VBS

I've moved to the jungle for a couple weeks and have been helping to lead a Vacation Bible School in a village called Sappimah. Sappimah is inaccessible by automobile, so we walk 30 minutes each morning to reach the children. It's a beautiful walk through the jungle. In the middle we cross a bridge that consists of a couple logs and a few scrap slabs of wood. We were fortunate - since the "white people" were in town (us) - they added the extra slabs of wood. There are palm trees all throughout the forest and it rains every day - keeping us nice and cool.

So we have approximately 100 children between ages 4-11 that we're sharing Christ with this week and another 100 children next week! It's been incredible to meet them, teach them, laugh with them, and love them. Please pray with us that God will do a mighty work in their hearts!

Pray also for their health. Approximately 60% of these children are malnourished. Many are suffering from worms which quickly consume the little nutrition they are fed each day. Unfortunately, healthcare in this country is almost non-existant for even the "rich". I've been told there are as few as 32 doctors in the entire country. Crazy, right. So I can assure you these children need your prayers for their spiritual and physical health.

Thank you so much for praying!

Happy 4th of July!!!

We celebrated Independence Day with some good ole, American picnic fun tonight. Cleaned up the grill...scrounged up some hot dogs...and got out the USA gear - thanks Bev! There was arm wrestling, Hauwa laughing, and brownie eating extravaganzas.

Below are a few pictures to enjoy!

( Bev - my Canadian supervisor/friend - is lovin the USA today!)

( My beloved Pittsburgh Steelers fan, Felix, with Auntie Patty!! )

(Liberian ladies hard at work: Taya, me, Patty, & Joni - holding up Bev)

Hope you're enjoying some great fireworks right now!!! I was reminded that the sparks and bangs of fireworks probably aren't a good idea in a post-war country. So, I'm thinking I'll light a bunch of candles tonight and have Patty blow them out in a creative, synchronized fashion for me before bed.

Happy 4th of July!!

Please pray for Zimbabwe

The people of Zimbabwe are oppressed, hungry, sick, beaten and dying. They have been subject to the injustice of a corrupt dictatorship, under an umbrella of democracy. An unfair election was held on Friday that could swear in Robert Mugabe as early as today for another term of demise. Please pray for this nation. For Zimbabweans. For God to bring his hope to his beloved all over this earth.

God is faithful. He loves you and the people of Zim. Please talk to Him about this today.

For more details visit:
http://www.philsvagabonding.blogspot.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/opinion/29kristof.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

loving mangoes!!

Some of you know this about me, but I have yet to eat a really good mango. Almost a sin, I know. I've heard all these delicious stories about my friends chowing down on the sweet things during their times in Africa. I was always so jealous! I tried a couple in the States, but they were never really ripe. So all I've ever had were stickey fingers and sour bites. Until....today!!

The ladies, Erin, Patty, and I decided to go on a walk for some fresh fruit and we scored BIG time! We found a family with a little stand. The longer we stayed, the more fruit that emerged and the more people. It was really cute. The entire family came out to talk to us. All 10 of them. Each bringing more fruit to chose from. We exchanged names and smiles and snaps and LD (liberian dollars). So now our home is stalked with mangos, oranges, bananas, pineapple, and avacados.

I could hardly wait to come home and chow down. I found that my friends' delicious mango stories were all true! My stickey fingers were finally coupled with sweet, juicey bites. Mmmm I can hardly tell you how good they were...but I think the picture above will give you a clue. I'm lovin mangoes today - hope you're lovin a little piece of life too!

God is good - so very sweet!

Home visits

Today I finally felt like I was in Liberia, Africa.

Walking down a muddy, red road. Rain pouring above and splashing below me. Noticeably the only white woman in sight. Following my Liberian friends to home after home of orphans that need our help. Orphans like Joseph.

So I ducked to enter through the doorway of Joseph's home. It was dark and damp inside. The walls were put together with scrap slabs of wood. Strong sticks hold up the roof from many different angles. Have you ever wondered if thatch roofs hold up in the rain? Driving through Africa, and looking at pictures, I have wondered that. Well today I can tell you that they don't. Their roof is leaking in too many places to count. Leaking on their few items of clothing. On the old box spring the entire family uses as a bed. On their food. A river of water leads our way to the small room where Joseph's aunt lay. "She sick", the children tell us.

Joseph's mother died giving birth and his father abandoned him. So his aunt is his caregiver and that of at least 5 other children. She's been sick for a long time and hasn't received any medical care. She waited for the doctor, but he couldn't see her and therefore, she hasn't received any medicine. Her legs are as thin as my arms. Her face shows how weak she feels. I wish there was something I could do to tangibly help her. But we're visiting to help Joseph today.

So we begin asking her questions and find out that Joseph will be graduating from school on July 13th. Praise God! He is 10 years old and has completed one more year's worth of class. We are there to ensure that his school fees will indeed be paid again for next fall. We are also there to see if he needs any medical attention - which he does and we make note of. Hoping to provide that soon.

Joseph stands in front of us wearing an oversized woman's shirt. I would have guessed he was about 7. I shake his little hand - giving him a good snap at the end. He smiles because he didn't expect it from the white woman. I admit - I got lucky on that one.

After much talking, we tell Joseph's aunt that we are so sorry about her sickness and that we will be praying for her. I pray for her silently as we sit side by side. My friends continue to encourage her in Liberian English which I don't quite understand yet. She smiles. I know that my friends have just made her day.

So we must walk away. I realize that I have brought nothing of material value to leave behind - not even a few LD (Liberian dollars) to give for the bananas and coconuts the children offer me. Oh how inexperienced. But I give them my smile and again my white hand. The children laugh with me and I promise myself I will pray for them.

HOPE: Joseph is going to school. He is being visited on a regular basis by women who care about his family very much. He will soon receive a mosquito net to help keep him healthy. He is in my and perhaps even your prayers today. This is all by the grace of God.

I know that our Lord has not forgotten about Joseph or the other children I met today. I trust our Lord's promise that "He so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life." Meaning - every person, every child on this earth - has true, everlasting hope.

Not so ironically, I was reminded of this verse by another Joseph a few days ago. He was also an orphan. He bravely escorted me to the market and he recited John 3:16 after singing me many sweet songs. Another beautiful child of God.

I think to myself ... if my heart breaks for them ... how much more my Father must love them.

(Joseph is not the actual name of these boys.)

Of Mice and Monrovia Women

We have a little mouse problem in our house these days. We've caught 6 in one week. And a record 4 in one day! I think the mice are beginning to learn that our sticky stuff is leathal, so we're coming up with more creative ways to catch them now. Pictured above is Taya's way. Let me explain. You see the purple bucket ... it full of water that will hopefully drown one of our little mousey friends. Leading up to the bucket is a wooden slab with little pieces of food to lure our friends along. Once the mouse gets to the top of the slab, there is a piece of string that is tied across the bucket, holding a fanta can. This is no ordinary Fanta can. No, no. This Fanta can is baited with peanut butter and cheese. How could a mouse possibly resist?! So the mouse will walk the tightrope over to the Fanta can and as soon as his foot hits the can, it rolls over and splash!!! One less mouse in the house!

This was the highlight of our Saturday night. Haha - good times!!

Hope you're all having a good weekend too!!

And let me know if you have any good mouse-catching strategies for us. :)

Oh When the Saints go Marching In

So I went to a graduation ceremony this week that topped my own by a landslide! There were 120 Liberian graduates from Todee who were celebrating their completion of an 18 week Discipleship program. They came down this red dirt road singing "Oh when the Saints...go marching in...!" They have learned the truth about our Lord Jesus Christ and have been commissioned to spread the Good News throughout their villages. This day, they each received their very own bible. Sweet and precious!

Please pray for these graduates...that our Lord would continue His work in their hearts and lives. That they would have the courage to speak truth to their family and friends. That their love for our Saviour would increase day by day.