Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!

1. Sorry for the lack of witty title to this post.

2. This will be long

3. I fixed the comment section so any of you can now comment even if you don't have an account! 

Enjoy!

Thursday morning Tim and I went to the orphanage while Shane headed off to Monrovia to get supplies for the roof (this would end up being a 5 day trip for him). After giving the “mom” speech to Shane and saying goodbye to him, Tim and I started out the day with painting some of the orphanage buildings that needed to be finished. I also had the privilege of grading reading exams for some of the school kids. It meant I got to listen to them read me a few pages from their books and grade them on their pronunciation of words, length or pauses, etc. It was a little nerve-wracking at first but it reminded me of how sometimes I think because I don’t have a special skill like a nurse, a construction builder, an electrician, etc., that I have nothing to offer people. But I know how to read and can help others learn to do the same.

When Tim, Charlie (another young man who is visiting the orphanage for a few weeks), and I met up for lunch we found out great news! Not only did Shane not have to go all the way to Monrovia for roofing supplies because he found everything we needed in Ghanta (a 2.5 hour drive from Yekepa), but he also found it cheaper than we expected! This was such an answered prayer because we now have more money to use in other areas, the boys can start the roofing process earlier, and Shane didn’t have to leave for a few days. Once again, I am continually blown away by how the Lord is working!

Tim worked on small projects around the orphanage and school for the rest of the day while I hung out and played games with the kids. You should’ve seen their faces when I pulled out my ipod and portable speakers! You would have thought it was gold to them! The older girls will huddle around on one bunk bed, watching music videos on it over and over again. The younger kids just love to dance to it. It’s hilarious because they imitate every lame dance move I do, thinking it is some kind of popular American dance. Multiple times kids have complemented me on my “good dancing.” I told them my friends in the states would get a kick out of that!

Today I also ate snake! Moses, one of the boys, proudly waltzed up to me holding something long, black, and skinny. With a smile stretching from ear to ear, he held it out to me and said in his Liberian English, “Sis Bekah, snake! Eat, it’s sweet!” After glancing an “is it safe?” look at Charlie and knowing I couldn’t refuse, I broke off a piece and started chewing… It wasn’t too bad. I can’t really explain my feeling of gratefulness even though it wasn’t exactly something I wanted or would eat again if I had a choice. There’s just something special about a person who has next to nothing sharing what they do have. I’m starting to understand a little better how God would rather have the widow’s two pennies than the rich man’s excess. I didn’t need or necessarily want what Moses cheerfully brought to me, but both of us walked away blessed. Oh, and about ten minutes later, this same Moses (who is 13 but the size on an 8-year-old), climbed a 30-foot coconut tree – twice – to get us some fresh coconut… with nothing but his hands and feet. Tim and I stood at the bottom with our hands out ready to catch him, being positive he would fall. All the other kids laughed at us. Apparently it’s an everyday thing for them. I’m still shaking my head at that one!

Here’s a couple other random cool stories from today:

-       The girls have now taken it upon themselves to teach me Mano – the native African language for this area. Boy, do they get a kick out of me saying whatever it is I’m saying in my white, American accent!

-       A little boy caught a lizard, tied a string around it, killed in, and then played with it for an hour before someone roasted it up and ate it.

-       I found out that here, suckers are called, “African stick-and-licks.”

-       Shane took a taxi back from Ghanta and the taxi car literally caught on fire. Then, after waiting for an hour on the rode by himself the car was fixed and they were on their way back to Yekepa. However, he didn’t make it too far before he got stopped at the county line and was interrogated by immigration. He didn’t have his passport (of course). Luckily he made it back to us in one piece, but it’s safe to say he had the most exciting day out of the three of us! If you would like to read the story from his perspective, his blog is here: http://sugarshane2013.blogspot.com/

-       I giant black bug hit me in the eye when I was riding back to our house from the orphanage on the motorbike. This is Africa. I now know why people wear glasses. It’s a lot more painful than I expected.

-       Pa Anthony (Mama Betty’s husband) told Tim that he was so excited about the new roof for the church that he couldn’t sleep at night. The church met last night (the day we announced we would be fixing the roof) for their weekly prayer meeting and Charlie told us that they spent literally half the meeting dancing and singing out of happiness and thankfulness for The Lord’s answer to prayer. That’s pretty cool if you ask me.

-       Shane brought Amos (the president of ABCU) a devotional as a gift and a “thank you” for letting us stay on the campus here and Amos told him that just last week his devotional was stolen so he has been without one… but God brought him another!

-       Along the same lines, I brought Ma Betty a pink wristwatch as a “thank you” as well. When she opened it she literally cried out of thankfulness and kissed me, thanking me over and over again. She told me that she has been without one for so long but it is so hard to find a nice one in the area. She then immediately went outside and called all the kids over, showing them her watch and exclaiming, “look here at my arm! Look at my arm!” Pa Anthony thanked me and said, “you have made my wife a happy woman” with a smile on his face. Now, I had no clue she needed or wanted a watch. My mom and I just picked it for her because we thought it looked nice. I’m so grateful that God chose to use both Shane and I to bless people with these gifts. It’s just proof that God cares about the little things too. Oh, and Ma Betty now calls me her daughter J

Friday the boys masked up and immediately started tearing down the outdoor kitchen hut near the school. This hut was also made of asbestos, but was low enough to the ground that the kids hang on it and play around and under it. So Tim and Shane decided it needed to be the first to go. They also got practice taking off the asbestos and putting on the new roof before they were 30 feet off the ground. My job was to keep both the school and orphan kids busy and away from the area where they could inhale toxins. And what better way to do this than to sing a few rounds of “Ayo-Ayo”!? After literally 30 minutes of singing and dancing with the kids I thought either my lungs were going to pop or I would collapse from exhaustion. I swear they never grow tired of stuff like that. I’m not sure what it is about this white girl making a fool of herself that they find so interesting, but hey, I’m definitely not complaining.

Later in the afternoon, the older girls took me to the market to “do some shopping.” It was about a 5 minute walk from the orphanage, but it felt like I had entered into another world. As bad as I think the orphanage is sometimes, it looked like a palace compared to this little town. The poverty here is so great. We passed a house that looked like someone had just thrown pieces of scrap metal on the top of their house as a roof. Most of it wasn’t even nailed down. Where there wasn’t giant holes, other parts were caving in. My first thought was “surely no one lives there. It’s probably abandoned.” And then I saw a mom and a few young kids come out from inside. What about my privileged American life made me assume that? No one should have to live in a place like that, but they do. It’s rainy season here. Every night so far I have been woken up by the intensity of the rain that beats down on our roof or the wind blowing against the screens. Last night a bat flew into my room. Being the baby that I am, I made Tim get out of bed to come and make sure it was gone. But what am I really complaining about?

In the market I told the girls I had some money and they could buy whatever they wanted between the 6 of them. They started excitedly talking in their Liberian English faster than I could understand. A few moments later, Julie looked at me and said, “Sis Bekah, we would like to buy to make soup!” So we walked around the market (which was a bunch of wooden stands with wooden roofs lined up tightly next to each other) in search of fish, chicken feet, pepper, seasoning, chile, onion, and peanut oil (for us to eat as a treat). All of this, which was enough food for about 15 of us, only cost $2 USD… and I’m pretty sure one the girls kept my change. Crazy how far a little bit of money will go here – yet no one has even that. Once we got back to the orphanage, I watched as the girls sawed the head off the fish and then gutted it. They thought it was funny how wide-eyed I got watching them. I had the privilege of trying the first spoonful of the soup. Honestly, after seeing them tear that fish to pieces and putting it in the soup, I didn’t have much appetite, but I smiled and tasted it. My mouth was literally on fire from the peppers (If you know me at all, you know I can’t handle ANY kind of spicy… I later found out they hadn’t even crushed up the peppers inside of it yet because they knew it would be too hot for me. Ha!). I feel incredible snobby saying this, but God is definitely using the food here to stretch my comfort zone a little more! After I had tried the soup, all the girls dug in and split the remaining amongst themselves. We sat in their little tiny room, all 13 of us piled onto two bunk beds, laughing and talking about America, school, and of course, boys. I start my Bible study with the girls on Monday, but it’s encouraging to know that they are already starting to get comfortable with me. I’m just praying the God continues to open doors and create opportunities for me to connect with them on more than a surface level!

On Saturday the boys spent a good couple hours tearing down the awning in front of the church. The awning was about 6X8 and made of concrete with rebar in the middle of it. It had been there so long that it was sagging and had started to crumble. I don’t even want to think about what would happen to someone, adult or child, if they were standing under that thing when it finally gave out.

While the boys worked on that project, I helped Charlie take pictures, measurements, and shoe sizes of all the kids for the sponsorship program (http://www.liberiachristian.org/Sponsor-a-Child.html). After I took their picture with Charlie’s camera, I gave them an “American” stick-and-lick (aka: a tootsie pop) and took their picture with a Polaroid camera so they could each have a picture of themselves – a luxury many of them do not have. The look on some of their faces was just too much as they ran off laughing and smiling to show all their friends. Who knows how long each of them will keep their picture – as I’m sure some of the pictures are already ruined from the kids carrying them out in the rain – but it was a blessing just to be able to put a bigger smile on their already shining faces.

I read some stories to the kids in the afternoon. The first book I read to them I’m almost sure none of them understood (they have a hard time with my “American English” sometimes… though technically we speak the same language, Liberian English is very heavily accented so there is always a little bit of a language barrier.) So I tested out my Liberian English with the second book. They all laughed and laughed. It’s a good thing I still have a few more weeks to learn it. We finally compromised on the third book when I read in “American English” but asked them questions so they could better understand. Sadly, they wouldn’t join in with my dog sound effects when we read 101 Dalmatians. Pretty sure they now think I’m crazy!

However, probably my favorite moment of the whole day was when Moses danced for me! This little boy is one of the true orphans at the orphanage (many have parents but they send the kids to the orphanage because they are unable or incapable of taking care of the children themselves). He had a sister at the orphanage, but a few years ago she was adopted by a family in America before Liberia stopped allowing international adoptions. I'll try to post a video of it soon so it can bring a smile to your face like it did mine!

This morning we went to church at Redeemer Baptist – the church next to the orphanage and school where we are replacing the roof. I had the privilege of teaching Sunday school to the kids before the service. I was nervous at first, not knowing what to expect since I’ve never been to a Sunday school in Africa, but was calmed down immediately by the sound of 40 small, but very loud voices singing at the top of their lungs. The kids (12 and under) started the singing on their own without being told and kept singing for probably 20 minutes. I was amazed at the heart these children have. They sang because they wanted to. They danced with pure joy. And when it was time for me to teach they listened intently to the story of David and Goliath – though they’ve heard it a thousand times. They laughed at my pathetic attempts to be funny. They answered my questions with sincerity. And they copied my hand motions for Joshua 1:9 over and over again tirelessly and with as much excitement as when we sing “Ayo Ayo.” I don’t know how anyone can’t help but to fall in love with these kids.

The regular service was much like the one we attended in Monrovia last week, but what I loved most was the prayer that Pa Anthony prayed during the service. I’m not sure when the last time I heard a prayer that consisted of nothing but “thank you God for..…” In fact, I don’t think I have ever heard a prayer that was 100% thanksgiving. There is nothing wrong with asking God for needs (as, in fact, we should), but there is something special about hearing every voice in the room shout out “amen” as Pa Anthony thanks the Lord for “the clean water He has given us,” or for “allowing us to see the end of the month.” There is nothing in this single-room building but a few pews, some ribbons hanging from the ceiling, and about 20 hymnals that have seen far too many years, yet it’s walls are bursting with thankfulness and praise. I can’t help but to think of how many decked-out yet completely dead churches across America (as well as many others parts of the world) have lost their focus somewhere along the way. I wish everyone could experience the sincerity and love for our great God that I felt in this little church today.

At the end of church, both Pa Anthony and Ma Betty stood up and pleaded for the members to get involved in helping with the roof by “earnestly pleading” God for good weather during the upcoming days while the boys are working on the roof. Again, it’s rainy season here, which means it can rain a lot, and it can rain often. We’ve been blessed enough for the past few days to only have it sprinkle in the morning, allowing us to both work and play outside during the day. But now that Tim and Shane will start replacing the roof tomorrow, it is more important that ever that it doesn’t rain during the day until they are finished (they will be replacing it piece by piece, so at night, rain can pour down all it wants). Please keep praying with us that the weather doesn’t slow down or affect the boys and their project!

-       Please also be praying for all of us for wisdom. There is a lot of need here so it can sometimes be difficult to decipher where to spend time, money, and energy.

-       Pray that the enemy’s traps do not distract us and we remain open to where it is the Lord is trying to lead.

-       Continue to pray that we are all stretched and that we are in positions where we are desperate for His Spirit.

-       Please pray that we remain listeners, learners, and servants. I do not want any of us to have the mentality that we know the proper way to fix everything (or even the idea that we can fix everything!).

-       Tomorrow, I start my Bible study with the older girls. We will meet every MWF. I’m very excited for this opportunity to build into them and teach them what it is that God has been teaching me lately. Pray for understanding for both me and the girls and for words to speak – that they would not be my own.

-       Also, I haven’t felt great the past couple days so pray that it doesn’t keep me from doing what I need to be doing!

Thank you for all of your continued prayers and encouragement! 

And here's a few of the bazillion pictures I've taken so far!