Cultural Presentation

Sing with the SawSaw.

Warmin' up the drums.

Start dancing.

Laugh a little.

Staring contest.

Wait for your turn,

Photo op!

Dance some more!

Climb to the top.

More acrobatics.

Smile!

Celebrate!

four years

Today I am celebrating four years in Liberia!

"Jesus is the one we take care of, visit, clothe, feed and comfort. Every time we do this for the poorest of the poor, to the sick, to they dying, to the lepers, (to the orphans), and to the ones who suffer from AIDS... we should not serve the poor like they were Jesus; we should serve the poor because they are Jesus." 

 -Mother Teresa

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." 

Matthew 25:40

life and death in liberia

We all say that death is part of life, but sometimes I think it is more a part of life in Liberia then anywhere else. A week doesn't go by that someone I know isn't mourning the loss of a loved one. In the last year alone-- Joseph's brother and father, Piko's brother, Amma's brother, Alvina's aunt, uncle and cousin, General's baby boy, a really good friend of Ma Mary... the list goes on and on.

Two Monday's ago I received an early morning phone call from a man I hadn't talked to in close to two years. I met Peter when Michael died. Sweet, innocent, faithful, Michael. Peter was his uncle, the one who cared for Michael when his mother and father died, who tried to get him treatment in the simplicity of rural Liberia and then sent him to Monrovia for treatment when it became obvious he was too sick. The uncle that I mourned with at the graveside and shared stories and pictures of Michael with on my front porch.

Peter lives six hours outside of Monrovia and I haven't seen him since Michael died. Unfortunately, he wasn't calling with just a friendly hello. He had news. News you never want to hear. Michael's twin brother, Mark, had been in a terrible motorbike accident, his back broken, his body paralyzed. Peter wasn't asking for anything besides prayer. "Please pray for us!" he begged me, and I promised him I would.

I thought of Peter and Mark several times over the next week. Racking my brain for someway to help, all I came up with were prayers for comfort and peace and healing. Helpless. I received another call this Monday, Mark was being discharged from the hospital on a stretcher to the family home. Again, the only thing I could offer from so far away were my prayers.

Yesterday morning I was greeted at my front gate by the crying wails of a mourning woman. The boys' auntie, Bee, had come to tell me Mark was dead. She clutched my neck and sobbed into my shoulder and I was taken back to the hospital 22 months ago when this same fragile woman clutched my neck and sobbed into my shoulder over Michael's dead body. Two boys dead. The hope of the family. Twins in life and now in death.

These are the why questions that were never meant to be answered. Why so much death in one small country? Why so much tragedy in one small family? Why two boys who hadn't yet reached twenty-one? Just, why?

I have only known this family in times of mourning, but I pray they can find joy again... somehow. I never even met Mark, but his death affects my life. I can only hope and pray that my prayers-- my God who answers prayers-- affected his life as well. 

My latest Liberian adventure...

Last week Ashley, Joseph (our driver), and I took our yearly trek (over 8 hours each way on super-bumpy dirt/mud roads) into the up-county bush of Liberia-- Sinoe County. Nestled in the deep green jungle, 200 miles away from the chaos of Monrovia, is a children’s home that ORR has been supporting since 2009. This was actually my third time visiting The Heart of God Children’s Refuge, which is so hard to get to we only make it there once a year. It is a small mission that is run by our long-time friends Pastor Wion and Mama Shirley Wleh. Their mission may be small now, but their vision is big.

Their long-term plan is to have a K-12th grade boarding school, fully functioning organic farm and guesthouse within the next few years. All these goals will go far to benefiting not only the vulnerable children, but everyone else in this rural community.

Sinoe County jungle view. The blue roof is for the new school.

The main project focus last week was starting to build their new school building, and it started off with a bang. The students took a holiday from book-learning to earn a life-lesson. They all reported to the school building that morning, but instead of sitting on wooden benches for class, they went to work making mud bricks which would become the foundation and walls of their new school building. It was hard work, but they were learning how to be responsible and take pride in their work. Their dedication to school will be deeper now that they have been a part of building it.

These boys seem to be enjoying their block-making lesson.

After a long day of building, the entire village gathered around the small grass-mat house to watch “The Jesus Film” in their local tribal language. I was glad I knew the story since I didn’t understand the words. It was fun watching the Liberians watch the show though, they were on the edge of their seats, often gasping or breaking into applause. Our short visit ended with a Christmas-in-March gift distribution to the children living on the mission. 

Merry Christmas! (in March... why not!?)

Mama Shirley took good care of us while we were there. I’ve never eaten so good in the bush-- hot, fresh, hand-made donuts for breakfast each morning, fresh potato greens, cassava leaf, palm butter and delicious pineapple straight from the farm. We even watched them slaughter the chicken that was in our soup (this was actually a first for me). We were not allowed to lift a finger the entire time, which actually made me feel like quite a slug since working to keep a home in the bush takes a lot of hard work. They even warmed up water for our bucket baths each evening.

Donuts! Cooked outside on a coalpot, the Liberian way.

Daily life in a small village definitely has a different flow. We woke up with the chickens at 0430 each morning, had to walk into the jungle with a shovel when it was time to relieve ourselves and slept on flat mattresses only a few inches above the dirt floor. It is a hard life, but there is something simple and beautiful about it as well.

I think the hardest thing for me to see was where they get their water. Their biggest need right now is definitely a new well to bring them clean water for drinking, cooking and bathing. Since the closest well to them has broken, they are forced to use a small dirty creek for their water needs. (We brought our own drinking water, since we had a vehicle, they drove to a close by village to get some water for us to bathe in.) There are a lot of logistical details that make it very difficult for a well to be dug so far in the bush. Please pray with me for my dear friends at the Heart of God Children’s Refuge mission-- that they will continue to have strength to do the work that God has called them to do and health despite such poor conditions. 

This three year old is helping to carry water up from the creek.

For more info on what ORR is doing follow this link to the website.