Wednesday....WOW this week is flying by!!

   Wednesday Morning started out at 5:30 with a thought of "thank you, LORD, for the wake-up call" from the Rooster.  At 6:15, the thought was, "OK, LORD, can you please make this rooster be quiet?"  Then, at 6:35, "LORD, can this rooster please be dinner?"  Much to my disappointment, the rooster was still at the compound when we arrived back, but it got quiet around sundown, which was a great blessing - and, I guess we are guaranteed a wake up call on Thursday morning too??  YIPPEE!!!! (please read with sarcasm as I'm very tired from this stupid rooster)  And, let me just say that what really woke me up was the cricket that jumped on me when I was walking to the bathroom this morning.....for those of you who know my reactions around bugs of any kind, you will appreciate the mental image that you now have for a few minutes.

Alarm clock??

  Wow, how can I sum up today??  I guess the best thing to realize is that I can't sum it quickly.  :0)
  Today, we started at our normal time of 8:00 leaving the compound and taking the 1.75 hr long trip (only about 25-30 miles) on some of the bumpiest roads in creation to the village of Lanyi.  The drive seemed very quick, though, as we sang old hymns along the way led by a few members of the team.  We even re-enacted the previous days singing of songs that included (of course, in Moru), "Isaac drives the vehicle," "Jesus is number 1" and "white people make the fire light" (which means that white people preach the Word of God) as introduced to us by Paul, Archbishop of the world.
  When we arrived, we had some conversation with Pastor Charles and first extended our condolences as yesterday a boy from this village was killed in a car accident and the bodies were being brought back today and the funerals were happening in the morning.  We also asked him some questions about the village.  They were basic things like how many people lived there, how big his church is and stuff like that.  Needless to say, the word overwhelmed came rushing to mind when he said that there were approximately 2,276 people in this village, 950 households and that there were a total of 3 churches in the parish and 7 lay leaders.  WOW......a total of 10 people to lead 2,276.......that math simply doesn't work to effectively lead others in discipleship, teaching, showing the Word, sharing the Word or serving the world.  One could become exasperated and not even touch 1/2 of the people that they are responsible to shepherd.

the children that came for the teaching today

HOW SWEET!!!!  She came right to me too!!

  As was the custom with Monday and Tuesday, Bethany and I taught the gospel lesson with picture books and in story form relating it to items that they could understand.  We also read the scriptures from the Bible, but none of the ladies or children brought their Moru Bibles today, so the scriptures were interpreted.  This was a little disheartening, but we were still able to teach.  After this, Archbishop of the world led the group in singing a song or 2 and we went into the presentation about the oral rehydration solution. Because we had a MUCH bigger crowd today (approximately 100-125 women and children), we had them fetch the items for us and then had one of the ladies make the solution and offered it to the children to drink.  One priceless picture was one little girl who drank a sip, then went to hand the cup back to archbishop and quickly took it back to finish what was in the cup.  SO CUTE!!!!

Archbishop was about to lead us in some singing.....

  After the teaching, we had lunch.  As a side note (earlier in the morning), as Bethany and I sat watching the men teach the pastor about the water filtration system in the morning, we saw a young boy come in with a cow leg over his shoulder.....hoof and all.  We looked at one another and said, that's lunch!  And, it was!  Talk about fresh beef!!  It was delicious though.  On another side note.....I started taking my antibiotics today as a preventative measure for the things that we've been eating in the villages.  ;0)  Lunch was delicious and the conversation was good.  So was the brief rest.
  In the afternoon, Bethany, archbishop and I met with 3 ladies from the church to get an assessment of how well they understand the gospel.  Needless to say, there's a lot of work to be done with these villages as they all profess to have faith in Christ, but also claim that they can lose their salvation and they cling to a works-based mentality of their faith.  It's very heartbreaking.
  Then, we all piled in the truck again to begin the 1.75 hour long journey back to the compound.  When we were about 15 minutes away, we were passed on the road by a truck with a sign on the side that read "South Sudan Road Repair Project."  This left us with the burning question.....what in the world do they repair??  The dirt roads here leave a lot to be desired (in some ways, they remind me of driving about 40 miles on roads like the ones that are around my dad's fish ponds - over and over and over with about 12 people in the truck).  At least we know that the government of South Sudan has a plan for the reparation of the roads in the future, right?
  Tonight, when we were back at the compound, we shared a delicious dinner of beans and Mundri bread (some had tomatoes and onions - yes I tried them, but I STILL can't stomach a tomato).  And, then we had time to share with our partner, Jeffries, and one another about the day and then had our devotion.  Daniel read from John 1:1-10 tonight and it was such a great reminder about the fact that God has already won this spiritual battle in the world, but it's still our responsibility to share Christ with the rest of the world.  But, the darkness cannot snuff Him out!  As we were getting ready for prayer time, Archbishop of the world's cell phone rang and it didn't startle him at all.....he was sound asleep!!!  When we called his name a couple of times, he says, "I am not asleep".....just like anyone would, of course.
   What a great day!!  We only have 1 more ministry day left......wow it's gone by so quickly!