I made it through another week. Thank God for that. This week has been made bearable by my section commander... He was unusually nice. Strict, no doubt, but at least he took the time to explain things properly. We had basic navigation exercises this week. Walked till my feet were rubbed raw. Thank God my team didn't have to repeat the second exercise even though we didn't do very well... We could only find one checkpoint and only after 4 hours. I'm convinced that the MGR (Map Grid Reference) and the description of the location they gave us was wrong. My Garang Platoon Commander said he'll look into it. There'll be a third exercise on Monday. This will be the actual test... I pray that I won't screw up and I pray for decent team mates.

Been rather listless these few weeks. Training is always at the back of my mind. Even when I'm sleeping at home, I wake up every few hours to check whether its time to fall in. I had to force myself to sleep longer today. Thats why I managed to have the luxury of 9 hours of sleep.

From 14 June 2004
A storm. You are about to walk into a storm. A storm which will challenge the way you think, the way you speak and the way you behave. You will be challenged spiritually, mentally, morally & physically. You have to ground yourself in the word. Let God drop an anchor in the bedrock of your heart. So you will not waver. You need to prepare yourself so that you become consistent.

There will be times when you are down and you will hear God speaking to you and comforting you. But there will be times when you won't hear anything. It doesn't mean He's not there. This is when you just have to cling to Him. this storm, this fire is a purifying process so that when you get out of it, He will be able to use you.

How long more Lord?