Another week

Just a few days after settling back into our house on the Nile River, we started homeschool back up in order to complete this school year by the end of June.

We had a lovely meal and time of fellowship with our college grad, Joseph Monywut and his family in their home.

Another one of our college grads, David Awan, and his large family of 9, are heading south to Yei in pursuit of better education for their children. We hosted a farewell tea on our porch with juice, tea, cake and cookies. We spent our time sharing memories of our years together and encouraging and thanking each other for what we meant to each other.

This is a regular happening in our home - the boys are ready to fish! This Saturday they spent most of the day in the river and Joshua caught his first catfish which he gave to our cat. Q-tip, our pet cat, who survived the 16 months we were away and has reunited with us, has been very thankful for the boys' hobby!

Joshua was so thoughtful to pick a bouquet of the river hyacinth flowers for Auntie Claire.

We are starting to feel like we are in a good rhythm here in Melut. We've had some very full weeks since we've spent a lot of time visiting and seeing old friends, but now I believe we are entering a new normal. Eli starts teaching English and Computer classes on Monday morning. The community is always begging us for English classes and teaching is what Eli loves to do more than anything. The classroom will be packed since there are almost 50 people registered!

More Wonderful Visits

We continue to visit friends in town and it has been such a sweet, special time of reconnecting! Though the days are hot and we end up walking quite a distance to get to where we're going, the boys are such troopers and have enjoyed reuniting with many friends as well.
It feels like we've spent more time in town in these two weeks than we did in the two years we were here previously! Of course, before the college was in session and the majority of our ministry and life happened right on campus. It's a little different now with the college not in session yet.

The boys have been teaching Uno everywhere we go.

This is my sweet, sweet sister, Eliza

She helps us in our home

Visiting one of our college grads, Joseph Monywut

What a spread! The fish was amazing!

This is truly why we are here. To live with these people, walk through the highs and lows of life together, and help point each other to Christ.

Photos of the week

4 boys and a man on a quad bike

There are so many pictures I would love to share with you all but our internet is painfully slow and it has already taken me several hours this morning just to compile these few photos. I had at least double this many but it was just too much for the internet speed to handle!

We had a full but wonderful week. I spent my mornings homeschooling the boys while Eli ran around campus managing different projects going on - building, painting, fixing the quad bike tire, planting trees, fixing roads, etc. We have spent several afternoons this week visiting different friends we have here in Melut. The reunions have been very sweet!

The boys also continue to reunite with old friends and make new ones. Goich continues to be a faithful friend. He lost his father years ago and his mother works from dawn to dusk in the market so he enjoys spending most of his days here with us.

We visited one of our college graduates. These are his darling children.

Eli with Zechariah (GTC grad) in his home

The boys are back to building forts

Our house

One of the highlights of the week for me was visiting our friends in one of the camps here in Melut. I blogged about it a few days ago so make sure you scroll down and read about that too.

Overall our hearts continue to overflow. Though we fall into bed exhausted every night from the heat and all that our days hold, we are so very thankful to be back in Melut with the people we love so much.

An Afternoon in an IDP (Internally Displaced) Camp

April 16, 2015 – POC Camp, Melut

      Everywhere we go with the boys, people stare. They see foreigners around town but it is a new and unusual thing for them to see kwadja (foreign/white) children.  The other day I sent Evan to a small shop with his friend to buy some rice. A UN guy pulled his car over to ask Evan questions because he thought it so peculiar to see a little white boy with his Sudanese buddy walking along.  A few days before, Isaac, Evan and Joshua went with some of their friends to buy mangoes from the mango grove about a half mile from our house. While walking along the river some men from the Indian battalion who were swimming in the river noticed the boys, rushed out of the water, grabbed their phones and started snapping photos with the boys! Again, it seemed strange and bizarre to them to see these three boys walking along with their friends. The question they’re asking is: “What are they doing here?!”

      Since December 2013, the Nuer tribe in Melut and its surrounding areas have had to hide in a small camp called the POC (Protection of Civilians) camp on the UN compound here in Melut. Today our family and teammate Claire went to visit the friends we have in the camp. Before we even got to the entrance of the camp, children started flooding out to see us. They were most excited to see the boys and crowded around, all wanting to shake our hands and ask our names. These dear people have lived in this small camp on the UN compound for 16 months! The women go out to go to market but the men do not leave. They keep themselves busy by volunteer teaching all their children (they have a small school set up in two canvas tents that teaches grade 1-6!) and holding prayer and worship meetings. We were so overjoyed to be reunited with many of our dear friends. It was immediately apparent that our tall, thin friends had somehow grown even thinner. Children ran around with reddish hair (a sign of malnourishment) and barely clothed. But their smiles were huge! They were thrilled to have 6 new visitors.

      Eli and the boys stayed in a makeshift tent with the men while Claire and I walked over to join the family of one of our college graduates’ family. We spent some time catching up and then they informed us that they were about to have a prayer meeting for a woman who was sick. We walked over to her house and found chairs set up outside. I knelt to get in the door and though the ground was swept clean, all that was inside was a mat with a woman lying on it. She couldn’t seem to open her eyes all the way and she looked very weak and dehydrated. We found out her name is Rebecca. Men and women from their local church body gathered and we sang a few songs and opened with prayer. Then a man, probably around 40 years old and already missing most of his teeth stood up and began to share what ailed this woman. His story broke my heart. 

      In December 2013, this man’s wife died.  Rebecca, this sick woman,  traveled from her home in Nasir (quite a distance), to come and visit/comfort the grieving family, leaving her husband and 4 children behind but pregnant with her 5^th. While she was here, the fighting broke out between the Dinka and Nuer tribes and she had to seek refuge at the UN camp along with the rest of the Nuer. Since then she has been stuck here and gave birth to a little girl in the camp. She has been separated from her children and her husband and thus her sickness is a form of deep depression. She hardly eats or drinks and just lies on the mat all day. She has a nursing baby but by the sight of a baby bottle on the ground in her tent, I don’t think she’s able to produce the milk her baby needs. I was so deeply saddened to hear the story of this woman’s tragic separation from her family but also the guilt and sadness that this man carried because it was he and his family that this woman had come to visit.

The man leading the service asked if anyone had anything to share and then he directly asked me. I had been sitting there thinking of the verses from Hebrews 12:1-3 that I’d just read that morning and so, spur of the moment I agreed to share an encouragement from the Word of God. I wanted her to be able to hear, so I asked if we could duck into her tent to speak directly to her. The man came along to translate into Nuer language. Her eyes were open and she stared at me blankly as I encouraged her to press on, fixing her eyes on Jesus, remembering that He is with her, He will strengthen her and comfort her, and He is her hope.  The whole group of about 20 believers prayed earnestly for her. When we finished and got up to go I noticed tears falling down her face. I hope I can return again in a few days and check on her. There is not much I can say or do but I want her to know she is loved and she is not alone.

      Meanwhile, the whole time this little prayer service was going on, Isaac, Evan and Joshua were hanging out in a tent with a good friend of ours. Children kept huddling in the doorway to get a good look at them  and every few minutes an old man would swing a switch/whip around to scare the children away. I couldn’t believe how well the boys were doing after sitting in the tent for almost 3 hours with not much to entertain them! The sun was setting so we knew we had to hurry and leave so we could walk home before dark. Our boys shook hands with the children as we walked out of the camp and waved goodbye. I was so so proud of them. I know it wasn’t fun for them. I know they had to sit and wait in the heat. But they didn’t complain. I’m so thankful God gave us these amazing boys. They truly do serve right alongside us and are such a key part of our ministry!

     My feet are dusty and I’m exhausted but my heart is so full. God has given me such a deep love for these people and I am already thinking about how and when I can get back to see them. I’m not sure what good I can be and how I can help but I do know just my presence with them on a hot dusty afternoon was enough today.

First Few Days Back in Melut!

All 3 boys got a chance to pilot our plane!

The view of the passengers

Joshua in the car with the cargo on our drive home
(Check out the landscape!)

The boys happily playing in our front yard

Reunited with their special friend, Goich

Joshua wasn't sure how to act with our girl visitors :)

They have been waiting to get back to fishing for sooooo long!

Saturday morning fishing with their friend

This was our lunch today!

Most of these pictures are of the boys. Eli and I have spent the last few days going through the stuff that had been stored in our house since 2013, unpacking the things we brought with us, settling in, hosting many friends who have come to visit us, meetings with Principal Kur, and helping our teammate move to a new house. Yesterday the temperature in our house was registering on my oven thermometer! It said 113 - inside! The heat definitely pays a toll and we are all ready for bed by 8! But we are so so happy to be home in Melut and have a deep sense of being exactly where we belong!

Kenya Chapter Closing: New Chapter Opening!

A morning with family!

 We have now been in Kenya for 6 weeks. It's crazy to think that up to a few days ago, we weren't sure of our next move. But as we are learning, trusting the Lord day by day, at some point He allows us to turn and look back and we see His loving hand of care, provision, protection and faithfulness.

We now have a confirmed flight into Melut, South Sudan for April 7 so we fly in only 4 days. We are beyond excited and eager to get back, reconnect with friends we haven't seen in such a long while and get settled back into life on the Nile.

Before we close this chapter though, I want to pause and acknowledge the special blessings God has sprinkled amidst a very trying time for us as we waited on the Lord for the next step. During our time in Nairobi, Kenya we have been able to connect with many special people who happened to be "passing through" at the same time. A few days ago we got to spend a morning with Eli's brother Jason and his family who were passing through on their way to a conference in another part of Kenya. I made sure to catch up on my hugs and kisses on my sweet nieces!

We also had many opportunities to spend time with our dear friends the Clermont family who serve in Chad. Our paths have rarely crossed since our days of attending seminary together so the whole month of March with them was such an encouragement and blessing. We had 2 sleepovers, several pizza parties, and lots of fun in the pool!

Even though Eli was gone for several weeks of March in South Sudan on two different trips, we were thankful for some special family times as we prepared for Easter. No, it's not that hot in Kenya - the boys were shirtless so as to preserve their shirts from the dye!

More special friends who passed through!

There were many other special times I will cherish: a week with our teammates before they headed on their home assignment, a movie date with a sweet friend, meeting new Sudanese friends, and time praying and fellowshipping with our team here in Nairobi.

Melut Team 2015

So, bright and early on Tuesday morning, the 7th of April, this group of six that are pictured above will be boarding a small Cessna Caravan and traveling all the way to our small town of Melut in South Sudan. Please pray for our protection as we travel, for our adjustments to the heat, and for our team as we settle back into a new way of life. Pray that God will use us for His glory and for His Kingdom work.

Joy along the journey

I have been trying to find the words for what had been a mystery to me. In the past few months, even though I know how hard life in the bush of South Sudan is, I have longed with all my heart to go back. I can't understand it! We had a comfortable home, supportive church, and many friends back in the States. Life on the fields is hard. I am daily pushed beyond my limits, forced to live every minute, every day by the Lord's strength alone. So why do I want that over the comfort and stability of our life in South Carolina?!
    I was rereading a book called "The Insanity of God" and suddenly the author, Nik Ripken, made it all become clear to me. The chapter was about Chinese believers and evangelists who had lived under very real threat and danger because of their faith. Ripken explained that, " the believers in China exhibited a constant joyfulness in the midst of harsh circumstances. They never denied or down-played the danger. They never made light of it. They were painfully aware of the reality of their lives. Still, they exhibited an undeniable, irrepressible joy."
    Wow. This is my prayer, with every fiber of my being. I'm definitely not suffering or persecuted like these Chinese believers were. But there are very real risks to going back to live in South Sudan at this time. I have been kind of perplexed that I have NO FEAR, just PEACE. I have asked myself if I'm out of touch of reality, or if I'm just so eager to get back that I'm not thinking about how it really will be. I know it will be hard. I am not denying it or down playing it. But in God's amazing, gracious way, He has given me such joy in these circumstances.
At the end of the chapter Nik Ripken concludes that, " they (Chinese believers) embraced what they considered the adventure of following Jesus. "
    That is my desire: to embrace this adventure.

We have a Green Light!

March 20, 2015 we got the green light to head back to Melut, South Sudan as a team. Our team is quite small right now - our family of five and Claire Meckler, the amazing teammate we've had since 2012. Though we have the green light, we have quite a lot of planning and preparing to do before we go. Please pray for Claire and our family as we get all our paperwork together (contingency plans, exit plans, etc) and purchase and pack whatever we need for the next 3 months. Right now the plan is to go in until July and re-evaluate the situation when we come back to Kenya,

At first I thought that getting the go ahead to return to South Sudan would mean the end of our waiting period. It definitely opens up our future but I've realized that the Lord desires for us to continue waiting on Him and seeking Him in each day. We are moving forward in faith and great excitement but we know that we will desperately need your prayers. Please do continue lifting us up to Almighty God. Thank you for riding this journey with us.

God will Prevail

This morning I was reading from Habakkuk. When he looked at the world, he was filled with fear, doubt and worry. But when he turned to God, he was assured God is present and in control.
Habakkuk 2:1 --- "I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the Lord says."

2:3-4 --If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. Look at the proud! They trust in themselves and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.  (NLT)

To be honest, the struggle I'm having is that I have been waiting on the Lord for a year and a half regarding if we will be able to go back to Melut, our home in South Sudan. I know that is hardly anything compared to what some people wait. But this week I've grown weary of waiting. I'm tired of being in limbo. I have "heard" the Lord say, "Trust Me" and that in itself has not been hard to do, but now I'm tired of waiting and weary of having no direction.

But Habakkuk is so convinced that God has not abandoned His people that he basically says: "If everything is taken away from me, if the awful things I imagine come true, I will rejoice in the Lord anyway." Wow. What do I think of that?

Habakkuk would rejoice because he wholeheartedly trusted the Lord no matter what.
This is more than deciding to tough it out in bad times. Habakkuk decided to choose joy in the God of his salvation. The joy of my salvation gives me the strength to rejoice even when the worst things happen.

Psalm 73:25-26 ---  Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

As I was reading these passages of Scripture this morning, I couldn't help but think, "Yikes, is God preparing me for something? Is he prepping me to hear bad news? Or at least something I don't want to hear?"  I'm not sure what that answer is but the theme has definitely made it's way into my heart.

1. I will wait patiently.
2. I will still rejoice - NO MATTER WHAT.

Eli is on his way home today!

Gideon Theological College: Melut, South Sudan

For the past 10 days Eli has been back on South Sudan soil and loving every minute of it. I have been so thankful that he and I have been able to talk/communicate at least once every single day. Eli spent every day sitting with Southern Sudanese friends, hearing what their year was like, and asking what they think about our family returning to Melut. He also explored the college campus with the Operations Manager, our teammate, to see all the work and renovations that need to be done and enjoyed times of fellowship, prayer, and meeting with our small remaining team.

A boat on the Nile River, passing campus

There are quite a few changes on campus due to several non-governmental organizations that are renting GTC buildings while the school is not in session. It will definitely be an adjustment when we return but we are trying to remember that change can be good.

I am counting the hours until my husband walks in our front door. Right now the countdown is 4 hours - as long as he stays on schedule. I will ask him to write one of his famous blog posts to give you all more details of his trip. Thank you so much for praying for him while he's been away. He was healthy the whole time and even managed to survive the temperatures that went above 110 degrees! And thank you for praying for the boys and I. We thrived on routine every day with school in the mornings and getting together with different friends in the afternoons. We are eager to be a family of five again though.

Light in the Dark

This week the Lord has been so near to the boys and I while Eli has been in South Sudan. It has been so precious to pray with the kids about "Papa's" trip, to ask the Lord to open Eli's eyes and ears to see and hear what he needs to, so we can follow where He wants us to go.

Last night our devotions before bed were so fitting to our situation and we had a wonderful discussion and time of prayer as a response. The devotion from Streams in the Desert for Kids was titled, "Fear in the Dark" and it posed a great question about why we sometimes fear the dark. There is nothing harmful about darkness itself, but it is what we imagine could be there that scares us.
"Just like the dark, fear and worry grow in uncertainty. Worrying about the future is like being scared of the dark - we're afraid of things we imagine could happen. That's when we turn on a nightlight. Jesus, the Light of the World, runs into the darkness to show us that there is nothing we need to worry about. "

The boys nodded that this was true and agreed that we don't need to worry about our future, Our oldest, who is 10, articulated that he knew God was going to show us what He wants us to do because he knows how much we've been praying about it. Though the truth was sinking into their young hearts, I felt like it was sinking even deeper into mine and impacting me with its simple Truth and reminders.

So today I'm thankful for the Light. The Light who goes before us and tells us the way to go.
The boys and I are memorizing this verse this week: Proverbs 16:3 --
"Commit to the Lord whatever you do and He will establish your plans."

Surrender

I started a new Bible study during our first weeks back in Africa. It's called "Stronger; Finding Hope in Fragile Places."  I chose it because I have felt that my heart is fragile and life is fragile and the country of South Sudan is a fragile place. Yet I know that in the midst of the fragility, my God is Stronger and my God can accomplish over and above what I could ever dream or imagine.

This morning I want to share about what God is teaching me regarding surrender. This topic seems to keep coming up in recent months. Last Sunday the pastor of the church we attend here in Nairobi, Kenya shared a great sermon about laying down our own agendas and surrendering to whatever the Lord has for us. Again, yesterday morning, many of the songs in worship centered on the theme of surrender. And now this morning, minutes after hugging my husband goodbye and sending him on a plane to South Sudan, the theme in my devotions is: Surrender.

The author of my new Bible Study, Angela Thomas, says, "Receiving God's strength means we choose to surrender to:
- His wisdom
- His timing
- His greater purpose
- His mystery.
We have to trust Him to surrender to Him."

I honestly feel like I have been doing this over the last year as Eli and I have prayed and asked the Lord to show us what is next for us. I do indeed trust in His wisdom, His timing, and His greater purpose. But what is His mystery? I found myself cringing at this word.

 mys·ter·y

noun

1. 1.

   something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain.

   "the mysteries of outer space"

   synonyms:

   puzzle, enigma, conundrum, riddle, secret, problem, unsolved problem "his death remains a mystery"

I am realizing that surrendering to His mystery means that even if I don't know what the details or specifics are, I still surrender. I can't understand His plan yet. But I can still trust Him and surrender completely to Him and whatever He has for us.

I was deeply encouraged by a quote by Jeff Bridges from his book, Trusting God , "Trust is not a passive state of mind. It is a vigorous act of the soul by which we choose to lay hold on the promises of God and cling to them despite the adversity that at times seeks to overwhelm us."

Again from Angela Thomas, "Surrendering means that we trust:

• God's sovereignty and timing for our lives
• God's method of giving us what we need
• God's provision from the fullness of His love
• God's heart being good and unchanging "

As I type my husband is about to board a plane to Juba, South Sudan. Lord willing, tomorrow he will arrive in Melut, our home that we've been away from for 13 months. As I prayed with him before he left this morning, I couldn't help but think that our plan only a few weeks ago was that our whole family would be flying back into Melut around this time. This isn't what I had in mind but the Lord is tenderly reminding me again to surrender. 

"If we are going to mature as Christ followers, then we must undertake this work of surrender --- learning to give up how we thought it had to be, trusting the Lord God Almighty who gave us breath - so that every obstacle is removed and we are able to receive His promised strength."

I won't lie to you. Everything in me is wishing all five of us were getting on that plane right now. Everything in me wants to move forward with the ideas Eli and I had after months of praying and asking the Lord for guidance. But the Lord is calling me to surrender.

Surrender to His wisdom.

Surrender to His timing.

Surrender to His greater purpose.

Surrender to His mystery.

Home school week at Rift Valley Academy

Joshua with his buddy Levi in a fun pepper tree

 Completely unexpectedly we found ourselves this week at Rift Valley Academy, a boarding school for missionary children here in Kenya, for their "home school week". During the week, all three of our children were tested to see where they're at in their grade level and they joined the kids in their grade for a "taste" of boarding school.
       Our boys especially loved recess time and joined in the soccer games every chance they got. When we asked each of the boys what their favorite part of the week was they said:
Isaac - "I liked going to classes with my buddy, especially Science when we were studying rocks."
Evan - "My favorite part was going down the zipline. It was scary at first but once I did it, I couldn't stop!"
Joshua - "I loved art class cuz we got to make our own paintings and I liked sitting in class with the other kids. And I loved playing lots of soccer!"

Look at this spectacular view from one of the sports fields!

The boys really loved eating in the cafeteria
 (same trays they had back when Eli and I went to school here!)

Evan playing tether ball on the playground with a new friend

Adjusting and transition

As you can see by the excitement on Isaac's face above, we are all very happy to be back on the continent of Africa. For now we are in Kenya, staying at our SIM guesthouse, one of our many homes.

Before heading back into South Sudan as a family, Eli is going into Melut and hopefully SIM's other base called Doro, to visit and see what things are like on the ground and talk with our Southern Sudanese friends to see where would be the best place for our family right now. Please pray for Eli as he travels and pray that God will open his eyes to see what he needs to see. Pray for solid counsel from everyone he talks to and a peace about how to move forward this year. We will keep you updated.

We have arrived!

With all our luggage!


We are so thankful for how the Lord has taken care of every detail of our travels! Though we missed a connecting flight in Doha due to snow/ice delays in Chicago, it turned out to be such a blessing because our airline put us up in a hotel for the night and we got a good night's sleep before continuing on to Kenya.

Kenya welcomed us with sunny, 80 degree weather and all ten of our trunks made it without a hitch! The cherry on the top was reuniting with special teammates who are family to us and catching up after a year apart.

Thank you to all who prayed for our long journey!
Now on to see what else God has in store!

Going out with a bang!

Isaac and Evan's class (Eli was the teacher this year)

During our final week here in the States, our home church's week-long missions conference is going on. On Saturday I went to the Ladies Missions Brunch and Eli and I shared at the youth event that night. Yesterday, since it was our last Sunday at our church, the boys got to share with their Sunday school classes about what life is like as a missionary kid in South Sudan.

Joshua's class

 The boys did a great job showing a slideshow and explaining each photo.

The Flag Cermony during the morning service

 We will be attending sessions  4 nights this week at church as well as finishing up our packing and preparing to fly back to Africa this coming Sunday.

What our living rooms looks like with the furniture packed

We still have a lot of work to do in our "Packing Room"!