I keep seeing how cold it is in Ohio and all the snow that they have and I keep thinking " THANK YOU, God for allowing me to be here, in Juba, where it is 104 today.  Now, I am not really trying to rub it in ( ok, maybe a little ) I am just very thankful I am not in that cold and snow!

We are almost two months into learning Juba Arabic and we can now say....... well I am not sure WHAT we can say:) We both thought we were doing about as good as could be expected and then we tried to talk to the taxi driver and he looked at us like we were speaking gibberish. What we have realized is that there are about 3 different levels of Juba Arabic and while we thought we could aim for the middle one we have found out that we need the top two. This means that for a lot of the words we have to learn 2 different ones or at least understand one and use the other. Now, for our tired brains, this is proving difficult. There has been progress in that the one shop keeper seems to like that we are trying to learn a little more classical Arabic and is willing for us to try our luck with him. Actually, I think we could ask basic directions (very basic) and maybe even understand the directions given. We have started going to and Arabic church service just to get used to hearing the language and picking out words that we know. We are pretty proud of ourselves when we get the chapter and verse of scripture, now if we could just figure out which book they are in!

We were cautioned that it may not be a good idea for Lynn and I to be in class together but we have found that it has been good for both of us. Interestingly, I hear the language(right now) better than Lynn but he remembers words and speaks it better than I do. So, I listen and he talks!:)  I know, I know, I can hear the comments now - be nice!

We continue to explore the city.  Lynn has had great luck in finding little grocery stores that carry wonderful items like almonds ( about the same price as in the States), cocoa from  Saudi Arabia  and Ferrerro Roche chocolates! It is kind of like a treasure hunt when we go to new areas. We also keep trying new restaurants and little cafes that serve ice-cream (mango flavored!) so we are not suffering.

Lynn had a meeting with a man from one of the villages that wants a school built and so while we are not officially on the job, we are trying to do some things around language school. It is nice to have something to think about besides Arabic and my lack of grammar skills. :) Most of the people we work with, like this man, know English so we can get by but when you see how pleased people are that we are trying to learn Arabic it gives us the push to keep going.

We really do like to hear from all of you! It is nice to know our ramblings are being read and that people are praying for us. I think it is those prayers that have been getting us through language school and spending all of our time together. As most of you know, Lynn used to drive truck and would be gone from Sunday evening to Friday evening so this has been a huge change for us.

Please continue to pray for peace here in South Sudan, for the people as they put their lives back together and for the love of God to be felt here. Know that we are praying for all of you.

Pochalla Trip

                                                               December 23, 2014

For those of you who were doubters I "Lynn" a soon to be 60 year old am actually making a blog entry (I can't believe it either)

An MAF plane arrives in Pochalla, South Sudan with a bunch of westerners hoping to some day make a small difference in a small village. A choir is singing and probably 200 people show up to welcome the long awaited arrival of these people. Maybe Pochalla will some day have a school ! Pochalla is so remote that change is almost unimaginable. Sandwiched between two rivers access is very difficult. Plane, funny as it may seem is one of the few ways to get to Pochalla. By foot is the other sure way. Trucks, pretty much impossible unless you have a 6 wheel drive army truck and it's the dry season so the river will only be 4' feet deep.

 The use of the building shown above has been promised to our fellow mission co-worker Lisa to use for teacher training purposes. Much better than under a tree which happens at some places. Pochalla will likely be one of the first places that we'll be helping to build a school building. The local people will be responsible for doing the actual building and our partners in the US will supply money for a roof , transport of materials, and some cement. My job will be to help with the logistics of doing all of the above mentioned. Some materials will likely be flown to the site. Maybe someone has an army truck I can borrow. That sounds like a risky proposition in an area where there was a war going on recently.

 The building above is the local Presbyterian Church building. Although a humble building I'm sure there is a lot of enthusiasm on Sunday even so. Very few are the worship services in Africa that I've been to that don't have clapping , dancing, and praising of God in many different forms.

The river in the photo below is the Akobo River . The land on the opposite side is actually Ethiopia. Pochalla is a beautiful town and I wouldn't mind living there but the area also presents many challenges. Peaceful and quiet yes. Also no schools, medical care, internet service, phones, etc.

It will likely be the end of this year before much of anything will be happening in Pochalla, but we hope to make a difference there with time.

Prayer concerns for the Kandels:
Language learning
Continued good health
Smooth transition to our new roles once we finish language learning.