Urgent Prayer Request

One of our next-door neighbors, a young lady named Christiana, was taken to the local government hospital on Saturday. She had been complaining of a toothache for awhile, and the night before it seemed a little worse than normal, but she was up and out visiting with everyone. But when we went to the clinic to visit with her, she was completely unresponsive, although she would sometimes jerk her arms or legs, and her eyes were open most of the time, but usually rolled back in her head. They ran some tests and she was diagnosed with both typhoid and malaria, but they also did a spinal tap and suspect she may have spinal meningitis as well. On top of everything else, we just found out she is about 5 and a half months pregnant. She had been hiding it because she was worried her family would be angry. The lab results for the spinal tap have not come back yet, but they are starting her on some broad-spectrum antibiotics, hoping something will work. When we went to visit yesterday, she seemed to be doing a little better. She was sleeping, and appeared more peaceful. She also showed some signs of deliberate movements, such as scratching her head or rubbing her eyes, and right before we left she would open her eyes and look at us, though she still isn't speaking. Please keep her and the baby in your prayers. Unfortunately, the "hospital" she is in really can't even be considered a real hospital. There is only one doctor, who is rarely there, and the nurses don't seem to communicate with each other at all when they change shifts. They have virtually no supplies, and so they send the family out to search for everything they need (from IV fluids, to a catheter and bag, and all of the medicines, syringes, and needles). They have had to go around to all the different pharmacies trying to find eveything, which just puts even more strain on the family who is already having a difficult time with this. Even the fluid from the spinal tap had to be taken by one of the family members across town to the lab to be tested.

Please keep Christiana, and her whole family, in your prayers during this difficult time for them. As far as we know, Christiana is not a Christian. We have witnessed to her in the past, but she has always been very much against anything that has to do with God. I am praying that He will use this illness to soften her heart and bring her closer to Him.

Secret Societies (the devils come out)

Ever since I first arrived here, we've been hearing people talking about the "secret societies." No one can tell us exactly what they are, or what they do. Supposedly, they are strictly cultural societies, and not related to any religious practices. Supposedly, nothing bad happens in the societies. Yet, almost anyone we have talked to tells us they would not want to be in any of the societies. There are separate societies for men and women, and each society has it's own area of town that is their "region." Occasionally, for anniversaries or other special days, one or more of the societies will have a parade. We saw one society parading right around our neighborhood several months ago, but we saw another one last week while we were out driving around. Apparantly, every men's society has their own "devil" that comes out whenever they have a parade. Ever since we first saw one, we have wanted to get a picture, so we asked our neighbors if it was allowed, and they said it should be no problem. So when we saw another society parading, I pulled out my camera to get a picture. We got it, but one of the men in the society saw us and became very angry and started yelling at us, so we drove away quickly (the picture on this blog is the "devil" for that society).

Lately, we have been told that for independence day (april 27), all of the societies and devils will come out. When we told our neighbors about our picture experience, we learned even more about the independence day traditions. While they are all out parading, whenever two societies meet, their devils will fight to see which one is better. We are told that every year there are casualties from these fights.

Last night, we had our first experience with a women's society. The group came down from the mountain range in our neighborhood, dancing and chanting. They stopped at one of our neighbor's houses and danced there. Three of the girls were wearing all black, and from what we gathered, they appeared to be the new inductees. After the dancing was finished, they made their way over to a walled compound and disappeared, although we continued to here chanting throughout the night. They were perfoming female circumcision on the new inductees. Although this practice has technically been outlawed, once a girl reaches 18, the police will not to anything to stop it.

Although we are told that nothing religious is happening in these societies, and that they are not practicing any form of devil or spirit worship, it is certainly clear that nothing good is coming out of these societies. And whether they know it or not, the members of the societies are in great spiritual bondage. Please pray for these people, and especially as Independence Day draws near, pray for the entire nation.

Faith Like a Pikin

Last night's children's service was amazing! I love our pikins! (the krio word for "child"). I have been teaching them Bible lessons chronologically, starting with creation, and now tracing God's covenant with Abraham through future generations. Last night we got to Moses and the burning bush, and the kids absolutely loved the story! It was like they had heard it for the first time! They were so attentive, and did a good job of answering my follow up questions after the story. Then I opened it up for questions from them if there was anything they didn't understand, and they had some really great questions! One of them wanted to know why God allowed the Israelites to be enslaved so long in the first place, which opened the door for a little bit of review of previous stories. Another one wanted to know why Moses didn't want to obey God, and how he could have so easily lost his faith. What a question we can learn from! In the eyes of a child, it's so simple....when God asks you to do something, He will protect you and give you everything you need to accomplish it. So why do we so easily forget our faith? It was truly humbling to hear those thoughts coming from our precious children.

In other news, my time here is winding down SO fast! I have only a little over a week left! It amazes me how quickly it really has gone by. I feel like I am just starting to really get into the swing of things and build relationships and now I am leaving, but that's the way it has to be I suppose. Tuesday night with the girls was a blast though! They tried to teach Megan and I how to "plant" (the tiny braids they wear), although we were both terrible at it. And even though this time with the girls is really just a fun, hang out and relationship building time, it always seems to open doors for really good conversations with them, including talking of spiritual matters. And two of the girls, who have never come to our services before, came Sunday morning after our first girls' night! God is truly blessing! Pray that He continues to work in and through me, even in my final week here.

Flogging Judas

It never ceases to amaze me, all of the interesting...and strange...customs and traditions that are celebrated here, even among Christians! While we were out driving last Friday, I saw a teddy bear sitting in a chair on the side of the road. There are always beggars everywhere sitting like that, but it seemed a little funny to find a stuffed animal. We just figured maybe some little girl wanted to giver her doll a chair. The bear also had a plate in his lap, so maybe the child thought he was hungry? Well, after the Easter celebrations had finished (Easter Monday is actually a bigger holiday here than Easter Sunday, although I'm not really sure why), we were out visitng with our neighbors and asking them how they enjoyed their holiday. A few of the older kids got very excited and told us that they "flogged Judas." Apparantly, the custom for the Christians here is that on Good Friday, they make a Judas doll. They dress him up and set him on the side of the road with a plate in his hand, and half a Bible at his feet. I don't really know why half a Bible, or how they even get half a Bible (hopefully they don't rip one!), but that's what they do. They leave him there all day, then they "flog" him, and then dump him in the river! There seems to still be quite a bit of infulence of animism, as well as some Catholocism, mixed in with their Christianity. It is always a struggle to get to the heart of the issues there, but pray that as we continue to disciple the new Christians that they would grow in Christ, and in their knowledge of the Bible.



Easter Sunday went extremely well. The kids absolutely loved the Easter egg hunt! It was so adorable! And Megan, Mrs. Owens, and I, had traditional African outfits made, so everyone thought it was great that we were wearing them. We even attempted to make head wraps :)



We had a team meeting this weekend to discuss ways to revamp our youth outreach. Our attendance has been way down the past couple of weeks, and in general it is just difficult to get the youth to commit to anything, because they have so many other things competing for their time. It is especially difficult getting girls to come, as they seem to have to do everything around the house, from cooking to laundry and taking care of siblings, among other things. And with no electricity or running water in most of the homes, these chores take much longer than you might expect! So Megan and I have decided to have a time just for the girls, building relationships with them, at a time when they are available. We invited the five teenage girls who live in the houses next to us to come over on Tuesday evening, after they had finished eating and all of their chores. In a culture where the role of women is so extremely downplayed, we feel that it's important to have a time where we can really just minister to them and show them how important they really are and help them to see their worth and their value in God's eyes. We had a great time of painting nails, looking at pictures, and talking about boys, relationships, and purity, which actually went very well. Please pray for us as we continue to try to reach out to these girls. There is a little bit of a language barrier, as their English isn't very good, and we obviously haven't mastered Krio yet, but between the two we seem to be able to have fairly good conversations. Please pray that their hearts would be open, and that God would open up opportunities for us to really witness to them, and that He would give us the words to say to reach these precious girls.

I also ask that you would be in prayer for the upcoming Independence Day, which is April 27th. There will be massive celebrations and parades all week and, given the tenuous nature of the relationship between the political parties as it is, there is the potential for rioting. Pray that this truly would just be a time of celebration and nothing more. And please pray for me too as I start to really wrap up my time here. Pray that I would really make the most out of these last three weeks. Pray that I stay focused and not get too distracted by everything that will be going on once I get home, but that I would keep my eyes and my heart open for whatever God has in store for me here. Thanks again!!

Sports days, puppet plays, a village visit...hooray!!

Well, we are just wrapping up what will probably be the busiest week of my time here. It's been exhausting, but SO exciting! Last Friday and Saturday, we spent the whole day down at the local football (soccer) field for two different Sports Days. Sports Day is a MAJOR event for every school here, and is somewhat similar to the track and field days that many American elementary schools have. It is an all day event, and the students from the schools are split into different "houses," (teams with different colors). They have a big parade down from their school to the field to kick the day off, marching and carrying banners for their houses. The teachers and judges have a special covered sitting area, where there are trophies, a sound system with big speakers, and even a D.J., and vendors walk around selling food, drinks, and colored ribbons (so fans can support their favorite house). Some of the games are easily recognizable, such as regular races and relays, musical chairs, and even "tug of peace," which was explained that the name had been changed because they already had enough war in Sierra Leone. Some of the games, however, you would certainly never find in America! Friday was the Sports Day for Kaningo, the school where we had been volunteering, and on Saturday all of our next door neighbors had their sports day, so of course we attended both of those. The announcer even had Megan and I be the judges for one of the events at Kaningo's sports, so that turned out interesting. The house leader for the team which placed last seemed pretty upset with us, and demanded that we explain why her child didn't win, but it turned out all right :)

This week we got creative and worked on different crafts and projects for Easter. In anticipation of our weekend trip to the village, we made 800 wordless books for the children. Our driver suggested that we would probably have anywhere from 300-500 kids, or possibly more, so we wanted to be sure we'd have enough. We actually ended up with only about 200 or so, so we've got plenty of them left for another ministry outing. Then we decided to dye Easter eggs for our Sunday school children. Of course, even though they celebrate Easter here, they've never heard of Easter eggs before, so it's been interesting to see what they think about it. I'm pretty sure they think we're crazy, but at the same time they get a hard-boiled egg to eat, so they are excited about that. We let our teen group hunt for eggs this afternoon, and it went pretty well. We'll see how it goes tomorrow morning with 50 kids! We also have construction paper Easter bunnies, which we made cookies to put inside, so they will get a little extra treat. Meanwhile, we have been practicing our puppet skills, getting ready for our first puppet debut. We actually even got some little African outfits for them, although mine is a dog so he just has a scarf made from some extra material. But they look pretty adorable!

Yesterday, we drove upcountry to Moses' village, which was absolutely amazing!! Of course, I love the village setting anyways, so I knew I would enjoy it, but it was still so great. We had about 200 kids, and we went over the crucifixion and resurrection stories, had a few object lessons (including Bill and Bob, which are always a big hit :), and played some games with them. We even decided to go ahead and do our puppet skit with them as well. Some of the kids seemed a little bit afraid of them, but for the most part they seemed to enjoy it. Later in the evening, we showed the Jesus film in Timne (the local dialect), so everyone loved that. The pastor gave an invitation following the film, and several decisions were made for Christ. I feel like you can never really know in a situation like that how many people truly become Christians, and how many just raise their hands and go along with it because they think you want them to, but I thank God for the opportunity to at least share the gospel and plant the seeds, and pray that the Lord would continue to work on the hearts of the people there. We arrived back home very late last night (well, technically it was very early this morning), but the trip was well worth it.

Tonight we made an Easter bunny cake, just for fun :) Even though we're in Africa, it's nice to still try and keep up with some american traditions. We are all very excited about tomorrow. We have quite a few things planned for our kids, and we are going to try and show a portion of the Passion movie in "big church." Yes, I still call it that :) So please be in prayer for our services and for the people who are coming.

Ah, the adventures!

Whew! We have been SO busy here lately! So I'll try to give a brief recap. Last week, I was able to do a skype interview with my home church for their missions conference. It was such a blessing to be able to hear the voices of friends and family from back home! We revisited Cherith, an orphanage about an hour and a half away, where we were took some time to just sit and play and talk with the kids. Dr. Peper arrived a few weeks ago. He also brought another pastor who will be staying here for six weeks and is doing a Walk Thru the Bible seminar, so we spent some time preparing for that. We had our first session on Monday, where we spent six hours covering the Old Testament (and memorizing 77 different hand signs to go along with it!) About 25 fellow missionaries and national pastors attended the training, and we will have the New Testament seminar next Monday. The biggest upcoming event on our schedule is Easter weekend. Friday, Moses, our driver, will be taking us upcountry to his village where we will show the Jesus film. We plan to have a children's service first, followed by the film, and then a message from Pastor Owens. Please pray for this opportunity to minister in a new area.

My Wednesday night Bible stories with the children has been going great. It's wonderful to see the kids getting so excited about the stories, asking and answering questions. What a blessing! Our adult service on Sunday mornings has also been growing, which has been such an encouragement. During the "Sunday school" hour, we have several who have really started asking questions and wanting to learn more. We also have a group of men who have started a choir, and one who has been leading worship for us. They come twice a week for practice, and have been very faithful.

Unfortunately, it has not all been good things which are happening. Thankfully, the political situation remains mostly stable in our region for the moment. However, there is certainly potential for another outbreak. The people here tend to have extremely fiery personalities, and clashes happen often. Lately, there has been some major conflict between some of our neighbors and our caretaker, who lives in our compound, which has really started to put a strain on our ministry to them. They took thier conflict before the chief, and were told to stay off of each other's property, meaning that the neighbors (along with all of their children, who are really a core group within the church) will no longer be coming to church, since it is inside our compound. We are currently looking to find another place to hold services in hopes of resolving some of the issues, and have been trying to encourage both parties to reconcile. Please pray for peace in this situation, and that we would be able to provide wise counsel without being thrown into the middle of the controversy.

As always, your prayers are very very much appreciated (and needed!) Thank you so much for taking the time to keep updated with the things going on here, and for your continued prayer support.

market ministry and other matters

Well we started our market ministry today! For the first lesson, I think it went very well. Because the outreach is for women, we are doing a study of women in the Bible, starting today with Eve. We had a good handful of women who were actually attentive, as well as many children, so that was encouraging. However, as our Krio has improved, we are able to understand much of what others are saying, and we noticed that our translator was leaving out some important things which were said, but I'm sure we will be able to work around that. Please pray for these precious ladies we are trying to reach out to. As in many African cultures, women here are considered much lower than men and aren't always treated very well. We actually had some national pastors here tell us that God did not create women equal to men, because Adam was the only one God really created, and then Eve just came out of him. They also have some very strange ideas about every woman today being made from the rib of another man, and their job is to find the man whose rib they have and that is who they should marry, but that's another story completely. It is very sad and troubling, though, to hear of all the false teachings (and this is only one of them), which are being taught to the people here. We have been noticing that some men who come for our Sunday services have really started to question these false beliefs, and truly have a desire to learn more about what Scripture teaches, so that has been such a huge blessing. Mr. Owens has been doing discipleship lessons with many of them, and it is our prayer that they would grow in the Lord and be able to share that with other members of the community.

On another note, I would ask you to please be in prayer for safety and stability within the city. Before I explain any further, please know that this situation is most likely quite minor and will amount to nothing, so please do not be worried, just pray that nothing more will come of it. On Sunday, the vice president closed down the radio station for the political party which he is not a member of. That caused quite a bit of quarelling between the two parties. Yesterday, there was a "demonstration" by the offended political party, which was peaceful, but took a strong police force to dispel. Today we received emails from the embassy urging American citizens to stay away from Freetown proper (the busy, "downtown" area), for the next 48 hours. As of now, it appears that nothing will come from the situation, because neither political party has any financial backing, but I would just encourage everyone to pray that it would be resolved peacefully. Thanks again!

are more coming?

I had a very difficult conversation with one of the neighbor boys a few days ago. We had been talking about the school system here, and his classes, and what he hoped to do after he finishes school, and then, seemingly out of nowhere, he said "when you go back to america, you will not remember our people anymore." I, of course, let him know that wasn't true, but he proceeded to tell me how other people "like me" had come and left and were never heard from again. Throughout the country's history, many many missionaries of all different denominations have come and gone, but none seem to have stayed long enough to really train or disciple anyone, which is the reason why it seems everyone's doctrine here today is so off.
Then he asked me a very simple but piercing question: "when you are gone, will others come?" I gave him the only answer I have, that I honestly don't know what will happen when I leave. I hope and I pray that when I am gone, others will come, and that they will stay and really teach these people, but if i am being honest, I really don't know. Perhaps by reading this, you yourself will be inspired to come, or to help send someone else. But only the Lord knows for sure, and it is my prayer that he would place a burden in people's hearts for this nation.

The more time I spend here, the more I realize just how hungry the people are. Hungry for hope. Hungry for peace. Hungry for truth. Hungry for things that only God can provide, and they need someone to show them that. One of the ladies, who typically is unable to come to any swervices we have outside of Sunday morning (and she oftentimes misses that, because she has to sell in the market), told us that she really wants to learn more Bible. Both of her sons recently accepted Christ, and were baptized in our service at the beach, which has really piqued her interest. So, in order to better reach out to her and the other many women who don't normally make it to the church services or Bible studies, we have decided to start a "market ministry." Hopefully starting next week, we will be going down to the market sometime in the afternoon when they have less business, and start a women's Bible study. Please pray for this new ministry, that the women would be interested, and that their hearts would be open to the gospel. Also pray that we will have a good interpreter, as many of the women do not speak much English. As always, your prayers are much needed and deeply appreciated.

"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." ~Matthew 9:38

pictures!

to see more photos, check out my facebook page!

home is where you make it

So, for the past four days or so our internet hasn't really been working, but it has supposedly been fixed now, so hopefully it will stay connected long enough for me to post this :)

I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but somewhere between the thirty minute rides on pothole-filled "roads" to the grocery store 5 miles away, the five different trips we had to make to the immigration office to renew my visa, the "tear gas" incident (i'll explain later), and going to help our neighbors fetch water...from an "illegal" tap into a public water line.....it hit me: i really could live here. as most of you probably know, my heart has always been in the village. my dream was always to live in a mud hut out in a remote village (probably in Sudan). But the more time i spend here, the more God has been showing me that, in reality, I could live anywhere he sends me. Sure, I still have my dream of living in the village, but I am starting to realize that, if God has other plans then, yeah, I could live with that...and even enjoy it! I've been told that, statistically, Sierra Leone (and the capital in particular), is the absolute most difficult place in the world to live. Now, I'm not sure who came up with those statistics, but I can definitely see the difficulties here. And yet, the city life has it's own little charm as well. For one thing, there's really never a dull moment! Even everyday tasks like grocery shopping become an adventure!

Just the other day, Moses, our driver, was taking Megan and I into town to run some errands. It wasn't too terribly hot, so we had the windows rolled down. As we drove out of our neighborhood, we passed a car on the side of the road that i just assumed had been in a small wreck. The car didn't look damaged, but it was smoking, and the people standing around were all coughing terribly. Well, as we drove by, a whiff of whatever was smoking blew in through our windows, our eyes watered up, our throats got tight, and we started coughing uncontrollably. Luckily, we got past it soon, and into some relatively fresh air (as fresh as it gets in such a polluted city). Moses was convinced that a bottle of tear gas had been broken. I'm not so certain, but whatever it was certainly had me coughing for the rest of the day!

But it isn't just our little "adventures" that are making me fall in love with this country. More than anything, it's the people. They are very hard, very closed off, and, to be blunt, they like to lie alot. But underneath all of that calloused exterior, is a heart that is hurting....a soul, shattered by war, poverty, and desolation, that desperately needs hope and love. And sometimes, ever so often, on small occasions, that broken heart starts to show through the tough front they put on. And in moments like that, I can see so clearly why God has brought me here. And the more i think about it, the clearer it becomes that there are people like that everywhere! Especially in Africa, where so many nations are still trying to recover from war, and more are always starting up. But one thing I know for sure. Wherever God may choose to send me in the future, I know it will be because in that place there is a need. One which He has chosen to use me to fill! And what an incredible privilege that is.

upcountry

I apologize for not posting this sooner, but I have been sick lately and have not really had the chance to do so until now. But I am feeling much better today for those of you who may be concerned :) Anyways, this past week we took a trip upcountry into Bo, Sierra Leone's "second city." We went to visit Abdulaman, one of our neighbors, who was at the hospital there awaiting surgery. He broke his leg when hit by a motorcycle taxi back in September, and the doctors here had told him to just let it heal on it's own, but since it never did, he now needs surgery on it, and the hospital in Bo is better than the one here in Freetown, or I think maybe it was cheaper there. Anyways, we went to visit him. Along the way, we got to drive through some villages!!! I was so excited to once again be seeing mud huts all over the place! It was a long drive, on roads that aren't exactly the same quality as those we'd find in America, but it was well worth the trip.

Lately, we have been spending more time with the kids who live around our compound. They like to have us help to go fetch water and sometimes they get us to help in preparing their meals. I'm sure watching the white girls trying to pound rice into flour is probably the highlight of their day! But I think we're getting better at it.

Please be in prayer for Megan, the other girl who is doing an internship here, along with her family. Her grandmother had a heart attack last week, and the doctors weren't expecting her to make it, although it appears that now she is recovering. But it is obviously hard to be on the other side of the globe when something like that happens at home, so I would ask you to pray for that situation. I also ask that you would pray for me to continue to get well, as I am still recovering from sickness. Thanks again for keeping up with everything going on here, and your continued prayers!

the harvest is plentiful!

We had a wonderful blessing at our youth group today! To start things off, one of the boys came early to talk about salvation. he has been in church for awhile, and knew alot of verses, but it seems like none of the churches here ever explain salvation to anyone, or do any kind of discipleship. he was very eager, and ready to accept the Lord. Once we got started, we were a little disappointed because our attendance was down significantly from last week. But it is Valentine's day, and everyone here has a habit of going to the beach on holidays, and so we were thankful for those who were there. There was one older guy (most of the people who come are in their early teens, but he seemed at least 20), who came in late. the whole time i was trying to figure out where i had seen him before because he looked kind of familiar. He stayed through the whole service, even playing the goofy game we had planned. After it was over, he came up to talk to Mr. Owens. It turns out, he had been one of the guys on the beach when we had the baptism! We had explained briefly why we were there at the time, and handed out some tracts, inviting them to come to church at our house. Well, he tracked us down today! He said he had been reading the tract all week, and he wanted to have what it was talking about! Mr. Owens talked with him for a long time, wanting to make sure he really understood it, and he became a Christian! It is amazing the way the Lord is blessing and allowing us to see so many people turn to him, especially in the midst of all the darkness that is here! And lately, we have been seeing a lot of darkness. The other day, we went to a craft market. One of the most prized objects for sale was a strange looking doll, with straw sticking out of its arms and just a blank oval for a face. They told us it was a "traditional welcome devil." why anyone would want a devil as a welcomer is beyond me, but they say it has nothing to do with religion, it's just tradition. but the more we learn, the more i feel like that is half of the problem here. There is such a tradition of animism here that people don't even realize what it is anymore! they just figure because it's tradition, it's ok. well, today we had to drive into town (actually, to pick up my computer, which had to have a new hard drive put in because my old one crashed, which is a whole nother story that i won't bother getting into right now). But on our way there, we passed a huge procession going on in the middle of the road. It was like a parade of men dressed in blue and white chekered clothes, beating sticks on the ground. There were also three of them in costume. One looked exactly like the "welcome devil," one resembled it, but his face was covered in seashells instead of cloth, and the other was wearing another red and white costume that also covered his face. We asked Moses, our driver, what was going on, and he said it was a celebration of one of the societies here. apparantly there are many different "societies" here, but no one can really tell us exactly what they are all about. But there was an article in the paper a few weeks ago about a girl who was mutilated as part of an initiation for one of the societies, and that none of the policemen would go to help her because the society threatened to put a curse on them. So it seems as if there is more to it than what everyone is letting on. Moses told us that they really don't have any purpose, but that it was nothing religious or bad, that it was just tradition, but then he also told us that he wouldn't have anything to do with any of the societies, which makes us think there might be something he isn't saying.

I forget who said it, but a quote we heard all the time in missions classes was, "the darker the night, the brighter the light." and praise the Lord how true that is! Surrounded by darkness and spiritual oppression, God's light is shining into the hearts of the people. Please continue to pray for myself and the other missionaries here. We need it now more than ever. Whenever the Lord's work starts to grow, especially in a place where satan has such a stronghold, you can expect the battle to rage, and we are already starting to see evidence of that. Please pray for the discipleship of the new believers, and for continued growth in the body.

"with all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for wich i am an ambassador.....that in proclaiming it i may speak boldly, as i ought to speak." ~Ephesians 6:18-20~

baptism at the beach

yesterday, we had the incredible privilege of taking four of our neighbors out to the beach to be baptized! i cannot even begin to describe what a blessing it was to see the look of sheer joy on the faces of the men and children who have become a part of the family! I have to admit that there have been days here when things have been extremely rough....even to the point that i have started to question whether i should have ever come....but being out there on the beach, listening to the waves crash against the shore, and witnessing God's incredible grace on the lives of the people here (and mine!), reminds me why i am here, and makes even the hardest of days well worth it. this has definitely been the highlight of my time here thusfar. if you have ever seen the music video for that audio adrenaline song "ocean floor," then maybe you can have a little glimpse of what it was like, although certainly being in africa makes it a bit different. we also had the opportunity to speak a little bit with some inquiring minds who saw the baptism and wanted to know what it was all about, which was also a huge blessing.

well, our internet didn't come on until very late tonight, and we have to be up early tomorrow morning, so i should be getting to sleep soon. i am going to try and post some pictures i have taken in an album on here, so if it works, then feel free to check them out! as always, i am extremely grateful for your prayers, as they are much needed.

*clarification: for those of you who were worrying, the foods i mentioned in my last post are NOT my usual diet here. (don't worry dad, the missionaries keep me well fed with normal, healthy food :) the neighbors just like us to try some of their food on occasion whenever we are out visiting.

home sweet home....well, sort of....

I'm sorry it's taken me awhile to put another update on here. I've found this past week to be incredibly busy! But i guess that's really a good thing. Our activities including our usual ministries, teaching at the school, where I taught a class by myself for the first time, our sunday and wednesday church services, krio lessons, and the saturday teen group, as well as visiting an orphanage, spending an afternoon on the beach and learning about the fishing techniques, visiting a chimpanzee rescue center, which was similar to a zoo, and spending countless hours talking with the neighbors. While i have started to get into the rhythm of things here, i find that every day brings something new. I have now tasted cassava, raw and cooked, cola nut (which they insisted was very sweet, even though it was the most bitter tasting food i've ever eaten!), and some kind of fish ball that i hope was cooked, although i have my doubts. The neighbors are constantly offering us food because they like to see our reactions when we eat it. Their latest offer is a beetle type bug that they claim is the second stage of a maggot, but I'm gonna have to work my way up to that one! but they all seem to love it, so maybe it's not that bad :) I feel like i am really starting to at least break the surface of building a relationship with some of them. For the most part, the people here are very hard and closed off, which makes perfect sense considering everything they went through with the war, so forging true relationships will take a lot of time, maybe even more time than i'll have here, but i pray that the Lord will still be able to use me here, despite that fact. The children, though, are really starting to open up to me, which is such a joy! they love to test me on the few krio phrases that i have down already. I can't go a single day without hearing "wae tin na u naem?" (what is your name), at least 3 or 4 times. Of course, they all know the answer, they just love to hear my reply. Last night we were able to spend a long time outside playing with the kids, and they taught me several of their games, which was so much fun! I wish i had a video camera to record some of them!

Please continue to pray that the hearts of the people would be open, and that they would be able to fully understand the message of the gospel. We did have one of the neighbor boys, Abraham, accept Christ as his savior two days ago, which of course is great news! However, here you always wonder whether they really understand and mean it, or if they are just saying whatever they think you want to hear, but only God sees their hearts and knows for sure, so I will leave it in His hands. Our church attendance this week was exceptionally low, but those who were there seemed very involved in the lesson, even asking questions about the Bible study, which was very encouraging, because it shows that they are understanding it. Also, please pray for myself as well as the other missionaries here, as some days can be very tough. Pray that even on tough days we would remember that the Lord has brought us here for a reason, and take encouragement from that fact. I am continually grateful for all of your support, and i will try to write updates more often from now on.

A week in the life of....

Well, I am starting to get into a sort of routine now, which is nice. I’m sure many of you would like to know what a typical day here looks like. However, there really is no such thing as a typical day here! While we have some set things that happen regularly, inevitably something unexpected comes up nearly every day, but I thank the Lord for it! But I will try to give a brief overview of what a week here looks like, and go over everything that has happened this past week. Last Saturday, the 24th, we had our very first teen outreach program. We were slightly disappointed, as we had only 4 teenagers show up, we had a good time with them and were able to have a short devotional time. Sunday, of course, was church. The Owens have a church plant that they have started here in their compound. We have the children’s service first, which includes a Bible story, some time of board game with questions over the story, snack time, an object lesson, and a big group game. Last Sunday, I was in charge of the object lesson, and was able to use Brandon’s “Bill and Bob.” If you are unfamiliar with them, you can learn more at http://brandonwaggoner.com/aboutbillbob.htm. The kids were all fascinated! After the children’s service, we have the adult service, which includes a Bible study, similar to an adult Sunday school class, singing, and then a time of preaching. The attendance at this service tends to fluctuate, although last week we had a fairly good turnout, and this week was even larger. On Monday mornings, we volunteer teaching math with the younger kids at Malama Kaningo Primary School. Then in the afternoons we have our Krio lessons. Tuesday is usually a sort of free day for us, which is nice to have a day of rest :) Usually, it is a good day to do any grocery shopping we may need, or catch up on laundry, and we normally spend a lot of the day outside visiting with the neighbors, practicing our Krio, and trying to build relationships. This Tuesday, we also had a meeting at the Embassy for American citizens. On Wednesday, we went downtown to the immigration office to try and get my visa extended. For some reason, at the airport, they only stamped me in for one month instead of four like I needed. However, once we got there they told us they can’t extend it until my current one expires. This doesn’t make much sense to us, seeing as it’s illegal to be in the country once it expires, but they said we could try coming in the day before it does. So definitely be praying that I can get that taken care of without any problems. Wednesday evening we had our children’s service, where I continued my Bible storying with the story of the Fall. While most of the kids had heard the story before, they had some very strange views on it, but I think we got most of it straightened out at least :) The post-story dialogue questions definitely help me to gauge how much they understand. On Thursday, Megan and I walked to school with our neighbor, Jacob, so that we could invite his fellow students to come to the teen program on Saturday. It was a 45 minute trek, through very dusty roads, but the trip was well worth it. We met many students who were interested in the program, and had some good conversations with them. As an added bonus, his school is located right on the beach! So Megan and I were able to spend a little time there. It was absolutely gorgeous, and almost completely empty! It was by far the most amazing beach I’ve ever seen, although I suppose Galveston (which is the only beach I’ve ever seen) isn’t really that tough to beat. On Fridays, we go to the afternoon session at the Kaningo Primary School, to work with the older kids on English, and on Saturday, we had our second meeting for the teen program. This week we had 11 teens show up, which is nearly triple what we had the first week, so that was very encouraging! We were able to have some good discussions and get to know them, as well as find out what topics they would be most interested in studying. We had our devotional time, prayer, an object lesson, and a game. Many of the teens also came back for church this morning, and have told us they are inviting their friends to come next Saturday. It is wonderful to see the way that God is already blessing this new ministry! Pray that He would continue to work and grow our different outreach programs, and that He would use us to really make a difference in the lives of these people. Also, please continue to pray for our relationships with the neighbors and other members of the community. Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, my mosquito bites are getting much better :) Thanks again for all of your prayers!

“Let me plant you!”

While visiting out with the neighbors a few days ago, Mariama, one of the girls I have been getting to know, insisted that I let her “plant” me, which is what they call the tiny braids they all wear in their hair. While I knew that the braids would never stick in my hair, I conceded to let her attempt anyways, wanting to show my eagerness to adapt to their culture. I sat with my head titled, attempting conversation with my broken Krio, as she fought with my “slippery” hair. Although Mariama actually knows a good deal of English, she likes to pretend that she doesn’t, and refuses to speak to us in anything but Krio, which is actually nice because it helps me to pick it up more quickly. They tell me I am learning fast, which is encouraging. “I love your style!” she keeps repeating, as the rest of the neighbors chuckle at the sight. I sat in wonder as the irony of the whole situation struck me. As I felt Mariama earnestly fighting to plant my hair, with much more success than I expected, I wondered what might happen if I tried with just as much eagerness to help “plant” these people in the truths of God’s word. That is, after all, my whole purpose for being here....

I had my first big opportunity for this that same night, as we had our children’s service. I began a series of Chronological Bible Storying, starting with the Creation story, with the plan to continue chronologically through the Bible, trying to lay strong biblical foundations. While I believe this method of evangelism is very effective in almost any setting, I have found it to be extremely necessary here. Before the story, I asked the children questions to try and discover what they know and believe already. While they are quick to spout off a simple answer that God made the world, further prying reveals that they really have no idea who God really is, or why He created the world. Witnessing in this country, at least here in the city, is difficult, because everyone here is either a Christian or a Muslim, because they are legally required to declare one of those two religions in order to be allowed to vote. The nation likes to boast that the two religions coincide peacefully here, but I think it’s only because virtually no one fully understands or follows either religion. Everyone’s doctrine seems so jumbled, and while they “know” some Bible facts, they don’t seem to really understand them. Please pray that the hearts of the people will be open and willing, and that God would lead and direct myself and the other missionaries with the right words to express His love in a way that they can understand. I also ask for prayer that I would continue to learn the language quickly to better be able to communicate. Also, on a different not, I am currently covered head to toe in mosquito bites. While this is a common occurrence for me, even in Texas, the neighbors here seem to think that mine are exceptionally bad. They say the mosquitoes are “initiating” me into Sierra Leone, but they seem worried that I may get malaria. While I am on preventative medication, it is not impossible to still contract the disease, so please pray also that I would stay healthy. Also, we have a new teen outreach that we are starting this afternoon, so I covet your prayers for that ministry as well. Thanks again for your care and prayers!

well toto, we’re not in the village anymore!

My fondest memories of Africa include sleeping in a dung hut, waking up to a rooster crowing, and crawling out of my mosquito netting to see the beautiful African sunrise across the bright, clear sky........Boy, was I in for a surprise here in the bustling seaport city of Freetown!

I have so much to explain about my first few days here, yet so little time to do it, so I’ll try to hit the highlights. I arrived into Freetown late last Tuesday night. Thankfully, I did not suffer from much jetlag, and so was ready to go Wednesday morning. I was taken to meet the neighbors. Right next to our compound are two tiny tin shacks, which are home to close to 20 people. Afterwards, we went for a walk around our area of town, and down to the nearest market. Although we technically live in Freetown, we are more on the outskirts so it is less busy, but I can definitely tell I’m in a big city.

The next few days were pretty similar, taking walks around town to get acquainted with things, attempting to learn as much as possible about the culture, building relationships with the neighbors, and preparing for Sunday’s church service, which is held in the front of our compound. It went well, although since it is outside we have a big tarp covering for protection from the sun, and it was so windy that it nearly blew off, causing an almost constant distraction, especially for the children’s service, but we made it through.

Today I had my first adventure into “Freetown proper,” or the main, downtown area of the city. It was crazy! I think our driver almost killed us on at least three occasions. There really aren’t any road rules at all, but hey....this is Africa! After we got back home (safely, thankfully), we had our first language lesson. Although there are several languages spoken here in Freetown, the most common and widely used is Krio, a creole language that blends broken English with over 20 different African languages, although the English is predominant. It’s strange because once you start to understand it, it’s really just a slang, jumbled up English with improper grammar (according to our standards). In some ways it should be easy to learn, since many words are the same or at least similar to ours, but at the same time it is very difficult to get pronunciation right and to teach yourself to speak with a grammar that you’ve always been taught was incorrect. But it definitely means a lot to the people here that we are willing to learn, so I’m trying my hardest to get it down.

Anyways, I’m sure by now you’re tired of reading, so I’ll try and wrap things up. On Wednesday we have a children’s service where I will be starting Chronological Bible Storying, so pray that God can use me through that and that the children will be able to understand. Thanks again for your continued prayer and support.