Praying Psalm 10 for Haiti.

¹ Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

² In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises.

³ He boasts of the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.

⁴ In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

⁵ His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and your laws are far from him; he sneers at all his enemies.

⁶ He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me; I'll always be happy and never have trouble."

⁷ His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue.

⁸ He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent, watching in secret for his victims.

⁹ He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.

¹⁰ His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength.

¹¹ He says to himself, "God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees."

¹² Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless.

¹³ Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, "He won't call me to account"?

¹⁴ But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out.

¹⁶ The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land.

^{17 - 18} You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.

I woke up this morning feeling an intense need to spend some focused time with God, but I was not sure regarding what. As I took my coffee and Bible to the porch I was bombarded by every possible distraction (this is Liberia). I was quickly frustrated, annoyed and loosing focus. Praying for clarity I turned to Psalm 10 and started reading. Haiti came to mind instantly--

I am pretty isolated here, no TV news to keep me updated by the minute. I heard about the earthquake through friends facebook statuses. I haven't seen much, but am haunted by what I have seen and heard. The pictures of the people there really remind me of Liberia. Haiti and Liberia are actually very similar and it is hitting close to home. I am imagining if something like that happened here, to the people and country I have come to love so much. So much devastation, it seems too much for so many who were already suffering to take. Being here, I don't know what to do or really how to pray.

This morning the need was so intense I even found myself asking-- "God, am I supposed to go to Haiti or pray for Haiti?" And he said pray. So I used Psalm 10 as an outline because I honestly didn't know where else to start.

If you are feeling as helpless and overwhelmed as I am, maybe you can start there too. It is the least and best we can do.

"Prayers are powerful and effective not because they alter God's providential plan but because they are a part of it."

Lapagirls

When we delivered Christmas bundles last month, every gift was wrapped in a square piece of lapa (Liberian material). This week when I stopped by to visit the children at Frances Gaskins I was greeted by several of the girls wearing new skirts crafted out of the lapa from their Christmas bundles. Kumba, one of the older girls at the home, had come up with the idea and sewed them on a foot pedal sewing machine that they have.

(Before- Christmas bundles)

(After- Lucky, Kebbeh, Marthalyn and Hannah showing off their new style.)

I loved the ingenuity of it. We have delivered the same bundles to hundreds of other kids over the last few years and never seen them put the lapa to use like this before. It is great to see new ideas and the ability to put them into action. In Liberian terms we would say- "They are coming up small."

Operation Waterwheel.

1000 miles, 24 hours driving one way, 8 days, 7 (of my most favorite) people, 2 SUV's, 1 possibly impassible road. Our New Year's aventure to the furthest region of Liberia was every bit exciting as it was beautiful.

Here are some pictures, in random order.

At one point we had to build our own road, well the guys did most of the work, but we look pretty darn good holding the tools.

Fish Town Beach, the most beautiful beach I have seen in Liberia.

On the road to Fish Town Beach.

The whole gang (almost) driving around town. Front seat- Andrew and I. Back seat- Cramer, John, Elena and Brenda. Somewhere in the very back- Will.

We spent an afternoon in the Ivory Coast, just a short canoe ride away. I was almost traded in marriage for a donut, but they decided to keep me at the last minute. Thanks guys.

It's late, we're dirty, but we made it, phew!

Stuck, again. I actually got to help pull them out this time.

After almost 20 hours of driving we made it to Maryland County...almost there.

These stairs in the old lighthouse were pretty scary, but the view from the top was amazing!

Towards the begining of the trek we thought this was a big one.

The beach in Harper.

One of several beautiful old churches in town.

We all ran up to the roof to enjoy the New Year's marching band- even the dog, Obama.

Sunset.

Gifty Update - Keep Praying.

Many of you have been asking about Gifty, sorry for the way over due update.


Gifty did receive her new liver and everything went amazingly well with that surgery. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for this over the last year. Heidi was telling me how she did not want to spend another Christmas in the hospital, however if it was because Gifty was getting a new liver, that would be ok.

A few days before Christmas Heidi started noticing that Gifty was acting differently. She was very concerned and kept pushing the nurses and doctors to check things out. Of course they were all focused on her liver and did multiple tests to make sure everything was working alright. Unfortunately the problem was not with her new, perfectly working liver. She had bleeding in her brain, a side effect to the blood thinning medication she was on after surgery. So, less than a week after liver transplant surgery, Gifty was rushed into emergency brain surgery. They were able to stop the bleeding, but some damage had been done. It was really touch and go for a few days.




Gifty is now stable, you might even say "out of the woods." But she has had quite a set back. She is having to relearn the things she has worked so hard to learn over the last year- how to drink, talk, walk, laugh. Thankfully she seems to recognize her loved ones. I know she is resilient and a fighter, she would not have made it this far otherwise. I thank God for all He has brought her through and how she has touched (changed) my life. I am encouraged by her progress this far despite everything that seems to be working against her. I continue to pray for her quick recovery. As I was praying for her today the word "restore" kept coming to mind. God will restore her. He knit her together in her mother's womb and knit her together again with a new liver and will continue to knit until she is whole again.