Family Fun

We have enjoyed having Mom and Dad over to visit us. We picked them up in Nairobi on Nov. 22nd and have been busy catching up. Before arriving in Sudan we went to the Lake Nakuru Game Park in Kenya. The animals were amazing! We were able to see lions, rhinos, leopards, hippos, giraffes and many more wildlife. Walker had a blast seeing the baboons but his favorite was the hippo.
November 26th, we headed off to Sudan in our little puddle jumper. Mom and Dad, I mean Mom, loved the scenery. Dad slept the whole flight. After arriving in Kapoeta, Sudan it didn't take long for the crowd to gather around us as we were unloading all of our luggage. Mom and Dad could not believe all of the people.
We have all been working in the garden, fixing up the house, and enjoying just being together again. We haven't seen any snakes, yet, but have tricked my parents several times. The heat has not been too bad, thankfully the wind has been blowing so that we have a cool breeze at bedtime. The strange African sounds kept Dad up most of the night at first. He is now used to the singing and chanting.
Mom and I took several ladies to Kapoeta last Friday to shop. We arrived there and had to come back home due to a military march that had closed the town down. We will attempt the trip tomorrow! The ladies call her MaeMae, too.
Dad has been helping out with homeschool. It has been nice having a break in the mornings from that! Dad is going to be leading a Bible story this week in a new church plant. He has met many men and lots and lots of children. He has even braved tasting local berries that are found around the compound.
We are thankful for Shannon's good health report while in Nairobi. He has now gained 15lbs and has his energy back. Thank you for all of your prayers!
We want to thank our friends at Norris Ferry Church in Shreveport, La for all of the goodies and sweet notes you sent us. It has been fun having American goodies to enjoy.

We are now connected

After 2 long months, we finally have internet! We are so glad to be able to talk to friends and family again.
We had a group of ten friends from our home church, Calvary Baptist in Beaumont, TX come to visit us for a week. We had a great time laughing and catching up with everyone. We went out every morning in the villages and did Bible stories and at night we were back in villages or at the river sharing God's word. The best part of the trip was being able to sit and visit with good friends again and not having to play charades to let them know what we were saying. Shannon and I have been struggling with some issues the last few weeks and it was great to have friends to share and pray with over these issues.
Here are a few pictures of our recent visitors. Here is a list of prayer requests: home school for Benton, language learning, rain, isolation issues, God's wisdom on what or how to deal with the constant begging that is in front of us all day long. Thank you, we love and miss you all!
Picture one is of the Calvary team, Picture two is a 7 foot cobra killed in our back yard, and the last picture is of a 12 foot python killed by the locals near our compound.

New Security Guards

We have found our new security guards for the compound. Watch out Sudan here are the Lewis boys! Yes, Davis is holding a AK47 that belongs to a guard here at Mango camp. He makes nightly rounds with John, the night guard. John let him hold the gun for the picture. They are loving all of the weapons that are over here in Sudan.
We always have several kids wanting to ride in the truck with us. This is a picture of a typical ride home with all the kiddos in the back.
Walker has found a new hobby. He has been watching the workers break-up rock with their hammers and has decided he can do it too.

Our first visit

This weekend we had a great surprise. We were contacted earlier in the week by a couple, Philip and Linda Byler, who live in Torit, Sudan who serve with African Inland Mission. They found our blog site and contacted us. Torit is about a 4 hour drive away from Kapoeta. They were heading to a nearby town and wanted to know if we could meet up with them. They arrived Saturday around lunch and spent the day with us. It was fun getting to know them and sharing with them. God knew that I needed a smiling face and someone to talk to.
Benton was given the opportunity to slaughter his first goat on Saturday. The day guard, Marco, had given him a Toposa knife. The knife was too dull to cut the goat's throat. Benton was bummed but looks forward to his next goat slaughtering.
Walker continues to be everyones friend and never meets a stranger. In the picture, he is playing in the dirt with a few of his new friends.
No pictures of Davis this time, every time I had the camera out he was off playing, hunting or making something. They killed a bat this week with their slingshots. They were so proud.
Shannon is using chronological Bible stories on Sundays under a tree outside of the compound. We are having around 30 people attend each Sunday. So far, there have been 5 pray to receive Christ. A few of the Toposa have even led in re-telling the stories. This is very encouraging!
Language is going great for Shannon. I am having a harder time trying to juggle homeschooling, language and the other Mommy duties. Please pray for me to be disciplined and devoted to learning a new language.

Getting closer

We are about 2 weeks away from being in the house. We can't wait! Last night Benton and Davis spent the night at the compound. They stayed in the tent with a few of the men working on the house. They had a blast staying up late and being served their morning chai. We are blessed to have a group of christian men from Uganda working on the construction of the house. They have been so nice and caring to our family. They have joined us for church each Sunday. We will be sad to see them leave.
The boys have decided that they need an outdoor kitchen for themselves. Here is a picture of them constructing the mud walls. Sunto and Lomkwam are two of their friends that have been helping. They always have some new project going on. Walker is always watching or destroying what they make.
We were able to get away for two days to Loki, Kenya. It is about a 3 hour drive from Kapoeta. We stayed at a place that had air-conditioning. It was nice to have the temperature under 90 degrees. We even found a place that had milkshakes.
Thank you to all of our friends and family that have kept in touch with us. We have really appreciated your words of encouragement. Please continue to pray for us and the Toposa people. We love you all!

House Pics

Sorry that we have not updated lately, we have been without internet. So glad to finally be connected!! Here are the most recent pictures of the house here in Sudan and the meeting tukel. The workers say the house should be completed within three weeks. We are so ready to get out of the one room house we are in now.
Things are going well with us. We are getting a little homesick and missing friends and family. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers!

Pics of the house

Here are some pics of the foundation being started. Our house is seen in pieces in another picture. More pictures will follow soon.

Ground Breaking!

   Yeah, the trucks have arrived with the supplies to start on the house!  We heard a big truck enter the camp last night around 10pm. This morning the crew and supplies headed to our compound and have been busy.

Language

   We are now learning the Toposa language. We have a language helper that comes everyday for about three hours. We are doing pretty well with the basic words but not so well with conversations. The boys are picking up the language, too.  Walker loves to say "mata", which is hello, to everyone he sees. Everyone laughs at him and word has made it around town that he can speak Toposa. He loves the attention!

Living in Sudan

   Okay, everyone has been asking where we are living and when will get into our house. We are posting pictures of where we are living now, the land where our house will be and a "little friend" that came to visit us the other night.

   We are living at Mango camp which is about 8 kilometers from where we will be living.  We have electricity, running water, internet and great food.  The staff at the camp is wonderful and have made us feel at home.  In the picture of the house we are staying in you can see Walker swimming in a tub that the workers found for him to play in.

   You can see the water tower on the land and the clearing that has been done. The house should be well on its way to Sudan. The papers were cleared and the trucks left Nairobi on Wed.  We can't wait!!!  Once the house and materials arrive on site, the company says it will take approximately 8 weeks to complete.

   The last picture was taken approximately 20 minutes prior to this blog. It is a puff adder (zebra snake) hanging out at Mango camp.  The armed security guard killed him with a rock.  Now, the kids understand the importance of carrying a flashlight at all times. If anyone knows where you can get a mongoose, we would love to buy one!

   Many answers to prayer: Walker has an amazing nanny, we have found language tutors and begin on Monday, the house is on its way, homeschool is going well and God has provided friends for all of us! What an amazing God we serve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   By the way, GEAUX TIGERS!

We are home!!

   We have arrived in Sudan! It has sure been a long journey and an exciting one since we have been here. It is very dry and hot, hot, hot. I would let you know the exact temp but there is no weather man here to let us know.  The kids have been absolutely amazed since we got off the plane. They may not speak Toposa but they are having no trouble  making friends. We have all been rubbed on and laughed at more than you can imagine. Walker is the laugh of the town. They aren't sure if he is a girl or a boy and his pacifier cracks them up.

   Today we met with the head chief of the area we will be living.  He has been so nice to us and he even remembered our names.  He told us that he is glad that our family will be living in the village. We can't wait to move out there!!!

   The house situation is  looking great. We got the okay on Friday and the company said that it should be on the way within days. Once it makes it up to Sudan it will take about 8 weeks to assemble. We can't wait!!! 

   The pictures are from the visit with the chief. The  kids were playing while we were talking. Benton fell in love with this sweet little boy.  Davis and Walker were busy playing and dancing around with the kids.

   Tomorrow morning we will attend a church in a nearby village that was started last October when were last here. It has been averaging 70 attenders. 

   Happy Father's Day to everyone!  We love you all.

   

Heading to Sudan

   We are leaving tomorrow morning for Sudan! We are excited to finally get to Toposaland. The boys have been counting down the days for weeks. We leave at 6:30am and should get there around noon. We have the plane to ourselves with luggage, appliances and other junk we have collected along the way. I will post a picture of us on the plane, it should be funny. 

   Thank you for all your prayers. We love and miss everyone.

Adventure

   We went to Lake Nakuru National Park for a quick getaway earlier this week.  We had a blast seeing the animals and staying at the Lodge. One the day we arrived, we spotted a pride of lions, a leopard, rhinos, water buffalo, gazelle, flamingos, zebra, baboons, wart hogs, monkeys, water bucks and much more.  The boys had the best time seeing all of Gods creation. Our driver, John was tickled at how much the boys enjoyed themselves. The Lodge where stayed had an amazing view.  We could see all kinds of animals from our back porch. We will definitely visit this lodge in the years to come! Hope you enjoy a few of our favorite pics from the trip.

Still in Nairobi

   We are back in Nairobi getting things ready for the upcoming move.  The plans as of today are that we leave for Sudan on June 18th and will be staying at the Mango Camp until we have a house to live in. The Sudanese government has re-opened the border to NGOs so we will be able to get our house and belongings into Sudan hopefully soon. Praise God for opening this door for us!!!

   We are taking a surprise game park trip for the boys this week. Davis' birthday is this week so we thought that he would love to see all the animals.  We will post lots of pics when we get back. 

   40/40 was fun and we learned lots of new things. We stayed with a Zambian family for 3 days and learned to harvest and cook African style.  The boys had a blast and made so many new friends and memories. One memorable moment was eating catepillars and capinta (sardines). Walker ate them and he thought it was the funniest thing. The kids stayed so dirty.

   Please continue to pray for the house situation to work out and for us to get all of our belongings quickly. Also, we are starting homeschool so be in prayer for me to have patience and for the boys to learn well. We miss everyone and hope that you all have a good summer. Please keep us updated on how you and your family are!!!

Enjoying Zambia

We are having a good time in Zambia, the weather is great! We have had to wear our jackets every day. The kids are loving the fun things they are doing and we are too. We are getting to interact with the Zambian people and learn a little of the language. They love to laugh at us. Walker was eaten up by mosquitos the first night we were here. He had approx. 60 bites on his body. This all happened with 2 hours and he looks pretty bad.
Shannon and his team mate talked with a young man yesterday and he prayed to receive Christ as his Savior! Please pray for us to be bold and for God to continue to give us opportunities to share the good news with others.

Zambia

   We are off to Zambia in the morning. We will be in Lusaka and then out in the bush. We will have bush orientation during this time. We are excited to see all of our friends from FPO again and for the new experiences we will have there. We will be in Zambia for 4 weeks and then we will back in Kenya for another month. Hopefully, we will make it to home in Sudan by the end of June.  

   Please be in prayer for all of the government decisions that will affect our house and our belongings across the border. We miss everyone and look forward to keeping in touch!

   

     We have finally arrived in Nairobi, Kenya.  We all survived the long plane ride and all 25 bags of luggage arrived with us. We went shopping for groceries this morning and the kids have played all afternoon on the playground with other kids at the Hampton House. Hopefully we can sleep well tonight and get adjusted to the time change. Please pray for us as we attempt our first time to drive in Nairobi.

Final Day in the US

We are down to one more day in the US. Things are happening so fast. We have just about finished all our packing and are now ready to get aboard and fasten our seat belts.

We had a very fun weekend in Beaumont with our friends. We stayed with our precious friends and enjoyed just visiting and letting the kids play. We also joined with friends for lunch after church to say our final good-byes.

These last few days we have been packing while the kids have enjoyed time with their cousins. The boys have been outside fishing, riding four-wheelers and digging in the dirt. Uncle Brian has taken off of work to spend time with us. Thanks Uncle Brian for helping out with the boys!!!

We fly out of Shreveport, LA at 1:15pm on Thursday, April 9th. We will arrive in Nairobi, Kenya on Friday night. Please pray for travel mercies and good rest on the plane! Thank you for all of your prayers and support on this journey. AFRICA HERE WE COME!!

Romans 11:36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever!

Africa here we come!

We are saying our last goodbyes and packing our last bags. Africa, here we come! The boys are excited and ready to get settled into their new home. We are so excited to see what God has planned for us and to see how He has been working in Southern Sudan.
We leave the US on Thursday, April 9th. We fly out of Shreveport, La. We will make it to Nairobi, Kenya the night of the 10th, us and hopefully all 26 pieces of our luggage. We will be in Nairobi for a couple of weeks before heading to Zambia where we will have "bush" orientation. We will stay in Zambia for a little over a month and then head back to Nairobi. Nomads we will be for several months. At this point, Walker has no idea what "home" is. We have been out of our house since November. Hopefully, we will make it to Sudan by the end of June.

We can not thank our friends and family enough for all the support you have given us. We love you all and look forward to keeping in touch with you. We will continue to send updates as long as internet access is available. We also look forward to hearing about what is going on with you, so please email us, too.

Please continue to be in prayer for us and for the Toposa people of Southern Sudan.