Clinic, History, and LIZARDS!

Hello All! It's Phyllis (Vernon's sister) again writing on behalf of the team. I spoke to them on the phone this morning, and their internet connection is down. They will not be able to use it anymore while they are there (including e-mail), so they will call every couple of days to provide updates so I can post them on the blog. So keep checking back for more!

Friends
The planning meetings are pretty much over for this visit, so the team has been able to spend even more time focusing on building relationships for the last few days. They have been able to just do some hanging out with the people in Yei, which has been a lot of fun. There has been lots of eating together, talking, and soccer playing. They are grateful for the opportunities to spend time getting to know some of the people.

Clinic
Tomorrow they will begin work on a permanent medical clinic right outside of Yei. There is a building that has been acquired for this purpose, so for the next few days, the team will work on cleaning it and transforming it to be optimally useful for a medical clinic. Once it is clean, they will be able to paint it white. Now, here's the fun part! Amber has been praying for ways that she can use her gifts and talents in a way that is helpful for the Sudanese people (we all know that her smile and love for the people is a gift in itself). Anyway, she is so excited to be able to use her artistic talents to paint scriptures, names of God, and other such things on the walls of the clinic.

Another young woman named Robyn has been spending time with them for a couple of days. She is a YWAM missionary that Mike knows, and she's free from her YWAM responsibilities for a few days. It just so happens that she is an artist, so she may end up painting a mural on one of the walls at the clinic. These types of things are very exciting for the Sudanese people. They love color all around, so Amber and Robyn will really be blessing them as they paint! Amber was VERY excited about doing this!

Megan is also very happy to see this medical clinic going in. It will be so great not to have to work out of tents to treat larger groups of people in the future. Once it is painted, they will be able to begin acquiring supplies.

History
Over the course of time, many people have asked what is happening in Sudan and why things are the way they are. With Mike's videographic talents and ability to narrate and describe things so vividly and accurately, a project has begun. The team is spending some time visiting historical landmarks in Sudan. For example, the other day they went to a mass grave site that was started in 1955. They will use these video clips along with quite a bit of narration to create a documentary-like video describing the history of Southern Sudan and the current state of affairs there. This will be so helpful for people in other places to understand what is happening and what the needs of the country are. What a great idea! I personally can't wait to see it!

Lizards and Volcanoes
Of course, this post would not be complete without a few fun Titus stories. I'll start with the lizard story. Yesterday, Mike looked out at the river and suddenly yelled out, "Did you guys see that?!" No one else saw what he was talking about, but he described it as something like a ginormous crocodile-like lizard. Well, they just went on their way because it didn't seem to surface again. When they came back, they noticed a large group of men at the river's edge shouting and acting very excited. They went to see what the commotion was all about, and it turns out that these men caught two very large lizard-like creatures and were very excited about it.

Later in the evening, they went to eat dinner with a family, and it just so happened that it was the home of one of the men who caught a lizard. When Amber and Titus arrived, they found the group of people out in back skinning the lizard. Titus was so excited that he wanted to go touch it. He kept asking Amber if he could get closer. She, of course, did not think this was a great idea, so she attempted to distract him by suggesting that they go find Daddy to show him what was happening. So Vernon came along. When he heard Titus asking to touch the lizard, he seemed to think that this was perfectly fine. So, with Vernon and Amber and most of the locals keeping a good distance between their own bodies and the lizard, Titus was allowed to go touch it. He went directly to the lizard with no fear and picked it up by the tail. Now, this was a large lizard, so Mike had to help him pick it up. Once he had his arm fully extended in the air, Mike was able to let go. The lizard's head was still laying on the ground while Titus was dangling it by its tail shaking it around with great delight! (Keep in mind that the lizard is not alive at this point, so he is in no immediate danger.) He finally had enough and decided to put the lizard down. As soon as his hand separated from the lizard's tail, Amber was running at him with Purell instructing him not to touch anything or put his hands in his mouth until he was properly sanitized! Hilarious! At the end of the recounting of this story, Amber giggled and added, "Only in Africa!"

One more quick story... On the way to Morobo the other day, Titus was looking out the window as they were driving along. There is an altitude increase between Yei and Morobo, so things get more hilly and seemingly mountainous. Titus looked out and said, "Oh my, Mom. There's a volcano!" Amber didn't know that he knew this word and asked where he learned it. He responded, "On Diego. There's volcanoes on Diego!" So the rest of the car ride, they were able to talk about volcanoes. (Quick geography lesson from Amber--there are no plate boundaries beneath Sudan, so these are not actual volcanoes. They are simply large rock formations that jut out of the ground and look a bit like mountains or volcanoes.)

In the end, it sounds like things are going quite well. Megan said that the places that they are staying in are VERY nice and that Bishop Taban is taking care of them so well that they are living very luxuriously compared to the rest of the Sudanese population. They are so grateful for his work there and feel very blessed to be a part of what's happening.

Hopefully we'll hear from them in a couple of days, at which time I'll update some more. Please continue to pray for them individually and as a team. Praise God that Titus has become increasingly comfortable and that Amber is getting opportunities to minister and use her gifts as well. And pray that they will not have problems with their video equipment so that they will be successful in their attempts to develop a helpful resource for so many of us who have never had the opportunity to visit Sudan.

Amber said that they can really tell that people are praying for them, so please continue to do so!

Christmas in Yei

Wow, I think we have missed it in America. Well, most of us....
Today was so amazing. Today the only thing we celebrated was the birth of Jesus Christ. We didn't exchange gifts...we danced, sang, ate, and fellowshipped....the people praised God all day today. The youth sang so beautiful...Vernon did an amazing job preaching...the day was beautiful!

We couldn't leave the compound today because Bishop Taban said there would be many people getting drunk and the streets would be filled...it wouldn't be safe. He prayed for those people today. It breaks my heart. The women danced so beautiful...the people watched and I could see them praising the Lord through the dance. We explained the song before we danced. We each have a reason to "owe our lives to our Lord"...isn't it beautiful? We were together all day until the afternoon. I sat and talked with Robert and Moses. They asked me what Christmas was like in America. How was I going to explain it to them after what I had just experienced here? I tried my best...I told them we exchanged gifts, we ate, watched football, and played games. They asked if people went to church, and I told them some, but not everyone. They looked at me with a look of confusion. They asked if we celebrated the birth of Jesus. I said, "Some of us, do, but not everyone." They said, "You can teach them back in America what you have learned today." Wow, a hard lesson learned from two brothers who are under the age of 12.

I hope everyone experienced and shared the birth of Christ in a real way on Christmas the way our team did. We were able to listen to the voices of children singing to God; the voices of the youth shouting songs of praise to our Lord and the men in the church marching down the aisle for Jesus....the day was amazing.

I hope you enjoy the video and are blessed by these women who worked hard to show their love and honor for the Lord.

-Rachelle

Christmas Eve in Morobo Video

Yei Hospital

Here at the compound Mama Grace is preparing to celebrate Christmas. While we know the joy of who we are celebrating there is still a side of need during this time. Please pray there would be the light of Christ in the dark places.


This is Megan: I will be telling the details of our day….(Vernon, Mike, Bishop Taban and I went to Yei Hospital)

I really don’t have an understanding of how to tell you what I saw today. This hospital is run by Norwegians People’s Aid. They have a primary care center and there is a measles care center. There is a new outbreak of measles and there are seven children there now they are treating. They have to keep them separate from everyone else because there is no cure they just need to treat the symptoms. The worse part of the hospital was the trauma and burn ward. It was so overcrowded that they just put people anywhere they could put them. What I mean by trauma and burns is that people had epilepsy had fallen into a fire and burned their bodies. Some were in motorcycle accidents. Some were victims from the Malakal incident outside of Juba that happened a couple weeks ago where about 300 people died. We were able to go through the ward with Dr. Thon who gave us an overview of each case and the conditions of the hospital.

There were 4 doctors total for too many patients to count. They don’t have the emergency meds available here. I saw darkness, infection. I saw someone who tried to commit suicide, and now he is not responding to treatment. There was a woman who was shot in her chest, but there is no surgeon to remove the bullet and all they can do is console and support her.
The boy with epilepsy-if we could just get him the meds to treat him, then he wouldn’t throw himself into the fire. The meningitis isolation ward had 2 cases. The children looked like they were between the ages of 5 and 10. They are only able to treat the symptoms and they are also trying to prevent the complications. The doctors are really doing all they can to help these people.


Seeing the people, looking at them, I see the darkness of what is inside. I found myself wanting them to cry out to the Lord in their hopelessness. I want them to see the light of His life. You think of the verse Matthew 9:12, it’s not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick. There is encouragement and hope in what the local church is doing for the hurting and the sick as we are able to see Goli Hospital being constructed by EPC and it’s supporters.

Please continue to pray for our team as we visit Morobo today (the orphanage) and will return tomorrow.

12-21-06 Video Update

Look Pictures and Video!!!!

One of the issues that is faced on a continual basis in Sudan is the overwhelming number of children that are orphaned. Here is a picture of Mary and her six children. Mary just lost her husband from alcohol poisoning last week. Anngrace and I were sitting down and discussing the future of the family.
It is a very difficult situation because the eldest son is expected to take care of the family now. He is only 14 years old though! Situations like these are very common, but the difficulty of making decisions which will influence the rest of the family are immense.
Please pray for Mary and her family. We are looking at having Mary employed at the new orphanage in Lainya. If this happens her children will be able to stay with her.
Ultimately, the decision is up to Anngrace. Please pray for direction and guidance.
We love you all very much and greatly appreciate your prayers.
Love Truth
Vernon
Gal. 5:22-23
.

A note from Amber
Life as a mother is not much different here in Sudan. The last two days i have been tending to the needs of our sweet Titus and his little friends. It has been wonderful. Thank you to everyone for praying for Titus, he is doing great today! I have had a great time here staying around the Yei village getting to know the children and mothers here. They are so beautiful and so happy! Titus has had the best time finding his way around here. It is a two year old boy dream land. I wish Ladan Daniels and Jackson Smith were here to enjoy it with Titus and Albert (titus's little Sudaneese friend) There are rocks galore to throw where ever you want to throw them, because their are no windows to be broken! The children have taught Titus how to pump water into the water cans and how to feed the chickens. Today while he was playing in the dirt, he was simply rubbing the dirt and picking it up and taking in to a dumping place. When suddenly he got so excited about all the dirt and rocks he just layed stomach down and began to do a swimming action...it was hasterical! oh the joys of being two!

the Joys of African LIfe

Hello everyone! Its Amber finally!
Thank you so much for being patient with us as we try to get the Internet back up and running. Hopefully soon we will have the ability to upload pictures and video as well.
Last night was our first sleep here in Yei. We all slept well, until about 3 when Titus decided it was time wake up! He stayed awake for about two hours and then went back to sleep just fine. Sometime before 8am I was woke to the sound of Titus vomiting. This continued all morning. He was so sick. It was terribly sad. Around noon he miraculously came out of his sickness! It was amazing! He went from not eating, not drinking to wanting to go the river and play with the children! Thank you to all who prayed for Titus today! He is doing great now he has had two good meals that have stayed down just fine!
I stayed with Titus all morning but the others went about the area building friendships with the workers here. Vernon and Mike met with a family who just lost their father, they ministered to them by listening to them and morning with them.

Tonight Vernon, Mike and Bishop are in a bush village. Tomorrow, Vernon will be Preaching all morning. We are very excited about what will go on there in the morning. They will return about 2ish and we will all load up and go down the road to Harvesters. Harvesters is an orphanage that is a village away from ours in Morobo. We have a great relationship with these workers and Megan will get to do a lot with their Nurse and Doctor.
We love each of you and are thankful for your prayers.
Please pray for

• Titus to sleep. I think is sickness was just pure exhaustion.
• Salvation tomorrow in the bush.
• Over all health of all the Team.

Have a great day!

Whoops!

Hello Everyone! It's Phyllis again. I realized when I was talking to my mom on the phone that I made a small error in the last post. It was Allison's dad who purchased the ipods for the trip. The church helped out with a significant financial contribution which was also a big blessing as they acquired last-minute things for the trip. I figured I better correct that last entry--both to say thanks to Allison's dad and so that the people from the church weren't wondering who approved the purchase of two video ipods in addition to the financial contribution! :)

Hopefully, this is last update you have to receive from me, as that would mean that the team is able to update on their own, which is infinitely more exciting than hearing from a gal sitting in Louisville, Kentucky! Adios!

They Made It!

Hello Everyone! It's Phyllis (Vernon's sister) writing on behalf of the team. They arrived in Yei earlier today and met up with Mike and Megan who are already there. They're having some internet trouble, but I was able to speak to my brother and Amber on the phone just a little while ago. Everyone is doing well. They had been in Sudan for about 7 hours when I talked to them and were settling in for their first overnight stay in the country. Rachelle seems to be feeling better, which is a huge praise! Megan and Mike are still doing well also.

The travel went well. Amber said that Titus had only about 90 minutes of really rough times. When I talked to my brother and mentioned this, he said, "Oh, really? Well, that sounds better than my estimate, so let's go with that!" Pretty funny! Either way, he did really well considering the circumstances, which is a huge blessing. They are staying right on the river, which is a delightful treat for Titus. He apparently spent much of his first day in Sudan throwing rocks in the river! What fun for a two-year-old! Even more exciting for Titus is the fact that there is a cement maker right next to their place. For those of you who know Titus, you know that he is one of the world's biggest Bob the Builder fans, so the cement maker was more excitement than he had anticipated. Whenever he sees it, he yells, "It's Dizzy!" (Dizzy is the cement maker on Bob the Builder.) And to top it all off, Amber was able to take a 3-hour nap this afternoon to rest a bit.

Titus was finishing off the day with an all-American activity--watching "Cars" on the video ipod that was given to them by the church just before they left. They have been so grateful for this gift! They had been telling Titus that he'd have his own t.v. screen on the plane ride, but it turned out that they were on a smaller plane, so he didn't have one. The ipod was helpful on the flights, not only for them, but for all of the passengers around them! So, on behalf of the Burgers, Rachelle, and all passengers on the plane, THANK YOU! :)

So here are the plans for the next few days:

• Wednesday--Vernon, Mike, and Bishop Taban will travel to a bush village and stay the night there. They will do some teaching while they are there and will return to Yei on Thursday.
• Friday morning the entire group will head out for Morobo, which is the location of the orphanage, school, and farm. They will all spend the night in tents in Morobo on Friday night.
• The team will return to Yei on Saturday and will take a few days to celebrate Christmas together.

They will be updating us more soon, and hopefully their internet connection is up and running very quickly. Please pray for the following items:

• That the people in the bush village will hear and understand the Gospel message and will receive the message with open hearts. Pray that Mike, Vernon, and Bishop Taban will speak with clarity and that their love for these people would be such a picture of Christ's love for us that the people will be drawn to the Lord because of what they are hearing and seeing.
• That Titus continues to adapt well.
• Praise God for Rachelle's restored health. Please pray that she will stay well. Since she was recently sick, her immune system could still be slightly compromised--or it could be the case that she is stronger after having just been a bit ill. Also, please pray that Rachelle would be able to rest well. (She had been having some trouble sleeping before the trip.)
• That Megan's efforts to learn much from the orphanage nurse will be fruitful and that she will grow in knowledge and understanding of tropical diseases and how to care for children in these parts of the world.
• Finally, please pray that the entire team will continue to have wisdom and grace as they determine how they will be able to serve the people of Sudan... and that their eyes and hearts will be open to see the ways that the people of Sudan are serving and teaching each of them.

39 Hours and counting!

hello all. the last five days have been loaded with packing and preparing. Woah! it takes a lot of thought for an entire family to be gone for a month! who knew? needless to say we are a little lacking in sleep, but ahh yes...tomorrow we Sabbath. We had a goal to be totally done by Friday night, ready to walk out the door, so that Saturday we could take our weekly Sabbath. At the completion of this blog, i believe that we have come VERY close to accomplishing our goal! PRAISE GOD!! We have a few things to do tomorrow like put a hold on the newspaper, pick up a prescription and go to the bank.
Here is a little fun fact....each person gets to have 33lbs a piece, a total weight of 99lbs. Well, we set a goal to be Way below that and as of tonight we are sitting right around 51lbs! yippee! that is less than 2/3rds our weight allowed! it will prob. end up being around 70 after we count our super small carry ons.
Thank you for your prayers during our preparation time. You guys are wonderful!

Prayer:

• I spoke with Megan and Mike and they got to go to the Orphanage today! They said the Children look healthy and are growing so much! Praise the Lord today for HIS great provision for them!
• Titus has developed, over the last 4 days, a fear of the dark and hatred for sleep. This in turn leaves Mommy very tired and Titus very crabby. Pray for his Sleep! PLEASE! For his sleep tonight and tomorrow night and then on the plane and in Sudan.
• Pray hard for Rachelle she is very sick. As of last night she was vomiting again. So pray for her wellness and sleep. She has not been able to sleep well.
• Pray that the Lord will keep my mind Sharp as i am tired. I need to remember lots of little things.
• In Yei where we will be staying, there are lots of people in town for a governmental gathering, pray for peace among the people.
• Last night Mike played the movie The Passion of the Christ for all the people staying in the near by hotels. (think huts not marriotts) Pray for salvation!
• Pray for endurance and stamina for our bodies as we travel and parent!

We love yall and i am not sure if we will update again until we are in country. Look for an update from Mike and Megan in the next couple of days!

LOVE TRUTH

Amber

5 days until our departure!

Well, our departure is nearing and all of the last minute things are now at hand. Titus and I just returned from a great stay in Missouri. We got to visit and say good bye to lots of family and friends. It was wonderful.
We have many prayer request as the time is quickly approaching for our journey to Sudan. Please pass this sight around to all you know who will pray... Also feel free to leave comments, we would love to hear from you. If you write a comment and are not a apart of blogspot, just choose anyonomous and the comment will make it to us. We love yall and are so thankful for your love and support.

Please Pray for :

• Rachelle, she has been very sick for the last 3 weeks. Pray she would get better. She is on an antibiotic now so hopefully that will kick it. Pray the antibiotic doesnt interfere with her malaria or typhoid meds.
• I go to the doctor tommarrow, I am not sick, but i need my prescription (thyroid) refilled early this month so that i have enough to make it through our trip. Blood work will prob. have to be done so pray she is willing to go ahead and get me a refill before the blood work comes back.
• Praise the Lord for my nephews sunday school class! they raised $800 for the children to have Christmas gifts!
• Pray for Megan, Mike and Dr. Kelly. They are out of Liberia and headed to Uganda. There they will be seeing widowed Sudanese Refugees and medically attending to them until we arrive on Monday.
• Pray for Titus. He is getting very anxious about the journey. Pray for him to SLEEP on the plane as much as possible. Pray for him to not be scared of the Sudanese people but to take to them quickly.
• Pray for me (amber) because i have a lot on my plate between now and Sunday. I am dealling with all the money, logistics and packing. And all of you mothers/wives know that just because you are busy doesnt mean your other responsibilites go away. Pray for balance and joy.
• Pray for Vernon he has his finals today tommarrow and Thursday.

We love yall and are so thankful for your support!

Amber

14 days!

in 14 days we will be enjoying this...
this is footage from the orphanage from last time, so it might be fimiliar...

Please Pray for:

• all the last minute logistical things that need to take place
• Titus and Amber's visit to MO 5th-11th
• all the packing (we get 33lbs a piece that is all so we have to be creative!)
• Rachelles flight to DFW the weekend we leave
• Mike and Megan in Liberia-you can check out the Liberia team blog here
• Titus-he hates taking medicine and we have to start him on some meds for maleria. it is oral pill so please pray he will take them!
• Rachelle as she prepares in Memphis for the journey.

Thank you all. We love you!