hypotenuse.

Oh how I long to take the shortest distance to getting things done!  But, the Lord sometimes delights in sending me the long way around.

As you know, there are three sides to a triangle.  The hypotenuse is the side that is opposite the right angle.  If its two ends were labeled A and B, the hypotenuse would be the shortest distance between A and B.  Travel along the other two sides to get from A to B would be over a greater distance.

I figure that American culture is definitely in favor of going along the hypotenuse.  The fastest way to get things done.  The shortest distance between two places.  The least amount of work required. 

In Toposaland, the culture naturally prefers taking the longer route, the other two sides.  Time does not matter.  Neither does distance.  And here, you have to do the work in full at all times—you can’t make half a house be a whole one, can’t leave a garden unattended and expect it to grow, can’t hope the cows make it on their own to the cattle camp and back.

I am slowly learning that spiritual life is like a triangle.  How many times do I want to say I’ve done something great for God so I do it by taking the hypotenuse, and get it done quickly?  How often do I make plans and chase them, hoping everything will work out just like I planned and in the perfect timing?

However, God takes me down the other two sides.  A lot.

I say, “Tomorrow we’ll go tell the AIDS stories in this village!”  And then tomorrow it rains.  We can’t make it.  Then the next day, the river flows, so Charles, our translator, can’t make it to the compound.  (Passing the right angle and making the turn onto line #2…)  Then, the third day comes around, no rain and no flowing river, and then God says, “Ok!  Today you will go tell the AIDS stories in that village!”  And we go. 

And it’s awesome.

For instance, we planned to teach the AIDS stories to the leaders (whom Shannon disciples) as they already are in the habit of taking what they learn and teaching it to others.  Plus, they are from many different areas around Paringa (where I live).  Finally, we set a date, and it went beautifully!  There were sixteen men present from ten different areas, and they were so involved in listening to the stories and in the discussion that followed.  They were excited to hear the truth about this disease, and they readily agreed to teach their families, villages, and groups that gather to hear God’s Word.  Praise the Lord!

On another note, I’ve waited for an opportunity to sit down again with Nakai and Lopir, my two friends with whom I shared part of the Story Cloth in Toposa.  Finally, today they planned to come over, and I planned to serve them biscuits and share the story from Creation to Christ in Toposa (as much as I have memorized).  Because of some other kids who were riling up the four compound dogs from outside the fence, the moment Nakai and Lopir arrived, the dogs came at full force to attack!  I had to shove them back outside and then jump outside the gate myself!  I tried sharing the story, but there were other kids that came and distracted us.  Still, I will extol the Lord at all times.

Taking the hypotenuse is easy.  Sometimes it is the best way to go, and God can work very fast!

But…taking sides #1 and #2 is also good.  And God has taught me that, sometimes, the slow and long way is even better.  

To wait.

And be still.

And watch Him work through every part of the triangle.

"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still...[t]he Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His name."

Exodus 14:14, 15:3

the one that got away.

About a month ago

There was a dormouse

Who found his little way

Into my tukel house.

He got into an open drawer

And chewed on a plastic bag

Until I appeared

And his face filled with fear

But then he got away.

The next night the crinkling

Of the bag was there again

With my shoe I rushed

And again his face flushed

But then he got away.

Mom and Char I didn’t tell you

That was the week you came

But I removed the temptation

The bag was packed away

And I placed a mega rat trap

In the drawer in its place.

No dormouse did I hear

The drawer was quiet

Until this early morning

When I heard clanking by it.

The drawer was making noise again

But there was no bag to chew!

I opened the drawer fast

And found a mouse trapped

And I whacked it with my stick and my arrow and my shoe.

I threw that dormouse outside

And the puppies came and ate it

No more will it come inside

And the trap, I think I’ll bait it!

For the one that got away

Thought he was a hot shot

But I, the human, was victorious

And this time he did not.

discharged.

This is to let everyone know that I was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday!  I will be in Nairobi a few more days for a checkup, and then I will get to go home to Sudan.  Again, thank you all for your prayers!!!!

where I've been.

For six days now, I have been at the hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.  I had a bad fever for two weeks, and then around my second week, Carrie started having bad fevers too.  Six days ago, we decided we needed to get some real medical help, and both Carrie and I flew down to Nairobi and headed to the hospital from the airport.

Turns out that I had a bad bacterial infection, of gram negative bacilli, in my kidneys that then spread to my blood (bacteremia).  But, thanks be all to God, they are checking today that all my systems are back to normal and my release date will be tomorrow!  Praise the Lord for healing me!  Praise the Lord for medicine and antibiotics!

Here are some shots of me at the hospital:

 Me on the first day attached by iv to "Tony," my iv pole

 My bed

My hospital bracelet--please notice my last name has been changed! 

After my first shower, sporting the old man hospital pajamas

 My room

 Flowers that our precious medical coordinator, Denise, bought for me

 Me free from Tony!

 Carrie and I in our pjs outside the building in which our rooms are...The Princess Pavilion!

Since I also had a cough, they brought me this thing, filled with very hot water and some menthol stuff. I put my mouth on the spout and inhale the steam and soothing menthol stuff.  Throat feels relief!

Thank you for all of your prayers!!!! 

PRAISE THE LORD!!!! 

camel crossings.

You laugh, but…

We drove to Loki this past week to pick up the Nehemiah Team of seven college guys who are spending the summer in Toposaland. Here they are with their two translators at the compound:

On the day before they arrived, the whole Toposa team, including Jonathon and Holly Lesley who are living in Loki, drove to Lodwar, Kenya for the day.  There we got gas bottles for our stove/oven!  While grocery shopping, we also found some yogurt! 

Of course, a trip without getting stuck in the mud would not be complete.  The truck was high-centered (where the wheels are not touching the ground) in the mud in Loki the day the Nehemiah Team arrived and it took not only Shannon’s car, but also Jonathon’s car, to get us out from these ruts!

Davis joined the world of double digits on June 5^th, and he really enjoyed the gift Mindy and I gave him…a real US Army survival kit.  He carried the book with him everywhere, even in Loki!

then came the fam.

My family came to visit for a week!!!  It was awesome.  Such an encouraging, fun, crazy, restful, uplifting, special week!  They just jumped into whatever Mindy and I were doing, and they helped out in ways I can't even count.

 Christian, Charlotte, Colin, and me in the back of the truck headed to share stories from God's Word with a group of men under a tree.

 Lots of playing Nertz and Monopoly Deal--I lost a whole lot.  But it was still fun!!!

 After church on Sunday morning.  Mom taught about the bleeding woman whom Jesus healed.  It was a perfect story for Toposa culture.  The woman had been to every witchdoctor and friend, all of which could not heal her.  Until she touched Jesus.  And she knew He alone had that kind of power.  Later, my brother, Colin, taught on the parable of the sower at the tree by the clinic for church on Sunday night.

During a visit to the village nearest the compound 

 Mom with some of my dear friends

Taking the fam out to eat at the one and only "restaurant" in town called Junction Inn

Mom helping carry sodas--it was weird to have people help Mindy and I carry things or unload things or get fires going for us.  It is against Toposa culture for men to help the women, so we do a lot on our own around here.  It was nice having help for a week!

The siblings on my porch in South Sudan!!!

Something that made the week extra interesting was that our gas bottle for our stove/oven was very low, which means that we cooked most of our meals for 7 people for one week all on this charcoal jiko!

Woohoo.  Colin is skilled in starting charcoal fires, so he was a big help for the many fires we started this past week.  Mom and Char helped with making tortillas from scratch twice!  And Dad and Christian, well, they kept us laughing during it all!!!

Dad and Mom with Charles, our translator--so great to have him help us speak God's Word and share AIDS stories with the Toposa people!

 Mom, Mindy, Colin, Me, Christian, Walker, Charlotte, and Dad

And...silly picture!

So glad she's here with me.  There is no one better.

There are so many other pictures and fun things we did, but I thought this was enough for a good-sized blog post.  Thanks to all of you who were praying for their trip!

baptisms!

Yesterday, we got the chance to return to Najie (in Lomeyin) and watch as new believers from our storying group were baptized!  Men and women laid down in the shallow water, and Joseph, a believer from another area and one of Shannon’s leaders, baptized them!

The yellow thing on his head?  A child training toilet.

Afterward, Shannon and Joseph talked about what it means to follow Christ, we sang some songs (including “Acamit Ayong Kuwapa Yesu” or “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”), and then Shannon gave a Proclaimer to one of the men who was baptized so they can start listening to God's Word in their village!

Please pray for these new believers in Najie.  Ask God to give them more of a hunger for His Word and that they would grow in their knowledge of Him.  Pray also that they would be a light to others in their village, and pray for boldness to stand against any persecution.  PRAISE THE LORD!!!