Well, due to the internet problems continuing, Annie Rodney and I are at a hotel using their wi-fi to update our blogs. So along with looking at www.weliberia.blogspot.com, you can also look up www.servicetoservants.com to read Rodney’s blog. Between the three of us, I am sure we are going to be getting a good overview of everything that happens on this trip.
Tuesday was the first full day of our team all being together and you could tell that unity was a true cornerstone for our group. We had a delightful breakfast and spent most of the day hanging out. Most of the group walked down to a village and played soccer and hung out with the people there. The boys were especially a big hit bringing soccer balls. Later on in the week they would end up playing a pretty good match with the guys down at the village. Rodney and I stayed back at the compound typing and blogging. I personally only stayed because I was not feeling well and blogging seemed to be a good way to get my mind off the pain that seemed to my lasting companion throughout the trip. They came back and we all had lunch together. Afterwards, the vehicles showed up to take us to Marshall.
Now, none of us knew where Marshall was or what the significance of it. When I asked Victor he said it was a beach which we all thought was pretty cool. When we got off the main road and jumped onto a dirt road, I quickly realized that we were kinda going out into the bush a little bit. A little bit would be the understatement of the century. 17 miles, an hour and fifteen minutes, and a zillion pumps and potholes later, we made it to this little village right on the coast. Of course, when you have been bounced around the way we had for as long as we had, and having your internal organs all jumbled up, most of the girls had to use the restroom. I’ll just leave it at this. We felt like queens of the world after completing that feat. Meanwhile Jeremiah was taking pictures of all the kids and it was the sweetest and funniest thing. 20 kids would run up against this wall, pose in funny positions, and then maul him over to look at the picture. Then they would do the same thing all over again. We finally had to leave and head to the actual beach where the rest of the team was. I was a nice hike through the village and included walking across some old metal beams being used as a bridge that nearly gave me a heart attack.
We go to the beach and it was like something out of postcard it was so beautiful. The beach was nearly with the exception of a few kids and some old boats. We came over the hill and it was looking at the glory of God just spread out before me. It was breath taking. We went down and just enjoyed the water. Many of us played with the kids which they LOVED and talked with some of the other folks down there. Dad then told us the significance of Marshall.
After the civil war in the United States and even near the end, the American Government built ships to send the African slaves who wanted to go back to Africa back to Africa. They were called the freedom ships. A good number of the ships landed on the beach that we were standing on and Marshall became one of the first settlements for the freed slaves. Standing on the beach and just taking in that history was overwhelming to me. It was one of those things that you really don’t learn about when they teach you about the Civil War in school.
We stayed there for awhile enjoying ourselves and ministering to the people there on the beach until almost sunset then we walked back to the vehicles. Another thing about Liberia is that a lot of their way of life, especially in villages like the one we were near, is so dependent on the sun and it determines so much of what they do. When it gets dark, they go to bed. When it gets light, they wake up. It’s a dependence on God in a way we don’t truly understand. In some way they depend on him for EVERYTHING. From the fish they catch, the food they grow, the sun to rise and fall. None of those are things they can control.
We drove home that evening, back over the super bouncy road. It seemed that a lot of the group was very overwhelmed by everything they had seen and yet there was still a peace. That night, the girls spent a lot of time talking and bonding together. By Thursday night, the girls were probably closer than we ever could have imagined in the 6 months of meeting once a month leading up to the trip.
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