Diana Davies

All I can say about today is WOW. There trully is no other way to describe it. I feel I could write for days upon days about today alone and all that has happened, but I need to leave something for us to talk about when we get home. ;-)

Today was the first day that the team was seprated. Dad, Brent, Jeramiah, Kayla, and I all went to the Diana Davies Orphanage while the rest of the team headed to THINK for the day. If you want to read more about what happened at THINK, you can go to www.weliberia.blogspot.com. My Blog will only be about Diana Davies since, that is where I was.

The trip there was a "bonding" experience. We had all 4 students squished into the backseat of the path finder while Dad sat in the front stretched out and ready for the journey. He is so self sacrificing and we all appreciated it very much. We did hit one check point where we all needed a slip of paper that none of us had. It’s so great when you don’t know what you need to go through checkpoints. We all had passport copies which, as we have been told, was all we would need. I was told by Rodney and my Dad that they maybe you get your passport checked once every couple times you come to Liberia. I had mine checked twice in 2 weeks. Oh how special I feel.

We arrived at the orphanage around 10am and met the children right off. Each one would come up, shake hands and give you their name. The orphanage looked very well kept and taken care of. Last year, the 12Stone team was here and installed a generator which, by God's grace, has been a huge assets to the orphanage. They are able to use their sewing machines, computers, have lights, and will be able to power the school they are building. We talked a bit to Diana about what she was expecting or wanting from us and she encourage counseling very strongly.
We then had a fun time of worship with all the kids together and Brent taught a short sermon that was not in our “plans.” However, as the bible verse goes, “The minds of men plan their ways but the Lord directs their steps.” So we planned our ways, and God took us on a detour. We then broke up by gender and age. Brent took the older guys, Jeremiah the younger ones, I took the younger girls and Kayla took the older girls. We each did what we felt would be the most meaningful to our group and to worked out good in the end. For Jeramiah and I, we both had a hard time getting the young ones to understand what we were asking of them and it felt disheartening. Kayla connected with her girls very quickly as did Brent. Kayla even got her hair braided African style by the girls which looked spectacular!

Afterwards, we all had lunch and then went out to play kickball and soccer. Now, the girls played kickball which, one would THINK it would be less intense. Oh no, Liberian kickball is pretty intense. I had worn flip flops this day and ended up having to run barefoot through who knows what on the ground. Kayla was the smart one and wore shoes. Then it was like a round robin. Kayla and I can both swear that every time we ran home, we were up to bat again. It’s was like running in circles in the hot Liberian sun. Not to mention that we were using a soccer ball for a kickball. We both womaned up during that game and had a blast bonding with the girls. I had a little girl named Ada glued to my side the entire time and she truly became my joy all day. She loved to dance and smile and had the greatest laugh of any child. Kayla, during the game at least, had all the boys around here including a little boy named James AKA Kevin Queen jr. The boys played an intense game of soccer where the best player on the field was playing in flip flops which astounded every one of us! Jeremiah scored 2 goals during the game which he was very proud of.

We walked back to orphanage from the field and had another time of worship and small groups. This time went much better for all of us. I had my girls memorize a bible verse, Kayla prayed and sang with her girls, Jeremiah had his boys asking him a million good questions and Brent had a good time bonding deeper with his guys. It was so hard to have to say goodbye that afternoon especially for Kayla who would not be coming back.

We got home and started cooking dinner for the folks who had been cooking and serving us all week. It was our way of thanking them for all their hard work. It was also just fun to bond with the team after such an emotional day for most of them.
It was good to hear stories about the other team but it was also very emotional all that they had seen and heard. However, through it all, God is still faithful.

Lindi