Highlights of the week

We've only been back from Kenya for 9 days and already our week has been very full! After 2 weeks in Kenya we discovered that little baby Isaac (born in the cornfield - scroll down to September for the full story) grew like a weed while we were away. It is such a joy to see such a chubby, healthy little guy!

 



Baby Isaac

Today the boys and their friends trapped this egret. I think Isaac's best friend wants to keep it as a pet but we'll see how long that lasts. Joshua was completely mesmerized by the bird today and got too close to the frustrated bird and got pecked in the face. Not many kids get to say they got pecked in the face by an egret, but I still feel sorry for Josh and have warned him to stand back from now on!

Yesterday in Claire's weekly health class for the student wives she taught about the dangers of drowning. She explained different methods for rescuing people out of the water and then she discussed life-saving techniques.

Isaac was sweet to volunteer to be the "dummy" for us to demonstrate some basic CPR.

 



Eli has had several meetings with our builder who is going to start construction on our house hopefully very soon. I had to include this photo to brag on our amazing view in our front yard!!!

In the heat of the afternoon the boys brought out board games and played in the shade.

 

Josh has Jeremiah wrapped around his little finger!!! Jeremiah has known Josh since he was only 2 months old!

 

With the weather getting hotter the students at the college are getting creative about making more comfortable places to study. Here, our good friend Yuna, set up his own study place outside under a tree.

I was over visiting with some of the women today and all of a sudden we heard a racket coming from Viola's house - the lady who bakes bread and sells it to everyone on campus. This mischevious sweetheard apparently got into the flour!!! Eli said we probably shouldn't buy today's bread!!! :)

Another Incredible Birth

Sweet Baby Girl

Today started as any other day at 6 am. I woke up to a beautiful pink sunrise and a quiet hour - just the Lord and me. At 8 am, I was clearing our breakfast dishes from the table when Monica, a student in the college and neighbor to 9-month pregnant Rebecca, came to tell me that Rebecca was ready to have her baby! OK, shift gears - this is no longer an ordinary day - but not many days in Melut, South Sudan are! :)

As I hurried out the door on my way to let Claire know, it felt like a replay of a month ago when Claire and I helped another friend Martha, give birth to her 8th child in a cornfield. (If you haven't read that story yet, scroll down on the blog and you'll find it.) Claire grabbed her medical bag, already prepared, and we hurried over to Rebecca's tukul/hut. It was dark and very humid and hot inside and as our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we saw Rebecca sitting on a mat on the ground with her feet straight out in front of her, not at all what you would expect to find for a woman getting ready to give birth! We greeted her and could tell immediately that she was beginning to feel another contraction. Suddenly she got up on her knees (sorry for those who don't like the details) and her water broke. Claire and I looked at each other in surprise when we realized that she also had the urge to push already! Somehow these ladies always know when the baby is near and they call us right when the baby is about to come out - amazing!

Another contraction and a healthy baby girl was born - without even a sound from her mother. I am absolutely in awe of these tough, courageous Sudanese women who go through the most difficult pain in life without even making a peep! As it had happened before, Claire cut the umbilical cord, wiped off the baby, and passed her to me while she concentrated on helping to deliver the afterbirth. Again, I experienced the true joy and honor of being the first face this sweet baby looked up at. Her eyes slowly opened, blinking, even though it wasn't at all bright in the dark hut. I smiled at her and began talking gently to her in Arabic, welcoming her to the world and telling her how much she was loved.

Getting the afterbirth out proved to take longer than we had hoped and if you can picture at least 6 women, all from different tribes, all with their own ideas and suggestions for how to help Rebecca and what could be going wrong - it made for a tense hour. Finally, completely in answer to our prayers, everything that needed to, came out and we all praised the Lord and cheered. What could have been an emergency just affirmed to us all yet again HOW GREAT OUR GOD is and that He was indeed present with us as we all huddled together, sweating profusely.

After we helped clean Rebecca and the baby, we coaxed her into her bed to rest and nurse her new little daughter. Her other four children crowded in to see their baby sister, all with huge, shy smiles. Simon, her husband,  had been called from class and we congratulated him on his new little girl and then he returned to class.

 Once it was all over and Rebecca and baby were resting, one of the ladies started saying the baby had finally come because we had come. See, when we were leaving for Kenya for 2 weeks, I jokingly told Rebecca to wait until we got back before she had her baby. Sure enough, we got back and were quite surprised to find her still pregnant. She joked that of course she was still pregnant because I had told her to wait! So today they reminded me of what I'd said and thought it was great that this little baby had waited so that Claire and I could participate in the joy. It really is quite an amazing experience, working together with these "sisters" of many tribes and languages. When something urgent like a birth happens, we all unite and work together, and there is something so bonding about it. I really am thankful that this little girl decided to wait until October 18th. :)

 

Welcoming the new Commissioner

Just 2 days after we returned to Melut and there is already a lot of excitement around here! Today all of Melut celebrated the arrival of a new Commissioner for our area.

elaborate headdress

Dancers

...Just so you can see more of the culture here

Four Fabulous days of Rest & Refreshment

We just got back from four days by the beautiful Lake Naivasha, only 2 hours out of the bustling city of Nairobi, Kenya.

We rented a little cabin for 3 nights and spend the days hiking, swimming, and venturing out to see animals.

 

 

 We enjoyed bonfires every night, complete with roasting marshmallows.

On one of our hikes Evan found a warthog jaw bone

We aren't sure what animal this was so we called it the mystery skull

What a spectacular view! We were so glad the boys enjoyed hiking.

 



We even got to walk out with the wild animals! At one place we weren't allowed out beyond a certain point because there were agressive buffaloes nearby.

Isaac and Evan find a tree to climb wherever they go!

 



Evan got really good at snorkeling this trip.

 



 

Food is a highlight wherever we go. We cooked our own meals at the cabin but ate out during the day at the lodges we visited. Now we're back in Nairobi with one week to go before we jump back on a small airplane and head home to Melut.