First 2 weeks in South Sudan

 Greetings from sunny, HOT, South Sudan

We arrived Sun. Feb 14 to Juba, the capitol of South Sudan and had the blessing of staying with some of Joyce's relatives. Patience really enjoyed playing with alot of cousins around her age. And with the help of our friend Isaac & Joyce's uncle, we were able to make the 2 1/2 hour trek (3 1/2 hours b/c of road conditions) from Juba to Nimule (Nim-u-lay) the sprawling border town that borders Uganda.

Benaiah loving playing with his sister!

The only loss of luggage was Jon's binoculars that were confiscated as the airport. In South Sudan binoculars are seen as a weapon of war and they don't understand at all "bird watching".

We arrived at our rental home as it was getting dark & were welcomed by some of Joyce's family who had worked hard to prepare the house for our arrival. Since then, we have had lots of friends and family come to visit us, so Patience and Benaiah have had lots of playmates.

Cousins who are blessed by Let's Dress the Girls dresses

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Joyce's sister, Grace, staying to help 

We are settling into daily life here... getting water from the Bor Hole; walking 3 miles to the market almost daily to get food to cook from home (no refrigeration); cooking with charcoal outside; and a little solar for lights and charging phones (anything more blows the system). 

We live on a hillside on the outskirts of Nimule. It's a beautiful, quiet place to pray and live & work with others from Joyce's family. We are excitedly anticipating the soon arrival of Joyce's parents to come from the refuge camp to stay with us. And it's been wonderful reconnecting with old friends that we have not seen in a long time. 

Wonderful reunion with close friends & partners in the Gospel

Now that we are developing a home routine, we are looking to connect with a local hospital so Joyce can set up and internship or get some practical experience in either the hospital or with a local village midwife. 

While enjoying time with Joyce's parents here, our hope is to return with them to their cluster of Tukels (huts) in Loa, South Sudan to work together to rebuild their homes that have been stripped & burned. There is much to do, so we ask God to lead us/them step by step.

I, Jonathan, already had opportunity to share on the RMC Christian radio (a local Nimule station with translation by the pastor/co-host) He has asked me to preach at his church on Sunday Feb. 28th. I will be preaching the Gospel to myself first and sharing with others our great need of His mercy and grace. By the time you wake up Sunday morning our service in South Sudan will be over as we are 7 hours ahead of those in EST.  I will be returning to share on the radio the next Friday March 5th.

Please pray for:

~ Our health as both kids are currently fighting cold symptoms & they have also received several mosquito bites since we've arrived, but no signs of malaria yet. And for the children as they acclimate to a totally different culture, language and climate.

~ Contacts with friends and family and, as the Lord leads, that we give grace and love to all we meet as we need it from Jesus ourselves.

~ God to bless sharing and preaching on radio & Sunday, that His Word would go forward and not my own.

~ My computer that won't start up,  for help to restore my computer so I would be able to do my own blog posts and keep up with emails and share photos more readily.

~ God to open the door so that Joyce can get some needed experience in midwifery & being a doula.

~ that God would guide and provide for Joyce's family in the desire to rebuild their homes in Loa.

~ that God would work in heart after heart giving each one of us a greater hunger for His Word and the Good News of the Gospel for us, sinners.

Pics enroute at the Kenyan Airport