July, 2010 Outreach

The "Hands For Liberia" blog has been brought back to life!! Although our interaction with Liberia has not been documented here over the last year and a half, our hearts and time continue to poor out to Liberians that we have come to love over the past six years.

That being said, a small team will leave for Liberia on July 17th for a two-week outreach. While many of our prior trips focused on the children from Daniel Hoover Orphanage, this trip is all about going "without a set plan" and allowing God to use us in the way He wants. Hmmm, funny thing that we have finally figured out that it's nearly impossible to have a "plan" in Africa and have resigned to simply go with freedom to be used. One thing is clear - we are to be a "blessing" to the people there, primarily in relationship.

So, a couple things are on our hearts for our time there:

• We will partner with two AFCI communities to share with and encourage church leaders, conduct a bible school of sorts with community children, encourage young women around the topic of purity and show God's love by blessing each community with a meal.
• One of the highlights of our prior trips to Liberia is hosting a July 26th Independence Day dinner for the children of Daniel Hoover Village, the Deaf Home and friends of ACFI. We will again host this dinner for around 600 children and adults. "Chicken" is on the menu, which is an unusual treat.
• Brad Neuenschwander will be assessing and evaluating equipment and tools to support the 2011 planting season for land donated in the memory of his father, Lil' John.

Who will be traveling?

• Dan, Sue, Michal and Moe Hostetler
• Heather Steiner (traveled with us in 2008!)
• Dee & Josh Neuenschwander
• Brad Neuenschwander

Brad will be joining our team the second week and will stay an additional week with Dee and Josh.

God has certainly given us direction and shown us His desires over the last few months. That's a really cool thing that happens when you step out to the uncomfortable and unknown in faith. What an experience - I'll share more about that as we go.

"The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. " Hebrews 11:1 The Message

The boy named Adama

Visiting Momodu's family is an adventure and quite joyful experience. We meet Uncle Varney in a small village by the name of New Kru Town. Momo is warmly greeted with hugs and laughter. We are honored guests in this village and are surrounded with children that watch as we visit. The photo from this summer shows just a small portion of the children and adults that observe our reunion.

When we visited Uncle Varney (photo to the left with Momo) in 2007, there was a boy that quickly claimed a place at Momo's side. Although Momo remembered playing with this boy while visiting Uncle Varney, he didn't know his name or relation at the time. It was obvious though that the boys had a special bond.

When we arrived at New Kru Town in 2008, this same boy was one of the first to meet us. He claimed his normal spot at Momo's side (photo to the right). When Momodu's mother arrived, we spent time documenting the names and ages of her children and learned that the boy on Momodu's lap was actually his younger brother, Adama. He is around 8 years old and lives with Uncle Varney.

I was able to share a gift with Adama that a friend from work had asked me to carry for "any boy". The package had clothing and Thomas the Train toys. He was delighted and, in African style, whispered in my year, "tanks mom" (yes, with a "t" rather than a "th"). Adama has Momo's bright smile although it's not seen often.

Things became uncomfortable when it was time to leave. Uncle Varney shared with Momo that he was finding it difficult to provide for Adama and that he planned to send him to the bush (better known as the interior). Momo was visibly upset with this which made our departure even more emotional. Many of the adults from our team accompanied us on the visit that day and as we left there was not a dry eye in the group and we watched the separation of these two boys occur.

Every time we travel to Liberia and meet children who need homes, I pray that if God wants us to move and provide a home to a child, that he will make it perfectly clear. There was an emotion that moved through all of us that day that is hard to describe. However, I can say that God clearly moved that day.... it's one of those things you just know.

So, what's next - yes, we have begun the paperwork to bring Adama into our family and home. We realize that by most standards, its not a reasonable thing to do. However, we've learned that when God calls us to move in faith that He has a good plan with many blessings in store for us if we're obedient. So, that's where we're moving in confidence.

"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Romans 12:12

The harshenss of reality...

I've been thinking a lot about the harshness of "real life" in Liberia and am having a difficult time accepting that it's ok to live in reasonable "comfort" here. It is hard to put out of my mind and heart the ruggedness of reality on the streets of Liberia and on the faces of children and adults.


One of the stops made on a daily adventure was to a village called New Kru Town. Here, we found these children at the well. The amazing thing was that the water they were bringing from the well for drinking, cooking and bathing was water that we would not think of washing our clothes in - yet it is survival to them.

The children in this town were quite taken with our white skin and we got off of our bus with big day bags over our shoulders filled with food for the day, purified drinking water, cameras and all the other necessities we thought we needed for a day out. You could tell that they were quite curious what we had in our big bags and what we might be able to give them. Some of the children were quite thin and malnourished. One of the nurses on the team whispered, "Can I give them something to eat?" I had to tell her "no" realizing that we would be mobbed with children looking for food and we didn't have enough to go around. That was a tough lesson of "reality" in Liberia.


What our family has learned, though, it that we can make a difference for a few with what we do have. We have been connected to several teenage boys and have had the blessing of helping some through school. To the right, you'll see a few of them. Nell (front row, second from the left) is in the 10th grade and Rufus (front row, second from the right) is in the 9th grade. We found that Rufus has taken the name "Rufus Doe Hostetler" on his school records and we're proud to call him our son. This year, Kenneth has joined our schooling group (back row, third from the left) and is in the 7th grade. We love his bright, contagious personality and feel he has a lot of potential. We caught this picture on the day of a big soccer game (a story for another time) and their bright smiles tell why the small investment is worth it. Our son, Momodu, is in the middle of the group in the front row and he was delighted to be able to play soccer African style again.


So, I guess the harshness that the country lives in turns to joy both for them and us. I have a hard time imagining that "comfort" would be worthwhile without the joy that serving and giving brings.


"As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work; We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul - not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is stength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy.." Colossians 1:10-12 (The Message)

Faith in what we do not see

As I reflect back on the events that formed our team and purpose for our time in Liberia, this verse in Hebrews has taken life "...faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see". My heart was prompted last January to consider providing medical care to the children at Daniel Hoover and the Deaf Village orphanages. This was an uncomfortable idea for me to pursue with no medical experience or connections! Fast forward a few months, and nurse Lavonna arrived at our house late one evening to say she needed to join our team. Within the next few weeks, Kristine (the second nurse on our team) and I connected, both with the purpose of discussing her joining the team. Everything started to flow from there with generous donations of flouride treatment, toothbrushes, medical supplies, etc. What an experience to see God move things into place without my own tugging, pulling and begging.

As I watched Kristine, Lavonna and Ashley (a fourth year nursing student) treat the children and adults, it was obvious we were doing what God had called us to do. There was something very special about providing a tender touch and showing an interest and concern for the children's physical well being. Although the children were generally in good condition, there were a few key medical concerns that the nurses had expertise and drugs to treat - for that we are thankful and pray for God's watchful eye when there are not medical professionals or medications available. This girl below was feeling very ill the day we saw her and I was reminded of my own children when they're feeling terribly bad and just need the comfort of their moms and soft beds. She didn't have that luxury. Fortunately, she was provided with treatment and feeling much better the next day.

All children received a flouride treatment to protect their teeth. Many thanks to a generous local dentist for providing the flouride.
A local boy from the community arrived one day with a severe burn around his eye and forehead from hot grease which had splashed from a cooking pot. Thankfully the grease did not damage his eye. Kristine was able to see him several days in a row for treatment. Again, we wonder how these injuries are treated with limited medical professionals and medicines. We again ask for God's watchful eye on these children.

Ok, so while medical care was a key part of our focus, I'll never underestimate the physical and emotional value of simply loving children. During every trip, we've found the beauty of just walking along with children, hand in hand, talking, laughing and loving them. This is healing for the soul.... both theirs and ours.

Another amazing thing that happened on our trip was a gentleman by the name of Earl Wright. Earl called me about a month before our trip to ask if he could travel with us. We did not know Earl, however, he was a friend of the Kofi's and wanted to join our team for traveling purposes. Usually, our work in Liberia has a very spiritual focus, however, this trip did not have that purpose and I was feeling as though we were missing a critical foundation. Well, Earl was prepared to fill that role and held evangelistic servies every evening. So, God had all things in His hand and designed for His purpose.

....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.