i never thought i would...

-Communicate the truth of the gospel simply in another language without help

-Live with lizards and spiders and ants and rats and snakes

-Teach homeschool in a shipping container

-Drive through rivers in a standard truck

-Have ostriches and hedgehogs and chickens for pets on the compound

-Fall asleep to the sound of rain pounding on a tin roof

-Teach stories from God’s Word to a group of mostly naked Toposa men

-Answer “yes!” by only raising my eyebrows, lifting my chin, or clicking my tongue

-Wave to cows on the road and point out which ones are pretty

-Get excited about nice looking tomatoes

-Witness baptisms in a flowing, extremely muddy, seasonal river

-Walk in some type of feces every day

-Feel the pain of missing people back home so powerfully

-Become this desperate for God

-Thrive this far out of my comfort zone

-Spend nearly two years of my life in South Sudan

I praise the Lord, because even though I never thought I could, He always knew I would!!!

“Lord, You establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished, You have done for us...Your name alone do we honor...You have gained glory for Yourself...” 

Isaiah 26:12-15

celebrations.

A little extra on how our team celebrated Christmas and New Year's!

 A birthday cake for Jesus, each colored sprinkle symbolic of a characteristic of Jesus.  I added brown sprinkles, my favorite!  They symbolize Jesus as the Servant, the One True God who humbled Himself and came as a man in order to be Savior, shedding His blood, that those who trust and believe in Him might be made one with God again!

The after-shot of our "White Elephant" gift exchange - Mindy's dad who came to visit for Christmas joined in too!  I ended up with a razor, some Kenyan soap, and some very old dental floss still in the package!  Other gifts were things like charcoal, salt, and a crazy hat!

 Friends from Cuidad Nueva in El Paso wrote down things for which they are thankful on little slips of paper.  My mom sent them with Mindy's dad, and I made rings from them and strung them up in our kitchen!  Thank you to each person who said thank you!  I've told my Toposa friends that each one says "Alakara Nyakuj kotere..."  "Thank you God, because..."  One Toposa friend even shared something for which she is thankful, and we added her strip to the chain!

 Welcoming in 2013 with Davis...

 and Walker...

and...I think that's Mindy...

Our friends at Mango Camp in Kapoeta invited us over for a New Year's barbecue in town.  We ate the best shish-kabobs I've ever had, potatoes, garlic bread, chicken, popcorn, custard, and ice cream!!  Yes, we had ice cream in South Sudan.  Bruce at Mango Camp brought some from Nairobi and had it in his freezer to surprise the Lewis boys.  Yum.

Happy New Year!!!