Party at the river

At 5 pm we all piled in the truck to head to the river where the boat used to be. The river's gone so far down that there's a huge sand bar, perfect for playing beach volleyball and soccer. Soon the game headed into the water and everyone was splashing around in the water. We drew quite a crowd but many who were down at the river washing clothes and bathing, joined in the fun. Everyone had a great time.

I forgot to bring towels but this sheet worked just fine to warm them up afterwards.

New "Pampering" ministry

I've wanted to introduce you to my special friend and colleague, Victoria Adamu. She's from Nigeria and has become like a sister in a short time. Together, as the two moms on our team, we've started a prayer ministry, praying together three times a week. And lately we began another new ministry which we're calling "Pampering Ministry."

A few weeks ago we had a team of six come from the States. They brought at least a dozen bottles of nail polish of all different colors. We started taking them along when we went visiting and the women LOVE getting their toes and fingernails done.

When the team left last week, they left us all their nail polish. So yesterday and today, when it finally starts to cool down in the late afternoon, we get our five kids together and venture off in a new direction. We've already made new friends and the nail polish is always a big hit! Who ever knew that nail polish could be a way to open doors to new friendships and a venue to show our love and God's love?

Can you tell who else gets a lot of love?

I woke up this morning and in a rare moment of actually saying the right thing at the right time, the first words out of my mouth were, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Babe!” I was going to take a light day. I would run down and check on the bridge work and then come back and hopefully get to spend some time as a family. As I was loading up the quad bike to take some cement down, a metal digging bar slipped off the bike and slashed my foot open. The cut went deep and soon the appropriate Valentine’s color was flowing. I quickly went back to the house and assessed the damage with Bethany. In the end, we hopped in the pick-up truck and went to the GOAL clinic in town and got stitched up. Now this was not necessarily the most romantic thing we have done together but what can one expect in Sudan? Happy Valentine’s Day.

Team Picture February 2009

We hiked up to one of the large Granite stones in our area and took this team photo.
From Left to Right: Thomas Amrein (Switzerland), Asule Pangomi (India), Steven Adamu (Nigeria), Canberra Marak (India), Joshua Fader (USA), Bethany Fader (USA), Eli Fader (USA), Victoria Adamu (Nigeria), Hallelujah Adamu (Nigeria), Front: Evan Fader (USA), Praise Adamu (Nigeria), Isaac Fader (USA). Not pictured: Phalice VanderPol (USA)

Make Way!

I am not sure how Evan convinced Isaac and Praise (son of SIM Nigerian Missionaries) to parade him around but they all seemed to be enjoying it. We have a donkey cart which we rarely use so the boys have taken it as their own.

Watch Out Sudan!!!

It was only a matter of time before the primal roar, gripping power, exhilarating speed, and macho presence of our quad-bike lured Bethany in. We now have a new quad-bike driver. Watch out Sudan, she’ll be coming your way soon. She, of course, is a very careful driver.

Amana's growing

It's been a few months since I've given an update about baby Amana. For those of you who don't know Amana, he is a 7 month old orphan boy. About four months ago, Haua, his caregiver came asking for help and we were able to start feeding him formula every time she brought him to the compound. The first time I saw him he had red hair - a sign of malnutrition - and measles. But today he looked so good. He gulped down a full 8 ounces of formula and I sent more home with him. I also gave him some new clothes. This outfit he's wearing in the picture I gave him months ago but I don't think it gets washed much. Thank you to all of you who've been praying for him.

Homeschooling is fun!

As we're settling back into life in Yabus, I've started doing preschool with Isaac and Evan again. They get so excited about sitting down with their special pencils at their blue table and for about 45 minutes we practice our ABC's and numbers. Joshua sits nearby and plays on a blanket.