Faders in Feb.

Let me fill you in on a few details from our past month in Yabus. On February 1, we landed back in Yabus in 104 degree heat with three new teammates: Alexandra from Romania, Peter from Scotland, and Helene from Sudan to teach at the secondary school.

It didn't take long to get back into the Sudan way of life. Eli still has many responsibilites around the compound. One of his main projects these days is building a new office/library to be used by our teammates involved in church discipleship. In his spare time, he continues to teach Chronological Bible stories to the Ganza people on Fridays, play soccer, and keeps improving his Arabic.

This is a meeting Eli had with some of the local Uduk church leaders and SIM's Ganza team. They discussed strategies for reaching the Coma and Ganza tribes with the gospel. Until 2006, these tribes had never heard about Jesus and they're hungry to learn!

This is our 2010 graduating class. Four years ago, these 29 students didn't know their ABC's or how to add 1+1. Now they're writing essays in English, memorizing Scripture in English, and solving simultaneous equations in Math. I know because I'm their math teacher. I've enjoyed teaching them these past 5 months and we're proud to send them out into the world to be salt and light. Also pictured are the other teachers: Lori, Victoria, and Asule. Somehow we have an all-female staff this year!

Eli and I enjoy watching the boys' excitement about being home - they're definitely living in their "element." This picture was taken when we went to Doro, a nearby SIM base, to spend the weekend. The boys played with Caleb and Bethanie, their good friends, we ate some good food (Pizza in the picture) and were encouraged by friends we don't see much during the year.