the One who made the stars.

I was anxious a few nights ago when we headed to the village gathering to hear God’s Word.  I greeted the people and joined them in song, but my heart would not be still.  I began reciting verses from God’s Word in my head and then mouthing them to myself while the voices around me sang loud.  I decided to fix my eyes on the stars, the millions and millions of stars sprinkled across the vast expanse of sky above me.  I joined in the Toposa songs again with my eyes still fixed on the stars. I realized we were singing a certain song for the second time, which is not abnormal at a Toposa worship gathering, but this time it was extra meaningful.

Nyakuj kang namere kangare

Ipoloto iyong eloit nyibore daan.

My God who made the stars

You are greater than all things.

And in the middle of the chorus, up above, where I was looking, a giant stream of extremely bright, white light shot across the sky, leaving a blazing white trail lingering behind it.  I actually stopped singing and blurted out loud, “Is this for real?”  It was more than a falling star, which is a pretty normal occurrence to see in the night sky. 

I researched online for a little while we returned home, and some websites say that it was a part of rock comet, a meteorite of some kind that gets close to the sun and then breaks into many bright pieces that resemble shooting stars.  Apparently, this happens every mid-December!

But it doesn’t matter what kind of matter it was.  It was God’s reminder to me to stay my gaze on Him.  He knows my heart and when I am feeling anxious about something.  And He is faithful.  Always.

“Be my rock of refuge to which I can always go;

give the command to save me,

for You are my Rock and my Fortress.” 

Psalm 71:3

He is the One who made the stars.  He is greater than all things, anything and everything that comes my way. 

And He is my God.

exterminators.

It's a good thing that two of our Toposa friends and Benton were around this afternoon!  A mouse decided to make an appearance mid-conversation up high in the rafters.  Napio grabbed a bow and shot arrows in the ceiling toward the rodent. 

 Here's the terrified little critter way up high.

 Benton dislodging arrows while all looked on from below

 Benton trying one last shot...

And let's just say I'm glad the exterminators were here this afternoon. 

Oh, and that there is one less mouse in Toposaland.

visitors and a road trip.

 This week our translator, Charles, helped out with the Church Leadership Training, which left Mindy and I with time to visit with our friends and get started on our new storying project.  We sat down and chose 49 Old Testament stories and 39 New Testament ones (though the audio player on which we will record the stories already has a Turkana New Testament)!  We definitely need God's guidance on order and if any need to be added/not included.  (Of course, we wish that the Toposa could have every Old Testament story, but the memory card can only hold so much.)

 Namana and her daughter, Lokuron

Nakorot and I

The Lesleys came up to help with the leader training and get to know more of this area of Toposaland, where they'll be moving in about two and a half months.  Holly's birthday was on Wednesday, and we celebrated with noisemakers, a candle, and brownies!

Mindy and I gave our final AIDS stories presentation at the leader training.  They really understood the stories and are ready to teach them to others and live, themselves, in such a way as to "keep AIDS from their villages."  Here's Charles and I teaching, and the four guys who helped out as the "Four Sons" from the "Old Man and His Sons" AIDS story.

After the leaders' training ended on Saturday, each leader was given a giant bag of sorghum.  Shannon took his car to Karkamugue with some of the Texas team members who came to teach, Carrie and other team members took another vehicle toward Nataragat, and Mindy and I filled up the truck with...

sorghum and...

men!

We headed "around the world" starting with Napei Ngoroco and made the big circle, ending up in Najie!  We passed gardens where women sat aloft on their ngapem, slinging mud at birds to keep them away from the sorghum.

We met with some crazy post-rainy season terrain, but those ravines and huge ruts couldn't keep us from moving forward.

Naturally, we met with some car trouble. What's a road trip in South Sudan without it!  Our car detected bad fuel and needed us to drain the water from the fuel.  Here I am finally pumping the water out, with loads of help from the two leaders beside me whose hands were able to loosen the nozzle.

At least the car trouble wasn't this bad!  We passed this grounded truck on the way to the final village.  Glad we didn't attempt this road during rainy season!

"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy..."

1 Peter 1:8

sic 'em.

Mindy and I made a bet about the Texas Tech - Baylor football game, as those are our alma maters:  

The loser of the game would wear the other team's shirt that week...

Sic 'Em Bears.

give thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving from Toposaland!!!

In school, I had Davis and Walker write things they were thankful for on slips of paper and then make chains from those slips!  Davis is thankful for his parents and brothers, fishing, green parrots (that we saw on the compound yesterday!), friends, computers, God's help, cows, and so much more!

Walker, who wrote on every strip himself, is thankful for his heart, life, house, parents, brothers, help, and that God made him!

Our whole team left the compound and had a lovely meal in Kapoeta at Mango Camp.  We had roast chicken, ratatouille, mashed potatoes, rice, and fresh veggies--and we didn't have to cook!

 It was delicious!

Today also happened to be Shannon's birthday.  Carrie made an LSU colored cake, and we sang "Happy Birthday" and enjoyed the cake at Mango Camp.

Also, I am giving thanks to God today for electricity.  Our power randomly went out right before we headed home (which is not a biggy, we can on without it), but the thing was that everything looked ok.  I asked God for His help.  He showed up!  Shannon and Edwin discovered this one button was not on and a different light was shining...now, our power is on and is working just fine!  PRAISE THE LORD!!!

 To finish off the day, Mindy and I made pumpkin pie with a pumpkin that's been sitting on our counter for a while now.  Mindy made the pie filling...

 And I made the crust!

 And we each had several meat samosas that we bought from Mango Camp as a light dinner.  So good!

"Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."  Ephesians 5:19-20

retreat.

I just returned to Sudan from a women's prayer retreat in Uganda.  I had a wonderful time!  After being with other women who serve the Lord in another country as I do, I feel refreshed.  Even in the few days there, God taught me things to which I was blind while in Sudan.  How I love my Teacher!

I really enjoyed getting to hang out with Holly Lesley (and Mindy of course) away from Toposaland.  Holly and her husband, Jonathan, joined the Toposa team about nine months ago and currently live in Lokichokio, Kenya learning language.

Here's Mindy, Holly, and I at the Nairobi airport on the way to Entebbe.  The stewardess came into the gate area and passed out ponchos.  It was pouring rain outside, and we had to walk to the plane in it!  Good thing we had these awesome ponchos--nothing got wet!

Here we are with Renee (she and her husband supervise our sub-cluster).  Renee hosted the prayer retreat in her beautiful home, and she took us out to eat at this place that overlooked Lake Victoria!

 I ate the most delicious tilapia I have ever tasted.

Here Holly, Mindy, and I are again on the shore of Lake Victoria at a pizza place

 Mindy and I with Susan Hatfield (she and her family serve with BGR, Baptist Global Response, which is a disaster relief and community development organization)

Sunset on Lake Victoria

a fall day.

I don’t know about you, but I spent this lovely “fall” afternoon with…

Ironman and...

The Hulk!

For a special science project on October 31, these two fine heroes joined us in the kitchen as we whipped up some mean caramel apples.

 Peeling the caramels that my grandma sent in a care package (thanks Gigi!)

 Stabbing the apples as we melt the caramel

 Dipping the apples and waiting for them to harden

And eating a delicious treat!

Later in the afternoon, I took a walk to a nearby garden.  I visited this one months ago when it was only dirt and tiny little sprouts.  But now…

And then...

After throwing around a tennis ball, playing “Monkey in the Middle” with some friends, the river came.

  

I actually got to witness it coming and watched as the waves grew in size and as the waters reached further and further across to the other bank.

This tree was standing about thirty feet closer on this bank of the river when I moved to Paringa about 17 months ago.  Over time, the water eroded away all of the soil around it bringing it crashing down about a month ago and moving it along away from the bank to where it lies in the middle of the river now!