God's Protection

In less than 24 hours the Lord has protected our family from 3 different dangers (that we know of, I'm sure there could have been many more!!!)  First, yesterday, while the boys were making a fort with their friends in the yard, Evan carried an old sack from across campus not knowing the whole time that there was a huge scorpion hanging on to the same sack. Only when Isaac was tying the sack onto their fort did he see the scorpion and realize they both could have been stung.

Then yesterday evening we were over at our teammates' house having dinner. After dinner the adults were chatting while the kids played and suddenly they all came running screaming, "Snake! Snake!" Sure enough, our teammate Jon found a puff adder, a very dangerous snake, right where they'd been playing. Isaac told me he'd been walking barefoot along that side of the house, happened to look down at his feet and he was just about to step on it!!!! Again, THANK THE LORD for His protection!

This morning Eli was making the bed and I heard him call out, "Bethany, come check this out!" He had found a scorpion UNDER HIS PILLOW! Who knows how long it had been there. I remember something scurrying under my pillow before I got into bed last night. I tried to find it but figured it was just a beetle, which we have many of this time of year. I don't know if that was the scorpion but again, the important thing here is that we could have easily been harmed but the Lord protected us.

I imagine there are many more dangers that occur all around us that we never even see but today these occurrences have been a huge encouragement to my heart to be reminded of God's care, love, and protection.

Our Trip to "The Big City"

On Monday, August 12th, we set out from Melut by boat for a four day "get away" to Malakal, the capital city of Upper Nile State here in South Sudan. We brought the boys' best friend German with us so he could see the "big city" for the first time. It was quite an experience for all of us. The boat ride took 3 and half hours and we got to see beautiful scenery and many types of water birds.

We met up with friends we knew from Yabus days and went to this nice restaurant.

Anter Deng, pictured next to Eli, was a teacher at the SIC Secondary School in Yabus and we lived together for about 3 years. He recently got married about a year ago to Nyabuol and they are expecting their first child in a few months.

One of the perks of Malakal was the larger variety of foods and drinks. We splurged and ate out every meal - great treat for me so I didn't have to cook! Here we are eating fish sandwiches with fresh veggies and fruit in our guesthouse.

One day we were out and it rained quite heavily. The walk home after dark IN THE MUD without real flashlights was quite the "adventure". Other fun adventures we had were:
- going to the local zoo where we saw hyenas, crocodiles, an ostrich, a baboon, a monkey, and an antelope.
- our own tour of an old Egyptian agricultural project from the 1950's which included old cranes, ships and railroads.
- a walk around town and the clothes market
- eating out at different restaurants
- meeting up with old friends and our SIM teammates, Tohru and Claire Inoue

An afternoon with the ladies

We have 3 student wives who are expecting babies in the next few months. As is their tradition, just before the baby is due, the expectant mother invites her friends over for tea and coffee and they make a very special incense together. There are many different kinds but they make it themselves. That way, when people come to visit the new baby and mama, there is lovely smelling incense burning.

It is quite the process. After chopping this special type of wood, they melted sugar on the fire and coated the wood in candied sugar. Once all the wood pieces were coated then they added lemon juice. Finally they poured at least 3 different scents of perfume over the wood so it would soak into every piece. The end result smelled amazing.

We were entertained by babies Gideon and Nyangat

My teammate Amie cuddles with little Nyangat

Gideon - named after the martyr who our college is named after