A Change in Pace..

Hey! im sorry its been a few days since ive updated. the internet here has been way too slow to do anything on. this past week was sort of a prep week for the new team members that arrived this evening. This is where my change of pace will take place. for the past 5 weeks i have been living with one other girl. we have a 3 bedroom apartment. now, an older couple (like my grandparents age) have moved in with us. with it just being me and Christine, we had the freedom to stay up as late as we want, eat when we want, sleep when we want. but, the fun is over...time to crack down and do work. even though my job doesn't start till the last week im here, i guess ill have to do some work that they make up for me. hope ill still get to hang with the locals! my krio has gotten pretty good over the past weeks. i can't believe i have 4 weeks left! its crazy!! although the month of june felt like a year, i learned so much! i hope to learn a whole lot more in the month ahead. well, i do have one specific prayer request...pray that the days that go by, will be fast, but that they will be full of lessons and experiences. i'm having a hard time counting down the days...and by that i mean, focusing on when im coming home and not too much on what im doing now. so please pray that the time will fly by but that i will be focused on what the Lord is doing here and now. thanks!!

P.S. Dangerously surrendered. Have you?

When the Darkness Closes In..

Satan attacked today. we were on our way to church on the Logos ship this morning. we turned down the road that takes us to the gate to get into the port where the ship was, and there were trucks parked on the sides of the road so it was one car at a time sort of thing. well there was a truck in front of us and we couldn't pass him. then we looked ahead and they had put a road block up made of a table and stones. then, all of a sudden, a large police truck came busting through! we thought, oh it will stay down there, but no! everyone started running towards our car!! throwing stones and sticks and beating each other! people were running into our car and the police truck was plowing through coming straight towards us. gabe threw the car into reverse because that was the only way out. there was a car behind us. not knowing what was going on, they too put their car in reverse and started to back up. the road seemed to never end. people kept running frantically down the street yelling angry things. people were beating up the police. the police planned to take control but it backfired on them. as we were backing up seriously fast, trying not to hit anything or anyone, we looked in front of us and 2 inches away was the police truck. i thought it was going to crush us. me and sada and christine were just yelling prayers! just yelling JESUS! asking Him to protect us and the people around. me and sada looked up to the police truck and one man had climbed into the truck with the driver and another guy threw a log at this guy in the truck and then threw stones at him and busted their window. rocks were hitting our windshield as we drove backwards. finally, we made it out. ok. shaking, we all thanked God for getting us out safely. it was only by his mighty hand that we made it out alive. it was so scary. i haven't been that scared int a long time. i just saw that satan has such a grip on these people. Anger is something they let take over them. we decided to find another way into the port cause we really wanted to go to church. we found another way and when we got there the worship was so good. the speaker spoke on 2Chronicles 14. 2 Chronicles 14:11 God really spoke to me. "Then Asa called to the Lord and said, "Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O Lord our God, ffor we rely on you, and in your name we have come against the vast army. O Lord, you are God; do not let man prevail against you." WOW! when we were being charged by police and people, we called out to God because we knew that only He could save us. and im reminded of one of my favorite verses "Never will i leave you, Never will i forsake you." God is always watching out for us. If we are children of His then He will protect us. whom shall i fear? Anyways, the Lord really showed His mercy on us today. He is faithful. and when the darkness closes in, still i will say blessed be the name of the Lord.

P.S. Dangerously surrendered. have you?

A Day of New Experiences

today was a day of new experiences. this morning we got up and drove to this womens clinic. it is a free clinic run by sierraleonians and pretty much they supply everything. today we brought them some supplies. such as baby blankets, vitamines, sanitary gloves, and many other things that i sure don't know what are used for. when we got there they told us that this one girl was in labor. so they invited us to go back and observe. so me and sada and christine went in the back and saw this girl laying on a bed covered with a tarp and with only a small lapa (piece of cloth) to cover her. she was crying and in so much pain. no pain killers here, ladies! i walked over and grabbed her hand and started to fan her. yeah there are no fans or air condintioners in this clinic. small building, 3 rooms. i asked the girl how old she was and she said 16!! oh my goodness! i can't even imagine! we sat with her for a while and then went and observed how they examine other women. they do everything by hand. they can measure how far along the woman's pregnacy is by just feeling and measuring with a ruler. they can tell if the baby is breach by just feeling around. they use this wooden instrument to press really hard into the stomach to hear the baby's heartbeat. that was REALLY cool to hear! never heard that before. it was precious. then we all met together in the lobby and with the other patience we had one of the doctors tell the story of Elizabeth and then we prayed and sang some songs together. then we checked on the girl in labor and she was still in so much pain. we couldn't stay for the delivery, although they wanted us to, we needed to get other things done.
after the clinic we went to this ship called the Logos ship. it is pretty much a floating library. they travel around the world and sell books and do ministries. on saturday they are having a missionary dinner. WE EAT FOR FREE! we are very excited about that. i found some awesome books and they were like $4! hooray! and that was my day in a nut shell. pretty exciting and i learned so much!
also, i wanted to tell you a little bit about what God has been teaching me throughout this summer so far. In our Bible study here, we have been reading in Genesis studying Abraham and God has really been teaching me to STOP ASKING HIM WHY! ever since ive been here i have kept asking God "why am i here" "why am i away from my friends and family" "why do you want me here"? in the chapter about Rebekah, i am blown away by her submission to follow God's plan for her life. to not question the servant that Abraham sent. she just says "I will go" and she goes! and here i am, im just in africa for the summer. im not changing my whole life to marry a man ive never met or even spoken to. she trusted God and knew that God had a plan, and ended up falling in love with Isaac and God blessed them. So, like Rebekah, i am going to be still, and trust. i am going to trust in the One who sent me. i have to stop asking questions and just start doing. doing whatever there is. i have surrenderd. so i will live like it.

P.S. Dangerously surrendered. have you?

A Stressful Week Calls for Relaxation...

Ahhh!! i sm so glad this week is over! it has been a crazy stressful week. The team left yesterday thank goodness! this week was frustrating because it was an Administration team so they were in meetings all this week. meetings in which i was not involved in. so i spent most of the week alone. but all is well. today we rested all day! i slept until about 3:45pm! it was wonderful. this weekend we are going to the beach! the whole weekend we have booked this house for friday, saturday and sunday! thank goodness! a weekend away is just what we need! next week will be busy so this week will be a good restful weekend! time is passing faster now which is good! hoping it continues to! im missing home and friends. one of my best friends is getting married this saturday and im sad i can't be there with her to celebrate. but i am wishing her a wonderful wedding and marriage! its kinda hard to hear all of my friends talk about it with her and i can't be there for her. but we will celebrate when i get back! well, guess ill head to bed. its about 2am here. got to work tomorrow. have a great weekend!

p.s. dangerously surrendered. have you?

Tanki, Tanki-O

Today was a LONG day...we went to church this morning and our Director, Cindy Wiles, preached. it was a good service. she is a wonderful speaker and woman of God. she is very encouraging and has a huge heart for God's people and the church. so after that service was over, we went to what is called a Thanksgiving service here. the church wanted to celebrate and give thanks to God for the school. the service was to last from 2 to 6...so we got went into their church, which was pretty nice for an African church, and we sat on the front row. they often put the visitors, or here visitors are known as "strangers", in the front row. they want to show respect. also, in this culture, LOUD MUSIC is huge. they LOVE loud music and yelling into the microphone. So our ears hurt. hah! but anyways, so Kurt, our orphan sponsorship director spoke at this service. it was short and there were so many kids there that you couldn't really pay attention because everyone was talking. but anyways, the praise and worship was fun. learned some new Krio songs. THEN...the march...we all went outside, in the rain, and marched from the church to the school (bout 2 miles up hill) now when i say march, i mean, we DANCED...yeah danced and sang. they had their marching bands there. 3 of them. one for the primary school, one for the secondary school, and one for the parents. me and sada and christine and Lisa (a girl on one of the teams here this week) were in the middle of all the mommies. man we were cuttin rugs! hah! everytime i got "low" they would all yell "ehhhhhh!" hah! it was so funny. man they would be like..."come now, move your body!" they even sang a song that said "move your body for Jesus" hah! it was so funny. we walked for about 2 hours. well danced. man we were so sweaty! there were about 300 of us. about 100 women surrounding me and sada and christine and lisa. pretty sure i lost 10 pounds of water weight. hah! but ya know, i know it meant a lot to those mommies that we spent our day fellowshiping and celebrating with them, their successfull children. so knowing that, we had a good time. even though it was 4 hours long. so church today was from 10-6. wow! hah! lots of praise and worship! Tank, Tanki-O. that means thank you in Krio. I wan fo tell una tanki fo watin una done do fo me. i glady where God ee don bless me. i de lek una too mus. (hah! thats krio and i said, thank you for what you have done for me, and im happy that God has blessed me. i like you all too much.) HA! i hope you enjoyed that! well, tomorrow im going to hang out with the war widow's and their children. i love those children. they just live right down the street. one boy named Oscar, who is about 2 or 3 just captivates me whenever im with him. hah! can't wait to see them all again. well enjoy your week! Tanki!

P.S. Dangerously surrendered. Have you?

Frustration broken with Compassion.

I know that every organization has its problems and frustrations. its a struggle that i know everyone faces. but one thing about some frustrations that i've encountered this week is that is has been broken with compassion. the past two days i have been up country to two places and visited the orphans there. one place called mile 91 housed 100 orphans. and by housed i mean they live in "foster homes" with families. but they don't have it very good. while we were there, our team handed out goodies and candy and cookies and we ate a meal with them and danced and listened to music and just partied. it was so much fun. and our frustrations with meetings and organization and such just faded. it was simply Jesus' compassion that flowed out of us. every child was special. every child had a need. every child was beautiful. and each smile that we had on our faces, to them, was a smile that was encouraging. the smile of Jesus. and you know what, the whole team was overwhelmed with compassion for the orphans and the people. then we got back in the car and went right back to "oh how will we do this and what does this mean and how bout we do this for this, blabla." and we forget, that even its about JESUS! even though i know the Bible says we must be unified so that with one heart we can glorify God. i know there must be unity, but lets not forget the compassion Jesus shines through us. then we went to Bo. this was simply amazing. this one pastor, Pastor Saul Yaiba and his wife and 4 kids house 18 orphans. this was special beacuse Pastor Yaiba told us that they all excell in their education. this is something that doesn't happen very often here in Africa. while the Pastor was speaking to us and the children, he told them that they needed to focus on their education instead of the material things because the education is what will stick. wow! its so true. so many people think oh if i have this or that, but if they have an education they can never lose it! it was something very encouraging that he was teaching the orphans living there. and each of the kids memorized verses in the Bible and they said them to us. they were very well behaved children. it was very special to see. to see the compassion they have for each other, and even the compassion the team had for them. you know, we have never met them and we don't i know their stories. but we do know that Jesus has given us a passion for them and that is what we wanted to share with them. i told the team tonight that i felt like the fact that we the team went out to Bo and Mile 91 meant more to the children then the actual presents. i think the time that we invested in them was something special. i would really like to figure out how that could be possible for GCPN to do instead of always giving money and such, that perhaps they could give time more than anything. this week has been a learning week. with the team being here and the frustration of meetings and such, it has been a learning week. im happy to report that tomorrow we will be going to two more places to hang with orphans and then sunday we will be in church from 10am to 6pm..yeah gonna be a long day! but to God be the glory! guess this is what it is to be dangerously surrendered.

P.S. Dangerously surrendered. Have you?