All About Africa: 8

We had an incredibly eye-opening, life-changing week at the orphanage! I wanted to simply share some of the pictures of the people that we ministered to and ultimately, ministered to our team. As you look over these pictures, please pray for these precious people in Lora, Sudan. 

ABC's of Summer 2011

A: AFRICA!!!
B: "Bachelorette Nights" with the Parma girls
C: Craftiness for my classroom
D: Done. Finished. Over. Sadly, there is no more summer for me.
E: Enjoying my fabulous Sudan Team!
F: Fuzzy's Taco- My mom is addicted and has taken me along for the ride. Seriously, she needs help.
G: Grandparents. They kindly let me stay at their place while I was waiting for my apartment to be vacated.
H: Hobby Lobby runs, like 4 a week!
I: Instagram.....my new photo addiction
J: Jet-setting: DFW; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Entebbe, Uganda; Yei, Sudan; Atlanta, Georgia; Lexington, Kentucky......as you can see, I've done my fair share of traveling this summer!
K: Kiddos. Meeting my sweet class was wonderful!
L: Learning how to use the lamination machine and failing quite a few times. I have discovered that this machine is a teacher's best friend!
M: Moving......twice. The entire process included 4 different homes/apartments
N: New. I think this word most accurately describes my summer. New job. New apartment. New travels: Africa!!! New friendships. New responsibilities. New dreams.
O: Organizing
P: Paisleys and poke-a-dots. My classroom has exploded with these two things.
Q: Quickly......this is how my summer went by.
R: Radical. Amazing book by David Platt that I am trudging through.
S: Surviving college. I finally graduated on May 14th!!!!
T: Trainings at school
U: Unbearable Texas heat!!! We tipped the Fahrenheit scales at 108 degrees, I believe.
V: Very hot! I know, this was my "U" but it's been SO that it deserves 2 slots. ;)
W: Weeping. God revealed so many things about His character to me and of course that resulted in my favorite (or really NOT a favorite) past time.
X: X-tra time. This I did not have.
Y: Young lives to pray for. God has given me 20 young lives to pray over and impact. I spent all of July and August praying and preparing for them.
Z: ZZZZ.......I learned to how to truly rest in Him when I was in Africa. Thankfully, He has given me many opportunities to practice this!

All About Africa: 7

We were able to spend 5 wonderful days at the Lora orphanage. Six of us agreed to do the teaching, while the other three worked with the "mothers" and cooks. We taught for four days about God's promises. I taught on the last day about God's promise of provision for His children. Honestly, this is a difficult lesson to teach any child because it can be challenging for children to grasp that God's will and our will do not always align. (Truthfully, isn't this a challenge for adults to accept as well?) Many times, we think we need or want something that ultimately God knows is not best for us. Now, imagine teaching this concept to a group of children who have nothing in comparison with what American children have. Through my preparation for this lesson, the Lord clearly showed me that He is providing for these orphans. It may not be to the extent that I think He should, but who am I to judge His will. Ultimately, the most important things He provides are the provisions of the Spirit. The Father is faithful to give us hope, peace, eternity, love, and grace.

As I'm teaching, I'm thinking about how many things I want for on a daily basis. How many of those things are eternal? Sadly, I realized that more often than not, I want things that are earthly. I looked around the orphanage and noticed that the children are joyful, not because they have the new iPhone, a pair of shoes, or a great outfit. In fact, they don't have any of these things. They are joyful because they have the Lord and the love of His people surrounding them. My realization was that I need to be content and thankful for the provisions of the Spirit that the Lord has graciously given to me because I have done NOTHING to deserve them.

Here are some pictures of my team teaching. We thankfully had an interpreter when we taught!!! At times Jon would translate from English into two other languages...what a talented man of God!

The chickens, roosters, and chicks would come and go in the classroom while we were teaching.

Note to all my fellow teachers: surely, this is the weirdest and most random classroom disruption you have ever seen!?! Haha!

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."   ~Philippians 4:11

All About Africa: 6

More on day 1 at the orphanage......
We were able to do SO much during our visit on Monday. Not only did we play, sing, and talk (as shown in my last post), we learned all about LuLu nuts. Apparently, the LuLu falls from the tree as a fruit. Once the children eat the fruit a pit/nut is left. This most closely resembles a large hazelnut. Unfortunately, the fruit had been consumed prior to our visit, and because of our differing cultural experiences, I am still uncertain as to what this fruit looks like.
Jocelyn (the precious nurse), the mothers, and a few helpful girls were kind enough to introduce to us the inventive ways that they are using this nut. It was explained to us that they make cooking oil, soap, medicine, lotion, and many other things from this nut.

Isn't Jocelyn beautiful?!?!
She has an even more beautiful spirit!

Here is the LuLu nut process........

Step 1: Crush the LuLu. Let me tell you, this is HARD work! I was the first from our group to try this and I was incredibly embarrassed by my lack of strength and rhythm. These sweet children were waaaaay more skilled at this than me!

Step 2: Sift the ground LuLu and re-grind the large pieces. This step I eventually mastered, but not without much help.

 Step 3: Cook the LuLu powder over an open flame. It was quite funny because one of the women asked me if I had ever seen a fire made out of sticks. I assured her that I had experienced them when camping. Of course, she didn't know what camping was because for them, every day is like camping. ;)
Another reminder that we are blessed beyond measure here in the US!!!

 

Step 4: Put the cooked LuLu into bags and place into this interesting contraption.

Step 5: Turn, turn, and turn some more!!! This is an exciting step and everyone gathers 'round as the women and a few men use all of their incredible strength to press out the oil.
Laughter and fellowship are integral parts of this LuLu nut oil-making process. I feel blessed and honored to have participated in every step!
We laughed and told them that in America, people would pay BIG bucks for this all-natural, organic oil. Haha!

Aren't we blessed to simply get in our cars, choose from any of 5 or so different stores, and have an enormous spread of food at our fingertips. All of which takes about 15 minutes. In Sudan, they worked for 4 days to simply produce some oil. Oh what riches we take for granted each day!

All About Africa: 5

On Monday, we ventured to the orphanage in Lora, Sudan. The distance between where we were staying in Yie to the orphanage was about 17 miles. Because of the terrible conditions of the roads.......Let me tell you, these are not roads as we think of them in America. They are dirt pathways with potholes and strange speed bump things every few yards.......what would have taken 20 minutes in America, instead took around 70 minutes, depending on the day. So, we took advantage of this time by catching up on sleep, doing last-minute preparation for our lessons, and mostly telling stories and laughing. We were blessed to have a driver from the EPC each day. He spoke some English but seemed content to simply drive. One morning someone was passing around gum in the van and Justin asked our driver if he wanted a piece. He took it, gave it a few chews, and promptly swallowed it. Apparently, he had no concept of gum. This was quite funny as we did not consider that this might be the case.......just a quick example of one of the MANY cultural differences we experienced! :)

Visiting the orphanage in Lora each day was an amazing experience! These precious children are having their needs meet in ways that the rest of the bush (This is what the area in which most Sudanese people live is called.) is not. They get 3 meals each day, an education, a bed to sleep in, an on-site nurse, "mothers" who love and care for them, friends to play with, and most importantly, an opportunity to hear the gospel each day. They are told that Jesus loves them and that He is the way to true happiness. What a precious gift of provision from our Savior and His people! 

During this first day with the orphans, we simply played and talked with them. 

It was a hot day but God blessed us with the ability to bring these sweet children jump ropes, Frisbees, and soccer balls; the act of which lit up their faces. I was overwhelmed by the thought of how American children take these simple things for granted each day. May we remind them and ourselves of the riches we are afforded here in America! 

*More to come from this first day at the orphanage!

All About Africa: 4

On Sunday, we went to this Evangelical Presbyterian Church (located on the compound where we stayed). They are expanding the church because they have outgrown their current building. What a blessing! These people are incredibly dedicated. They come to church in a building that has no electricity, air conditioning, or comfortable chairs and they praise the Lord for 2-3 hours. Oh, that we may have such dedication in America!

These are the fabulous instruments that were played during the song service. 

In Sudan, the Sabbath is taken very seriously. These people know how to rest as the Lord intended for us to do on the 7th day. This is another great lesson that I learned while on this life-changing trip. We should not be ashamed by taking a day or a portion of a day to relax, have fun, be with friends and family, and most importantly, thank our Father for His merciful blessings. In America we get so caught-up in the race of non-stop activity and I don't believe this is what God intended. One of my goals for this year is to take a day to relax, have fun, and really bask in the greatness of God.

In this spirit, we played frisbee, jumped rope, kicked the soccer ball, danced, laughed, and loved on the children from the village surrounding the EPC. It was a fun and HOT time as you can see in these pictures.

 

"Return, oh my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you." 

~Psalm 116:7

All About Africa: 3

We left Uganda, boarded a little plane, stopped to pick up the mail :), and landed in Sudan! 

 (This is the entire plane. Picture is taken from the last seat. See, little is not an exaggeration!)

 I was quite nervous because this was my first experience with such a tiny plane, but the ride was quite easy. We landed on a dirt runway as goats scattered and people stood by watching. This was definitely NOT like flying in to the DFW airport. Speaking of airports, there was no airport. We got off the plane, grabbed our luggage, and walked into the one-room building better know as customs. Seriously, this was hilarious! They had written the words "customs and immigration" on a piece of typing paper and stapled it to the wall. I signed a book with all of my information as they stamped my passport and I was accepted into the country. 

When we arrived in Yei we toured the EPC compound where we would be staying. We spent the rest of the day getting acquainted with the staff, learning about the history of Sudan, telling stories, laughing, singing praises to our Lord, drinking Fanta, and playing with this sweet little girl, Grace. 

 Seriously, she was SO precious! I wanted to put her in my suitcase, but Justin quickly objected......kill-joy. ;) 

We ended the day in the most amazing way. The team was sitting around chatting after dinner and some of the staff invited us to their prayer meeting. Small groups from the church meet to lift up one another in prayer (quite similar to our home groups). It was an incredibly sweet time as I was overwhelmed by the complete surrender to the Lord as these brothers and sisters were seeking His face. As we worshiped God through song together, tears fell down my face. I was reminded of the simplicity of worship. In America many times we make coming before the Lord such a production, but in Sudan these men and women were humbly and simply crying out their need for the undeserving grace that Jesus afforded us all. They didn't need lights, a band, fancy equipment, detailed song lyrics, or comfortable chairs; all they were concerned about was being in the presence of the Father. It was a blessing and privilege to gather with them and earnestly seek after Him. What a beautiful picture of the church body.

Quite a wonderful, restful first day in Sudan!!!