Day #2 Of Posted Thanks!

Thankful for Miriam.

 Miriam is a faithful old mama that comes to Bible Study every week. You'll find Miriam wherever there is work to be done, she will be sweeping a floor or washing a dish and always quietly bringing no attention to herself. Miriam is not Didinga, she is illiterate and only speaks Arabic, but she is so eager to learn anything new. She is an example to me of faithfulness and that it's never too late to learn. Miriam is a Jewel!

I thank God for Miriam!

Miriam at Bible Study!

SIX DAYS OF POSTED THANKS! DAY #1

Day #1

Today I am thankful for my chickens. I am so thankful for the beautiful fresh eggs they have been giving.

Three weeks ago one rooster and four hens arrived on the plane from Kenya..They where then carried the two miles from the airstrip and into their cozy little home.

We waited two and a half weeks and no eggs came. In frustration and with my finger pointed at each one of them I said,  "As far as I'm concerned there are two different types of recipes in the cookbook one requires eggs the other chicken, you young ladies, decide which one you want to provide!" Well, whether it was the stern talk, the provision of music, the extra food warmed and decorated or the "Home Sweet Home" sign, three days ago I found eggs, nicely laid in one little corner of their pen and hence forth they have laid every day.

 What wonderful little gals!

Jamie Oliver...We call him "Oly"

Folks, meet the gang, Left to right. Julia Child, Margriet Foolen, Doris Longacre Jamie Oliver. In front Wycliffe

Eggs, beautiful Eggs!

Rose Arue

Miss. Rose Arue.

If you ask Rose Arue how old she is she will look up at you with a muddled look then say in her coarse boyish voice, “Erikina!” (I don’t know!) My guess is around eight. This little girl is a constant cause of amusement for me, in that she is so exceedingly naughty without having the slightest intention of being so.

 All throughout the school day you will hear me say “Arue, pay attention” or “Arue, I said 'put your pencil down', “Arue, stop talking", “Arue…What are you looking at?” "Arue, I said, 'no eating your corn in class!'  Then there is also the disciplinary act in which she is certain to receive at least once a day, “Arue, run to the grinding mill five times.”  When receiving this penalizing act, Arue will jump out of her seat and look at me as though I just gave her own exceptional mission in which she must complete as swiftly as possible.

Arue's grin!

 Arue is nearly always in a world of her own, in which I am constantly calling her back. As soon as she hears me from this world of hers she jumps, startled then gives me one of her half sided smiles as if to say “Opps.” She is very bright and other then her crazy A.D.D tendencies is an excellent student, I am constantly surprised with how much she can retain while she appears not to be listening at all.

Today, I gave Arue the task of teaching a new student the first three letters of the alphabet and their sounds.  Arue, at first, was enthralled with the assignment and held up her homemade flash cards with A, B and C on them. She was shocked to find that the new girl, who was older than herself, had no clue of the letters or their sounds. She shouted out while I was with another student (Also against the rules) “This girl doesn't know anything!” I went over to her, put my hands on her shoulders and said “Yes, Arue that is why I chose you to teach her because she needs a good teacher.”  I left her and returned to the other student, as I looked back on her I saw her whole demeanor change. She turned toward the girl in a caring sort of way and said “See this? This goes A, ah ah ah and this one goes B, bu bu bu…That was close, let’s try again.” I couldn't help but smile as I saw this familiar look on her face and the phrases she was using, they were mine… Yet, she added her own spice to it. "Now let’s yell it!" I almost told her “No!” but I restrained myself until she was finished. The new student had her A B C sounds memorized by the end of the class. I was proud of Arue. She is an excellent teacher.

Me and Arue.

Pray for little Arue. Pray that she might come to know and love Jesus as her savior. Pray that she would seek for truth and find it. Pray for her home life and its difficulties. Pray that I would have patience and be able to show Gods perfect love to her.

That Place Wez All Gotted Learned.

Guess what day it is?

It's the forth week of school day! I bet you didn't guess that! Anyway, yes, school is in full swing! Each morning we begin the day with Bible class where we are going through the Bible chronologically, then we continue throughout the day with math, literacy, English and social studies or science. I have a small class of students this year as I am only teaching first grade and not first grade through third like last year. It's been a delightful past three weeks. 

I want you to officially meet the gang!

Lino, Samuel, Naken, Akajo, Kocheta, Me, Arue, Peter Ebalu, Margat and Kiki (Not pictured- Achilin)  

How my life resembles Anne of Green Gables.

 Number 1. “Mathews proud of the way I look”

There is an older man here that is as sweet as pumpkin pie, he is not Didinga but from another tribe in Sudan. He speaks strictly Arabic and I am only learning Didinga, so our words are few. “Ita kweis?” “Ai, ana kweis” (“Are you good?” “Yes, I’m good.”) Kim and I christened him ‘Mathew Cuthbert’ because he is just the cutest old man ever. Well Mathew is a tailor and true to his (christened) name, he made me a skirt. Previously, I had wanted a skirt I could wear to school every day and had asked if I could get one made.

One day Mathew Cuthbert brings me over to his little shack where he does his sewing and hands me a mass of the green school material. At a closer look I saw that he had made me a school skirt. I was so thankful, How very sweet! “Quise?” asked he, “Ai Quaise!” I said. So, the green skirt is pleated to high heaven and makes me look like I weigh two hundred pounds as it shoots out from my stomach. I could hide a small family of elephants under that skirt but never the less…I wear it every school day.

Number two: “I dyed it!”

34 goals this year, 34, all written down on note book paper, pinned to my mud wall. 29 accomplished, four yet to complete and one utter fail! Number 25: “Grow my hair out.”

Last month I was in a Nairobi super market in Kenya. There to my astonishment was hair dye for white people. I looked at the brown dye and walked away telling myself “No, Abbi you are not dying your hair!”  Three hours later I had my head over a bathtub and some ladies saying “How exciting!” Exciting my foot! I am an idiot! Well, the first couple days it seemed to be a nice chestnut brown but for some reason the bottom of my hair seemed darker then the top…Days past and the top got lighter and the bottom turned completely black. I looked like a witch gone wrong. People where looking at me and saying “Why is this part so dark and the other so light? I wore it up, I wore hats…People still noticed! Finally Kim, told me straight…"You have to cut it off, Abbi…It looks terrible!” I knew she was right…I had to cut it.

Well, Anne pulled it off much better… I look like a two hundred pound boy.

Didinga Sunday School

Teaching God's word fills me with energy and excitement, I adore it with passion! Right now in Sunday school we are on the story of Joseph. The Sunday School preformed their fist skit accompanied with singing for the church. It was fantastic! Everyone was on the edge of there seat to see what was being acted out.

 Once a month the kids will be doing a drama to show what they have been learning in Sunday School.

The Sunday School kids!

• Pray that God's word would be taught clearly and accurately.
• Pray for Merafu who is helping me teach; Pray that he would also understand the stories and be a future Spiritual leader here in Didinga.
• Pray that parents would let their children come to Sunday School.

• Pray that God would help the children understand his word.
• Pray that the skits would help people see truth clearer 
• Pray that the children would believe what they hear and receive Jesus and follow him with all their hearts.
• Thank God for the those who are coming each week, thank God for their hunger and eagerness to learn about him.  

Merafu and I talking about the story of Sodom and Gomorrah

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A bit of the last year.

Thank you so much for your prayers during this past year...Please continue to pray for us and the Didinga people.

Abbi