Hi from D.!

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to drop you all a quick note, before I go and help cook the goat!

Today is Sunday and I went to my first Mabaan church service in the little grass building in D.  Wow these people can sing--I just loved listening to them this morning.  Music all in Mabaan, preaching in Mabaan and all translated into Arabic since there are some SPLA soldiers and families from other tribes.  I could catch a few of the Arabic words so that was interesting and kept me from getting bored and tuning out during the preaching.  I can't wait to start learning Mabaan--I HATE not being able to understand and talk to people.  There are a few elders who speak English and the BELC students are learning in English but most people know not a word of English.  There is also a lot of Arabic mixed in with the Mabaan.

We have had a few patients come every single day.  2 days ago the sick babies started to come so I've been involved with those.  Yesterday something really amazing happened.  We had a positive malaria test result for a 2 year old boy, the son of one of the church leaders here.  Yesterday morning an MAF plane delivered new medicines for our clinic from Voice of the Martyrs and included in those were the best oral malaria treatment for children that you can give so I was able to give him that and could tell the family that God had provided just in time so he could have good treatment.  Before the plane arrived we only had medicine that the malaria can be resistant to and more difficult to give to young children.  The little boy walked into church with his mother this morning, looking all right as rain, thank the Lord!

Please pray for a 10 year old boy, named Stephen who came to us yesterday having nearly lost his finger when it got in the way as his brother was chopping branches off a tree with an axe.  The injury was 3 days old and looking very nasty.  Grace is dressing it every day and giving him what antibiotics we can but it really is beyond what we can do.  There is no tetanus immunization available here and he really needs much better antibiotics than what we have.  He's also been in excruciating pain during cleaning and dressing of the wound and we have no strong pain killers for him.  He and his father walked several miles from another village to bring him.  Please pray for protection against infection and for his healing because this really will take a miracle.

Gotta go help with the goat...will continue later!