Stormy Weather

i love stormy weather. the grey clouds creeping in, taking over. the sudden fall in temperature. rain spilling from the sky. gusts of wind shaking trees with a power that is mesmerizing.

the rainy season has made a less than subtle arrival in mundri. 

our first big storm caught us all by surprise, blowing sheets of rain sideways through our open air windows. we scrambled around the team house, pulling cushions off chairs, trying to save books and computers from ruin. finally, we all huddled under an umbrella and waited for an end to the fury.

afterward, we find this large tree had collapsed on the interns’ house!

the next storm came while jennifer and i were visiting our friend, mary. we watched the clouds roll in, debating whether we should jump on our bikes now and try to beat the rain. mary insisted we stay, so we sat, anxiously anticipating what was coming. 

not even ten minutes later, the storm we had feared was definitely coming at us, and it was a big one. the wind came in a sand storm, blowing dirt and debris wherever it pleased, turning over chairs and sending water jugs tumbling. we grabbed all that we needed to and ran inside. 

by the way, mary’s house was getting a new grass roof, so when we did take shelter, we all crammed into her other storage/guest hut. five of us in a room piled with boxes and food, clothing gathered on the bed, all of her belongings. unfortunately, the roof was rather leaky and water was pouring in under the door. many of mary’s things were wet, and i managed to get soaked. one of the only times i’ve actually had chills in south sudan!

after the wind and rains taper off, we come out and survey the damage. mary’s compound is one big puddle. chairs are broken and dishes washed in mud. as jennifer and i help tidy up, we begin to see children with handfuls and even buckets of mangoes. 

turns out the storm was not all too bad, as i imagine hundreds of mangoes were raining down on mundri that day. mary enjoys a couple herself, offers a dry shirt for me to change, and sends us home with a bag full of mangoes :)

Living Water

thank you so much for your prayers for teacher training!  

primary school teachers from all over mundri attended their 3rd and final phase of training with us.  i was so excited to see their faces again!  they were eager to learn, participate, and offer feedback, and our interactions just seemed more comfortable.  

we focused the week on a theme of water, a subject that seemed more than appropriate when considering our moru community.  we taught on Christ as our Living Water, that we are "like trees planted along a stream, bearing fruit..."  heidi gave a health lesson about the importance of water for our physical bodies.  john even shared an engineer's perspective with us and lectured on boreholes and how they work.  they soaked it up!  we read through a story of the water cycle that took us around the world.  and they marveled at pictures of snow capped mountains and frozen rivers in switzerland.  

the teachers worked together in groups, sharing ideas, creating lesson plans, and dramas (always my favorite).

i was thankful for the relationships we have established through these trainings and the tangible reminders of the work God is doing here.  jennifer, bethany, and i walked away feeling encouraged. and we're hopeful for how God will use these teachers in their community.

continue to pray for these teachers and the weighty task of being an educator in south sudan.  pray for perseverance and for the Spirit to be working through them, setting them apart for His glory.