Time flies by...

Sometimes, time seems to stand still and at other times it simply flies by and we don't know why it went so quickly. Well, these last 6 weeks have literally flown by, packed with lots of teaching, moving into my new house and other excitements. I arrived back in Melut on the 29th of June and started teaching two days later. It's been a pleasure to get to know the new students and see them grow in knowledge and ask many questions in class. Since I missed part of the semester due to my stay in the UK, my lectures were squeezed into 5 1/2 weeks where I normally would have 12! Hence, my teaching schedule was very busy but it suited me fine - I like being busy rather than sitting around doing nothing. We now have three weeks off and will resume lectures again on the 30th of August. I still have lots of preparation to do for the second semester and would be grateful for your prayers for that.

My new home
I was able to move into my new house 3 weeks after arriving back in Melut and have settled in nicely by now. It must have been God's timing because the day after I moved the wall of my former hut caved in! Thanks again to all of you who gave towards this project!

In the middle of the storm
Rainy season is in full blow by now and has made everything look lovely and green outside. Unfortunately, it also means that we have lots of violent storms here and one was outright malicious the other week. It lifted our GTC water tank off its metal structure (it had been sitting there for 25 years!), peeled back the Donker's roof, blew in one of my windows and badly damaged the front door because metal pieces were flying around. We've since repaired the damage, but I don't think I will ever forget that storm. Please pray for God's protection during rainy season - also from snakes and scorpions which love this season and always hide in the high grass.

Computer break-down
Unfortunately, I have to announce the death of my computer. It had already gone for repairs in March and I thought it might give me another year or so, but it died again two weeks ago and this time there is no resurrecting it. When things like this happen, I'm always glad to be part of such a well-connected mission as the Africa Inland Mission, seeing that I live in the 'bush' in Sudan where there are no computer shops that I can quickly go to for help. AIM has a purchasing department in Nairobi and they helped me buy a new one so I could keep working here. MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) then flew it in for me - in a sense an inter-agency effort :-)!
While I'm glad that this was possible, the expense for this laptop (400 Pounds) was not really planned. Hence, I bought the laptop going way into my overdraft. I know it is not very appealing to help with the cost of a laptop, but I'd be really grateful if some of you could give towards this computer. You can do this by sending a cheque to Elim HQ.

Looking into the Future
Please keep praying for the immediate future of Sudan. The referendum has been set for the 9th of January, which is the day that Southern Sudan will vote for its independence from the north and form a new country. Many people already expected violence around the elections in March, which actually went really well - praise God! However, the outlook is not so rosy for the referendum. Hence, we already had a UN security meeting and an evacuation drill since I've been back Please pray for the months leading up to the referendum, for peace and stability and political wisdom on both sides.