Titus & Mercy

So today the plan was to visit Pastor Titus and Mother Mercy. Since the trip from Emmanuel’s home to Titus’s home is 30-40 minutes I figured we’d leave mid morning or so, but in Liberia you tend to find out later that plans aren’t always what you think. This morning actually worked out great for me since I still had work to do on my Sunday sermon. After a quick breakfast I asked what time we planned on leaving and Emmanuel said he had to go and do some things first. Knowing how things can take longer than you think I got right on my study time on the front porch. Of course it didn’t take long for Grace and the little people brigade to interrupt.

The girls eventually tired of me because I was boring to them. It was then I was able to focus and finish my message for tomorrow morning. I was ready to head out to Titus and Mercy’s home. There was one problem, Emmanuel wasn’t back yet. I took this time to just play some music on my phone and lay down on the couch and rest. Maybe 4-5 songs in I heard Emmanuel return. He came in to say he’d been speaking with Titus and Titus said it would be good to arrive between 1:00-2:00. The time was 1:45.

There was just one more thing to do…eat a little something before we left to eat at Titus’s home.

I learned all about some Liberian proverb about a chicken eating before it leaves the house so it can be wary of the hawk when it goes outside. I think Emmanuel was making that up, but either way we had some jollof rice. It was quite good. Now with a little food eaten it was time to go. I thought it was nice of Emmanuel to call Titus as we were going to arrive well after 2:00. I could hear Titus on the phone about to give Emmanuel directions when I heard him ask, you’re leaving now? Emmanuel confirmed that we were indeed just leaving. I thought there would be a sigh or a long pause, but Titus just said, ‘I will be leaving where I am in about 15 minutes so can you tell mother Mercy I’ll arrive soon after. I guess we weren’t the only ones that were running behind. When we did arrive it was so nice to see Mercy and all the kids. We were only a few minutes ahead of Titus. Titus and Mercy have two children, Diana and Yahtoowe, but various nieces and nephews also live with them keeping Mercy very busy. Titus is in his MDiv classes 5 days a week and gone from early in the morning until evening. It’s a tough schedule, but he’s enjoying the training and they are both committed to his finishing. Here are some of the pictures of them and their family unit.

All in all we had such a good time visiting. A neighbor lady, Lydia, kind of came along when we were walking around and joined us for the meal. We enjoyed her company as well. It was good for Titus and Mercy to get to know her also. There is so much more to share about all of my visits around here, but I’ll save more for when I return. If you think about it remind me to tell you about Women of Purpose near Titus’s, also about the Zo-Go’s (sp). I’m going to get some sleep for Sunday worship tomorrow.