best. week. ever.

Alyssa's family came to visit this week and I'm not sure who enjoyed them more, me or her! It was so wonderful to be included in their family while they were here and I wish they could have stayed longer!

 It hasn't rained in about two weeks so the river wasn't a problem at all! Thank you, Jesus for letting us get everywhere we needed to go!

We had a week-long Nerts tournament. Colin and I dominated.

 There is no gas for our stove/oven within a 6-hour drive from here so we are majorly rationing it. We successfully cooked for 7 people for 3 meals a day for 7 days using only our charcoal cooker...

 ...except the time we made pizza.

 A lot of you have been praying for our language helper, Charles. He is still with us (YEAH!) and we really appreciate him. Alemu is one of the boys' best friends and he likes to come with us to do ministry sometimes.

 Our truck only holds three people at a time so we had a party in the back of the truck every day.

 Thank you, Christian for all the awesome new music!

 Mom, me, Colin, Alyssa, Christian, Walker, Charlotte, and Dad.

Couldn't do it without her!

Oops.

I should be updating more regularly but apparently it's been a month since I have taken the time to do that....oops.

Alyssa and I finished out April with a re-stocking trip to Nairobi, Kenya. Since the only food items available in Kapoeta are onions, bell peppers, cabbage, tomatoes, oil and flour, our team has to go to Kenya every few months to stock up on everything else. This time is also used for things like medical appointments and immigration appointments. And let's be honest, having a hot shower and eating at a restaurant is also awesome!

We got back to South Sudan just in time for rainy season. There are 39 rivers on the one road from Lokichoggio to Kapoeta and heavy rains had washed away the bridge concrete bottom on the biggest river just outside of Loki. God was good to us and he held the rain away on the day we got to Loki so we were able to get home before the two weeks of solid rain hit.

The women are busy working in their gardens now so our ministry looks a little different than it did during dry season. More men are back from cattle camp so we have been able to tell the AIDS information to several groups of men. This is great because the Toposa men hold more sway in the village than the women do.

Most importantly, we've been able to celebrate the baptisms of 17 new followers of Jesus this week! Eight women and three men from Lomayen were baptized on Friday and several friends from the village closest to us were baptized this morning. For the past few months the people in Lomayen have been listening to God's Word as Carrie, Alyssa and I have shared stories from the story cloth and we are so glad that they have decided to follow Jesus! Shannon will continue to teach in their village on a weekly basis. Pray for them as they learn about things like prayer and the importance of listening to God's Word.

Beware of extreme cuteness

Since Regina's baby is named "for" me, I am culturally expected to give her (and Regina) certain things, or at least sort of treat her as my favorite (which she is anyway) and be extra generous with giving her things. Check out Natabo Mindy in her swanky new onesie that Mom brought from the US! Totally too big for her, but totally cute.

 LOOK at those dimples!

Good Thing I Do Yoga

The Toposa love to jump. Everything they do in celebration involves jumping. Sometimes the jumping is before/during/after our story groups, sometimes it's because of a wedding, sometimes it's because a village has sacrificed a bull, and sometimes it's for no reason at all.

And sometimes it's on one leg with the other leg propped up on the person next to you.

And just so you don't think we're the only ones who struggled...take a look at the boys doing it!

Mom Comes to Toposaland

Guess who I've been busy hanging out with?

My mom and Francie came to visit!

My mom blends in so well.

Garrett came, too! We've been friends since we were like 10. He is Walker's new best friend.

Baby Mindy

Okay so technically her name is Natabo, but since that's my Toposa name and she was named after me, I feel like Baby Mindy isn't too much of a stretch. She was born December 9th so she's almost four months old now and pretty darn cute if I don't say so myself! Her mother, Regina, is now my Toposa mother.

One day old! Pardon the close-up, sweaty face. These tukels are a liiiittle cramped!

How can you not love the 90's rap star look? This is what happens when Regina borrows my sunglasses.

I'm calling this her "possessed" look. We're working on head control and she's a little camera-shy.

She's a doll. And Regina really likes my sunglasses.

"Wanna Meet For Drinks Later?"

One way I have chosen to describe life here is by using the word bipolar. One minute nothing is happening, the next minute everything is total chaos. Walking into the village we see no one, then we turn the corner and 16 drunk ladies come screeching our way wanting us to help build the house they're working on, and the next minute 10 other ladies are pulling us away so that we can teach God's Word under the tree. Madness.

In the span of two hours this afternoon I:
-drove to Kapoeta to get the truck tires changed.
-had an SPLA soldier with an AK-47 on his lap tell me that I needed to sit down because the sun would make me fall over. I sat down.
-had the same SPLA soldier tell Alyssa and I to give him one of our new tires so he could put it on the SPLA truck. We said no.
-had two guys ask if they could put their father's dead body in the back of the truck so that they could bring him back to their village to bury him. No room. 8 old tires in the back of the truck.
-got asked out by a UN deputy secretary something or other. I also said no.
-got a puncture in one of the new tires as I drove away from the tire repair place.
-bought two little Toposa girls their first coke and had to convince them that it wasn't beer. Nakai's face was hilarious! She kept closing her eyes and scrunching her nose because the bubbles "hurt" her tongue.

The end. How was your day?