....and the rain fell

Our arrival in Liberia was greeted by a heavy downpour of rain. Exiting Roberts Field International Airport is always a challenge - but now with 16 people, 32 bags of 50-pound luggage, no light outside, heavy rain falling and Liberians crowding around us eying our luggage and looking for spare change - ok well, welcome to Liberia. The best way to describe arrival is "in your face" culture shock. The bright spot, of which there are many, is the smiling face of our Liberian friend, Lillian. As usual, she was there with everything under control and quickly shuffled passengers and luggage into taxis that had just been chartered at the airport. I watched the taxis drive off with members of our team (and my daughters) with no cell phones or directions on where they were heading, and realized that God had brought us to this place where we were no longer in control - He is. That's part of this process of exercising faith and trusting God. The verse that we had shared as a team became real. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9). Ok, so it's time to exercise it and believe it.

We all made it to the house through literally torrent rains. Those of us expecting to drive through the front gate were surprised when we passed to the back of the house. As we walked through the house and made our way to the front door, it was obvious why the new entrance - there was now a lake in front of the house. In the middle of that lake sat a van that was to be our transportation for the next few weeks.

In all things, though, you can find joy and the girls quickly made their way outside to shower in the rain (it beats a bucket bath). The rain proved to be a valued commodity for bathing and washing clothes with clean water. When the rain fell, we would quickly run outside to catch it in our buckets.

So, the adventure began as the rain fell and as we learned about being strong and courageous - knowing God is with us.

Rewind.....

One of my friends recently said to me, "I'm going to need you to put yourself on rewind and tell me about the trip."

It seems that settling back into our daily life has taken some effort this time. It is obvious to me that the priorities between the American and Liberian cultures are dramatically different and the instant transition back to our hectic lifestyle is a difficult one. Thus, the delay in updating this site.


Since there are many that are interested in our efforts in Liberia, I'd like to "rewind" and and use this site to tell stories about our experiences, introduce you to people and children that we've learned to love along the way and share with you how God has and will continue to change and mold us into people that know His voice, listen to it and then move in obedience. I'm hoping that the team will also allow me to share some of their personal stories of transformation.

I don't know the name of the child in this photo, but the little boy represents all of the children we saw through the streets of Monrovia. We've come to understand that the children in the orphanages are the "lucky" ones. Those on the streets are the ones without school, food or sometimes shelter.

The photos below give you a flavor of the scenes throughout the country. While there is economic progress, most of the country still looks like this. What's amazing is that I see beauty through the trash and destruction. It takes awhile to get to this point, but the beauty lies within Liberia in it's people.

So, more to come...

Waiting in Liberia.

We find ourselves hanging out at the airport in Monrovia – our flight now delayed for two hours. It seems that a bird flew into the engine at landing and they're trying to assure that the plane is safe to fly. So we wait..... The good news is that, much to our surprise, we found internet connection, a very scarce luxury. So, here's an update

We've seen and experienced much in the last few weeks. Terry and Lavonna united with their son, Emmanual, below. God blessed their time together with Emmanual bonding with them quickly and able to watch them leave the orphanage yesterday with confidence that they would be back for him. We each bonded with several different children and come home with a softness in our hearts.



The medical outreach finished on Wednesday with the deaf home - reaching a total of 300 children. The deaf home was particularly moving. We found children that are bright, vivacious and confident. Heather was amazing as she was able to share with the children through sign language. We all learned a few simple things for communication and there was much pen and paper moving around trying to communicate.

Below you'll see Emily treating a child with flouride.

Michal learning the finer art of carrying a baby in a lapper...

We used Thursday and Friday for hair braiding (for the young girls), shopping and visits to Momo's family. Below is a picture of Momo's mom and sister and brothers. It was a very emotional visit this time as Momo related to his younger siblings. Our visit took place in a small walkway between block houses and 40-50 adults and children located on either end watching us. The adults on the team accompanied us that day and Momo's Uncle Varney said he was honored by being visited by so many white people.

So, we wait to head home... Although most of us are anxious to get going, we find it difficult to leave those that we have come to love as friends. Dan and I (and family) continue to build relationships with a few young men and were very pleased to see how they have grown and the progress they are making in school and in their spiritual walks. We'll share more about them when we return.

So, what's next? Each of our hearts have been prompted in different ways and come back changed and searching for what God has next in our lives.....

Pray for our safe return.