Exciting Things Happening...

Yesterday, a man who stays on our compound saw a leopard crossing the road about a half hour east of where we frequently work in Akot. He said it was massive…like it was on steroids. We’ve heard about a lot of incidents with hyenas recently, as well. It sounds like the wildlife is finally making its reappearance in Southern Sudan! Praise the Lord for how He can make a place that was dead to live again.

In other more exciting news, we had 13 ladies accept Christ last week in a small group I’ve been working with here in Rumbek. The ladies have been involved in one of the other churches in the area for years, and have known most of the basic Bible stories I have been telling (creation, Adam and Eve, the Fall, etc). We got to talk about Jesus for the first time last week, and they just couldn’t hear enough about Christ and what He’s done for us. It was an incredible afternoon—a complete confirmation of our reason for being here! I saw those ladies this afternoon, and they are so joyful now. One of the ladies said to me, “Thank you for coming to tell us the good word of Jesus. It has changed our lives and our hearts—how we think and what we believe. And we are happy to have you come and teach us more so we can know how to live with other people and how to praise God. That word is so good and we are so happy to hear it.” Praise the Lord for new sisters in Christ and for the incredible ways He chooses to work! This was a group who I started teaching somewhat begrudgingly. Praise God that in His wisdom, He knew who was ready to hear His word. And Praise God that He chose to use me, despite my reluctance and flaws.

One of the stories we’ll teach this week deals with the characteristics of God. In teaching Bible stories to people who didn’t grow up in Sunday school, a lot of times we have to begin with the very essence of “who is God?” And we begin with these: God is an eternal spirit who will never change. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. He is the creator who loves His creation. He is holy and without sin and will judge the people for their sin because He hates sin and punishes the sinner. He is the giver of all grace, because we all need it and because He loves His people. And finally, God ALWAYS keeps His promises. What a great reminder this week was for me that God has promised to raise up His followers from EVERY nation…and that He is faithfully keeping that promise.

McDonald's French Fries

Last night, I walked into my room after a shower and was immediately engulfed by the delicious smell of McDonald’s French fries. No joke, I totally smelled Mickey D’s fries. So I immediately started hopping around and laughing and getting all excited. I yelled at Laura (in the room next to mine) and ran over to her door. She came to greet me, and I yelled, “Do you have MCDONALDS in here? I smell French fries!!!” She laughed at my ridiculous level of excitement and displayed, to my disappointment, a bowl of tomato soup. “This is all I have,” she said. I then made her come smell my room to see if she could smell the McDonald’s. After walking around for a few minutes, she finally said, “Whitney, I sure don’t smell any French fries in here. You must REALLY be missing McDonald’s!”
And the funny thing is…I never really liked McDonald’s French fries when I was in the US. I suppose absence truly does make the heart grow fonder…