Gone for the month of May

In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, all five of us will board a plane on our way across the ocean to reunite with the whole Fader family for a fabulous wedding - Caleb and Krista. We couldn't be more excited. We've been packing for 3 countries - our things for Melut, South Sudan which we are sending up ahead of us, our things for a month in the States, and our Kenya things. Phew!!! But it's all worth it. We will probably be out of touch for a while. See you in June!

South Sudan Team Update

Our team of over 80 people all gathered in Kenya last week for a great conference at a beautiful place called Brackenhurst. For 4 days we enjoyed an inspiring speaker, great worship led by a team from the States, good food, and encouraging fellowship - hearing stories of what God is doing all over Sudan and South Sudan.

 Eli was the Master of Ceremonies and did a great job.

The kids sang a special song in one of our last sessions. I think it's so beautiful to see all these precious missionary children having fun together.

This is the Nairobi, Kenya administration and leadership team. They are the glue that keeps our team functioning!

 This is the Doro Team. Their base has grown from a small rural village town to a booming, overflowing refugee camp with more than 80,000 displaced people due to fighting between North and South Sudan. Most of this team do medical work.

This team is based in Malakal and has more than doubled in the past few weeks!

 We're a little partial to this team! :) This group represents Melut and Thiangrial. Debbie in the green and Tom will be in Thiangrial, about 30 minutes by boat ride on the river. Claire (in pink) teaches and works at Gideon Theological College where we'll be joining in June.

And here we are: The 2012 SIM South Sudan Team! Please pray for each one here as they head back into ministry in the next few weeks with more unrest and uncertainty than before.

All we can say is: PLEASE PRAY!

 These pictures are from www.sudantribune.com
As we daily pray for South Sudan, we are almost fearful to check the news. Today my heart sunk as I read the breaking news. The northern armies bombed the town of Bentiu, hitting the market. This is the North coming into southern territory and dropping bombs. How long will they be able to take this?

 Look at this face for a minute. Think about the life this young man has had and the suffering and loss he's experienced. And please pray for God's sovereign will to be done.

This woman ran from the bombing just this morning, April 23rd.

Faders are in Kenya!

    We arrived in Nairobi, Kenya safely last week. It's going to take us a while to recuperate from our intense last weeks in Khartoum but already the cooler weather and down time is refreshing us. Today we load up with the rest of our Sudan team to head to a beautiful area in the lush green mountains about an hour out of the city for a 4 day Spiritual Life Conference. We are looking forward to connecting with our fellow missionaries and hearing stories from the other bases in South Sudan. Our hearts are very heavy due to the news coming out of Sudan these days so we are looking forward to spending time in prayer with our team for the people and country we all love so deeply.
      Please pray that the governments in North and South Sudan will NOT give up on peaceful talks. The situation has been escalating in the past week with the 2 armies clashing in several border areas.

A Great Finish

 During our last few weeks in Khartoum, we'd been asking God to help us finish strong and make good closure with all our friends. He has surely answered our prayers! We've had many special outings and farewell gatherings. You can see that Eli and I aren't the only ones saying goodbye!

 On Easter morning, our entire church family met on the beach before 6:30 am to have a special sunrise service on the Nile River. It was beautiful in many ways.

 Eli gave the Bible Reading

 Isaac sang a song with the older Sunday school children. (We didn't get the memo to wear white.)

 I guess men say their goodbyes a little differently than women do :)

A kind fisherman let us get our picture taken on his boat - what a great ending to a truly wonderful year in Khartoum! We fly out tonight in the middle of the night and will arrive in Nairobi, Kenya first thing tomorrow morning.