Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Hello all. This is Collin here. Yet again. Aren't you happy?

So, today has been a pretty chillax kind of a day. Well, compared to everything else that has been happening over here. So lets get this ball rolling!

First thing first. We woke up. That is key to starting your day. Then we ate breakfast which usually consists of this oatmeal stuff and some type of really delicious fruit or casava which is a root that we eat quite frequently over here. It is similar to a potato. The first time I tried it, i just ate it bland and did not like it. I was then informed ever so politely by Joseph that you have to put stuff on it like a potato to make it be good. Now I love the stuff. GOOOO Casava!

We then split up in two groups. First team panther, and secondly team jaguar. Actually we have no team names and I just made that up but... we went to two different churches. The group that I went with went to Sinkor Evangelical Church in Sinkor. It was pretty different. Different in a completely awesome new way! Let me explain folks. Listen real real close.

Lets just start with saying that the worship was awesome. The worship leader just stood up and sang. Then there was a dude with a Djembe and then some lady folk with shakers. That was the band. You could definitely tell that the people were fully alive though.

I did not know what was being sung though, because mine and Matt's row did not have a hymnal. So I was just standing there listening. Listening to the people clapping whenever they pleased (supposedly at worship in Liberia people clap, but not in unison. It was pretty confusing), listening to the Djembe, and the people singing. Then God made it very clear to me just this one thought.

"I am bigger than America."

Now this is something that I have "known" ever since I have been a christian. I really can't describe what I felt though. Something just clicked inside of me. Just this feeling that God moves just as much if not more over here and over in India and over in Australia and over in Canada, and ALL over the world. There was something about worshipping in another country that was amazing. I can not describe it. God was there and He showed up in ways that I have not experienced before. All I can say is that God was there. He showed up, and it was awesome. I wish you guys could have been here, I wish you guys could have been a part of the worship. I highly highly highly highly encourage travelling outside the country to experience God in a completely different way.

For those of you who do not know, God is on the move over here in Africa. Like never before. Prepare yourselves for some amazing stories.

At the end of the service we were able to give the generator that the Von Kohns had bought to Robert, the pastor at Sinkor Evangelical Church. Mr. Bearchell talked about the whole story of how the Von Kohns got the generator and donated it, and the people were amazed. I won't go too much into details here because this is already getting long and I have more stuff to say! But the generator is there and will be used. Thank you Lon and Janet for what you guys have done. It does not go un noticed here in Liberia and I feel I speak for Pastor Robert when I say, "Thank you."

After church we got back into the cars and headed to this "botanical garden" thingymajig place. I did not know what to expect, but I was blown away by how beautiful this place was. The only way to describe what we walked through was Jungle. I loved it. If you know me at all, you know I was in my zone! I didnt want to leave, but we had to. We ate there, smoked turkey legs, spicey rice, and potato salad.

After the "botanical Gardens" thingymajig we went to Mrs. Reeves place who is a friend of the Normans, and we had a very elegant desert and had an amazing time of fellowship. It was a really nice place. Really nice.

Tomorrow we head to Blue Lake, a fun place that has cliffs that we can hopefully jump off of. Dont worry mom, I won't be careful. ;) (you wont get it if your not my mom)

Anyways, I know this is long, but i hope you got a feel for what we did today, maybe had a laugh or two. I did, but i laugh at my own jokes... I love you all, and thank you so much for your prayers and all that you have done for us. Continue to pray for us.

HERE'S JOSE!

So, unlike Collin, I will do my best in keeping this entry short. I want to convey the central theme that God has been planting in my mind. When we first arrived here, I did not feel an immediate repulsion towards the "3rd world country" setting in which this mission trip unfolded. As days passed and we spent more time outside the compound in which we were staying, I started to feel as if I was in a totally distant planet that converted me into an alien. The streets of Monrovia are overcrowded with people desperate to make a living by selling their products through all their possible efforts while filth lies everywhere in the market. The mission trip team agrees with how Liberia has the potential for prosperity and, God forbid, destruction. The old buildings and railings on main bridges still bear the scars of gun fighting such as bullet holes which took place during the war. On the other hand, many foreign and domestic businesses have opened up, showing that this nation has potential for economic redemption. Just like when a person has an open wound and then a scab forms to make the healing possible, so it is with Liberia. The scab and scars of war remain visible with full potential for complete restoration, but if the process is disturbed, the restoration might be delayed and could worsen. While experiencing this from the environment that surrounded me, I found myself without a family in a distant land whenever I found myself in solitude in the pursuit of knowing God in an unfamiliar land, where foreigners are looked upon as an opportunity to gain wealth and it seems as if the only way to make authentic relationships outside of God is by becoming a provider of money. During these feelings of abandonment, somehow God revealed to me that I had a family all along. It was only when I would come in contact with Liberian followers of Jesus that these feelings of abandonment dissipated to pave the way towards a sense of belonging. I felt like I was a part of their family, or as I discovered: God's family, the body of Christ. I now know this from experiencing that in Christ, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, American or Liberian, race, socio-economic status ect. We are all ONE BODY, ONE FAITH, joined together for the glory of God. God is not contained in the U.S., He is over here too. His people are here, and the team and I found an extended family: The Body of Christ.

Brent and Dixon

So the bush boys came back today in time for dinner. As it turns out their trip was really successful. Tomorrow morning we go to church. We're splitting the group in half, and we're going to two of the churches where we've put generators.

Brent's Experience of Liberia:

"My experience in Liberia has not been what I expected. God has taught me so much through the people, and their willingness to serve, and their ability to love you as if I had been here my whole life. I've really enjoyed getting to know and build relationships with the people we're around on a daily basis. For example, getting to know our drivers and Dixon, who is the houseboy at the Norman's compound. Dixon has been teaching me "Kissi", which is one of sixteen dialects in Liberia. It's neat to see how God works through relationships that God gives us the opportunity to have.

My prayer is that I will take advantage of each relational opportunity that he gives me, so that I may serve and love others more."

Dixon:

"Brent has been a very good friend to me, and he has surprised me by wishing to learn about people and their culture. I enjoy Brent's pronunciation when I'm teaching him one of the most important dialects in our country, which is Kissi.

My first dream for Liberia is for all the people to accept the Lord as their personal Lord and Savior. The second thing is, to eliminate the illiteracy by providing free education to every child of this soil, and to provide job opportunities for "war affected" youth, and disabled people. It is my dream to become a counselor for war affected youth. Please pray that God will give me favor in this dream, and that God would provide the way. I want to see Liberia build schools, hospitals, better roads, and rebuild our economic systems."

Prayer Request

• A few of us are feeling "under-the-weather". We have some "digestive" problems. Please pray that God would bring healing and balance to our bodies soon.
• We have church tomorrow. Please pray for the two churches we are going to, that we would leave them encouraged and strengthened by the Holy Spirit.

Strike a Pose

My Small Group Today "Striking a Pose"

Because they are protected children, we couldn't take pictures of their faces.

We called the boys in the bush tonight to check up on them. It turns out that they have already finished the generator house (all but the roof), and they already layed the wiring and started the generator. That is incredible. They had a lot of help from people there, and they are right on time, so we'll be seeing them again tomorrow night.

Good News! Brent's bag came today!! <--- the faithfulness of God, right there.

All we are really missing now is a tool bag, but God has been faithful to provide all the tools we need so far. :)

Belynn, Miles and I went to THINK again today, the transistion and counseling home for physically and sexually abused children. The moment we walked in the door we were all attacked(!) with hugs. Belynn and I had already been there on Wednesday, and it was so good to see them again. This time we were a little bit more prepared since on Wednesday we had no idea what to expect. Today we sang songs , played games, read them "The Good Samaritan", and split the kids up into small groups to ask them questions about the story. Belynn took the younger kids, and I took the older kids while Miles took a tour of the place with Theresa, the supervisor. Belynn and I were both excited to talk to each other about our small group time. I think God really ended up using that time to touch their hearts.We both had the oppurtunity to look each kid in the face to tell them that God loves them, they are clean and spotless in his sight because of Jesus, and that we believe that they can overcome and be great through humility in their lives. It really was a beautiful thing. I am so amazed by God.

PRAYER REQUEST FOR TONIGHT: This was not in our plans, but THINK does not have electricity or a working generator, and we have access to one that we could give them. We are tempted to just run over there and give it to them, but we're trying not to make the decision in our own emotion, and it's not such a simple decision. Please pray that God would reveal his will to us. It's his generator, and we want to do what he wants.

The crew at Diana Davies (Emily, Dave and Jose) have everything complete in their generator shed except the roof and the wiring. They're hoping to be done with that early tomorrow.

Emly's Thoughts on Liberia so far:

"Liberia has been what I expected and not what I expected all at the same time. Being around fellow believers here makes me feel at home, but I also feel so much darkness here. I knew this to be true before coming, but I know it even more so now--the future of Liberia is dependent on the condition of its citizen's hearts. It overwhelms me each time I speak to someone and hear what their experience was in the war. Today, on the way to Diana Davies Orphanage, we crossed a bridge and the driver pointed out the bullet holes that pierced the metal of the bridge;there were hundreds. But the past 3 days at Diana Davies has shown me what it looks like to start over. I have never had the desire to say 'God Bless You' to anyone more than she. She is raising these 35 kids as her own, providing them with a wonderful education including the arts, and they are all so well-mannered. It is impossible not to fall in love with them. I am ready to see what the second half of this trip brings...I believe there is much stretching, growth and heartbreak to come."

Specific Prayer Requests

• Pray that the Bush Boys (Rodney, Matt, Brent, Collin and Yanni) would finshed their task, minister with Holy Spirit love and power to the people around them, and make it back safe tomorrow.
• Pray for us girls and Miles as we go to "Orphan Relief and Rescue" in Monrovia. We haven't been their yet, but Belynn and Emily have been in touch with the missionaries there for the last 6 monthes. Pray that we would be able to deeply encourage and strengthen the missionaries who work there long term, and that the kids would tangibly experience the love of God as their Father. "I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you." John 14:18

Off to the Bush!

Diana Davies with Danielle, Emily, Belynn and Stacey

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! We celebrated last night with candy, a countdown and we passed around a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling grape juice! Whoo hoo! 2009! It may have been one of my most memorable New Years Eve moments.

This morning Matt, Brent, Collin, Yanni and Rodney went to "The Bush" to build a generator shed for a Catholic Seminary. They'll be roughing it for a few days in the middle of nowhere 5 hours away from Monrovia. They are really excited about their trip. We expect to see them back here on Saturday night, but they have a lot to do in the mean time. They made it there safe today, and they'll start their work tomorrow morning.

The rest of us went to the Diana Davies orphanage. Jose, Dave and Miles teamed up with older boys to work on the generator shed and dig a trench to the building, and took breaks to play with the kids. The rest of us girls played kickball, soccer, and coloring with the kids, and since part of the team was there yesterday, they were a lot more open to us today. Stacey was given the opportunity to talk to the older girls about all sorts of bible verses like "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." and "The Lord is my husband, the LORD Almighty is his name." I admire Stacey so much because she speaks to these girls out of the overflow of her heart, and she was really able to connect with them.

Dave, Jose, Emily and Stacey will go back from their last day at Diana Davies Orphanage tomorrow. Please pray that the Lord would make a way for his spirit to connect personally to each kid. Pray that God would reveal himself to them as a loving and protective Father. God please be near to the orphans! Save their souls! Save their futures God! I pray that with your spirit in them that THEY would be hope and change for Liberia!

Also tomorrow Belynn and I, now accompanied by Miles, will be going back to THINK, The transition home for abused children. Please pray that the Lord would heal their broken hearts. As you pray allow the Father to fill your heart with the righteous anger, sadness, love and hope for these children. All of them are in there because they have been psychically or sexually abused. We only get one more day with these kids, and we are planning on doing a bible story on their worth and healing. Please pray that the Holy Spirit moves in their hearts and restores them!

[Good News/Bad News]: Matt's bags came in!!... Brent's did not. :( He's still just as happy as ever though, it's not holding him back one bit. Please continue praying that his bags will be recovered soon. It would be such a blessing.

Tete and Miles

Thoughts from Belynn, Yanni, Stacey and Collin

Thoughts from Belynn:

"I was so excited about today. Danielle and I got the opportunity to visit a place called THINK (Touching Humanity In Need of Kindness). This is a place where they temporarily house children who have mostly been sexually abused. At the beginning Danielle and I got the chance to spend time with the case managers. I enjoyed this becuase I have had the opportunity during my intenship back at home to work with social workers. It was interesting to see the similairites and differences between the states and Liberia. The children were absolutely beautiful. They enjoyed every minute we were there! We only had a little time with them today. So I am looking forward to a full day with them on Friday."

Thoughts from Yanni:

Today, we went to the Greater Love compound, our initial objective was to complete a generator project that would give electricity to the whole facility. We were missing a couple of parts so we did not finish the generator today. I was actually pleasantly surprized a couple of hours later we looked back at all the meaningfull, relevant, and practival conversations we had. I had a great talk with a guy named Pao. Pao is called to be a pastor in Liberia, but he has tons of fears and doubts because of how hard life is here. I told him not to give up and when God calls with one hand he gives with another. I loved our conversation, I was blessed to have talked to him. When we returned home Collin and I went for a walk around the village close by, and all the kids followed us as they showed us their homes/shacks. Playing soccer, basketball, hopscotch, handing out candy, and giving out a bible were all involved. We are falling in love more and more with this country and cannot wait for the next 7 days ahead.

Thoughts from Stacey:

Today, Dave, Miles, Jose, Emily, and I went to the Diana Davis Center. The center is a combination of a clinic and orphanage. It was truly amazing to see how welcomed we were by a speechless Diana Davis, who ran the place and gave all the glory to God every second. There are 35 kids at this orphanage, all of them lost their parents in the war. The guys worked on the generator house. Emily worked in the clinic for the first part of the day, and I played with all the kids. It was really neat to see some of the Liberian guys at the orphanage pick up on how to build a generator house being led by one of our drivers (he just jumped right to work!). Emily was able to help with one of the patients and watched how they performed each process. I was able to play with the kids, talk about favorite Bible verses, paint pictures, and paint the girls' nails. The kids smiles are contagious. The big, most interesting highlight of today was that our driver got arrested with the car on the way back to the compound. We had to get out and walk all the way back to the place. This was definitely interesting but it was all God! God is everywhere and in every detail. All praise is His!!!

Thoughts from Collin:

AHA! The conclusion paragraph is mine! So for the next four-five lines, you are all mine. Tomorrow, Yanni, myself, Brent, Matt, and Rodney all head out to the bush. Where monkeys, jaguars, and other insane animals roam. Like Crazy. We will be bringing out peanut butter and bread, in addition to that we will also have some more peanut butter and bread... We will be building a generator house and fixing up a generator and then sending the wire out to the school. So, i did say that I had like five-four lines but... yea. So for three days us five will be in the bush. Pray for us. We will be cut off from civilization entirely. zing! Alright! Hope all is well with everybody back home and I miss you guys and Julisa. :) PEACE! Happy New Year!!!!

REAP Generator

The Generator Shed and Water Tower at REAP

Working on the Generator

We started off today going straight to the REAP Camp. The generator shed was already built, so they just had to figure out how to connect the wiring and get it running. The guys stayed at the generator site, and they got it running. Now all they have to do is dig a 100 foot trench on Friday to connect the electricity to the building.

While the guys did that, us girls went with Christine to help her with the kids and helping her get ready for a big meeting. We all got to see the Vice President today along with many other distinguished people. It was an honor to be with them.

Quotes from Yanni, Collin and Belynn

Yanni- "We played soccer with 15 kids in the rainforest today... we lost, and we wouldn't have had it any other way."

Collin: "How many lion teeth do you want? ZIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGG!"

Belynn: "I connected with a girl today who lost her father in the war, and she and her siblings are being raised by their mother who is single and tryng to support her children to go to school. The young girl is 12 years old and loves school. Her mom said she wish that she could afford to pay for her kids to go to school. The entire time we were there she followed me everywhere. My heart grew for her. I just wish I had more time with her..sigh."

We saw a cockroach, and Yanni was scaring Belynn at the same time.

Our full first day in Liberia

Us at the Beach

Walkin Around

You'd be happy to know that most of us slept well last night, and we woke up this morning to eat breakfast with the Norman's at about 9am. It's been a good day. First, we went to visit the Greater Love church, the same church that had the tragic fire. Sadly the fifth man's funeral was last week. Pastor Wesley was so kind to us and showed us around everything they had there. he showed us their church, clinic, school, and the burned radio station. We will be going back there to install a generator for them in a couple days.

After that, we drove around downtown Monrovia. I personally have never seen such a bustling chaotic citiy before. The people have been exceptionally kind to us, and we're looking forward to jumping into ministry tomorrow.

We also got to go swim at the beach today. It was good to have some more time to unwind and have some fun before we start the real work tomorrow.

Good News!!! Biamba and Joseph made it here after a detour to Ghana, and my bag came today!( which I am currently rejoicing over) However, you can keep praying because Brent and Matt did not receive their lost bags yet... which is a bummer.

Dave and Emily are sitting with me out on the porch.

Dave is sad that the Jets lost, and he loves Karen.

Emily, is taking in this culture around her and it feels surreal.

Everyone else has gone off to bed.



We send our love!

The Rocks at the Beach