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.