First Sunday

Today was my first Sunday, but more than that it was the first day that the new church was open and we had a full house. Before this they were worshiping in the dining hall, but now they have a brand new beautiful building for everyone to come together to worship in. This was quite the experience. Here in Africa, and especially here in Sudan, singing and dancing go hand in hand. So today I was up singing and dancing in church. I didnt really have a choice because once the dancing started some of the kids came and grabbed Mirjiam and I to come and dance. I tell you, that is a workout!! I have included a video of some of what the dancing looks like and the beautiful singing. It common for them to make loud exclamations of joy and worship. You will hear some on the video.
I am getting more and more used to the clinic, but everyday there are new cases of Malaria! Its terrible! Please pray for these children that we can overcome this problem. Today we were visited by the German doctor and his wife that is also a doctor who saved little Nyoko's life. Nyoko was burned not quite 2 weeks ago quite severely. He is 3 months old and his whole lower half was burned. Praise God, but these doctors saved his life and the nurses here have done a wonderful job of helping to heal him. Now Nyoko only has a few open areas, but mostly they are all healed! He looks amazing! He is happy and laughing and doesnt seem to be in such pain. This is truly a blessing! The doctors took a look at him and said he was doing quite well. It was quite touching to see the wife holding Nyoko and getting tears in her eyes because she was so overcome by Gods healing power. Really, if you could see little Nyoko you would become quite emotional too. He is so sweet! Dont be surprised if I have an extra little bundle of joy with me when I come home :) I think we all feel that way about this little guy, he just steals hearts left and right.
Too many times there are hard decisions and terrible stories to hear. Just the other day we had a woman bring in a little baby girl that was 7 days old. She had been delivered prematurly at 7 months. The woman told us that the father had beaten the mother so badly that she went into labor. The mother gave birth to the baby, then died. The woman that brought the child in was a friend of the mother. Amazingly enough she did not bring the child to give it to the orphanage. She brought it to get milk for the child and medical care. But we seriously considered keeping the child here at the orphanage because the woman already had 3 other small children to look after. And this newborn needed more extra care than most. She only weighed about 3 lbs! But ultimately we could not because we had nobody here that could spend the time necessary for this one child. So we gave it some eye drops for its eye infection, gave fresh clean clothes for the baby and blankets. We also gave milk for the child and told the woman to bring her back in one week so that we could check on her to see how she is doing. When we asked what the name was she did not have one, so we gave her a name. Mamma Shay wanted to name her after Mirjiam and I, but we like the name Gloria, so now her name is Gloria Mira. Its a beautiful name. The Mira is a combination of our names. So please pray for little Gloria Mira that she survives and that the woman caring for her is able to have strenth and love for this little one.
Thank you all so much for your prayers and love. It is such a blessing to have you all there supporting me with your love. I could not be doing this without it! God Bless!!