The beginning of July had me in Torit for our AIM South Sudan team retreat.  It was great getting to spend time with fellow missionaries, among whom the majority work in Eastern Equatoria State.  After the retreat, I stayed in Torit almost another three weeks getting some rest and working with Loboi, a Laarim youth in Torit who is helping me translate bible stories into Laarim.  After returning to Loryok, I walked north to Napak in the Boya Hills and spent awhile with Clement who is translating the Bible into the Laarim language.  We were with a group of elders and a couple of young volunteer teachers at the Napak primary school and together we read over the chapters in a recently completed rough draft of The Gospel of Luke in the Laarim language. Participants gave their input and helped make corrections to ensure that proper Laarim was being used in the translation.  It was encouraging to see the number of people involved and interested.

            A little over a week later I returned back to Loryok with a few more things to do.  These included budgeting and getting some items for the setup of the compound where I will stay in the Boya Hills area.  But after realizing that I could not make a budget without properly measuring the compound, I decided that I needed to get back up to the Boya Hills to get an idea of its dimensions.   The land and the house on it which needs a bit of work, were given to me by the head teacher at the Napak primary school.  To go back meant another 25k hike to the area to make measurements on the compound in Kerenge and then hiking back to Loryok two nights later. To some, such long walks my sound miserable, but I find the hikes refreshing and energizing despite sometimes causing sore feet.  I love the scenery and I see many different types of birds along the way: bright red bishops, sky blue rollers, brilliant green parrots and sunbirds, and kingfishers that are much more colorful than the ones back home, to name a few.  Such walks are also good opportunities for me to practice Laarim by either listening to my recorded vocabulary on my voice recorder, or practicing with my travel companions and asking them questions. 

            The day after reaching Loryok, I came to Torit, got miserably sick for a few days, recovered, and got what I needed to move forward with building the compound. I will be back to Loryok and hopefully soon back to Kerenge to start the work on the compound.  Doing such a project is something new to me and when I previously tried to work it out in my mind of how I was going to do it, I could not figure it out.  So I have decided to start taking the first steps and as I have done so, I feel like I am beginning to figure out a way forward.  I am thankful to the Lord for that.  Most of the work will be done by people in the village using local materials.

While here in Torit, I have been able to meet with the young man Loboi, and I praise Lord for connecting me with him. I have known Loboi only casually for nearly two years, but recently when I have gotten to spend time with him I am getting to see the love that he has for Jesus.  No when I am in Torit we usually spend a good amount of time reading the Bible together and discussing it.  Though time recently has not permitted it, I hope to continue getting help from him translating Bible stories as I help him with computer skills.   

Times ahead look busy and challenging in new ways and I ask that you continue to pray for us and the work here.

-Please pray for the building of the compound.  As I said before, the work of setting up a compound is a new thing for me and it is a bit of a step of faith for me trusting that I will be able to help see to it that the work get done properly. 

-Please pray for Loboi.  Pray for him to stand firm and grow in his faith to be an effective witness for Christ to his fellow Laarim.  We are looking to be in the village together within the next week as he is on school holiday.

-Please pray that I would continue to move forward with the Bible stories and translation work.  It seems that with all the work ahead, I will have to spend less time on the stories until the compound is completed in the village.