Sleep

"Blessed Creator,
Thou hast promised thy beloved sleep;
Give me restoring rest needful for tomorrow's toil.
Let thy Spirit make my time of repose a blessed temple of his holy presence."
~ Valley of Vision

Since I arrived in Sudan, I have had at least three bouts of sleeplessness, the first being the worst by far. I now find myself again unable to sleep through the night, and when I do sleep, I do not wake up feeling restored. To be sure there a lot of things that can interrupt my sleep on any given night in Mundri including a dance party in town, Chai barking, critters scurrying around in the tent, roosters, a motorcycle revving its engine, or the wind blowing the tent around. I have found that once my sleep is interrupted a few nights in a row, I have a lot of trouble returning to a normal sleep pattern. I know that there are many possible causes for my sleeplessness including the work of the enemy. If there is something that I am not aware of that is stressing me out or making me anxious, I am too tired to discern anything that might be related to my sleeplessness.

Please pray that I would sleep in a deep restorative way. Pray that I would have good times with God this weekend and that God would prepare my heart for Christmas. As many people on the team have already prayed these weeks, please pray that we would all be changed by reality of God with us this Christmas season especially as many of us are longing to be with friends and family across the ocean.

Why do raisins dance? (Physics class reflections)

The first term at Mundri Secondary School is now complete. There will only be two terms this year instead of the usual three terms because of the teachers strike at the beginning of the school year. My class has moved through the introduction to physics and has started learning the equations of linear motion.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed teaching physics this term. The teaching part was difficult for me, but I really had fun with the physics. Although I have tutored before and even worked as a TA (teaching assistant) in college, I have never taught a class for a full school year. There were many moments when I was standing at the chalk board at a complete loss for any other way to explain a concept that none of the students were understanding. Physics is a difficult subject for most students, and the students in my class have the added challenge of understanding my English which is very different from the English they are used to hearing.

As with most times when I have done something outside of my comfort zone, teaching has been a means for God to show me the ugliness in my own heart, especially my impatience. It has also been an opportunity to trust that God is working even when I can't always see the evidence.

A few weeks ago I was able to invite all the girls from my class over to our compound for an afternoon of science demonstrations, conversation, and popcorn. I loved seeing them observe carefully and ask themselves why the raisins "dance" or the pepper "runs away" from my hand. With a smaller group I was able to have fun with science and ask questions in a way that would be difficult to manage alone in a class of almost 60 students.

Now that the term is over and I have graded all the exams, I suspect that most of the students have learned more math and English in my class than they have physics, which is fine with me. There are few students who have worked hard, asked questions, and learned the basics of physics. I am very proud of those students. I also saw from the exams that I am going to have to review the equations of linear motion from the beginning when the next term starts in January.

After I gave the final exam for this term, I asked all the students to write about their goals for their future. I would like to share a few of their answers with you.

"My goal is to be an engineering worker according to God's will if I may stay alive from now and future. I always practice some work like connection of electricity in my house, sometimes I cut some trees to burn them as charcoal so as to get some money for school fees. I also practice farming. I have one hectare of eggplant in my garden with a few tomatoes in one side"

"My goal is to be a pastor to preach the word of God because I like to read the Bible every day."

"My goal is to be a teacher to teach our children in our society because 21 years we spent in civil war. My goal is that if God will help me, I will finish my education."

"My future goal is to be a business man after studying. The reason is that I want to help my family at large. I want to support my brother to study also like me. Business is very important for our life in the , I want to overcome the poverty in our society."

"My goal is nothing because there is no work to do. I was working in a farm, but there is nothing in it. That is my condition, and even I don't have anybody to pay school fees. Now I struggle to do some work like burning of charcoal, cutting poles, but there is less money. I will either finish my education or not. I am trying to get some work like engineering or driving."

I ask that you would pray for all the students to have hope for their futures that comes from the truth of the gospel. I also ask that you would pray for wisdom for me as I plan for the next term.

Sustainable Development

What is sustainable development? I have been asking myself that question a lot recently. I have read excerpts of various books, listened to podcasts, and had many discussions on the subject.

The word sustainable has become a bit of a buzz word of the last few years, and is used in various contexts with different meanings. Wikipedia defines sustainable development as pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for future generations. In addition, many people (including myself) would not consider development truly sustainable if it creates an indefinite dependence on foreign aid or subsidized products. In other words, sustainable development has an exit strategy and aims to have nationals managing and operating projects. Other development experts, such as Jeffrey Sachs, would more broadly define sustainable development as the emerging science of global scale change.

It doesn't take much reading to know that development experts do not all agree. Jeffrey Sachs, William Easterly, and Paul Collier have very different views on development. I don't yet know my own opinions on many of the aspects of sustainable development that are being debated around the world. I do know that my relationship with God impacts the way I think about sustainable development. In discussions about human rights, my perspective is anchored to my belief that all humans are made in the image of God. I pray that as I study the broad spectrum of things that are considered sustainable development, I would similarly always anchor my perspective on the truth of the gospel.

Mahogany

Southern Sudan has many natural resources. Mahogany, ebony, and teak can be found growing in the forests surrounding Mundri. Mahogany is used by local carpenters for nearly everything they build. As I write this, I am sitting on a mahogany chair, at a mahogany desk, while the roofs of our houses are being constructed behind me with mahogany 2x4s.

The mahogany used for construction in Mundri could be used for expensive fine furniture in Europe or America, but Mundri does not have access to those markets. Transportation in Southern Sudan is also prohibitively expensive. And then what would the carpenters use for construction in Mundri? To import another type of wood for construction would make it too expensive, especially after transportation costs are added. The mahogany trees in this area are a blessing to those who are rebuilding, giving them access to strong, moderately termite resistant wood.

Few people are currently replanting mahogany for future generations. Next year when we move to our new homes on the church land, Larissa hopes to plant some of these types of trees for the next generations in Mundri.

A Visit to Lui

On Monday morning Larissa and I hitched a ride with some friends to Lui, a town about 45 minutes up the main road. It just so happened that there was a man on a short-term team from Missouri who is an expert on the application of GPS and GIS tools to agricultural studies. Since I have been learning about the use of GPS and GIS for mapping water points and Larissa is our resident gardener, we decided to go to Lui and hear more about his work. There is no cell phone reception in Lui so we didn't know anything more than what he had told Karen when they flew in on the same MAF flight. In fact we didn't even know his last name, but we were off to Lui looking for "Mark the scientist".

The ride to Lui was glorious. It was a cloudy morning with a cool breeze and we were sitting in the back of a land cruiser pick-up. Since it is now the start of the dry season, the leaves are rapidly turning from green to brown. It felt like Fall to me for the first time.

We met up with Mark, and it just so happened that his group had planned to visit a teak plantation run by the Mothers' Union and the ECS church in Lui that morning, so we joined them for the trip while chatting with Mark and Sam, a gardener also from Missouri. *See pictures of the teak plantation from my last post

Later we returned to the guesthouse and sat and talked with Mark, Sam, and the rest of their short-term team. I learned a lot of helpful information for using Google Earth to map water points. A few weeks ago, Google Earth updated the images available for Mundri and the rest of Southern Sudan making them significantly more useful for our work. Michael and I had already seen the new images, but Mark had new insights about the benefits of using Google Earth for water and agricultural ministries. Much of Mark's work is too high tech to be useful in Mundri, but it was also interesting to hear about how new technologies are being used for agriculture in Japan and around the world.



In the afternoon, we got to talk with our friends, David and Heather, about some of the problems they have seen Moru farmers face and possible solutions. We also heard about what has been tried in Lui previously by other NGOs and missionaries. They have been missionaries in Africa for several decades, and we are so thankful for their knowledge and wisdom.

*David showed us what looks like a field of purple wildflowers but is actually a field of crops completely destroyed by the parasitic plant striga.

David and Heather graciously hosted Larissa and me for dinner and let us stay the night in the guestroom of their beautiful home. Their compound is truly an oasis in Lui. We had a perfect, restful night of conversation. They even gave us a ride back to Mundri the next morning.

In the end our visit to Lui was such a blessing. We learned some new things. We enjoyed the cool weather and a beautiful sunset. We had a night of deep sleep uninterrupted by Chai barking or a motorcycle revving its engine at 6 am.

Fall in Lui

*Top three pictures are from a teak plantation in Lui

Thankfulness

Celebrating our first Thanksgiving in Sudan was a beautiful success. We brought some ingredients from Uganda and made some substitutions for things available in Mundri to make many traditional American dishes. Tuesday night we started by having a team meeting and writing the plan on the white board in the dinning room.



Then the preparations started. I peeled and mashed a lot of potatoes. Larissa made stuffing, pumpkin casserole, and prepared the chickens. Bethany, Kim, and Karen made pies. We were all busy, but not stressed. It was an enjoyable and restful two days of cooking, talking, and decorating.




The kids did a wonderful job of setting the table and making thankfulness turkeys out of construction paper for everyone on the team. We wrote things we were thankful for on each finger of our traced hands that made the turkey's feathers.

By dinner time on Thanksgiving day, we were all dressed up. I even put on some makeup for the first time since I arrived in Sudan . Liana watched closely as I put on eyeshadow and mascara. Acacia even put up her hair, deviating from her normal look. With everyone all "spiffed up" as Karen says, we took some new team pictures.





For dessert, we welcomed 13 Americans on the short term team working in Mundri this week. We sat in the yard talking and enjoying pumpkin, apple, and pecan pies.

At the end of the day, I was very thankful for our first Thanksgiving in Mundri. I was a day to join together as a team and thank God all the beautiful ways he has been working in each of our lives and his provision for all of us.

On Friday all the Christmas decorations went up, Christmas music played all day, and we watched our first Christmas team movie of the year.

Sudan Water Fund

Many of you received my last prayer letter where I described plans for a water ministry in the Greater Mundri area and our needs.

The latest news is that we now have a button on the WHM website for this fund. It is now even easier to give specifically to the Sudan Water Fund. You can give online at http://www.whm.org/project/details?ID=19202.

For any readers who don't receive my prayer letters, our proposed rural water ministry strategy has two main components: hand pump repair and development of a sustainable management system through community involvement. We are asking that people would prayerfully consider helping us launch this ministry, whether that is financially or through prayer, as we move forward in faith.

Choo Fishing

This morning was full of excitement. Just as Acacia was getting ready to start school, she dropped her flip flop down the choo (pit latrine)! Acacia only has one pair of shoes, so this was a considerable loss.

Then the choo fishing started...


Gaby, Liana, and Acacia all jumped in to help rescue Acacia's flip flop, with a "fishing pole" Michael quickly rigged up.



Success! Michael fished out the flip flop after several attempts.
The fisherman posed for a picture with his catch: Acacia's Chaco flip flop which was now covered in maggots and everything else that goes down the choo.


Acacia then got to work with bleach and soap to clean her rescued flip flop.

All of this before 10 am on Bethany's first morning with our team!

Dukul Progress

It has been a wonderful experience to help design and build the house Larissa and I will be sharing in only a few short months. Since we are building with ferrocement, all our furniture will be built in the walls. Over the last few weeks, we have been making decisions about where to put our beds, desks, and shelves. Pretty soon we will be picking fabric for curtains. The tent next to the main house has been a good home for the last six months, but I am looking forward to having a quiet place with a desk to sit at during the day and hopefully fewer visitors of the animal variety at night. We are rapidly running out of construction supplies, but thankfully the truck of supplies I purchased with our contractor a week ago in Kampala is now making its way from Uganda to Sudan.


Local houses in Mundri are called tukuls, and since two people will be living in each of the structures we are building for single men and women we have decided to call them dukuls (duplex + tukul).

Blue Pipes

The last time Michael and I were in Kampala, we bought some blue PVC riser pipes to install in local boreholes. This week we had the opportunity to replace some corroded galvanized iron (GI) riser pipes with the PVC riser pipes. The PVC pipes were about half the price of the GI pipes and won't corrode. Corrosion of the riser pipes is one of the most significant causes of handpump breakdown we have seen in the Mundri area. The PVC pipes are also lighter and easier to work with than the GI pipes. We are working with the county water office to continue replacing corroded GI pipes with PVC pipes.

Friends in DRC

Here are a few pictures from my visit to Beni, DR Congo. I had an amazing week at UCBC (Christian Bilingual University of Congo) with friends I met at CIT and new friends. We have been on the field about six months now, and it was such a blessing to be able to talk to someone who went through missions training with me. I had great conversations with students, played cards and Settlers of Catan at night, and rested to prepare for the second part of a hectic shopping trip in Kampala.

At the construction site of the new classrooms at UCBC with Meredith

Chelsie and Grant in the teacher's lounge between classes at UCBC

Grant hasn't had a haircut since he arrived in Congo

All smiles
Check out Meredith's tan!

Tan Lines

After five months in Sudan and a lot of time spent working outside on the water tower and construction of our housing, I have pretty great Chaco tan lines. This picture was even taken after I scrubbed all the dirt off my feet.

What goes up...

I am the new volunteer S1 (first year) physics teacher at Mundri Seconday School. Tuesday was my first class, and I had a lot of fun preparing a lesson plan and teaching the students. When I was studying engineering in college, I never would have thought that three years later I would be teaching high school level physics. There are approximately 50 students in the class, and we meet for two hours once a week.

I am truly excited to be teaching a subject that I enjoyed as a student. I am also looking forward to getting to know the students as well as the other teachers. Most of the students are very motivated and eager to learn.

I know that teaching this class will be challenging. Students don't have copies of the text book since they cannot be bought locally and are expensive. In addition, due to the recent teachers' strike, the start of this school year was delayed for over two months, which means teachers will be trying to fit the entire curriculum into the remaining months.

This class will not only be challenging for me as the teacher, but it will be challenging for the students. I was told several times during my first class that the material was very tough, and I expect that it will get harder as we move on from the scientific method to Newton's laws of motion.

As I teach physics over the coming months, join me in praying that I would remember that everything good that I am is Christ in me. If I am patient and show the students love, then the glory belongs to God. If I am impatient or get frustrated with the students, pray that God would show me my sin. Also pray for wisdom for all the teachers including myself as we teach the students are Mundri Secondary School.

If you have any words of encouragement for a first time teacher, send it my way!

Flowing Water

After months of work with the help of many people, we now have water flowing to the construction site and a new tap for the community. The work on the water tower is essentially complete. We took this picture of the completed water tower and community tap with two of the men who have been working with us for the past few months and the Bishop. Since Kyle couldn't be with us in person to see the water flowing, I made cardboard Kyle who joined us for the pictures. God has provided every step of the way during the construction of the water tower. There were even two short term teams here at the very times when we needed extra manpower to raise the tank and tower.


Everyone is very aware of the importance of water everyday in Mundri. The crops need rain to grow. We all need water to stay hydrated in the heat. Many people work hard everyday to keep their family supplied with water. We pray that many hearts in Sudan would flow with rivers of living water and that the provision of water would be a foretaste of a time when there will be no hunger or thirst.

Revelation 7:15-17 "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Construction 201

Over the last week our team house has started to take shape. First the walls were marked out with string, and after a few minor changes, the contractor's team of men started on the foundation. By the end of today we should have two courses of blocks completed on the walls.

As construction progresses on our team housing, I am learning a lot of new skills and techniques. I would say that I've moved on from Construction 101 and started classes in Construction 201. Today I learned how to make structures out of ferrocement which we will be using extensively on our team housing.

Quibe

Every Tuesday I cook dinner for the team. This week I decided to try a meal that reminds me of Brazil and all the good things from times I have stayed with my grandparents in Santos. I decided to make quibe, with several substitutions for ingredients available in the market or in our pantry. One of the main ingredients in quibe is bulgur wheat, which we did not have, so I used couscous instead. I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, but in the end it tasted pretty close to the real deal to me. Acacia even announced at the dinner table that it tasted strange but she liked the quibe.


Learning to cook here has been a gradual process for me. As I gain experience and figure out the little tricks that make things work, I am really starting to enjoy cooking in Sudan. Next week I may just try a Brazilian version stroganoff.

http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quibe

Our Housing Arrived!

With "some assembly required" as Karen said on her blog. A truck arrived today with A LOT of cement, pipe, paint, and even a few sinks. It drove from Kampala, Uganda to Mundri, Sudan over the past week and half with a few delays due to a broken bridge and some import paperwork. The store which is holding all our supplies is complete except for a few finishing touches, and once the construction is finished it will serve as a tool shed/garage.

Dependent Engineer

Yesterday we installed three of the pipes on the water tower. We are making progress, and it is even starting to resemble the finished product.

Connecting the threaded pipes to the tank seemed like it would be a simple job compared to lifting the tank onto the platform, but it turned out to be far more challenging than expected. Things were complicated by the fact that our ladder has not yet arrived with the remainder of our building supplies. Michael climbed on top of the tower with one pipe wrench while I stayed on the ground with the other. One of the pipes had to be rethreaded once it was already bolted to the tank, and the cordless drill charger broke in the middle of the job.

As I learn how to work as an engineer who is dependent on God, I am continually reminded of the importance of prayer. I am not always diligent about praying before we start work, but when I don't pray I am more apt to get frustrated, feel unqualified, and act like an orphan instead of a child of God in a thousand other ways.

In the next few days the supplies we bought in Kampala for our housing will be arriving on a truck. I will learn a whole set of new skills as we continue construction including how to build structures with ferrocement.

As construction continues, please join us in prayer.
Pray for protection and safety.
Pray for success and efficiency.
Pray that we would be good stewards of our funds, supplies, and the land.
Pray for the community that will be impacted by our work.
Pray for my heart as I continue to grow in dependence on God.

Back in Mundri

For the last two weeks I have been in Uganda spending a few days on vacation and the rest of the time in Kampala doing some banking, getting my work permit, and purchasing construction supplies for our housing. As Michael put it, our team housing will arrive this week with some assembly required. We hope to be done with the construction by the end of this year.

I spent three days on vacation in Jinja near the source of the Nile and a little vacation time in Kampala. Jinja was beautiful and quiet. I had a lot of time to think and pray about my first three months in Mundri. In Kampala I got a pedicure, and my feet felt really clean for the first time in months. I also saw a movie in a movie theater, did some personal shopping, and went out to eat. I journaled a lot over those few days of vacation with no distractions or commitments. It was a perfect few days of rest and relaxation.

While I was in Uganda, I also got to meet Bob, a missionary water engineer, and his family. It was great to be able to hear about the work they are doing in Uganda, their vision for ministry, the ways God has worked through them, and the ways they have struggled. It also just so happened that several former WHMers were also in Uganda. Scott and Jane had us over for dinner along with Joel, who worked with Michael as an engineering intern in Uganda. It has been such a blessing to be part of the WHM family, and slowly I am getting to know my extended WHM family.

Now I am back home in Mundri with the rest of the team. After a month of people coming and going, the eight of us are reunited and sitting around the dinner table together again. This week we will resume work on the construction of our team housing and continue to seek funding for our rural water ministry grant proposal.

Caught in the Rain

In Mundri there is often a moment when you see the storm clouds and hear thunder in the distance and you have to make a choice. You can either stay put and wait out the rain or try to beat it home. Since I rode my bike to the office today, I decided I would leave and try to beat the rain. I was about a quarter of the way home when it started to rain hard. I took shelter under a tree for a few minutes but as the rain got harder I decided I had to move, especially since I had my computer with me in my backpack. I rode to the next compound and was greeted by a woman named Susan who so kindly let me wait out the rain in her tukul. I was soaked and covered in mud at this point, but my backpack was still pretty dry. I sat and talked with Susan for about an hour. She spoke some English and little Moru since she is from Yei. I really enjoyed our conversation and hearing about her family. She was very surprised to hear that I am an only child, which is very uncommon in Sudan. Once the rain slowed down, I decided I better start biking back since I didn’t want to have to ride home in the dark and it was already close to 6 pm. The heavy rains had created rivers of mud on the roads. I kept pedaling as fast as I could to get back which resulted in mud being splashed all over my legs, back, hair, arms, and pretty much everywhere else. Some of the puddles were already several feet deep, so I got off and carried my bike over the largest puddles and just rode through the rest. I was already muddy and wet at that point anyway. When I got to our gate, it was locked! I called out to Kim, and she let me in. I was soaked, but thankful that my computer stayed completely dry. I put my things down, and went to get my things to take a shower. When I got into the tent, I saw that it also did not fare so well in this storm. Water had come in the front door and a few windows. The rip in the back also let some water in onto our beds which are now pretty damp, but not soaked. I took a glorious shower that even felt warm since I was pretty cold from sitting in wet clothes for over an hour. Now I am clean and sitting at our dining room table writing this blog post. Dinner is almost ready, and Kim made pizza for the intern goodbye party tonight. I am looking forward to good, warm food. I am sure I will be caught in the rain many more times during rainy season. I even enjoyed the last part of the bike ride through puddles and small stream since I was already wet and covered in mud.

Pictures

The West End team came ready with their cameras and took a lot of great pictures. Here are just a few.

(A classroom being prepared for painting at the theological college)

(Joseph reunited at the secondary school with family)

(The team out to eat at the Arabic restaurant)

(A new July 2009 WHM Sudan Team picture)

Visitors from Richmond

The West End team has arrived safely. They arrived on Tuesday bringing with them a care package from my mom, cards from all the women in my Richmond Bible study, and gifts from friends. I received a trunk full of practical things I didn't know I would need until I got to Mundri, plenty of new books to read (including Anna Karenina), and surprises that made me laugh, smile, and even shed a few tears.

The next day I joined the team for a prayer walk through Mundri. We visited Mundri Relief and Development Association (MRDA), the secondary and primary schools, the health clinic, and some local businessmen. After our visit with MRDA, some of the team had an opportunity to join the Bishop to pray for a witch doctor who had renounced demonic control and believed in Jesus, so we split up into two groups for the remainder of the day. Although we learned a lot about how to pray for Mundri and the needs in the area, the highlight of the prayer walk for me was seeing Joseph, a Moru man who lives and worships in Richmond, see Mundri for the first time in 20+ years. As we were walking through Mundri, Joseph reconnected with so many friends and family members he had not seen since before the war. After enjoying tea and good conversation in the afternoon, we walked with Joseph to his family’s land on the other side of town. He was reunited with his brother on the land he lived on as a child. It was a powerful moment as we prayed with them and heard some of the story of their family.

The next day we had the opportunity to see a hand pump repair at a borehole, visit a local women’s business project, and visit the theological college where the team would be teaching over the following days. Friday and Saturday the team taught on discipleship, leadership, business principles, and several other topics. Some of the men also had the opportunity to meet with the local chamber of commerce for several hours. I was encouraged personally by the teaching, but I was also encouraged by the dialogues that took place during the question and answer time. The students from the theological college and church staff that were in attendance had some difficult questions about spiritual gifts, suffering, and the things that they encounter on a daily basis as Sudanese believers. Their struggles may be different than mine, but I was so encouraged by the discussions because we have the same hope.

Sunday we split up and the team preached at 4 different services in the Mundri area. Hearing Kevin preach at the church that I attend in Mundri was a great blessing. It was familiar and comforting to hear him share the gospel. The church services were beautiful and powerful and God was glorified. If you are reading this and live in Richmond, talk to one of the men on the team about their experiences at these churches, because I don’t know how to express in a few sentences the joy, humility, gratitude, dependence on God, and hope that is felt at these worship services.

Sunday night the World Harvest team got to together to have a goodbye party for Kyle. He will be leaving on the same flight that will take the West End team home on Tuesday. It was a night full of laughs, prayer, and sadness. We will all miss Kyle dearly. Tuesday will be a sad day when the team from West End and Kyle leave together on the MAF flight.


Here are some ways you can join us in praying for Mundri:
1. Hope – Our theme for the week was that the gospel brings hope to Southern Sudan.
2. Pastors Training – Pray for the men who are students at the theological college who desire to be educated despite many challenges, especially being separated from their families.
3. Elections – Pray for the upcoming elections where most people will be voting for the first time in their lives and will be casting 12 ballots with up to 71 political parties on the ballots.
4. Teachers Strike – Pray for the teachers strike in Mundri which has been going on for nearly two months.
5. Water – Pray for access to clean drinking water for the people on Southern Sudan, especially in the more rural areas.
6. Girls' Education – Pray for education for girls who often do not complete their primary education due to family responsibilities.
7. Health – Pray for health services in Southern Sudan, and pray for a disease that has been affecting many people in the Mundri area has no known cause or cure locally called nodding disease.
8. Business – One of the major challenges to business in Mundri is the fact that there is currently no bank in the area.