Monday 2/5/18
Monday February 5th
It is now the end of my day here. Almost 6:00 p.m.
overall it was a relaxing day. I woke up at 8:00 a.m., catching up on my lost sleep from traveling. Pastor Titus Namen came to visit me at Emmanuel’s home. Mercy, his wife, is up in Nimba County back where her family is located. I’m hoping to see her later in the trip along with her children, Diana and Yaytowee. It was great visiting with Titus for awhile. I will be speaking at his church on Sunday. He is the Pastor of an ULIC (United Liberian Inland Church) located in downtown Monrovia. I look forward to seeing his congregants again too.
When it was time for Titus to leave we were also headed out so we gave him a ride. We dropped him off and headed to get my phone activated for Liberia. After buying a SIM card and converting my iPhone to the new SIM along with a scratch card for $5 that is data only and spending a total of $15 my phone is up and ready to go. My family is an iPhone family so I can FaceTime with them on data only as well as update my blog. I’ve already been texting them and talked to Jessica and Heather also with Adelyn and Ivory. What a special thing to hear ‘Hello Poppy’ from Adelyn when she saw me. It made the miles disappear.
We then went to visit Boye Nelson’s (a driver who drove for our first trip back in 2012)mother in a clinic where she is recovering from a stroke. I was able to pray with her family for her continued recovery. What a privilege. We then stopped by a place for Daniel McCarthy to purchase a new crutch. Daniel had polio when he was young and he can’t get around without the one crutch and the terrain he uses it in wears them out. We then stopped by the Exclusive store (mini Walmart type that has many American products) for Emmanuel and Wintee to pick up some things. They graciously bought me a couple of things I needed and also treated me and Daniel to an ice cream sundae. That was quite a treat. We then came home and, yep, we had supper. That in itself was interesting. They had potato greens as well as another soup topping for the rice called ‘rock meat’ or ‘kiss meat’. I tried some of it since it was new to me. Emmanuel told me they ate it a lot during the war. It is a snail like crustacean with a spiny shell.
If you look closely you can see the spines. Now to why they call it kiss meat. It’s because you have to suck the meat out of the shell in a kiss like fashion. Not really a fan of kiss meat, especially when potato greens are available.
I took a break from writing to take a walk around the community with Emmanuel. It is now after 8:00. He wanted to visit a member who was sick so we went to pray with him and his wife. Joseph, the man’s name, believes he has malaria. The lack of money causes people to make self diagnoses and they just try to fight through things. We continued through the neighborhood visiting other members and encouraging some that haven’t been coming to attend. We were returning after dark and when almost home we found out that Blessing, Emmanuel’s daughter, was taken to a clinic herself. We walked back to the local clinic and Emmanuel stayed while I came back home. I believe she may have a bug of some sort. We are praying it’s not malaria as that is harder to deal with. I’m still waiting for them to return.
I came back, took a shower and then decided to try my malaria meds again. Since I got sick yesterday morning I waited until tonight to take the pill in case it does make me sick I can lay down and rest. Other than being sick yesterday I’ve felt good today.
I look forward to tomorrow. I will be meeting with some church leaders to go through the Trusting God book by Jerry Bridges. I studied with Emmanuel this morning going through the first chapter.
Back online.
I have a Liberian data plan for my phone. Here is my record from yesterday.
Sunday, February 4th, 2018.
Today begins my first full day in Liberia.
After feeling sick yesterday before leaving Brussels I gradually continued to improve. The flight was good and I met and talked with many nice people.
Today, as I type this note it is before Sunday School with the worship service to follow. I have the privilege of speaking this morning. What a privilege to share God’s Word regardless of the location.
As I mentioned earlier I felt sick yesterday and gradually improved. Well today brought another wave of nausea. So much so that I ended up throwing up. I may have isolated my problem however. Both mornings I took my anti malaria meds on an empty stomach. I will not do that again. I do feel better now and ready to go. I’ll write more later. We have a busy day planned.
Well, the day has come to an end and it was every bit as busy as expected. Church started at 10:00 a.m. with SS until 11:00 when the morning worship started. I spoke this morning and last night I asked Emmanuel how long I should plan on speaking. He just said 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes or more if you’d like. I was prepared for around the 30 minute mark. Little did I realize that (although I should have remembered) that the early part of the worship service lasted a long time. It was 12:15 the last time I noticed the clock and I didn’t start right then. When I did start I didn’t look at the time, but after I sat down it was after 1:00 p.m. No one seemed to mind. We had communion afterward as well. It was interesting to see how another culture follows the Scriptures in serving the Lord’s Supper.
During the announcements of the morning they announced that there would be a business meeting immediately following the service. By this time we were pushing 1:30. The time is only relevant when you know that the graduation ceremony for the Women of Purpose was scheduled to start at 2:00. Needless to say the whole day kind of blended. The business meeting ended with an immediate transition into the graduation ceremony somewhere around 3:00 p.m. Oh, incidentally I was the guest speaker for this service as well.
What a great service it was, honoring these women who studied baking, tailoring, crafts and such that would empower these women to add to their household economy. In Liberia, every little bit can help a family to survive. Also in Liberia the women are not thought of as highly and the vision for this class is to teach the women that they have marketable skills. The class is approved and recognized by the government of Liberia making the certificates that Bobbi Buckley made up an official government document. I was able to charge the graduates to use what they learned to the glory of God.
This service had a cake and craft procession where the women explained how they made what they were holding and they would have a buyer to purchase their wares. One of the graduates, Princess Kau, baked and decorated a cake. The cake had the initials W.O.P. Across the top and the initials R.N. Along the bottom. Needless to say I had been targeted to purchase Princess’s cake before the ceremony. I didn’t mind in the least. I had some cake before I came to bed. It was very good.
Before the cake Emmanuel and I were sitting in the building under construction next to his home. For all of you who’ve been here, you may remember the lawn that was being cut with a machete like tool one time to a volleyball court on another visit. This visit brought the change with the start of a guesthouse that Emmanuel and Wintee hope to use to house visiting missionaries and teams. The slab is poured and a couple rows of blocks are laid. Emmanuel plans on a 2 story building with an indoor kitchen. That’s pretty big news.
Getting back to our sitting in the unfinished building and a young couple comes up to speak with Emmanuel. It seems this couple is planning on getting married and Emmanuel thought it would be a good time to have one of their counseling sessions. Since I have 34 years of marriage I was asked to stay and lend my advice. Another 1-1/2 hours later and I came in (partly because I was really getting tired and partly because it was getting dark around 7:00 p.m.)to have a piece of my cake. We had to wait awhile since they wanted to wait until the power came on. The man who owns a generator and ran his own electric lines doesn’t always have a reliable power feed. It eventually did come on and I had a late supper and cake.
Speaking of the electricity, I didn’t even notice earlier, but there are official power lines being run through Emmanuel’s community. Normal looking poles and wires. Emmanuel tells me they will drop hookups to the houses and have people pay by use of a scratch card. On your meter you will have the ability to use a scratch card, type in the number and whatever denomination of card you purchased would be available from the new electric grid. When the card runs out you go buy another card. This system works with their cellphones so it looks like prepaid is the Liberian way of the future.
Tomorrow I will go and purchase a SIM card for my phone and hopefully update each day. This post will be posted on Monday, but I wanted to type it in when it was fresh in my mind.
Last leg of travel
Today I am humbled (again) as I sit in Brussels to board my flight to Monrovia. Humbled that I don’t feel well, humbled that even though I was put up in a nice hotel I didn’t sleep well. After a long night of trying to sleep I am here, at the airport, wondering how much more difficult it may be and wondering if I rest in God in all things. Frailty of the human body can drain the best ambitions of the mind.
God, grant me your grace and peace as I long to serve You more. I know my time in Liberia may be physically challenging, but I want to be more like Paul and less like my ‘normal’ self.
Brussels layover
From the rough start at the Chicago airport to a one day layover in Brussels Belgium.
I last left off with the problem solved at O’Hare airport. That didn’t mean to infer that other problems wouldn’t arise.
After the part was replaced on the second plane and the gate ramp pulled away from the aircraft there was a medical emergency on the plane. We were informed they were bringing the ramp back so the paramedics could board to help the problem. At that point I prayed for whoever it was that needed medical attention. As we waited there was a rush of 4 paramedics headed towards the rear of the plane. After a few minutes a young lady was wheeled out, thankfully with nothing hooked up signaling to me at least she was stable. I prayed again for her. The last paramedic left carrying a young child around 4 who I assume belonged to the lady in distress.
Now, time to go….right?
In a few minutes our hopes were dashed again as the captain announced that due to the use of supplies from the emergency medical kit they needed to be replaced. That would take a little more time. The next announcement was the proverbial icing on the cake. Due to the long delay and already with all hope of catching my connecting flight gone, the captain announced that the crew scheduled to fly to Brussels, due to FAA rules, could no longer travel as they would not have enough work hours to make the trip. Another delay to wait for a new crew. Through this all I found it encouraging that nobody was complaining, but more of in awe that so many things could simultaneously happen to cause the delays.
We finally left about 6 hours later than scheduled.
That brings me to where I am now, which is sitting in a Sheraton Hotel in Brussels.
The airline comp’d everyone that missed their connecting flight with an airport food voucher, a room at the Sheraton and 2 more meals at the Sheraton (at least all that in my case since my flight now leaves at 12:10 local time tomorrow). I will ultimately arrive in Monrovia one day later, but around the same time in the evening.
Incidentally I was told that my original connecting flight from Brussels to Liberia also had mechanical problems and even had I made it on time to Brussels the flight wouldn’t have been here. God surely didn’t intend for me to arrive Friday in Liberia.
Now I have a more comfortable setting to finalize my Sunday sermon.
I’ll see what tomorrow brings. I’m so grateful for technology that allows communication with family and friends to let them know all these things as they happen.
Problem solved
The captain announced that the part that was broken was replaced and we will be on our way in 15-20 minutes. Total of 4 hour delay. Connection should be made, but now it’s more interesting.
More delays
We were just told that the new plane that we all ‘reboarded’ has a mechanical problem in the cockpit. The captain was so apologetic when explaining. We still don’t know how this delay will work out. We lost a few passengers around where I am sitting, possibly because they got other flights. I’m not sure, but it brings people curiously close together when they share in a common ‘hardship’. It’s really hard to call it a hardship, but for lack of a better term I feel somewhat closer to the people on this flight now.
Things change.
Was able to board my flight for Brussels and get settled in. I was studying for speaking at Emmanuel’s church on Sunday not paying attention to the time. An announcement from the captain stated they had some hydraulic problems and weren’t sure how long to fix them. After 2 hours on the plane we were asked to disembark and wait for another plane. As I type this I am waiting to board the new plane. Guessing I will be around 3 hours late in leaving. That should not affect my connection in Brussels, but I’ll have to wait and see. I am grateful that God grants peace in times like this. I find it exciting and I await the results of this adventure.
Being at the airport is always exciting.Checked in.
All bags are checked and I am sitting in Green Bay waiting to fly out.
Tomorrow I will arrive at 8:10 local Liberia time (2:10 cst time) with stops in Chicago, Brussels and Ghana with final destination in Monrovia.
Butterflies as excitement to begin the trip mounts. Grateful that the anxiety portion is over. Most of that is my own lack of preparation. I’m thankful to God for all the small details being worked out….visa, luggage etc. It wasn’t small when I worried, but looking back it is insignificant.
I ended up packing an extra bag to fit all the literature and such I wanted to take along. 50 lbs., 49 lbs. and 48.5 lbs. not much room was left. The extra $200 now seems well worth it.
Last minute.
After waking early to pray, pack and prepare I’m in the final stretch. Jenny will take me to the airport to begin the next chapter of Liberia 2018.
I’ll write more over there.
Looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones.
May God be made much of through this trip.
Liberia Mission Trip 