Overdue Update

Well, I'm finally getting around to updating the blog. The craziness of the past few weeks combined with the uncertainty of the internet here has made it hard to update lately. I've wanted to write more about what Ryan and I are doing here with SP....so here we go...


Samaritan's Purse
Many of you know that Samaritan's Purse is a nondenominational evangelistic organization that does relief work all over the world. SP's mission is to "meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God's love through His Son, Jesus Christ.." SP came to work in Liberia in 2003 after the country had been devastated by civil war.



Liberia
Liberia was formed in 1822 as a settlement of freed slaves that came from the US. If you'd like to read more about Liberia and its history here are a few links you can go to: http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/lr.htm
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/liberia/taylor-bio.html
http://www.liberiapastandpresent.org/charles_taylor.htm
As you see in these links, Liberia has suffered periods of civil war since 1989 and lasting until 2003, which has destroyed the country in many ways. Ryan and I live in the capitol city of Monrovia, and the destruction is evident as you drive down the streets. There are many large buildings that were torn apart during the war, some which only have the outside structure standing. Squatters have taken up residence in many of these buildings.


SP in Liberia
Samaritan's Purse came to Liberia and 2003 and began implementing programs to help the people recover after the war. Since 2003 the SP office here has grown substantially and the number of programs and staff continues to increase. Right now we have around 30 projects running, which fall under the following areas: water and sanitation, food distribution, HIV/AIDS, ministry, church construction, livestock, livelihood, health programs, infrastructure rehabilitation, building wells and latrines, children's programs and more. There are many specific projects within these categories. We have around 280 national staff and around 15 expat staff. SP receives funding from both donors in the states, as well as a lot of grant funding (such as USAID).


What Ryan does
Ryan is helping to manage the largest grant project SP Liberia has right now. It is a 3 year food program which encompasses distribution of commodities, food for work, infrastructure rehabilitation and health. The actual project is implemented in what we call the "upcountry”, which includes the rural areas of Liberia to the north of Monrovia. Ryan has actually been traveling for the past week and a half, visiting one of our sub-offices which is at the very top of Liberia. By car it can take 9 hours to drive there because the roads are so bad, but we can also take UN helicopters which take about an hour and a half. Ryan has been visiting communities there every day that are the beneficiaries of the food distribution program. I haven't been able to travel yet, but it is interesting to hear his stories and about how different it is there than here in the city. People are much more poor and live simpler lives. They are also not nearly as used to seeing white people as they are here in Monrovia. There are so many NGO's (non-governmental organizations) here in the city that is pretty common to see foreigners around. The current manager of this program will be leaving SP in a few months, and Ryan will take over the program at that time.


What I do
I am the Finance Manager for SP Liberia. Basically, I am responsible for managing the money that flows in and out of our office. We receive much of our funding from the international headquarters in Boone, North Carolina, so I work closely with the field accounting department there. We also receive money from SP affiliate offices (such as SP Canada) and from grantors (such as USAID). I have 5 finance staff also helping me here in Liberia. We are responsible to track and report how all of the money is spent on the different projects. I then report all of our accounting transactions here in Boone back to the US headquarters, where they are uploaded into their system and eventually end up in the financials and the annual report. Overall, we need to be excellent stewards of the money God has provided, and to ensure that the money is correctly spent on the programs that the donors intended for it to be.


A little more about our life here...
Like I mentioned at the beginning, life has been a bit crazy the past few weeks. It was an extremely busy month for me at work, but I enjoy the work and know I will learn so much while I am here. Ryan of course has been busy as well since he has been traveling the past couple of weeks. He learned to ride a motorbike while he has been upcountry, which I hear can wear you out! :) I also learned to drive a stick shift this past month. I learned on a land cruiser because those are the most common vehicles used here. The driving here is pretty crazy. I've seen crazy driving in other countries, but Liberia is different just because there are absolutely no rules. There are no stop signs or red lights. People go whichever way they want (even if it's coming into head on traffic). The good thing is you can't really go fast because the roads are crowded. There are people everywhere and walking all over the road so you have to make sure not to hit them! That is the hardest thing for me to get used to. I'm posting a picture of a traffic jam we got in a couple weeks ago. As you can see, the people driving the opposite direction from us decided to take up most of the road, so we were forced to drive on the shoulder. It's very interesting. :)
We are really enjoying the place we’re living at. Some people have asked if we have electricity, hot water, etc. We do have power (by generator and battery) most of the time, and we do have hot water for showers. These two things in themselves are a luxury for most of Liberia! So we are very grateful. We attend the church in our compound, which makes it nice on Sundays. : ) It’s a fairly large church with many Liberians as well as expats, and I enjoy the worship there. Liberians are very animated when they sing! This is our view above the church... Well, this blog has become extremely long. Sorry! I hope this gives you a better idea of what’s going on with us. Please continue to pray for us and that we will serve with God’s strength and not our own. Thank you! We miss you!

Happy New Year

Hi ya'll! Happy New Year! I can't believe it's 2009. Ryan and I spent New Years Eve with some friends and had a good time (see picture below). You can tell it was pretty crazy. :)

I'm trying to think of any more news. We officially start back to work Monday. I've been working quite a bit over the break, but we did get to get away for a day last weekend. We went to a lake called Blue Lake about an hour away, and it was beautiful! The water was perfect temperature and really clear, so we did some swimming and kayaking. Ryan also has been kayaking on a river and on the ocean which he really enjoyed.

We're getting more and more settled in everyday. The culture is incredibly different as you can imagine, so we're continuing to learn more and adjust. Even though the language is English, I often have a hard time understanding people because they talk very fast! They also have some different sayings....
For example, to ask "How are you?" someone might say: "How da body?"
Then to answer you can say: "Thank God" (Meaning things are great)
"The body fine" (Doing alright)
"Trying" (Not so good)
"Trying small small" (Terrible)
They also will add "oh" to the end of words/sentences for accentuate a point. I'm sorry-oh! I'm tired-oh! There's also special handshakes...Ryan seems to be better at those than me...
A few people have asked me about the weather... It's hot-oh! :) ...mainly because of the humidity. It's great being so near the ocean though. I'm sure we'll be going to the beach a lot this year!

Liberian Christmas

Hey everyone-Ryan and I want to wish everyone a late Merry Christmas! We are doing well here. Our office closed down for this week and the next, so we've been able to relax some which has been nice. And I am trying to catch up on some work too! :)
The Liberians love Christmas! When the office closed last Friday we all sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and everyone left so happy...kind of like kids on the last day of school. We then continued to celebrate with a Christmas party on the beach. Something else kind of funny is one of the sayings you hear at Christmastime here...."Give me my Christmas." Strangers will say this to you, meaning they want something (money) from you. Interesting for sure!
A lot of the international SP staff went home for Christmas, but the few of us here on Christmas day got together for a potluck. We went to a home on the beach and enjoyed a great meal with all types of food. Afterward we sat on the porch and listened to the ocean while one of the guys played guitar and we sang worship songs. It was really a special time....I know for me personally it was a good time to reflect on why we are here and to be encouraged by the Lord and by our co-workers who are here for the same purpose.
It was definitely a different Christmas for us. It didn't necessarily "feel" like the Christmas we know, but it was a great memory that we'll always have. And for the first time I think I realized that we didn't have to have Christmas decorations, presents, or even relatives around for it to be Christmas. :) The focus really was on Christ, and that was an amazing feeling.
So, now we're looking forward to 2009 and all God wants to do! Thanks so much for your prayers as we continue to settle in and adjust. We need them and can feel them. :)

Arrival!

Hey everyone this is Ryan! Dayna is busy working on a Saturday so being the sweet and caring guy I am I decided to help her out with this whole blogging thing.

We arrived here in Liberia last Sunday and have been here for our first week. Liberia is very different from the other country I've been in mostly because of the poverty level. All of my other travels had nice places where you could find an escape, but Liberia really has none. It is amazing to see the way people live throughout the city and the way the war has affected the country. There is still a lot of war damage and displaced peoples as the country gets itself off the ground and there is a lot of work to be done. I went on a tour through the downtown Monrovia area and was amazed how crowded and congested it was. People just mill around, walking everywhere. There are buildings which were destroyed in the war and are now filled with people who have no home but now live in the bombed out buildings. People just live wherever they can find shelter it seems. Liberia is truly an amazing place thus far.

I have not started working with my project but will on Monday and I am really looking forward to it. I am also looking forward to my first trips "upcountry" to the smaller villages where SP is working.

Dayna has hit the ground running from when we got here. She only had a few days with the finance director who she is replacing, so it was a mad dash to get her caught up to speed. It is very overwhelming at times so I am staying out of her way, I mean supporting her the best I can.

Our living arrangements are very good. We have a generator that is on a few hours a day and then battery power the rest of the day. The battery's do not last all night sometimes and then our fans wont work and it gets hot, but I think we'll get used to that. We live above a church with security and a fence and the whole bit so it is very safe. Right beneath us people are living in their shacks so it is a very strange feeling to be living so closely to such poverty. But I can say that the roosters that they own start crowing at 6 am and dont stop all day. Hopefully I can get used to that, but I don't know. Those roosters are loud.

Well that's it for now! We are working on taking some pictures and will post them as soon as we do.

SP Orientation in Boone

Hi everyone! Ryan and I just finished a week of orientation in Boone, NC before we head out to Liberia. For those of you who don't know all the details of what we're doing, Ryan and I are going to work with Samaritan's Purse in Monrovia, Liberia, for one year. Ryan will be a Program Manager for a large food distribution project, and I will be the Finance Manager for the office. We're so excited as we had hoped to return to work with SP after we were married last year. It's been really neat to see how God has worked to bring us to where we are today. I'm going to try my best to keep up with this blog (maybe with some help from Ryan:) so that you guys can hear what's going on with us, and so we can also keep in touch with what's going on in your world!

It's been snowing some here in Boone this week which was fun. The weather in Liberia is hot and humid all year (with a rainy season and a dry season). Also just FYI, the time difference is 5 hours ahead. Anyways, this week in Boone was great to see old SP friends and also meet some new ones, and to be reminded of how God is working through SP all over the world.

Many of you have already asked how you can pray.As we leave on Sunday you can pray for safe travels and for a good transition as we settle in. I was reading the other day and saw this verse that I thought was also just a great prayer for us in general for this year.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 "To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Thank you all! I will try to get a website up with some pictures as soon as I can.