A new teammate

Meet Lori Hoffmeister from Wisconsin. She arrived last Thursday and her enthusiasm and excitement to be here is encouraging and energizing. The boys already call her "Aunt Lori" and enjoy going on quad bike rides or just going over and hanging out at her house.

Lori will teach at the Basic Education Learning Center and also hopes to do some work with the Ganza tribe - literacy and Bible teaching.

Eli's parents spend 8 days with us in Yabus

Getting our stuff home

Joshua meets Yabus friends

In our first week back we've had many friends come to meet Joshua for the first time. Everyone is very interested to see what a white baby looks like so he gets prodded and poked at, but he is definitely loved.

Happy to be Home in Yabus

Hey Y'all!

Forgive us for not getting word out sooner that we've all arrived safely in Yabus with no problems. Both flights went very smoothly, and Eli's parents were a HUGE help! I truly don't know how I would have done the whole trip without them. They have already experienced many adventures since our arrival in Sudan.

The drive from the airstrip to the boat (to cross the river) was like an amusement park ride as we slid and charged through deep mud. Once we got all our cargo across the river, Eli drove the pickup carrying all our stuff while Papa, Isaac, and Evan rode the quad bike. Mom, Josh, and I walked since it's only a mile and I wanted to greet friends along the way. Everyone has been very eager to meet Joshua for the first time. He's been nicknamed "Yabus' baby." At one point, a large crowd of children came running from their village, cheering and yelling, "Joshua! Joshua!" and then they all huddled around me to see his face.

We've already taken TONS of great pictures and will post those on our blog once Internet arrives in Yabus, hopefully in the next few weeks. We're thankful that all 7 of us have been healthy during these first few days. We've had a little bit of rain, lots of mosquitoes, and about 85-90 degree weather every day, so Josh has had to adjust to the weather a bit since it was at least 20 degrees cooler in Nairobi!

God has given us many special experiences with Mom and Papa here. On Tuesday Papa and Eli went to a funeral of a church leader's grandson. Eli was notified 5 minutes before the service that they wanted him to preach and he gave an encouraging message. We've had a steady flow of visitors coming to meet Mom and Papa and of course to see Joshua. Joshua has done so well being passed around and being prodded at. And he gets so tired out during the day that he's sleeping wonderfully - 7-8 hour chunks at night!

Eli, the boys, and I are overjoyed to be home. Even though it's taken a few days to unpack and get the house back to it's homey self, we are so happy and content to be here. Please pray for us though since saying Goodbye to Eli's parents will be heartwrenching and the work here is overwhelming. Eli's taken on quite a few responsibilities, mainly the role as compound manager which includes a lot of different things. Eli's mom has been such a huge help for me, playing with the boys and holding Joshua, that I'm not sure how I'll manage without her. I mention this just so you can pray for us next week. Mom and Papa fly out of Yabus on Tuesday, Sept 16.

Grandparents have arrived

Last night Eli's parents, Tim and Patti Fader, flew into the Nairobi airport and we spent our first full day together today. It didn't take long for Isaac and Evan to warm up to them and it's so nice having extra arms to hold Joshua and help with the kids. This is going to be a great two weeks!

The Final Countdown

In 6 days we'll get on a plane with Eli's parents and fly to Lokichoggio, Kenya, right on the border of Sudan and Kenya. We'll do some last shopping, spend the night, then fly into Yabus first thing Monday morning. We are so excited we can hardly contain it!
I (Bethany) have started packing. This time we're taking 3 - 100 litre barrels packed with food and supplies (we'll use the barrels to collect rain water), a trunk of baby stuff, and 2 duffels of clothes. It will be interesting getting our things from the airstrip to the compound in Yabus. It's a 3 mile walk or more in sticky mud. Monday will be a big adventure for us! Please pray that we will be able to "go with the flow" no matter what happens.

What not to bring

I was looking through some old photos and had to post this one. Often items get sent as gifts with great intentions but land in the wrong place. A ski-mask in Sudan makes about as much sense as spinach to our four year old, Isaac. "What AM I suppossed to do with this?" After explaining to Abdul, who is a great student, how to put the mask on and explaining why one would wear it, I snapped this photo. We laughed and went our ways. I am not sure what he decided to do with it.

Keepin' Busy

Part of what has been occupying my time while in Kenya has been renovating our office. Our team in Sudan has grown from 7 missionaries in 2004 to over 50 missionaries in 2008. The office, needless to say, needed to be expanded. We converted a bathroom into an office, tore out some walls, put internet and power lines in, and painted. I hope it serves the growing needs of both office staff and missionaries. Here is the freshly removed bathtub from the future office.

Weekend family fun

Yabus' flooding river

This is the time of year in Yabus when the river level rises so high that it even floods the old bridge (which is why it's so important we build the new one). One of our teammates rebuilt the pontoon boat we used for crossing the river last year and it's helping transport children to/from school, help people and their goods get to market, and for any medical needs. Please keep praying for more funds to come in for the bridge project as it is such a GREAT need.

Also visit our bridge blog: http://www.yabusbridge.blogspot.com/.

News from Yabus

Our dear friend and teammate, Katie Montgomery, returned to Nairobi from Yabus yesterday. She came over for dinner last night and came to visit again this morning. We've so enjoyed hearing news and stories from Yabus. Katie also brought many pictures and video clips of friends greeting us and sending their love. It was so encouraging to be reminded of our Sudanese friends who miss us and are waiting for our return.

We are now more eager than ever to get home, but also know how to pray more specifically for our colleagues and friends in Yabus. This is a picture of one of our neighbor friends enjoying the picture album we sent with pictures of baby Joshua so our friends there could see our newest addition. You can tell they love him already!

Joshua's paperwork moving right along!

We spent most of Tuesday at the Embassy applying for Josh's passport and social security card. They did tell us that if we wanted his middle name to be Daniel instead of Danzel, we would need to get his birth certificate ammended. Otherwise his middle name would be printed as Danzel on all official documents. We didn't want that.
So yesterday, Wednesday, Eli set off once again for the Sheria House thinking it might take another 5 visits to get the birth certificate fixed. But he came home later in the afternoon beaming because it had been done in ONE day! Yay!
Today Eli went to the Embassy once again to turn in the new, revised birth certificate and thankfully didn't have to wait as long as we did on Tuesday. However, now we've been told that the passport picture we had will not work and we need to get a new one. So this afternoon when all three boys are up from their naps, we'll trek down to the photo place to try one more time. The joys of having children abroad!

Getting the Birth Certificate

As part of our adventures in Africa comes the necessary paperwork that must be obtained. I have spent the last two weeks in a couple locations downtown Nairobi, getting a Birth Certificate for Joshua Daniel. It was a new adventure so I didn't mind the matatu rides (local buses) downtown or the fact that it took five trips to get the needed document. It was a good experience as I went from counter to counter, filled out paper after paper, explaining and bargaining so that I could get 6 Birth certificates. Other missionaries have encouraged us to get multiple copies at the start so we don't have to go back later. All went well and I actually enjoyed the experience but I believe the adventure has just begun. As I rode home on the matatu and pulled out the completed copies of Joshua's offical Birth Certificate, I noticed they have written his name as "Joshua Danzel" instead of "Joshua Daniel". Is it worth another five trips to fix it? I suddenly like the name Danzel.

We're enjoying our three precious boys!

Enjoying Baby Joshua

Joshua Daniel Fader

Please enjoy our newest addition to the family. He is a healthy 8lbs and 6oz and sleeping very well. Bethany is healing well and resting. He was born at 6:30pm on July 10.

Precious time with Grandma "Mimo"

The whole Sorensen family is together! Bethany's mom flew in on Sunday and the rest of the family arrived on Tuesday. These rare times of being together as a family are so precious and special, so we are enjoying every minute. The boys have been thrilled to have so much attention as you can see in the pictures.

Alumni Rugby game

We spent last weekend at our old high school, Rift Valley Academy, where Eli and I met. It was Alumni Weekend so we got to see old friends, went to a lovely banquet, and Eli got to play in the big rugby game. It was a huge highlight of the month for him. He played great and somehow made it off the field with only a few minor scratches.