One more thing....

I just posted the long blog below, but thought I would add one more interesting thing about Liberian culture. As I've mentioned before, we live above a church compound, so we often see different events going on. Today there was a Liberian wedding and I watched part of it from above. The whole event is very lively and pretty laid back. The bridesmaids sort of dance down the aisle...they actually rock back and forth to the music so it takes a while for everyone to get down the aisle. Even the little flower girls and ring bearers "rock" which is pretty cute. For the wedding today the 9 bridesmaids rocked down the aisle to the worship song "Ancient of Days", which was sung by a worship band at the front. Once they got to the front they continued dancing while the worship band played. Then, when the bride came in, she also rocked down the aisle....but she also sang a solo at the same time! She sang the song "Give Thanks" the whole time she went down the aisle...pretty impressive I think. Once she reached the front, she sat down in a chair while the groom was sitting down in another row across the aisle. Then the congregation sang another song and afterwards a sermon was given. I left at that point so that's all I saw, but I've been listening to the reception outside our apartment all afternoon. Very lively with lots of loud music! Sounds like they had fun! :)

February is gone??

Oh my goodness has it already been a month since I last wrote on here? I’ll be surprised if anyone is still reading. :) As they say in Liberia….sorry-oh! One thing that keeps me from updating is the slow internet…but I am going to try to do better! And the time is flying too!
So, since it has been a month, I’ll have to try to let you know what’s been going on without making this too long. Here’s what we’ve been up to in February:

-Work, of course. It keeps us very busy! I was able to travel to both of our upcountry bases this month. Even though the trips were short, it was great to be able to see the rural communities and meet some of our staff working in the field. When you walk down the street the kids yell “Pum-wee!!”(which means white person in the Mende language) and they all want to shake your hand. Quite different than Monrovia! Ryan has officially taken over as Program Manager for his food program, so he’s continuing to learn and settle into his role. I am also continuing to learn new things every day in my job, and am thankful for God’s provision and mercy.

-Some fun, too. :) One weekend we went golfing. I have never been golfing before…who would have thought the first time would be in Liberia! It’s neat though because they place we went is at a rubber plantation called Firestone….yes, the rubber made here is used to make the Firestone tires. It is a huge plantation and the golf course is somewhere in the middle of it. One of our good friends here actually grew up on the plantation. The golf was a lot of fun…I’m not sure how I did for a first time…but I managed to get bruises on my wrists, which must be a sign I did something wrong. :) Ryan, on the other hand, was quite good for not having golfed much!

-Valentines Day. We got to get away for the weekend which was wonderful. We went with another couple to a beach a couple hours away called Robertsport (or Robert's Port)…and it was beautiful! We stayed in what they call “luxury tents”, which are basically these big tents up on stilts that have 2 double beds. It was great for a relaxing weekend and we had a lot of fun. Here’s one picture where you can see the tents in the background:

-Operation Christmas Child (OCC) shoebox distribution. A lot of you know Samaritan’s Purse because of the OCC program. People in the states and other countries pack shoeboxes full of different toys, toiletries, etc..…and these are sent all over the world to kids living in poverty...and given to them in the name of Jesus Christ. Because the shoeboxes must be shipped by ocean to Liberia, they aren’t actually distributed at Christmas time. In February and March we have several distributions going on in different location. Ryan and I went to one distribution in a small village called Varney Boone. The neat thing is that the village was after named after our SP Liberia Country Director…who they affectionately call “Old Man Varney Boone.” The event took place at a school and it was fun to be able to see the kids receive the boxes. Some of them weren’t really sure what to do with the gifts, and some of the kids started using everything right away. The mothers, too, were quite interested in the boxes…which can sometimes be a problem…but we tried to make a point that the gifts were for the children. You know we’re in Africa when the kids carry the boxes on their heads! Here are some pictures:


Thanks again for your continued prayers. Please pray that Ryan and I will seek the Lord first in our daily lives, so that He can accomplish His will through us…