Rusty wouldn’t be to happy with me

So I started with my inverter on my desk wiring up everything I could do before taking it to the special built box I made to house the inverter and batteries (and the voltage stabilizer, but it crashed).

Then I went outside to hook things up. And that’s when things got a little messy.

I should have been using this wrench…

The burn the next day…

The final set-up, minus my voltage stabilizer

Still setting up the wiring to the grid…

The loss… the screw is totally melted on. Hoping it can be all screwed out and replaced. No need now as it all works just fine. Thankfully it didn’t fry any batteries (I don’t think) or the inverter.

Actually, it’s hard to say we actually went as a family. Taylor sat up front with the other elders of the church while Allison got crammed in with the women with children in the back…

Claire is a nurse on our Malakal team who has also come to learn Sudanese Arabic before her long-term assignment in another location.

The church choir.

Where’s Waldo? Allison way at the back

Children’s Choir dancing to the beat

Tithes take on all kinds of forms in Africa. Often they come as a portion of one’s grain use.

Apparently security had to be stepped up recently….

So we left off with the plane stopping for a refueling (one of two fuel stops, the first at Loki). Here’s one more pic of our girl under the plane… (view all the photos in HUGE glory HERE.)

A better photo of Avery giving her tour before take-off at Wilson Airport (Nairobi)…

Taylor’s Co-Pilot, Travis

Flying over Malakal (facing North) we live further South

Taylor Making our Bed

The finished product

Avery & Taylor taking a break from the heat

Allison & Avery take a trip into the market with fellow SIMer Stephanie

Our first night in Sudan (Taylor seems tired)

Showing ‘Passion of the Christ’ on Good Friday

(view all the photos in HUGE glory HERE.)

Well, that’s the visual story for moving in. Next up: tales from doing your own electrical system and other perils of do-it-yourself projects.

Well, after months of waiting for God’s timing, we got the green light to go into South Sudan. We had been hoping to enter Khartoum for language study, but the doors just didn’t open and the timing isn’t right. Maybe in the future for extended Arabic studies. For now, enjoy the photo journey as we moved to our new home…

Loading up the plane in Nairobi…

Avery & dad chillin’ before take-off….

Avery giving a tour of the plane…

Family pic before take-off…

Taylor pretending he’s flying the plane (not even off the ground yet)…

Volcano crater you often fly over on your way to Loki…

Avery napping with dad…

Avery napping again…

Taylor ACTUALLY flying the plane…

Fuel stop in Sudan. Avery’s first time in Sudan….

More on the way in a short time…

It was a delight to have our first Sunday be Easter Sunday! Avery was quite the distraction to the kids though. Our base manager, Andrew, gave our welcome for us in Arabic to the congregation which spared us from having to give it a go ourselves. We hope you all have a very blessed day celebrating our Risen Savior!

We arrived safely last Tuesday afternoon and have spent the last few days settling in. The heat has not been too terribly and we are very blessed to have been given one of the two houses on the property. Our team here has given us a warm welcome and has shown us the ropes of the markets and dukas and typical prices we can expect which has been another huge help. Taylor has already made us a bed, a desk and has many ideas on how to get or make the other pieces of furniture needed. Please be praying for us as we focus this week on how everyone wants to do their language learning and finding possible language helpers.

We are almost done packing up things to stay in Nairobi, and a few more things to go to Malakal with us. In less than 10 hours we will be lifting off! Please keep us in your prayers, especially our little Avery who is sick, as we travel and adjust to life in Sudan!
Look for some pics of our new home coming soon!

In just a few days we will be officially living in Sudan. It is amazing to sit back and think about how the Lord has brought us to this point. For me, Allison, it has been a few months shy of 13 years since I first felt the Lord leading me to cross-cultural ministry. I get tears in my eyes just thinking about the blessing God is giving our family in being able to live in another country and work with our brothers and sisters in Christ to help rebuild their city, their nation into hopefully a believing and actively living Christian way of life! Though our main “ministry” for the next six months is language learning we can’t help but slowly build relationships with those around us, both our teammates and local Sudanese. As always we ask for your continued prayers as we are now able to get into the tough stuff of getting to know and thrive in another culture.