Some thoughts

As I sit here in my house with a cup of coffee and music playing in the background, I am mulling over what to write. How do I put into words all that clogs up the brain these days? Already life has changed. Here we are in the comfort of our own home now with all the commodities that go with that, and I struggle to know what to write. We have only been home for 5 days now, and already Africa seems something in the distant past. It has been fabulous being home. Lisa and I have commented several times to each other with a simple statement of, "Oh it is good to be home!" To me, it almost feels like I have moved into a new place, and I get excited as I "rediscover" all the commodities here! 

I think we would both say that our favorite thing of being home, besides seeing family of course :), is hot water! I don't think we have taken that for granted yet. We are clean! What a feeling. When we got to Lisa's house that first night, we made a beeline for the sink to wash our hands! Priorities I tell you! We love the fact that the bathroom is between our rooms, and we no longer have to wake the other up during the night if we need to use it. We no longer have to stand guard as the other showers! I guess in small ways, we have our independence back! LOL! 

But don't get me wrong, Liberia and the Belle Forest are not forgotten. They are engraved in our hearts, and at times we talk about what our team is doing at that very moment. Waking up the first morning at home, my thoughts immediately went to what our team was doing and this allowed me the opportunity to pray. I know that Lisa does this as well. We miss those guys. We miss the kids. We miss Liberia.

Transitioning back home has been alright. Life goes back to normal whether you are ready for it or not. You have no choice but to get up, go to work, and do the things that make up our days here. I know for me, I still find it hard to process. I have been asked questions that I just don't know how to answer. I guess Liberia changed my life more than I even know now, so it will take time to go over all that we experienced to come to a point where I feel that I have processed. In some ways, I don't know why it hasn't happened yet. I mean in reality 7 weeks is nothing. People live out other cultures all the time for far greater amounts of time, but I guess I just need to let the processing take its course. 

God did awesome things this summer, both in Liberian lives as well as in mine. He allowed us to be apart of seeing His kingdom grow! So many more names are written in His book now, and it is quite the privilege to have seen that change happen in lives. For me, He allowed me to grasp ahold of the truth that He won't give me more than I can handle. Even though, I have known this to be true for years, this summer was when that truth became a heart realization. He allowed so many things to happen that I desperately didn't want to experience, but each time something hard would happen I could see the progression. Things got a little easier each week, so as He allowed the tough things to happen, I could actually see how, if it had been any other time, I would have wanted to throw in the towel. I knew and believed His hand was holding me every step of the way. He never allowed me to be broken, although there were times when I would think certain instances should have broken me. He had me in His hands that whole time! He is a great God!

I thank you again for your prayers. We most definitely felt them and appreciated them so much. Please continue to pray as we still take time to transition back. And please keep all the kids in your prayers. They need it desperately. The team has two more weeks of follow up, so please keep them in your prayers too. Hopefully we will hear from them at the end of their time, so we can give you an update of how the follow up went in the last 3 villages. 

God is good, and He is doing good things in Liberia. Although it feels so far away at times, Liberia is still very much on our hearts. And even though, it is the little comforts of life that get us excited these days, we don't regret giving any of them up at all. When it comes down to it, we know those things don't matter. The souls of the kids are what counts, so maybe now as I feel the hot water or flush the toilet, I will be reminded to pray for Liberia.

We will carry all that we witnessed and experienced with us for quite some time if not for the rest of our lives. Liberia has changed me, and I pray that change will have positive affects on those I come in contact with here. I pray that change will grow my relationship with God. I pray that change will revolutionize my prayer life! I pray that change will have an impact on eternity.

pictures

Playing games in Wemah our last week.
Getting ready to make our hike into Wemah our last week. It was much easier going down that hill than coming out on Friday, but we enjoyed the experience and the time together.
This is at ELWA beach where we would be on the weekends. Just a reminder of the beauty that God created!
We were so thankful for these tents and mattresses. They did a good job of keeping most of the unwanted bugs out. 
We always seemed to have these spiders as our roommates every week. The mosquito nets did more than protect us from mosquitos!
After the rice has been harvested, they must pound it. They were good sports and allowed me to try. When they do it, that pole would get airborne. Not so much when I did it! They got some good laughs watching the white woman try!

After they pound it, they then put it on this to sift out the bad from the actual rice.
As we would wait for the chopper to come on Fridays, the kids would gather around and just hang out with us until we left.

Wrapping it up (Lisa)

I want to thank all of you for your prayers for us over these past few weeks. I can’t even begin to tell you what an incredible journey it’s been. It’s hard now to realize that our time is finished and we will very soon be getting on the plane to go back to America.
As I think back about these past few weeks I can remember arriving in the first village thinking, ‘wow , this is for real, no turning back…what did I get myself into.’ I can then remember laying in my small mosquito tent at night dreaming about cheeseburgers, soft pillows, etc. I remember at times feeling like such an outsider, unable to speak Kpelle, cook a meal, or find common ground at times with the village people and way of life. I remember feeling heartbroken as I saw them grasp desperately to the false hope of the medicine necklaces they wore and beliefs they turned to. I was disturbed by their poor sanitation habits, and annoyed by the bugs and constant feeling of dirtiness. And weariness seemed to become the norm.
But really when I look back, all of those things seem to pale in comparison to the awe and gratitude that I feel. Awe as I actually found it hard to leave that first village and the kids I had come to love; Esther who had been kicked out of her house after coming to our program, Hauwa who had defied the village tradition of joining the bush society and had entered into a personal relationship with God, Princess who went from doubt to assurance in her new walk with God, and so many more. Awe as I watched 200 plus kids sit perfectly still and listen the love of God for them. Awe as I heard fathers gather their children around them late at night and with the use of a flashlight carefully go over the lessons in review with them. Awe as I watched God heal a little girl of malaria, and saw a women sell all of her alcohol and cocaine from her store and turn to selling candy and batteries instead. Awe as I watched our team grow and saw their love for the kids. Awe when a little girl in Weyema brought us two small baskets that she had hand woven for us. Awe as we got to pump water from hand pumps, heat water over an open fire, play games in the village, and just get to see in a small way how these people lived. And so much awe and gratitude as we saw almost 50 children and at least 45 adults come to know the Lord as their personal savior and friend for the first time! God is so good, and He chose me to get to be a part of all of that and so much more over the past seven weeks!! Wow!
So although I’m ready to go back to the States, it will also be hard to say good-bye. And even when I’m back in the States my heart and prayers will still be with these children here in the heart of the Belle Forest of Liberia. These children inspire me with their eagerness to learn more about God. I know it will not be easy for them, especially as there are few people they have to really mentor and encourage them in the journey. That is why it is so important that we, you and I, as their team, continue to come behind them, pastor Edward, and those few who will be working with them in prayer. We are so grateful that we are leaving all of them in God’s hands.
Here are the names of the 48 children who are now children of God. I encourage you to write their names down and commit to pray for them on a regular basis.


Maly
Josh
Danil
Gballea
Mark
Regina
Ruth
Mary
Esther
Hauwa
Princess
Annie
Yarsah
Ellena
Junior
Mary
Roberto
Alfred
Musu
Grace
Oldma-low
Mary
Gbanna
Archie
John
Robert
Moses
John
Amos
Rander
Harris
Emmanuel
Mulbah
Austin
David
Joe
Daniel
Kollie
Moses
Steven
Peter
Annie
Junior
Annie


Thanks for giving to the Lord….and eagerly anticipate meeting your new sisters and brothers in heaven one day!!

Wrapping it up (Alison)

As we pack up and say goodbye, I find myself filled with a mix of emotions. On the one hand, I am extremely excited to be going home! I have missed home so much, so the thought of home being just a few days away excites me. However on the other hand, I find myself saddened at the thought of leaving for many reasons. We had our last VBS session on Thursday, and as we wrapped it up, there was this nostalgic feeling as I realized this was it. The reason we came out here was finished. We had a few moments with our team as we kind of said goodbye to VBS and tried to encourage them to hang in there till the end. They are doing great. I found myself wishing that we could be a part of this till the end, but I know God has worked it out this way for a purpose. I am confident that He will do great things! They have 3 weeks left, so please continue to keep them, Matilda, Comfort, Felix, and Levi in your prayers. 

Although life here was like nothing I had every experienced prior, it was great to get this experience. I do not imagine that I will find myself missing the bush life, but I imagine there will be days when the experience will be missed as well as the simplicity of life. When I say simplicity of life, I in no way am saying life in the village for these people is easy. They live hard lives filled with hard labor to make it through every single day. What I mean by this is freedom to sit and be still. At 7:30 every night, it was dark, so there was either the option of bed or relaxing. There was no where we had to go or for that matter there was no where we could go, so life did not get “busy” for us. Although there is a side of me that is looking forward to getting back into that “busy” life, I am sure there will be days when I long for the quiet moments of nothing, and I imagine it will then be when I find my mind drifting back to the days in the bush.

I will miss people. I have come to appreciate each one of the girls that live in the staff house. They each are unique and have different gifts, but they make up this house where we were welcomed and accepted from day one. That is not true of everywhere, so it was nice to come “home” each week to a welcoming environment with each one being genuinely interested in that particular week in the bush. I will especially miss my friend Joni who was an added blessing in this trip. Being able to see her at different times this summer was unexpected a few months ago, so I thank God for allowing her to be a part of my Liberian experience. Pray for her as you think about it. She loves Liberia and has a passion to be here, so pray that God would daily renew her to get up and change the world one day at a time. I will really miss my friend. Saying this goodbye is one I could do without.

I will miss the interaction with the kids. There is just something about the way a kid can just look at you that sends a smile straight to your heart. There is immediate acceptance from kids that you cannot find anywhere else. These kids were why we were here, and these kids are each special. They live life everyday so differently than we do, yet they are able to put a smile on their face and laugh. And now, 48 of them are our brothers and sisters in Christ! I will see these little ones again, if not before then in Heaven! As they say here all the time, PRAISE THE LORD! Please pray for them as they have a tough journey ahead as they grow more in Christ. Follow up this week was good. It gave them a foundation in which to build on, but there is so much for them to learn. This particular village has a pastor named, Edward, who has a passion to see these kids grow. He would join us in our sessions, and that was encouraging to see. We left these kids not only in the hands of God, which is the only place they need to be, but we also left them in the physical hands of a person who cares. Pray for Pastor Edward as I am sure he is overwhelmed. The Jesus Film was shown on Thursday night, and 45 adults accepted Christ! Pray for the pastor as he has a lot of shepherding ahead of him as well as each one of these adults. How amazing to witness and think of how this village can be transformed with so many believers. Please oh please keep Wemah in your prayers.

So as I spend my last full day here in Liberia it is indeed with a heavy heart. God has done great things this summer, and I know He will continue to do great things here. He has put people here who love Him and love His people, so I know He will use them to continue to impact all of Liberia. I am ready to come home, but I will keep this place in my prayers and heart. I would ask the same of you. Even though, there will not be weekly reports to update you on the daily interactions here, I still would ask that you too keep Liberia and the work that is being done here in your prayers. I challenge you to not forget these kids or the people who pour into lives here every day. They need prayer. So even though this blog was to update you on what Lisa and I were doing, there are people here who are still walking the world daily, so please pray.

Pictures

These are our brothers and sisters from Yemah. Also keep them in your prayers. We are so excited that God is growing His family.
Pray for the kids from Moirekwelie. These are the ones who asked Christ to come into their hearts. They were asking some good questions about how to live now, so pray that there will be role models for them as they learn more about Christ.
This is Amos from Nyemah. He became a Christian during week 2, so please pray for him as he may have been the only one to accept Christ that week. 
While we were waiting to be picked up on Friday, I taught the kids how to play a version of Simon says. We had a lot of fun. Lisa taught Duck, Duck, Goose, and we also played hopscotch with them. They loved playing games.
We tried monkey meat this week. Fortunately they didn't parade this dead one around til later on that day. On the left is Comfort, and on the right is Matilda from our VBS team.

On the way to the airport to fly into the bush, we see this. Talk about a little culture shock going on! 3 men and a goat in the streets of Monrovia. Not what you see every day. 

Here is Lisa with a girl who had malaria. This was the little girl who Comfort was able to help, and when this picture was taken the little girl was doing much better. 

So there was this boy named, Jerry, who we met the first day of week 3. He had a mind of his own and definitely made us laugh. Our last morning there, he showed up sporting this outfit and just posed for us. Good ole Jerry!

What a Week We Had

It is hard to believe that we finished up our 4th week in the bush on Friday, and what a week it was. Overall we had a very good week, but it definitely had its challenges. Our biggest obstacle was the overall dirtiness of this village. Apparently the people aren't too concerned about cleanliness as a whole, so trash lines the paths and dirt. We think that was the reason we struggled so much with bugs this time. Poor Lisa took a beating, and to look at her legs you might think she suffered from a small case of the chicken box. It was bad. There seemed to be no relief from them both outside as well as in Lisa's tent. She was a trooper though and stuck out the week with her head held high. I am proud of her. 

Other than the bugs, we had a good time with our kids. It was a much smaller group this time, so we were able to interact on a more personal level. The kids spoke English well, so that made it nice for me. I didn't feel so distant from all that was going on. It was the first time that some of our team taught, so that was fun to see them teach some. Our team was all together in a house for the first time this week too, so it was good to have some more interaction with them. We all came back to Monrovia this week, so we will have time together to go through a Bible study and then to plan our follow up strategy for each village. I am so excited about this next phase even if we will only get to experience it for a week. Not only do we get to see kids grasp a hold of what Jesus did for them on the cross and give their lives and hearts to Him, but now we get to help encourage them and watch them grow in their new, exciting relationship with Christ! What a privilege for sure.

We have some good photos to post, so I promise they are coming soon. We are here in Monrovia for the week, so hopefully tomorrow we will get some good ones put up. Thank you all for praying. God is doing good stuff here. He is advancing His kingdom! Please pray that we would be able to set up a good plan to head back into these villages, so we can help equip them for a live filled with Christ. As part of our past illustrations in VBS, we would create a door post for the story of the passover, and then as we would explain it, we would smear red paint on it to illustrate the blood that was required for the angel of the Lord to pass over the house. We leave it to the side until the next day when we come to the cross. We then take that very door frame and turn it into the cross to show them that Jesus' blood was required for us to have eternity with God. We pass out paper and allow them to write sins down on it to come and "nail" to the cross. It is always a highlight of the week because right after this we present the Gospel to them and allow them to choose whether or not they want to invite Jesus in to their hearts. It is truly an amazing thing that was done for us on the cross. Here are the words to a song that talks about the awesomeness and power of what Jesus did on the cross. We have so much to be thankful for. 

"The Power of the Cross"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend  

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev'ry bitter thought,
Ev'ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow. 

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
"Finished!" the vict'ry cry. 

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

FINAL CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost! 
We stand forgiven at the cross. 

And We're Off Again

Tomorrow is the start of week 4 with VBS. We will be heading into a smaller village with somewhere between 40-60 kids which will definitely be a switch. We have had a good and restful weekend, so we are heading in ready to for the week. Please pray for us though as we have heard this could potentially be a hard week. It sounds like village life will be a bit different than the past few weeks, so we might be having a new adventure. :) God is with us, so we are confident in Him this week with VBS and the day to day life. God is good. Thank you so much for all your prayers.