Sudan | Day 6, 7, & 8

These 3 days looked very similar, each completely full of joy and fun!

This was the schedule for these days:

8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Leave compound and drive 28 miles (1 1/2 hours) to Lura Orphanage
10:00 - 12:00 Help widows cook lunch for the orphans, wash dishes, wash clothes and fetch water.
12:30 - Lunch
1:30 - Bible study with the widows
3:30 - Head back to the compound

These 3 days were a very exciting and growing/stretching experience.

Helping the precious, precious, precious widows was one of the most fun things I've ever done. I fell in love with them!

This is the kitchen at Lura orphanage. All the kitchens in Sudan are outside. They cook everything over a fire pit, so it gets VERY smokey, therefore needing lots of ventilation!


This is Helen, whom I LOVE! She was my kitchen buddy. She couldn't speak any english but we communicated so well through our laughter and smiles. The things they had us doing was SO beyond anything I've ever had to do and they got such a kick out of us trying to do their normal everyday chores. It was TONS of fun!! We laughed and laughed and laughed.


This is the inside of the kitchen. This is where we spent the majority of our days at the orphanage. That baby's name is Condition and his mom is the one in the white skirt. I don't know her story, but she must have recently become a widow if her baby lives with her at the orphange. They are a sweet family!! Condition is precious! He was very afraid of our white faces at first.


Peeling potatoes with a KNIFE!


These nuts are called ground nuts and they grow them there at the orphange.


And yes, they make their own peanut butter with those nuts by grinding them over and over and over on this stone. It takes SO long and we were SO bad at it. But they LOVED watching our attempt at it. It was so fun, but after 30 seconds of doing this, every muscle in my body was burning. And they do it for 30 minutes at a time without taking a break. Their bodies are capable of doing so much. Watching them make peanut butter was another thing that really puts things in perspective.


Corey taking her turn!




This is my attempt to grind the peanuts. It's stinkin hilarious. What is even funnier is my sweet husband "translating" what they are saying. Listen closely.

Sudan | Me Grinding Peanuts into Peanut Butter from Janelle on Vimeo.

And this is what it's supposed to look like. :-)

Sudan | Condition's Mom Grinding Peanuts for Peanut Butter 7-27-08 from Janelle on Vimeo.

Because Corey and I worked in the kitchen they had us wear these head wraps.




This is where the kids eat their meals.










This is how they wash and dry their dishes.




And this is how they wash their clothes. Our pastor's wife is in the blue shirt and the other girl is Robin and she is a member of our church, but has been living in Sudan for several months.




And this is how they make their coffee which is the strongest coffee on the planet.


This is what we ate for every single meal...boiled potatoes. Every meal. Every single meal.


These are the precious widows during Bible study. We sang so many songs because they LOVE to sing! It was so fun! We had an awesome study time with them every afternoon. Going into this trip, we were told that they are all believers, so they really wanted to us to spend this time encouraging them. So our pastor's wife presented messages that were all about God's promises that are in the Word for them and us. Like He will never leave us or forsake us, we are part of His family and He loves us, the promise of peace, etc.














Next I will tell y'all what the boys did those 3 days!

P.S. My Bible study was SO good last night. The ladies in the class are fabulous. It's going to be an amazing 10 weeks! Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers.