A Long Awaited but Short Post

Happy New Year everyone!!

Again, with more internet problems and having 11 people here, updates have been as frequent. Luckily, I have great people like Annie and Rodney to stand in the Gap for me. Here is a quick overview and I will go more in depth tonight and tomorrow.

Tuesday- Relaxing in the morning and a trip to Marshall that evening. Marshall was the beach the freedom ships came in on.

Wed- Trip to greater love and the healing of Dad and Jessie thanks to the Dr. at ELWA.

Thur- Trip to the water street market for shopping and NGO party.

Short and sweet but more details and pictures to come later! Miss you all have have a great new year!!

Greater Love and the Team Arrives

Each day still continues to hold new and exciting things and unsuspecting things. Today we went out to greater love to talk with Pastor Wesley about his ministry and see a lot of what he has been doing. We went out there at around 11:30. We did not get to see LT Col. Dali sadly because he was out of the office. However, that allowed more time to spend at Greater Love. We went out there till four and had an amazing time. We were able to visit his clinic and see the pharmacy and lab which was very encouraging. He then took us up to see the radio station.

He opened the door and I felt this cold wind hit me and it felt spectacular! We went inside and he told us they had air conditioning which kept the radio equipment cold. We sat up there and I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. We were also able to give them the recorder they had been asking about. It was looking at children opening a Christmas present. They were so excited and their eyes were so wide with joy. They played with it a bit and then told us we had an assignment. They wanted us to record promos for the radio station. We really had no idea this was going to happen so it was a slight surprise. We tried doing it in the studio and it was not working out as well. So, Pastor Wesley had us go to a professional recording studio to record. It was really very exciting to know that my voice was going to be on the radio! It was almost surreal. We were also to give them more CDs of PK’s sermons for them to play on the radio.

Afterward we went to their café for lunch which was two white pots with lids. Another lesson that you learn in Liberia is that if there are two pots, one with almost always be rice and the other will be what you put in the rice which is always the surprise. They lifted it off and it was, surprise surprise, fish and chicken. I ate rice as always lol. I was then asked if we wanted any bread and my eyes lit up and I said yes. I was then handed a sardine sandwich! I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. I don’t think I ever wanted to have a local Mickey D’s so bad in my life! At lunch though, my Dad was able to talk more about his interest in Greater Love and how Crazy Missionaries might be able to partner with them. Pastor Wesley then showed us around where the vocational school would be. He said we would be doing a internet training and awareness class and a typing class. We also talked about his TV program idea that was in the works. My dad began talking to him about telemedicine and how Greater Love might be able to partner with Telemedicine in the future.

After the tour, we went back to the radio station, which I am dubbing to be my own personal heaven due to the AC, and they talked more about telemedicine and I just enjoyed the coolness of the room while watching 50 First Dates on my iPod. Two of the boys came up and sat and watched it with me while the “adults” were talking. It was a great experience to be able to share a movie with those boys, even though it probably was not the most wholesome Christian movie. I’ll probably need to download Jesus of Nazareth on my iPod next time.

Victor picked us up at 4 and took us back to the compound so he could clean the car before going to pick up the team. We showed up at 6:30, around the same time the team was supposed to land. We hauled booty to the airport and got their just as they were loading their luggage into the back of one of the trucks. It was exciting to see them!! We all embraced and piled into our caravan and headed back to the compound. It was easy to see some of them were totally overwhelmed with good reason. I was just happy to have some girls around! We got back to the compound, unloaded and had a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs!! I was SOOOOOOOO excited! Christine had promised me spaghetti and meatballs for a few days now and she finally came through and it was soooo good! We had a debrief and headed to bed. It was weird being around so many people again, but the company was really nice to have. All the girls had fans and the AC felt spectacular in our room. Sadly the boys are not so lucking. Their AC does not work and two of them did not have fans. We’ll see how that can be remedied in the next few days.

This morning was nice. I woke up at 7:30 or 8 and just laid there for awhile. My stomach is still hurting but it is something I pray will go away or lessen as time goes on. It’s made worse by the malaria medication but that’s not something I can necessarily stop doing. We had breakfast as a team and Rodney did a devotional about Ester.

Now the team is out walking the streets getting accustomed to this new culture while Rodney and I are sitting in the compound pounding away on our computers. I wish I could feel better to go with them but I know God has a plan in on this. We’ll be having lunch and going out to Marshall later today which is somewhere I have not yet been.

Overall, God is still Good and this is going to be a great trip! Again, we have a team blog which is www.weliberia.blogspot.com if you want to check that out. Hope everything is going well stateside as the New Year approaches!


Lindi

The Team is Arriving

Happy Monday Everyone!! The team arrives tonight and we are so excited about it! When they get here you can follow the Water's Edge team blog at http://www.weliberia.blogspot.com. I will continue to update on here but possibly not as often. Also, please continue to pray for Dad's ears and also pray for my stomach. I was starting to have some stomach pain before we left but its becoming more frequent while here. I'm still doing ok and pushing through, but it is starting to make me feel uneasy especially with so much of the trip left to go.

Thank you all for your prayers! We sure need them.

Lindi

PS. Yes Mom you are having much more contact with us this trip b/c I am here and cant go to long without talking to my Mommy ;-)

A tour, a party and a day of rest

We did not get home till late last night ergo, why I am having to wait till today to post.

Dec 26th- A tour and a party

What a day it was for our suppose day off. We got a later start which was nice to just relax. I’ve never really been a morning person, but having the ability to wake up in the morning before breakfast to just read and relax has been a true blessing.
Victor first took us to the soccer stadium which was very impressive. We then drove to see the STS water and ice company which will be having its first 2 hour test in the next week or so. We then visited the Kensaysa hotel and resort which was spectacular. We got a chance to walk in the beach and Dad ended up getting his sneakers soaked. Right by the hotel was Robert Cuppa’s new house he’s been building for 9 years and will hopefully be moving into in January.

Next we went and walked around the Baptist Seminary where the STS containers were kept before they got their property. It was beautiful and its location was spectacular. We met one of the pastors there who talked to us about the school and their continual need for books.

We back to Monrovia and visited the new Salvation Army vocation training center. The caretaker there told us that they were planning on having classes of 25 students per teacher. When they opened it up, there were about 75 students per teacher. Due to a lack of instructors, the classes had to remain the same size. Yet they are able to graduate students out which had been very exciting for them.

Victor then took us to see all the governmental offices such as the judicial building, the presidential palace, university of Liberia, city hall, the Chinese, Italian, and US embassies etc. While we doing that we stopped by the DuKar hotel which is located at the highest point in Monrovia. It was just like the hotel Africa in its destruction. People were all around, living in what once was surly the pride of the city. It was the hotel where, before the war, Lawrence proposed to Christine. It was just more proof of what war does to a nation.

We then drove down the market and was able to see one of the larger markets called Waterside. We also got to see where they are building more roads throughout the city but there is obviously still much work to be done there. On the way home we stopped by the Salvation Army Headquarters to try and see LT Col. Peter Dali, but he was out. We’ll try and stop by and see him Monday.

We went home that evening and Dad got ready to teach at the Men’s group again. I would meet up with him later at the party Christine had invited us to that night.
I showed up with Christine, Lawrence and the president’s niece who was the one driving us. The party was celebrating the president of the Liberian Senates unity of is whole family from around the world being in Liberia. I was not aware of this until after we got there. We sat down and maybe 15 minutes later this black SUV with flags drives up. Then some gentleman said, “All rise for her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf President of the Republic of Liberia.” This would be one of those what I would call the “holy crap I think this isn’t really happening” moments of my life. Sure enough, she got out of the SUV, secret service and all, and began shaking hands and smiling. Christine introduced me to her and I shook her hands. It was all truly unbelievable. Yet, like my Dad said, Christine couldn’t introduce Rodney’s daughter to the president and not his daughter. After people kept coming over to Christine and talking and introducing themselves. I don’t remember ¾ of who they were. Someone was something in the UN or someone else was in the ministry of something. It all became a big blur to me. Dad finally showed up and it was mostly a lot of talking and eating and meeting new people. During the evening, Dad was DETERMINED to get my picture taken with the president. I, on the other hand, did not feel it was entirely necessary. But, before I knew it, Christine was up asking permission and we were over at her table and sure enough, I got my picture taken with her. Again, it was all like a blur to me but I do have photographic evidence of meeting her!

We got home late that night and, thank God, the generator was on. I called my Mom and asked her about ear drops for my Dad’s ear and to see if she could get some sent along with the team. She said she would try but, it being the day before we leave, there were no guarantees. I then took 2 Tylenol PM and went to sleep.

Dec 27- A day of rest thank God!

Today has been very uneventful thankfully. The team left today and will be here tomorrow night so we can all hit the ground running. I came down to the living area after getting a delightful night sleep and Dad informed me that he could no longer hear out of his right ear. I was very alarmed. This is not the place to be having major physical issues. Immanuel came by during this, who is a guy who sells mahogany figures and jewelry. He came by yesterday to try and sell to me but because I lacked the ability to know how to bargin, I didn’t by anything. Today I did by a couple little things thanks to my Dad’s wise bargaining skills.

We then went into breakfast and my Dad told Christine of his hearing problem. She placed her hands on his ears and squeezed as she began to pray. She squeezed a few times and by then end of the prayer he could hear her much better. It was one of those miracle moments of prayer that you hear about but don’t see so quickly. It was definitely amazing. Victor took us to Robert Cuppa’s church at around 11. The sermon was amazing as he talked about having to obey God in order to follow God. We went home and will probably be spending the rest of the day relaxing, reading, and I will probably start typing of the stories from the kids from Isaac David School for Christine.

The plan tomorrow is to go back to the Salvation Army HQ to try and meet LT Col. Dali and then over to greater love to see Pastor Wesley. We’ll then hopefully get to meet up with the team at the airport depending on space. Tonight is our last quiet night but I am so excited to see them all tomorrow!

Finally caught up to today!

I hope you all had a wonderful day with your families and friends yesterday. On a personal note, I must saying thank you all for praying for us. It seems every day something else unexpected happens and yet, it all works together for the good.
(No pics in this post due to time factor to upload. I'll post them tonight when I get home)

Dec 23 Cape Mount

Today we had planned to go to Cape Mount with Christine. This was where her mother grew up and it use to be a more touristy part of the country. She was going to take us in her car with her driver. Problem was, her car was acting up and they were not sure what wrong with it. So, it seemed we might end up having a lazy day around the compound. No such luck when God has other plans. Dad talked to Robert about using the STS car and driver for the day to go up to Cape Mount and Robert agreed. So, we got to spend another day with Victor and really got to see his amazing driving skills in actions. I also got my first dose of real Monrovia. After getting up and having a delightful breakfast of oatmeal (yes Mom I ate oatmeal and I know you’re so proud) we got dressed, me in my new Africa outfit and Dad in another of Bimba’s shirts and the same old sweatpants, we waiting in the guest house for Victor. The plan was that Christine would leave earlier and drop of her car with her driver in Monrovia at the car repair place and we would pick them up on our way to Cape Mount. I then learned my next important lesson about Liberia that I had slowly been realizing. It take a long time to get anywhere in Liberia due to traffic and road conditions.

Danielle warned me about having to create coping mechanism while driving and today it happened. Driving through down town Monrovia I kept singing a song Miriam (sp?) sang at church last Sunday I think. I can’t remember it while I’m sitting here but the second I get into the car, it’s in my head on repeat till we get to our destination.

So we left Christine’s house and headed in Monrovia to get Christine. It was mind blowing to me the number of cars and people. You wonder where they all come from. Then to see the devastation of buildings and homes and it’s hard to picture this city as once a thriving. I was just overwhelmed seeing these huge buildings now reduced to nothing but a concrete frame looming over the city.

We picked up Christine and headed out to Cape Mount, which turned out to be about a 3 hour drive. After we got through the city, the drive was mostly uneventful. Most of the way was paved with some pot holes here and there. We did have to stop at 3 check points. The 3rd one was the most exciting because they were not going to let us through because we were from out of the country. They also took victors license and made him go inside some building. I showed the officer my copy of my passport and visa as Christine talked to him. The whole time we’re praying he’ll let us through and that Victor would come out so we could leave. The officer just stood by the car the whole time and, strangely, part of me wanted to take a picture because I kept thinking this was a perfect Kodak moment. I learned later that taking a picture would have been a horrible idea. Victor did finally come out and we were able to leave. The last part of the journey was spent driving on dusty roads. It was amazing to see the mountains and look down and there was the ocean. It was like the best of both worlds.

The city, despite its spectacular location, was very much devastated. We saw the base of what use to be a 5 star hotel right on the beach. Now all that is left is the bottom floor concrete outline. Yet, you can see what it might have looked like at one time. We also stopped at one of the orphanages there and it was heart breaking. The living conditions of those kids and the fact that most of them did not even have a seat to sit on to eat was enough to rip your heart out. Yet, the children still sang and were smiling. They loved the Lord and knew he was their provider. The children truly know what it is to have God be their father and their protection in a way I could never really understand. We were able to give them some candy and pray for them, but my heart wept for them and it tore me to pieces. Yet, I know that they are in the hands of a powerful God that can always be there when no one else can.

We prayed for them and left to head up to St. Joseph’s church. Christine wanted to show us the church which also use to be a very highly pristine school. The drive up there reminded me of the Indian Jones ride from Disneyland only without the safety of knowing you wouldn’t get stuck or the car flipping over etc. We got to the top and it was, again, devastated. The only thing really still looking strong was the church. The glass and rock still stood strong. We did not get a chance to go inside but I truly did want to.

Afterward we went to visit a close friend of Christine’s named Agnus Peabody who was the owner of Gertrude’s Bed and Breakfast. Her B&B sat right on a hill overlooking the beach and it was gorgeous! The inside was spectacular along with an amazing view of the ocean. She cooked us a wonderful dinner and showed us her vision for the B&B which included solar powered panels she was in the process of putting in. We discovered through talking with her that the panels were being shipped using our good friend Chuck Clark. We have picture proof with one of the boxes with STS and Chucks name on it. Agnus was an amazing woman who was called back to Liberia by God and obeyed. It was awe inspiring like so many of the other stories I seem to hear on a daily basis. After dinner, Dad and I walked down by the beach in the water. I can now say I have touched both sides of the Atlantic! It’s amazing to see God’s glory here. The beach was almost empty, clean and breath taking. We prayed with Agnus then left to head home. The drive was uneventful with no need to stop at any of the road blocks thankfully.

We got home late and has a late night snack of rice. Dad, thinking there was a nice juicy tomato in the rice, took the whole thing into his mouth chewed and swallowed. Lesson number whatever number I’m on, Liberians love hot spicy food. Turns out Dad’s tomato was actually a nice juicy hot pepper. His face turned bright red as his throat cought fire. He kept drinking water and we had to tell him to eat more rice, bread, and pineapple. It was frightening yet, slighty humorous. We thought the pepper incident was over, but not yet. Not thinking, Dad thought he has a bug in his eye and rubbed it, apparently with the same hand he had touched the pepper with. Your imagination can probably fill in the rest rather easily. He was in the bathroom with Christine trying to flush it out and holding a cold wash cloth on it. Again, slightly scary but still morbidly humorous. I think Dad will not think twice before consuming anything shiny and red that is located in rice. Still, I can’t figure out who would put a tomato in rice anyway, but that’s neither here nor there. Just another lesson learned.

December 24 WRT Youth Enlightenment and Empowerment Center in Bento

This was another day full of unknowns, but I was getting use to this idea. We talked to our driver the night before about getting our bags from downtown Monrovia. We could only pray that they would all be there. We got ready and had breakfast waiting anxiously for our driver to show up with my bags. To my pure excitement, breakfast was a fish stew type thing(pure sarcasm). I stuck with pineapple and prayed our bags would show up. I never wanted a granola bar so bad in my life! I know the Bible says be anxious about nothing, but I went anti biblical in this case and was jumping up every time I heard a car horn. Sad, maybe, but I was needing a little bit of home to continue to make it through. That and some toiletries and my Dad’s sweat pants were beginning to change color from being worn so much. I’d venture to say we might have to burn them if they don’t crawl away first.

Around 10:15 our bags showed up and I could have hugged Victor to death from pure joy of seeing all the bags. We both automatically changed into our clothes and, the same morning, we got internet! It was the best Christmas gifts I could have ever gotten in Liberia. After a quick update and looking to make sure all of our stuff was there, which it was including the recorder (that’s for you Stacy) we headed out to the WRT Youth Enlightenment and Empowerment Center in Bensonville.
The ride there was INTENSE. We had to go through the red light district which is a market area, to get to Bento. I can only describe the drive as being one of the most intense experiences of my life. It was literally wall to wall people and no movement from the cars. It took us an hour and a half to get through a distance of a mile. People were pressed up against the cars selling buying yelling. It was literally sheer utter madness. Atlanta traffic looked like a walk in the park compared to what we saw. Even Christine who was with us said she had never seen it so bad. There had to be close to 500-750 thousand people there easily. We had to lock our doors and roll up our windows almost all the way to keep the people from being pushed into the car. It was literally dreading the ride home from the moment we got out. It wasn’t until later I realized that these were not just people but many of them were lost people. Some just trying to get by with no knowledge of the Love of Christ. Again, this was just such an overwhelming thought. However, we later found out that Franklin Graham, Billy Graham’s son, would be hosting a crusade in Liberia in 2011 which was super exciting to hear!

We reached the village and the second we pulled up kids were everywhere! We were expecting maybe 40 and got almost 100! The children sang for us and the chief danced and we all prayed for the kids. We then provided them with Juice, cake, and candy. Amazingly, a cake baked for 50 fed 100 people! It was like reliving a bible story! The joy those kids had was so amazing and awesome to see. Just to have them hugging on you and thanking you for coming and asking to be your friend. I felt my heart melt for these children in a way I could never imagine. It was hope, real hope and joy unlike anything I could ever imagine. They were helping one another, playing and just being kids. Even though their environment was not, what we could call ideal by any stretch, they made due. They still were going to school to write and read. They still love the Lord with all their hearts and it shows in their smiles. We were not there very long which was sad, but it just gave me so much encouragement and hope. Even in such horrid states, children, the heart of God, still see the light.
The drive back was not as eventful as the drive there thankfully but it was still intense. I was more or less deep in thought about all I had seen and all I was going to see in the coming weeks.

We got home and Dad began to plan for his men’s fellowship meeting that night. I began to finally type up the novel that is our blog. We were called into dinner, yes we do seem to eat a lot but we really don’t eat a lot when, for me at least, there is not much to eat. Dad made sure not to eat another tomato. Afterwards, he and Victor headed off the men’s fellowship while I stayed at the compound and typed the rest of the night. We both slept soundly this night which was starting to get Dad worried since he was sleeping 10 hours a night here and only sleeps 4-6 at home. I think it’s his beard that he’s growing but that’s just me.

Dec 25 Christmas with Alvina

I woke up Christmas morning, jumped out of bed and ran downstairs… just kidding. This is Liberia and that story, I found out, doesn’t happen here. Actually it’s really rather nice. Our mornings are starting at around 8 which is a good time my body has let me know. I read some and chilled out until we were called for breakfast. We had a devotional time before breakfast with Christine, Lawrence, Dixon and some other folks. We sang, read scripture and prayed. Afterwards, I went back to the guest house to do my typing and Dad did his quiet time. We left for Alvina’s house at around noon. Alvina is Christine’s niece who lived in the states, got her degree in law, and moved back to Liberia and works with the ministry of public works.

We drove through the northern ‘red light’ that is also normally jammed, called Duala, n and it seemed almost deserted compared to what is was like when we went through when we went to Cape Mt. We made a detour because Dad wanted me to see the Hotel Africa and I was rather interested myself from all I had heard about it. As we saw it from a distance I was stunned. It was huge! The closer we got, the more I came to realize the true splendor that had once been here. Even seeing the front covered area where people would be dropped off in cars now overtaken by nature itself.

We headed back to Alvina’s house to a Christmas party I will never forget. The house was beautiful and set right near the mouth of the St. Paul (?) River where it dumps into the Atlantic Ocean. Across the river you can see the Hotel Africa and the sunset was beautiful! A picture can’t even begin to show what it looks like in person. The spread of food we had ranged from foo foo (no idea what it is), pork, seafood stew, rice, cucumber tomato salad, and pineapple. I stuck with the rice, pineapple and cucumbers. I also watched Christine play Dad at checkers, we had to teach Christine the American rules which are much different then African Rules. Then again, we were not sure if they were African rules or Christine rules but it was fun regardless. They ended in a tie even though I didn’t know you could tie in checkers. We also learned Ludu which is a game sort of like Sorry but slightly different. I won once which was exciting. I also got coned into dancing. There is a song called Yodi Yodi that I kept hearing all over the place here. Every time we were driving around I kept hearing it and they played it at the party. And, sure enough, one of the girls dragged me up to dance but it was fun! No, I don’t have mad dancing skills but it was an experience. I am now bound and determined to find the CD with that song on it while here in Africa. It was a blast, the whole day.

We got home that evening at around 9:30 and it was pitch black at the compound. Luck for us, we had PK’s handy dandy… FLASHLIGHT! We unloaded the stuff we brought while they tried to start the generator. First it was the battery, then it was the starter. While all that was going on, I was able to finally look up into the stars clearly for the first time and they were magnificent. It’s amazing how often the stars are overlooked or shadowed by our artificial light. Yet, when we turn our lights out, God is able to show us his true majesty! We ended up just going to the guest house and used flashlights to read or do whatever we needed to do (AKA eating our granola bars ;-) ). Dad and I also just sat and talked for awhile which was good. We also knew that, in 2 days, it was not going to be this quiet anymore. Yet, I am so excited to have the team come! I learned that if you really can just stick it out the first few days, you really begin to love this country. Tomorrow, we’ll be exploring the city and seeing things like the STS property, ELWA and some other places. Tomorrow night we are going to some big political party thing so that will be an adventure to be sure.

YAY I AM ALL CAUGHT UP!! Miss and praying for you all!
Lindi
PS. Pray for Dad’s right ear. It has been feeling funny and has been having a pulsing feeling that is not normal. Pray for healing for him.

First Part of the Trip

Merry Christmas Everyone!! So much has happened since we left Georgia which feels like ages ago. I could not have even imagined half of what I’ve seen or experienced while sitting in Chicago Sunday afternoon. Now it is Thursday evening and I have so much to talk about, it’s hard to keep the events of the past few days straight. However, I will do my best.

Dec 20-21 From Chicago to Brussels

The adventure really started to take form with the additional two hour layover in Chicago. It really didn’t hit me how significant this was until I realized our layover in Brussels was only four hours, now reduced to two. Still, we would have plenty of time to catch our next flight. As we sat waiting at the gate my excitement grew as I heard people speaking German and French. I truly was leaving the country! The plane was late arriving to the gate. This was ok so long as we ended up making it on time with at least an hour in Brussels to switch planes. We got to our seats and, to our dismay, we were not sitting together. I was on the left side of the plane on the isle of the two window seats. Dad was in the central section of the isle closest to me but slightly to my front diagonal. For awhile we each had our rows to ourselves. We started praying, selfishly of course, that no one would sit with us in our row. As we sat, we watched our arrival time grow later and later. From 11 to 11:10 all the way till 11:30. Our next flight left at noon. Due to my planning style personality, this was giving me a slight panic attack. I began formulating a plan B if we were to be stuck in Brussels till Wed (which was when the next plane comes to Liberia). Then again, that would be as successful as me trying to build an airplane. I have an idea of what you need to do it but no real knowledge of how to do it. At the last minute, Dad has a father and daughter sitting in his row and mine remained empty. Apparently God likes me better. ;-) We then took off and I had to come to the understanding that everything was out of my control, like I ever really had control in the first place. The plane ride itself was uneventful and it was a beautiful sight to fly over snow covered England and to land in Brussels that was equally covered in snow. However, as soon as the plane landed, our uneventfulness ended quick, fast, and in a hurry. Dec 21 From Brussels to Monrovia… I hope First lesson in international travel is when you get to the airport, you follow signs and you ask people. First signs we saw when we got off the plane at 11:20 were Starbucks. Yes it was a joyous sight to behold and, if I had more time I would have stopped. Just a side note, I was personally amazed that O’Hare airport in Chicago has a Starbucks almost every 20 feet. It’s like being in downtown NY! Anyway, we start following the signs to the T terminal/gate or whatever it is and suddenly find ourselves in the main lobby area of the airport with a security line that reminded me way to much of Atlanta but with fewer stations to go through. Dad asked a guy if we had to go through security again and he said yes. Apparently the Belguns don’t know what sort of things we could accumulate between Chicago and Brussels. Completely unaware of the time but knowing that our flight leaves in 30 mins or less and we have a secutiy line to go through that will take 30 mins or more, the numbers were not adding up. My Dad refused to let me look at the time and there were no clocks in security, so I had to just cope with the situation. The whole “worry about nothing” phrase kept popping into my head, thanks Mom. We finally get through and are little less than running down the terminal trying to find out where we need to go. We finally find a ticketing place to get our boarding passes and Dad starts talking to the guy and explaining. The gentleman starts calling everyone trying to see if the plane was even still there. I finally got a glance at Dad’s watch and saw it was 11:55. Major no no when flying I’ve learned, don’t try and get on the plane without a boarding pass 5 mins before your plane is suppose to leave. The guy finally looked hopeful and said if we followed the sign, we could grab the bus to the terminal and there would be someone there to give us our boarding pass. What a relief! So we took off, again a little less the running, to catch the bus to get to the terminal to get on the plane that was supposed to be leaving while we happened to be boarding. We had to stuff our stuff under our seat since there were no more overhead bins, strap ourselves in waiting to leave. And there we sat, for 2 and a half hours. Oh yes, you know you’re having fun jumping from 8 hour trip to 9 hour trip with only 20 mins of jogging to help you loosen up. The pilot came on and said first they were waiting to get the rest of the bags since a lot of planes were delayed. Ok, that fine. We played 50 dollars for an extra bag to get through Europe so I’ll wait to make sure it goes all the way through. Then, they had to deice the wings. While they couldn’t do this white waiting for the luggage I’ll never know. Again, everything is out of my hands. So we sat on the plane for the 7 hours to get to Liberia and arrived at 8:30 and got through customs rather quickly. Standing there in Liberia waiting for our bags, I was so excited and nervous I could hardly think straight. Then, the belt stopped and we were told that there were no more bags and the rest of them would be arriving on Wednesday and we had to fill out a lost luggage form. This would not have been so bad if they hadn’t forgotten the luggage for about half the plane. Remember we waited two and a half hours in Brussels so they could load all of the luggage. So, we and the half of the plane had to fill out forms and hope our luggage got there on Wednesday. To add to our misfortune, neither of us brought a change of clothes in our carry on. We will not make this mistake twice I assure you. We met Robert Cuppah, Peter, and Victor outside and headed back to Christine’s. We arrived around 10:30 and she had dinner waiting for us. She also blessed us by having clothes for me and Dad along with other necessities like portable battery powered fans, hot water to shower with, and working A/C. Apparently I am a spoiled girl or so I was told to have all these things here but I personally was eternally grateful. We were then told that we would be having breakfast at 9 and leaving at 9:30 for the school. Somehow, after being in a plane for 20 plus hours and hitting three continents, waking up before noon didn’t sound very appealing. And still, I knew everything would work out according to God’s plan so I went to bed that night unaware of what tomorrow would hold. Dec 22- Isaac David School I slept like a rock that night and only woke up when the generator went off and I had to turn on my fan. Dad slept equally as well. We headed to the school at around 10, Dad wearing Bimba’s shirt and same sweatpants and me wearing one of Christine’s Africa Dresses. I learned quickly two lessons in Liberia. First, time is relative and doesn’t mean as much as it does in the US. Second, you NEVER know what to expect until you get to where you are going. We got to the school and fed the kids breakfast. I’d guess there were 30 or so students between the ages of 8 and 22. The school is one that Christine supports through REAP and has a huge influence in.Most of them were Orphans we were sponsored by people in the states who pay their tuition to go to school. One young girl we met named Gertrude, came back to the compound with us that night. We told us she walked an hour and a half each day to get to school, has to leave at 5am and, when she gets home, has to do her studies by candle light. She often does not get to bed until 2am. Yet, she is dedicated to her studies enough to go through all that which was awe inspiring to me. Her story is just one of many and I will get to read the rest of their stories because I will be typing them up for their sponsors. I also got pictures of all the students to go along with their letter which was a great gift to Christine. We had a time of singing and praying then Dad and I spoke to the students about the importance of authority and education to their lives. I shared about my story and what I learned which was only a couple things here and there ;-). Afterwards, the pastor of the school spoke, we prayed and went to have lunch. Getting use to the food here is an experience. I am learning it is better not to ask sometimes what something is. Also, they LOVE spice and pepper, something I am NOT use to. I am just popping tums and praying. After lunch, we were asked if we would council the students. We didn’t know we were speaking and we didn’t know we were counseling but we just prayed that God would provide. The counseling was probably one of the hardest things I had to do. First of all, I didn’t know what I could really council them on. Second of all, there is a language barrier. Yes, they speak English but it is NOT the English those of us in the states grew up hearing and speaking. It’s hard to describe but it’s even harder to understand. It’s like knowing a little Spanish and listening to people talk in Spanish. You pick out a word here and there but not enough sometimes. So, talking to the kids was hard b/c they didn’t understand me and I couldn’t understand them and round and round we go. I mostly just prayed with them and talked to them about their hopes and dreams and what they loved. It broke my heart though to hear about what these kids had gone through. Yet, they still have joy and dreams that they are fighting for. We left soon after that because we had to get back for Dad’s teaching at the Robert’s church. Victor picked us up at Christine’s compound and we headed over. Victor, so you know, is our driver and will be throughout the trip. He is an AMAZING man and a spectacular driver considering all that we had to drive through.

We got to the church at around 6:00 and there were around 20 men there. They were all so sweet and let me stay even though it was a men’s fellowship. Dad spoke to the men about their role in the church. He covered everything from the diamond to the importance of prayer and prayer for the pastor. You could see the men grasping what he was saying. As I sat there listening, I was so amazed at my Dad’s wisdom that he was pouring into these men. I could see them really absorbing it and processing through it. It made me so proud to be his daughter in that moment. A real adventure came on the way home when our headlights went out. Victor pulled over on the side of the road and at first we didn't know why. Turns out the headlights would not turn on and he couldn't figure out why. So we kept driving and it was fine till we got on the road to Christine's compound. For those if you who dont know, its not paved and its very bumpy and holie. So, lacking headlights is a bad thing. However, thanks to our beloved PK and his ingenious gift of a friction powered flashlight to my Dad, we were able to get home with my Dad shinning the flashlight out the window at the ground in front of the car! We came home that night worn out and ready for bed, but not after eating some cake courtesy of Ester. We also hung out with some of the students from the school who were staying with Christine for the night and watched boxing. We headed to bed at around 9:30 or 10.

I realize this is only through Tuesday but it was A LOT. I will post about yesterday and today 2morrow. So much happens every day it is so hard to take it all in. I hope everyone back home has a Merry Christmas!! Keep looking for posts. Miss you all! Lindi

Internet Finally!

Well it has definetly been a hectic few days. Everything from lost luggage to no internet. Even still God has been faithful through it all an he provides all things and we did make it safely to Liberia!

Today has been a spectacular day so far. We have internet now, we got our luggage and the weather, for Liberia, is lovely!

We are about to head off to a children's home for the day and my Dad is teaching at a men's small group tonight. I will give a much more detailed update when we get back tonight for all of you.

Know we love you all and miss you! Keep praying God's protecion over us as we travel today.

Lindi

PS. For those of you traveling to Liberia on Sunday, PUT A CHANGE OR 2 OF CLOTHES IN YOUR BACKPACK!!

Hanging out in Chicago

Our trip is officially underway! Feels like I just started thinking about the possibility and now off we go!

Yesterday was a great day with the family celebrating Christmas early which, I have to say, it’s a brilliant plan. We were able to go out and return, exchange, and go shopping on our Christmas Day! This is a best kept secret so don’t spread it into the retail world. ;-)

Our flight out of Atlanta was a non event except or an unruly two year old (are there any other kind) who was a master of waiting till you were almost asleep then screaming or making some other noise. Lucky for the child, my dad did not have any duct tape. Let the character building begin! I was excited to see the city covered in snow. Reminds me of the snows of New Jersey although, I know my friends and family up there have had enough of the snow.
Lucky for both me and my dad, this airport has a Dunkin donuts and Starbucks practically next to each other. Guess we’ll both get have our last “real” coffee experience prior to departing the country. We’ll definitely have enough time due to the 2 hour delay they added to our already 5 hour layover. Let’s just hope we don’t much further delay or we might be hanging out in Brussels for a couple days. It is just another reminder that we ultimately have no control over anything. It’s all God’s timing.
I am still in shock and amazements that in 24 hours or so we will be in Africa! Although, that also means 24 more hours of traveling but that’s ok. It’s going to be an amazing trip and God is going to do amazing things! I pray you are all blessed equally this time of year. Enjoy the time with friends and family.

Lindi
Prayer Requests
Continue to pray for traveling mercies for us and that the flights run smoothly all the way to Liberia
That we are able to get in contact with Robert when we get to Liberia. We are not sure if we have mins on our Liberia phone
Our family as they travel around this holiday season without us
Pray we have the energy to be able to function on Tuesday after we get there. We don’t have a real recover day so we’ll be pushing through.

7 Days and Counting

I can't believe its only a week away from the day we leave! God has continued to do so much. All of the teams were able to raise all the money needed to for the trips which is a complete God thing. Also, communication between our Liberian contacts has been good. We have a good plan for what we are going to be doing that first week we are over there. I will include a day to day plan when it is finalized.

My Dad and I went up to TN last Saturday to meet up with Rodney Edwards to hammer out some details which went really well. The Liberia team also met last Sunday and spent more of the time discussing financials and things of that nature. The Money for all the trip was due by Tuesday and God was gracious and creating miracles for us all. We have an amazing team of students going and I am so excited to be apart of this experience.

Since we are also celebrating Christmas as a family early, we have also been busy with shopping and all the typical Christmas "cheer" of fighting traffic and deal with malls. It will most assuredly be nice to get out of the holiday madness a week early. ;-) We will be doing our family Christmas Saturday, packing up the rest of our stuff, and leaving Sunday morning for the airport. It feels as if there is so much to do and time is running out. Yet, there is so much excitement going on, its almost unreal to me that I am actually going to Liberia!

Thank you all so much for your prayer and support! We love you and pray God will continue to bless you and your family during this holiday season.

Prayer Requests

We are able to continue to remember God's will in everything that we do

God will have all of his plans fall into place

Endurance for David (my dad) to get through his last week of work.

Peace that we would be able to hear the voice of God in everything we do preparing for the trip.