Orphan Relief and Rescue

Pictures posted from yesterday and pictures are posted for today. Today my team went to Orphan Relief and Rescue. We made packages and sorted through a ton of clothes. We then went to one of the local orphanages and ended up doing some VBS and a crazy fun craft. The kids Danced for us which was so fun.

Afterwards we walked to the beach for the last time and I talked with Deb who is an RN and works for ORR. She was very encouraging and prayed over me.

Tonight we had dinner and ended up making silly videos and just hanging out.

Yes this is a short blog and I will give more detail in the morning. Right now we are all drained and need rest for our last day! Thank you for your prayers. Our time is ticking down so pray we make the most of it!

Lindi

Diana Davies Day 2

I updated pictures for yesterday for those of you who might be interested. Again, today the team I was on went to Diana Davies Orphanage. The team included Brent, my Dad, Jeremiah, Amy and I. The morning was kind of rough for my physically but I prayed that the day would not be ruined by the pain of it.

The drive to the orphanage was quite the adventure. On the way to and from the orphanage yesterday we were trying to get pictures of the STS water and ice company run by the Children’s Village in Sino County. The money earned there is used to pay the employees and to pay for gas for the generator. So then they supply power to the surrounding houses which also makes money and allows them to not have to pay for the land they live on. It is truly a prime example of what is trying to be achieved here in Liberia.

We were also trying to get pictures of a decked out Miami Dolphins truck. It seemed to be a next to impossible task but, thanks to Victor’s sharp eye we spotted it in time to get a picture of it. It’s the little things in life that matter. We did get stopped at a check point on the way but, luckily, we only needed to show passports instead of the white slips that not everyone had.

We arrived at the orphanage to a warm welcome from all the kids. I got out of the car and was hugged and loved all over. There is nothing like having 10 kids just want to hug you and be close to you. Then 10 more kids waiting behind them wanting to be loved on. I feel like I had so much love to pour out and I was able to pour it all out all day! At first the kids were all looking for Kayla but soon Amy took over and was as if she had always been there.

We did our normal worship which is always a blast with Brent. He has so much energy and has so much fun when he worships. He even got my dad into it which was so fun to watch. The kids LOVED it. Then Jeremiah told the story about Daniel in the Lions’ Den and did a wonderful job. However, Diana wanted the LONG version of the story so Jeremiah had to do it all again in more details. THEN we did a Q&A with Daniel the puppet. Poor Jeremiah’s arm was dying by then end of it but it was very insightful for the kids.

I was able to work with the older girls today and it was great to be able to go deeper and find out more about their hearts and life at the orphanage. The girls there really seem to be like a sisterhood that I was able to be a part of. Amy really came out of her shell with the younger girls which was very exciting. They made lion masks and went around rawring at the different groups which was so adorable and we got a good number of cue pictures out of it. Jeremiah and Brent tagged teamed the younger boys and answered their questions from yesterday. Dad took the older guys and ended up teaching a lesson on the diamond (surprise surprise) that really meant a lot to the guys there along with Diana.

We went out and played soccer and kickball again which was a blast as always. I remembered to wear tennis shoes this time so as not to kill my poor feet. Amy did not have the same luck since she was in flip flops. Afterwards, went back to the orphanage and Amy and I painted the girls’ finger nails which was a blessing and a joy. Jeremiah did another puppet story telling about Jonah and the whale in which Amy and I kept him busy with questions. Finally we got everyone together for a couple last songs and a final farwell. During that time I held Ada and she just rested her head on my shoulder and wrapped her arm around me. In that moment along with a million others, I wanted to just take her home with me. It killed me knowing I might not see her again this side of heaven. Yet, I knew I was leaving her in the hands on the father and at a good home with Diana. They gifted us all with necklaces to help remember them and to thank us. The smiles on those kids faces was enough thanks for me and these kids truly are unforgettable.

On the way home, we got stopped by a cop for some unknown reason. However, another cop came over and told the other cop to let us through because he saw the same Service to Servants on the truck and knew it. Thank you Chuck Clark, Even yesterday this guy ran us down in the market trying to get in contact with Chuck to help ship stuff and we were able to give him the correct website. Chuck is literally all over Liberia!

In the evening James the tailor came by with some of the dresses and purses. Talk about a fiasco. What should have taken 10 mins took about an hour or more. The purses were fine but the dresses were mostly all wrong sizes. So dresses were being traded and tried on and swapped around. Rodney, the point man, was dealing with the financials and was having a BLAST doing so. He was also trying to be the middle man between the girls and James. Watching it was quite a funny experience. It finally got straightened out for the most point thanks to Rodney.

Now we are all up journaling and blogging. Well the girls anyway. Our men, after a hard day, went to bed early. Tomorrow I will be working with the Orphan Relief and Rescue organization alongside of Danielle, Dimitri, Kayla and my Dad. It is going to be an exciting day and I can’t wait to see what God has in store.

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

Saturday and Sunday

Well it is Saturday and we had another fun filled eventful day here in Liberia. It’s hard trying to start blogs anymore because it sounds so repetitive. Currently we are all resting after dinner waiting for Vivian, Christine’s daughter in law, to come over so we can start our evening discussion. Rodney is braiding Amy’s hair and Danielle is taking photos of it all. Dad wants to make sure his wife knows that he loves her. Now, onto our day.

We got a normally early start of 9 and went to the Rafiki Children’s Village and did another VBS. Today it was on creation and we had the children making pictures of each day of creation. We sang songs, did a story, Jeremiah using a puppet and Brent playing God. Twas an interesting combination but the children loved it as always. Afterwards we played kickball and tag with the kids and I was able to talk more to Julie about the organization. Really do love what they are doing there and am very curious to keep tabs on their progress. On a side note, during these days, we only had two vehicles so most of the guys were forced to sit in the back of the truck to be chivalrous. The girls wanted a chance to experience the roller coaster ride. So, on our way home, all the girls dove into the back of the truck which upset the guys. However, we got our way because we are the girls. We all sang the whole way home and had an absolute blast!

Afterwards, we came home, had lunch, and headed out to the STS property. Now I should mention, during these trips today, the next door neighbor named Josephine who is around 14 tagged along with us. She was a very interesting teenage and became Danielle charge unofficially. The trips around consisted of trying to track down and keep tabs on Josephine. Anyway, we headed to the STS property for the bible burying and dedication. Guess who was out there, surprise surprise, MICHAEL! It is still amazing to me. We then all went up to the side of one of the walls they are building to bury it. We all stood around and read a prayer over Liberia and all took shovels full of concrete and placed it over the bible. It was a very good ceremony and very moving.

Afterwards, we headed to the ELWA hospital to visit and pray with and for the patients. I was personally way out of my comfort zone doing this. First Dr. Chapman, a dentist/oral surgeon, showed us around the dental clinic which was most impressive. The facilities were way more advanced than I ever could have imagined. We then headed over to the hospital. The Girls spent their time in the OB, women’s, and pediatric ward. The men, obviously, spent their time in the male ward. The stories that came out of it were amazing. My most touching moments were the opportunity to pray for a Muslim girl who had her legs near paralyzed and I was able to give a woman who had a little boy with Malaria a fan to keep her son cool.

We all came home that night exhausted but feeling like God had blessed and his glory had been given. It was uncomfortable a number of times for a lot of us but it was a great experience. That night, Christine told us her testimony and it was encouraging to us each uniquely. We all went to bed that night totally worn out but feeling good and encouraged.

Sunday Morning, all the girls dressed up in their Liberian lapas, which are essentially pieces of fabric wrapped around the waist as skirts, and the guys in their Sunday best, not 12Stone style, and went to church. We went to Providence Baptist Church which is the oldest church in Liberia. Of course since Rodney chose the church it HAD to be Baptist. As we drove through town, the girls took millions of pictures like they do every day. It’s funny when Victor or someone else has to be like “no you can’t take pictures of that” or “yes you can take pictures of that.” When we pulled up to church there were police there and were not sure why. Suddenly we saw the beginnings of a motorcade and Victor said it was the presidential motorcade. Kayla automatically wanted to take pictures but Victor told her no. lol

The church service was unlike anything I had been to before. It was a large church with gorgeous interior architecture. There was a lot of singing and even a dance that was very moving. Pastor Reeves gave a great sermon about bible paradoxes. After church, we loaded up to go out to lunch. On the way, Kayla waves at some boys selling water and he started chasing the car trying to sell Kayla water.

We ate at the royal hotel which was a spectacular buffet. We all left feeling like we gained 10 pounds. I really had been feeling better today so I got to eat more than usual. We went back to the compound for our lovely day of Sabbath. Dad and Rodney took naps and bantered as always. Annie, Jessie, and I all took naps which, at least for me, was very much needed. The guys, Amy and Kayla went out to one of the local villages to play soccer with the kids. Amy and Kayla also painted the girls nails (and one boy) and taught them how to dance. It was a great time of ministering for them and, we heard later, that Kayla and Amy really were able to come out of their shells which is one of the big purposes here.
We all gathered late for dinner and just sat around talking. James the tailor (not James Taylor) came over to fit the girls for their dresses and pick up the fabric for our purses. It was fun watching Rodney dealing and bartering with James as well as breaking out his mad accounting skills to handle the money. Rodney really has a gift for it so much so I think he could do it as a profession, but that’s just me. James left and we had our normal debrief about the day. Then came the great incident.

Apparently, an arachnid decided to make its home in the girls’ bathroom. Now, the size of this creature will probably change about 10 times by the time it is shared back home, but it was a decent size. So, because Rodney and my Dad believe in playing by chess rules and sending in the pawns first, Jeremiah went in to capture the dangerous creature. Danielle took a video of the incident and I don’t think something like that could have been scripted. Annie, Rodney, Dad and I were sitting in the living area listening to the screaming and laughing while most everyone else was in the girls’ room watching the horror story unfold. Luckily, after many attempts, Jeremiah was able to capture the beast and release him into the wild.

So ended my second week in Liberia. Tomorrow I will be going out to the Diana Davies Orphanage with Brent, Jeremiah, Kayla and my Dad while the rest of the group goes to THINK. It will be a 4 day sprint of VBS for all of us, but we’re all up to the challenge and are excited to see what God does.

Keep praying for heath and protection for everyone on the trip. So far things are going ok and getting better but the next few days will be draining on all of us. We miss you all back at home and pray everything is going well!

Lindi

New Years Day

I have made a number of posts in the same day to catch up. So look at previous posts to keep the days in order :-)

We got to sleep in this morning which was so exciting! This meant that instead of the girls rolling out of bed at 7:45 to get breakfast at 8, we were rolling out of bed at 8:45 to get breakfast at 9. We then spent an hour of quiet time which was much needed for all of us. We then got our supplies ready to go to the STS property and the Rafiki Children's Village.


A couple we had met at the NGO party came by with their daughters who make jewelry so we could buy some. We then headed out the property. When we showed up, guess who? Michael was there! Now those of you who don’t know who Michael is, he is the guy who makes the bullet crosses most of you have. He is a biz type of guy who Rodney has sort of taken under his wing. Michael is incredible in the fact that he knows were we are almost always and we don’t know how. We did get to see Rodney talk about the vision of the property and saw the wall going up which was very encouraging. We'll be helping to build that wall tomorrow possibly.


We then went to the Rafiki Children's Village. This was probably the highlight of my visit so far to Liberia. The village has only 21 children but it is growing and has locations in 10 countries in Africa. It an orphanage for TRUE orphans to help them grow up in a Christian, safe environment, get the best education possible, and grow up to either go to college or get a trade. Ultimately they want the children to grow up to be leaders in their countries. I talked to the curriculum director for a huge part of the time which was awesome. If I had to be a missionary, I would most definitely choose Rafiki to be where I would serve. Don’t get nervous Mom, I have not signed on to anything yet.


The group did one of our VBS days that we had planned for next week with the kids and it was a huge hit! The children are between the ages of 20 months and 7 years old. They only take children in between the ages of 18 months to five years of age. However, once they are in the orphanage, they will stay there until they are 18 years old. It truly is a great organization.


We are going to be getting to go there tomorrow morning as well which is very exciting! We will also be visiting JFK hospital to encourage the patients and people there.



Right now I am sitting in the Kendeja Resort with Rodney, Annie, and Brent sending out blogs and checking e-mail since the internet is down at Christine’s still. Hope all is well stateside! I miss you all and hope everyone had a great New Years!!

So Blessed,

Lindi

PS. My Dad’s ear is so much better now. My stomach is still causing problems to continue to pray for me. I was able to eat tonight for the first time without feeling ill afterwards.

Thursday- New Year Eve

It felt so weird since today did NOT feel like New Years Eve. I guess most holidays here have not felt “normal” by our standards. Then again, nothing here feels normal.

In an effort to celebrate New Year Eve, we went down to waterside market to do some shopping. A tailor came by in the morning to show us some Liberia clothes. The girls wanted dresses and the tailor told them if they got fabric he could make them dresses. So, it was a fabric shopping day for the girls for sure. We got down to the market and stopped at the first fabric shop. The guys had about a 3 second attention span and wanted to go do something else. So they went off and the girls, Dad and Rodney stayed together. We shopped for a couple hours and got fabric for purses and dresses. We also got jewelry and I got hounded by some guy trying to sell me some monkeys. I did get some fabric even though I fought getting it. I gave in so I could get a purse made. When we walked back to the cars, the guys said we were super easy to pick out in the distance, I wonder why.

We got back, sucked down lunch, and headed to an NGO party at the Chapman’s house. The Chapmans are a family who was working on Mercy Ships which is a medical ship that provides medical assistance to West Africa. They settled down in Liberia 2 years ago and work at the hospital in ELWA as a dentist/ oral surgeon. At the party there were a large number of missionaries. We just walked around and talked to them about their lives and their missions in Liberia. Every couple had such an amazing story of being called by God or just always having a heart of missions. There was no sense or regret or doubt. They love what they do and they love the people they are helping which was very encouraging to us. They also kept telling us how encouraged they were to see such young people taking the time to come and do mission in Liberia. We all left there hearing stories that would touch our lives for eternity and some even with a sense of being called to missions someday.

Afterwards we all headed down to the beach and had a BLAST! The beach was beautiful and the water felt great. We took some rather fun photos on some ocks which provided much entertainment. It was fun watching Dad trying to juggle 3 or 4 cameras while standing in the surf while trying to time the picture just right so the wave would hit us. It was a fun painful experience.

We all got home that night covered in sand but feeling good and tired. We had a time of planning and then went off and prayed in pairs over what we want differently from the New Year. We then had the “ball drop” courtesy of Jeremiah and a hacky sack. We had a feast of crackers, trail mix, and verity of other things we could find in our suitcases. We definitely brought the New Year in right. Then all passed out before 1am.

Wednesday

Today began our adventure of working together at a team. We went to Greater Love Church where my Dad and I had been on Monday. Rodney, Dad and Jessie went to ELWA so that Dad and Jessie could get medical attention because of Dad’s ear getting worse and Jessie having some digestive issues.

Part of the team went to a recording studio to record promos for the radio station that sounded spectacular! Annie even came up with a song for them which became a big hit as soon as they got back. Kayla ended up going in the clinic and working with the doctor and learning about what he did and the health care in Liberia. Jeremiah joined her later and got an equal chance to talk with the doctor and work with him. Danielle, Brent and I ended up moving cinder blocks for the men building the security wall around the facilities. We tried to help, but Brent found out that he could not work as fast as they could. Ergo, after we moved the bricks, we spent the time talking with the people around Greater Love and playing with the kids.

By the time the radio group and the doctor group got back, we has eaten sandwiches and were ready to go. Pastor Wesley then informed us that he had made us all lunch. So we all ate lunch again and headed back to the compound. The boys went and played soccer and the girls took naps. That was probably the best nap I have ever had in my life. We all gathered for dinner and debrief and found out the boys had not won their soccer game but has put up a good fight… or so they said. ;-) It was a good first day for the team.