Our first fish attempt

 Though Eli and the boys fish almost every day, they didn't catch this one! We have some friendly fisherman friends who now beach their boat by our fence every day to show us their catch. Yesterday when Eli saw this crazy eel-like fish WITH TEETH, he couldn't resist. And so the lesson began for me: how to gut, clean, and fillet a fish!

This guy had some serious teeth! And he weighed a little more than 4 kilos which is more than 8 pounds! The other strange characteristic it had was 4 appendages! The things that live in the Nile! Eli wanted it for lunch so the first thing I did was go over to my neighbor Mary to ask her to come show me how it's done. She told me this fish is very very tasty but takes extra work.

 I'm sparing you the pictures of what I had to watch! After cutting off the head and pulling out all its innards, we put the pieces of fish in boiling water for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, we could take the chunks of meat out and with a knife, pull off the skin and scales.

Next, we deep fried it in oil and I sent half of the fish home with Mary. This was very much a bonding experience!

The family very much enjoyed lunch! I think Josh and Isaac ate more than anyone!

Becoming one of the ladies

 From the beginning, we have felt very welcomed and accepted by the students and their families. One of the women's favorite things to do is hang out in the afternoons and drink tea and coffee together. So this week my new teammate Kathy hosted a Ladies Tea at her house.

From my years in Yabus I remembered that ladies love having their toe nails painted so I brought a little bag of nail polish. When the ladies were finished drinking their tea and coffee, I took turns going around the circle painting ladies' nails the color of their choice.

Then yesterday I was invited to one of the lady's homes for coffee. Most of the student wives came too. I've noticed that many of them can't remember my name because it's so strange and new for them. So yesterday I suggested they pick a new name for me - one they can remember. So they each wrote their name of choice on a piece of paper, folded it, and put it in a pile. I got to pick one and that was my name. So I would like to introduce myself to you: My name is Nyadeng. My name means rain. I asked them if they named me Rain because I arrived during the rainy season and one of the ladies said, they named me Rain because Rain is a blessing and I brought the rain/blessings when I arrived. :) So sweet. So now I'm Nyadeng. Some of you might think I have an identity crisis since I was also given the name Yasmiin while we were in Khartoum, but it's not confusing for me. I LOVE that they've given me a Dinka name. To me this means they've accepted me as one of them, one of their sisters, and for that I'm overwhelmingly thankful! 

Welcome and Farewell Party

 Last week was the final week of this first semester of the year at Gideon Theological College. To celebrate the end of exams, and say farewell to the Donker family who have invested many years in the school, and welcome us to Melut, there was a lovely afternoon celebration with the students and their families.

 The student wives sang a special song

 The students also sang

 The Commissioner was our guest of honor and gave a short speech about goodbyes

 This is Mr. Philip, our principal of Gideon Theological College with the school secretary, Joyce on his right. After welcoming the Donker family up front to appreciate their years of hard work, and after a kind speech by Philip, they were presented with gifts from the students.

 Then they welcomed Eli and I to the front with a special song. Eli introduced us again and then expressed how excited we are to be here and humbled to try to fill such big shoes.

 Dr. Donker bequeathed his box of chalk and red pen to Eli.

 Kathy passed on the "kettle of hospitality" to me.

 Next, the Donkers presented lovely photo albums as gifts to each student, filled with photos of their first 2 years in college life so far.

 After the program tea, carcade (hibiscus drink) and local doughnuts were served and everyone had a chance to mingle.

 Eli and our friend Yuna from Yabus

 Evan enjoyed the tea too!

And here we are: group photo of Gideon Theological College. We're PROUD to be a part of the group!!!

Days packed full of adventure!

 On our 3rd day here, a huge barge floated by our house - 3 boats connected - carrying people from Khartoum in the north to many towns along the Nile River in the south. This was the view from our porch!

 With so little available in the market, I've been eager to get my garden started.

 The boys took the boat out to try and fish again, still no luck.

 Every night that we have rain, we all wear our boots the next day :)

 Eli mingling and getting to know the students of the college

 Fixing up his motorcycle brought from Yabus - Praise the Lord!

Isaac bravely making friends

Introducing our new home

I would like to give you a little tour of our new home in the peaceful and beautiful village called Melut, in South Sudan. This is our new home and we're very excited to show it to you. Originally we were going to stay in a guesthouse set up down the road but it was quite a distance from the school campus and since we've been so eager to come and get to know everyone here - the students and their families - we asked if we could stay here. Our teammates thought it would be too small and that's why it hadn't been an option. But we've made ourselves quite cozy and at home already. The picture above is our view from our porch!

The Front of our house

 My kitchen seems amazing to me after having to cook on charcoal with no electricity and no running water in Yabus. Now I have both! So I have a 2 burner stove and have running water from 9am-6pm everyday!

 This is the main bedroom we all share. Eli and I on a twin bed and 2 of the boys on a twin bed. :)

This is the way we like to start our days - on the porch looking out at the river with the cool morning breeze. It's seriously like paradise!

We have been so thrilled with Isaac's courage to reach out and make friends already. Evan and Joshua are still pretty shy but today they were joining with other children in the compound to chase out the goats! Please pray that they will be able to make friends quickly.

These are some of the special children on the school campus - children of the students

 These are our nearest neighbors

 The boys were aching to go for a swim so Eli took them down to the "swimming area". There were a lot of reeds but they drew many other "friends" into the water with them.

 The boys have been dreaming of all the fishing they'd do on the River Nile so they have been begging Eli to take them out fishing. So sure enough, on Day 2 in Melut, they went for a late afternoon fish. No bites...yet.

 Again, they attracted quite a crowd of bystanders!

We finished off the day with a lovely watermelon which we purposefully ate on the porch so we could strategically spit the seeds into the dirt where our sink and bath water pour out in hopes of our own watermelon plants soon. Please keep in mind that all these photos were taken on one day, Day 2 in Melut. And I wonder why I was so exhausted at the end of the day!!!!

An Extraordinary Welcome to Melut!

 Our journeys which were supposed to take one day, ended up being a full 2 day long trip but we finally arrived in Melut around noon on June 7th. We put our bags in the guesthouse and hurried over to the college campus to meet everyone.

 The students and their families were waiting for us and came out to meet us with drumming and singing. They walked out to us and then we all walked back to the school building. We were NOT expecting this type of reception. It was very honoring.

 One of the student families, Yuna and his wife Marta and their 7 children were our closest neighbors during our 3 years in Yabus so it was a very joyful reunion!

 Little Sarah is Joshua's age and was a baby last time we saw her. She was a little scared of me when I went in to kiss her cheek!

 The students and their families outside of Gideon Theological College

 Eli gave a short introduction speech and introduced each of us to the student body.

Since they knew we were tired they prayed for us before we left to get some lunch. This was on their own accord and was a great hint of the caliber of these Sudanese students who have come to receive training in God's Word. We count it such a privilege and honor to be here!