jack. Jack was cutting it close to chopping a few peoples heads off with his propellers!I never seen anything like this! But Jack park the plan than a Dinka comes yelling at him gesturing him to move somewhere else. So Jack is probably angry now because he has to maneuver this big ship to another parking space. He guns the gas, and red dirt goes flying from behind the propeller, a cloud of dust hits the people getting off the other ship and again almost chopping some heads off as the ship turns around. Than Jack guns the gas again blowing another cloud of red dust at the locals to the far right of the airstrip behind a fence where people cling to the gate as if they where watching a show or trying to escape.

So Jack finally finds a parking space further down the airstrip.

I grab my over packed book bag and my huge pillow covered with plastic, that made noise with each movement. I hit every stranger with it as I pass by getting off the ship. I thought I look so stupid with that pillow. I grab my camera bag filled with excitement and ready to see Dinka planet!