Robin updates from Sudan

Greetings from Yei!

I am so excited to finally be updating the blog!!! The internet has been down since Monday *sigh* .We arrived a week and a half ago before lunch after Isaac's FIRST plane flight! He just smiled a lot and was excited to see Yei out of the window. When we reached the turning point to get to the compound we were greeted with a celebration! The Youth and Sunday School Choirs (in their awesome purple and blue uniforms…solid bottoms and tie-dyed shirts) met us with a procession of singing and dancing! How fun! Everyone was thrilled to have Isaac back! *grin* Once we reached the church Bishop had all three of us say a few words to the congregation (he videoed it!) and we had a time thanking God for all he'd done. What a great way to start things off!

We got recruited for our second painting job! When Meg and I (among others) were here in December we painted the clinic (turned computer lab for CWEP [Christian Women's Empowerment Program]…now it was time for the new Sunday School room! We had help from pastors, pastor's wives, Sunday school teachers, and kids alike! So fun! Not to mention, yet again, soaking our hands in diesel to get the paint off… actually, I don't think we've managed to completely rid ourselves of paint! And what can we say about the fumes? Um, they clear out our sinuses?! Yes… Anyhow… It's a bright mustardy yellow room with silhouettes of African style trees and words about faith…really fun…we'll put up photos when we can!

Leapin' Lizards! I really should have paid more attention in December when the widows tried to teach me to say "I see the giant lizard" in Arabic! We were having a great Sunday service, (complete with a baby dedication!) and right at the end I thought Meg had slapped me on the back…I glanced over only to see her hands at her sides… then something on my back moved. Oh yes, a decent sized lizard leaped off my back on onto my chair! Crazy! I jumped… Did I mention that Megan I were sitting in the very front of the church next to Anne Grace? Bishop just said that I should have been nicer to the lizard, it just wanted to have fellowship with me! Overall, we were so happy to be back worshipping with our EPC family; it really brings us joy! The Youth and Sunday School choirs sang; what a great day!

Isaac is staying on the compound in a room not to far from me so I can make sure he's still eating well, healing well, change his dressings, etc… The occupational therapist who lives on the compound is helping me with Isaac!! He's having FUN and doing really well with the exercises! We took him to get his stitches out (apparently they weren't the dissolvable kind like we thought!) on Thursday at the YWAM base (there's a medically trained gal there!) He's doing really well and is incredibly happy to be home, see friends and family, jump back into choir, and eat his fill of beans and rice!

A great surprise on Sunday was seeing Esther… she is back from getting her passport in Juba (Praise God!!!) So the next step is to begin working on her visa for the U.S.; please be praying for that process. (She needs surgery on her heart!) We're so grateful to see God's faithfulness to Isaac and to Esther and we just want to continue to see His hand move!

The last few days in Kijabe were great! We had missionary roommates who blessed us; we hiked 45 minutes up a steep hill to go to church. I was calf deep in mud after it began to pour and Megan and Isaac chose the safe side of the road! Pastor Erik prayed over Isaac during the service; it's such a blessing to have our Kenyan family! We also had a chance to have dinner with Dr. Carter and his wife before we left; just talking, telling stories, etc… lovely!

Our trio lost Megan on Tuesday as she began her journey back to the States! And she should be there now. Needless to say, Isaac and I will miss her! Playing Skip-bo just isn't the same! (We miss you girlie!)

It's been a great week here at EPC. I got to sit down with Ann Grace and begin talking about CWEP (Christian Women's Empowerment Program) and am looking forward to more conversations! Hearing her heart for the women's ministry is absolutely amazing! It's really tugged on my heart. I'm teaching some of the trainers about the Bible this week and am stoked!

Oh, if anyone has children's ministries or adult ministries materials (Bible studies, curriculum, teacher's trainings, etc…) that can be e-mailed or mailed or whatnot, EPC would love to have them. They're trying to find ways to get more materials and you can't pop over to your local Bible bookstore here!

Other than that I've been enjoying watching the rain, reading, spending time with Isaac, and just generally entering in all that EPC's doing.. I leave in a week and I'm already not ready to go! I'm just sitting in awe of God and all He's doing all over the world…WOW! I just keep thinking of how much we take for granted and how often we overlook the little things that bring God delight (for example, do you know how many different types of Lizards I've noticed since last Sunday? What creativity!)

Ok, my class is about to begin! So I'll say g'bye for now and will try and update again soon! Cheers mates!

Love,

Robin