The posts are a little out of order now because I've finally been able to download pictures. The next 2 posts are from a mosque we visited in Entebbe, Uganda and Lora Orphanage in Yei, Sudan.

We all went to bed at 9:30pm. Jamie, Matt and I woke up at 2:00am and we were unable to get back to sleep, so we stayed up until 6:00am and gave up. We headed to the airport and jumped into a 18 seater Eagle Air propeller plane.

It was a little scary but we made it to our first stop in Northern Uganda where we dropped a few people off. From there, we got back in our small plane and headed toward Yei, Sudan. It was supposed to be a 30 min flight and after 45 min, we landed in the same airport we had just taken off from. They told us the weather was too back in Yei, so they turned around and came back until it cleared up. We drank some shady tea, ate English biscuits(crackers) outside a small store for 30 minutes while we waited for the storm to clear. We jumped back onto the plane and found ourselves looking around for answers about 45 min into our flight. We realized that our pilots had no idea where we were. We were lost in Sudan!! We were lost boys! that's probably blasphemous. forget I said that. We were laughing at our pilots as they looked out their windows trying to find Yei and that darn runway. 3o min later, we were landing in Yei and glad to be on the ground. This was our 6th flight since we left Dallas!

Bishop Taban was waiting for us (and videotaping us) on the dirt runway we landed on. He runs the orphanages for Vernon here. He is an amazing, powerful, kind man. He is an advisor to the board that will decide on Sudanese adoption, his wife was the highest ranking captain in the SPLA (Sudanese People Liberation Army), he was a scout, cleric and ammunition captain for the SPLA, and EVERYONE in Sudan knows him. He drove us to the 1st orphanage (Lura (means "Heaven"), which was an hour and a half away. If the road was paved, it would have taken us 20-30 min. I have never been on such a horrible road. 30 million was given to a leader in the Sudanese army to fix the roads, and it never happened. Her son does have a new, very lucrative business in Nairobi now though...hmm.

Lura orphanage was amazing, depressing, exciting and somehow full of so much hope.






This boy stepped on a mine and will have plastic surgery in the next month:


We walked around and played with the kids, spoke with the widows, saw the watering hole they drank from for years (awful) and also saw the water well that was installed a month ago. Certain stomach bugs and other sicknesses are slowing down in the children now that they have clean water to drink.

On our way to their old water hole:


The water they drank until last month:

The new well:


We found a land mine:


Their only bathroom:


Roasted G-nuts:


This is a 7 foot tall termite hill:




Daniel (5 yrs old):

and his sister, Soraya (3 yrs old):

It was a blessing to meet Daniel and Soraya today as they waited to get into the clinic for their checkup. Vernon and I had coffee in Dallas 3 weeks ago and he told me about Daniel and Soraya and their story. It was incredibly good and difficult to see the 2 kids I had been praying for. Daniel was walking with his mother and Soraya (she was on her mother's back) last year when their mother stepped on a land mine and died. Soraya was untouched by the mine and Daniel lost his leg. I knew this story before I arrived and had even prayed for them in Dallas 2 weeks ago, but to look Daniel and Soraya in the face and grab their hands and see their sweet smile, made my heart so happy. There is so much joy in the midst of suffering; so much hope when the situation looks hopeless in Jesus Christ Who is being worshiped in this place by these children and widows.

From Lura, we headed to EPC (Evangelical Presbyterian Church), which is the organization that Vernon runs.
View of part of the EPC compound:


We are staying in a great room and just had dinner (Beau spilled his food all over the ground and didn't clean it up).


This is the view from outside our front door:


Tomorrow we have church service here at EPC at 9am (1am Dallas time) and then tomorrow night our team will have a time of worship. Beau will be preaching in the morning. Pray for him! He went 30 hrs on this trip without sleep. He's doing well now...sound asleep.

Monday we will head to Vernon's 2nd orphanage, Morobo. I can't wait to show you all pictures. The server here can't handle the downloads.

I love you all. Thank you for praying for us. This is an amazing trip. Day 5 tomorrow!

Prayer from Matt Donovan, a member of The Village:
Father, thank you so much for the opportunity Michael and the team have to
lavish serve and love the men, women, and children at Lura Orphanage. My
heart breaks for the hardships the children and their caretaker endure
daily. Please grant our church a vision and passion to help them, to serve
them, to walk with them, and be Jesus to them.

Please give the team endurance and compassion today. Amen. Matt Donovan