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.