The last few days have been "full". Not sure of the definition of "full, but suffice to say that every moment is taken and we're falling asleep quickly without any bother for the sounds around the house.

We conducted the Women's and Young Ladies conferences on Tuesday and Wednesday. The women traveled from all parts of the city with 56 attending my session and around 20 for Michal and Hezz's session. The ladies in my group were very attentive and shared quickly about their lives. It's amazing how the war and other trials of living in LIberia have impacted who they are and the minor bumps that happen in my life seem like nothing. As I've told many of you, I come to Liberia to bring perspective back to my life. While the girls had a rough start on Tuesday, their group opened up today and they felt good about what was accomplished. Again, the sessions included many tough stories. We continue to process what that means and how God wants us to impact lives here.

This afternoon we visited our friend Joseph and toured his school. He will have over 1,000 students enrolled for next school year and has built an addition for a library and is currently running electric to the building for computers. We’ve watched Joseph’s work from the beginning and are so proud of what he has accomplished.

Joseph then took us to visit with Momo and Steve’s grandmother, Ma Musu. We had met her on a couple other trips and heard that her health was failing so thought it would be good to visit and try to capture stories of the boys on videotape. She wasn’t able to share much, but she was pleased to see their pictures and said several times “Thank you for the boys”. It was a very touching time with her and we learned a few more details about the time the boys spent with her. We took a bag of rice, at Steve’s request, and she was very pleased. As with all of our trips, there are unexpected ministry events and tomorrow is one of them. We will be meeting with the teenage/young men of the church and will teach for an hour or so about sharing the hope God has given us and then will go on a prayer walk around Monrovia. We intend to divide into three groups and hit the streets. I can’t wait to see what God has in store and trust that the time will allow the boys to see how God moves in unexpected ways.

There was commotion in the house last night because a mouse (or “rat” as affectionately known in Liberia – which doesn’t make me feel any better) made residence in my room. I told the boys I would give them $5 if they caught the rat. They ran to my room, emptied the closet and took my bed apart. Unfortunately, we had several sightings – accompanied by screams, but the rat made it’s home in the box springs of my bed. By God’s grace, and the security of the mosquito net around my bed, I slept well. There were no rat sightings today and I’m hoping it has moved to another area of the house. I know I’ve spoken about this before, but I wish I could show pictures of everything we see along the streets. The camera can be intruding for people, so I use it cautiously. But to give you a visual idea, there are people everywhere with a range of activities from fighting, sitting in solitude, working, 25 people crammed into the back of a truck, goats literally tied and standing on the top of a van traveling down the road, men relieving themselves along the side of the road and of course, my favorite, music and children dancing. This just gives you an idea of what was happening on our way home today. I can’t help but watch…. They’re all God’s children.

We’re all feeling well and feel safe. Thank you for your ongoing prayers!

P.S. Thank you, Jeannie, for the monster cookies. They were a much needed treat tonight.