A Sunday to Remember

What a day this has been! Definitely a Sunday I will never forget. This morning Maree and I set out for Life of Light Church. We had been there before, and were planning to meet our friend Nancy who used to be a day volunteer on the ship. After walking up to the main road, Kissy St., we tried to catch a taxi unsuccessfully. Each one that passed seemed to be full of people. We had joked about taking okadas (motorcycles) since Maree has never ridden one, but I didn't want to because I was wearing a skirt. Sure enough, two guys on okadas stopped right beside us to offer a ride. We were already running late, and I knew this would be the quickest option. We asked them if they knew where the New England Police Station was, and we haggled the price - 5,000 Le (around $1.25) I reminded Maree to ask for directions if her driver got lost (which happens often). And we were off! 

I quickly realized that my calf-length skirt was much shorter while sitting on an okada. I felt so immodest with my white knees jutting out while we were flying down the road. There was nothing I could do at that point. In african culture, a woman's knees are viewed in the same way that us Westerners view breasts. A woman is considered promiscuous for showing her knees. So as a white woman wearing an african dress while riding an okada...I was getting unwanted attention from pedestrians and other drivers. I had to laugh at how ridiculous it was. And it was odd to realize that back home I would never think twice about showing above my knees, and today I was blushing about it! Anyway, I was holding onto the metal bar behind me with one hand, and my water bottle with the other. I get so nervous when the driver gets to an open stretch of road and floors the bike. There are so many things that could go wrong!   Thankfully, Maree and I reached our destination safely at the same time, even though we had split up for most of the ride.

Today's theme at church was Lev. 19:29 - "Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute." Some of the topics at church are things that we rarely if ever talk about at home. Of course, issues like prostitution may not be as common at home as they are in countries like Sierra Leone. The youth choir sang a song that was basically that verse repeated over, and over, and over. :) Thankfully, the sermon today didn't revolve around this topic, but around the Pentateuch, God's holiness, and our responsibility as Christians. Brother Charley Nelson who preached is a professor at Fourah Bay College, and he did a wonderful job speaking the Word! Honestly, I was more challenged and convicted today than I have been at any service here. Brother Charley reminded us that there's a difference in going to church and being a Christian. He said that "a position in the church does not give you a position in Christ's kingdom!" He wasn't afraid to step on anyone's toes for speaking the truth. It was so encouraging to hear this, because many of the messages I've heard here have been lacking depth, focused on success and blessings. 

The only negative today was that the church service lasted 4 1/2 hours. I am not complaining, because those hours were full of worship and encouragement. Still, I think after hour 3 my attention began to wane. Add to this that the heat was stifling, and I sweated until I physically couldn't sweat any more. I will never complain again about a church's air con/heating or lack thereof. 

Maree and were directed to sit on the right side of the church, near the speakers. During the music, and especially the preaching (which involves a lot of yelling) I really felt like I was going deaf. I kept putting my hand up on that side to plug my ear; hopefully it wasn't too noticeable. Well, at the end of the service, there was a big "unveiling" of something new that the church had purchased. This was a BIG deal to everyone. Once they took off the covering, I saw what it was. Two huge new speakers to make their sound system even louder! I laughed at the irony of it.

After the service, we went with Nancy to her aunt's home where she had cooked plantains for us. This was so sweet of her, because she knows how much we like the african food. We have plans for the coming weekend to travel to Bo where she lives, which is about 4 hours away. I'm sure this will be another adventure!

Two of Nancy's cute cousins.

Once we left, Nancy took us back to the main road, where we once again took okadas. Since I knew that  Maree was nervous about it, I let her ride on the newer, slightly safer-looking bike. The one I was on seemed quite old. This was confirmed first when the engine started revving up for no reason, causing the bike to jerk forward and nearly throw me off. Then the bike began to cut off when we were slowing down in traffic. It can be pretty dangerous to have your bike turn off when you are in the middle of the road. Then, add to this that my driver took a side road that was very rocky. I had to get off the bike at one point so he could get over some large rocks. I offered to find another (safer) bike, but he wouldn't have it. Believe me, I was praying hard! Although my knees were once again showing, I was focused on getting back to the ship in one piece. Whenever he sped up a lot, I reminded him to go "slow slow" which is sometimes ignored, but thankfully he did slow down. I was so relieved to arrive at the gate to the port, and see that Maree had also arrived. 

All this to say that today was great. I was so blessed by the church service, and I even enjoyed our okada rides. I will really miss Sierra Leone when we sail in December. Until next time...

Fambul Tok

Well, this has been quite a weekend! Every six weeks, we have a ship holiday on a Friday so that the crew can have a three-day weekend. This gives nearly everyone a much needed break to rest or get off the ship. So this weekend has been a restful one for me. Still, I was able to get off the ship several times. I will try to summarize what I've been up to.

First off, I had the rare opportunity to attend a book launching and movie screening right here in Freetown. When a friend of mine, James, was flying here, he struck up conversation with the man sitting beside him. This man, John Caulker, is from Sierra Leone, and has started a non-profit organization called Fambul Tok International. Fambul Tok means "family talk" in Krio. This organization seeks to bring community led reconciliation to post-war Sierra Leone. There is a huge need for reconciliation and forgiveness here in Sierra Leone. Since the war ended, many of the rebels who committed unthinkable acts against their own countrymen have moved right back into the villages they came from. This has created a lot of anger and bitterness, and people have avoided talking about what happened in the war. 

Take Nyumah and Sahr (above) for example. The two used to be best friends before the war. They stood to testify before the village bonfire in Gbekedu as a part of one of the first community ceremonies in the Fambul Tok process. Boyhood friends, the two were barely teenagers when the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) invaded their villages, which are located near the Liberian border. Sahr and his father fled into the bush, only to be captured by RUF soldiers. At the bonfire that night, Sahr spoke of how the rebels ordered him to kill his father and of his repeated refusal.  His close friend, Nyumah, had also been taken by the rebels and was there in the bush, Sahr testified. The rebels ordered Nyumah to beat his friend, under threat of death, for defying their orders to kill his father. Nyumah complied, beating his friend so severely that even today Sahr’s body remains misshapen, and he is able to walk only with great difficulty, supported by a cane.  The rebels then forced Nyumah to take the knife and slit the throat of Sahr’s father.

Living since the end of the war in villages just a mile or so apart, the former friends had not spoken about these events until the bonfire. Acknowledging what he had done, bowing in a deep gesture of deference and apology, Nyumah asked his friend for forgiveness—which Sahr immediately gave. As was the case with each pair of testifiers that evening, villagers broke into song as the young men embraced and danced around the bonfire.

There are many other stories like this one of forgiveness that have been taking place in villages all over Sierra Leone. So John Caulker sent James (their pic is below) an invitation to the launching of the book Fambul Tok and the showing of the documentary based on the book. He said that James could bring friends, so he did - 10 of us! 

 While we waited outside of the British High Council, we had a lovely view overlooking the city. This is Rhoda, Emma, and I.

The next day I went with a group of ladies to visit Christ's Evangelical Church. A friend of mine, Rosie, recently attended there, and learned that this church really tries to reach out into the community. On weekdays they have a school for children who are orphaned or don't have the funds to pay for schooling. They also have a vocational/technical school to teach trades to women who were abused or raped during the civil war. This includes teaching them tailoring, cooking, and how to use computers. The church has almost nothing as far as buildings or finances, but I was so impressed with how well they are doing. 

This photo is in the church building (one room). What is extraordinary is that there were FOUR separate classes going on at the same time, ranging from kindergarten children to middle school. I was so impressed by how well the children paid attention to their teacher. 

Don't you just want to take him home?

The women learn how to braid hair, which is a very popular trade.

We told the women that we wanted to put lotion on their hands and paint their nails to show them Jesus' love. So they brought in as many benches as they could find and lined up to be pampered! It was such a unique, humbling experience for me. The weather was scorching hot, so as I was painting nails, sweat was just dripping from my head onto their hands. It was so sweet when a woman beside me took a cloth she had and wiped my head so that I could see to keep going. I'm sure they wondered what was wrong with us, because they were barely sweating at all. One lady pointed to her toes to ask if I could paint them. I did, and soon several other ladies wanted that also. They were so kind, and couldn't believe that I would sit on the ground and dirty my clothes to paint their nails! A woman went up to Pastor Richard afterward and said "I didn't know they loved us this much!" As I painted their nails (which didn't have a trace of polish on them) I felt so much love for them. I cannot fathom the abuse that they endured during the war, or from men since then. But I knew that I could make a small difference by showing love in this tangible way. 

That is Pastor Richard in the brown suit. They were so glad to have us visit. We are excited to go back to visit. We took up an offering on the ship a week ago, and raised enough money to fix the roof on the school, buy several sewing machines (they only have one) and help out in several other ways. I feel so blessed to be able to help out the ministry of this church! 

Well, there are so many other things I want to talk about...but sleep is more important. :) Keep me in your prayers, and God bless.

Giving a Hand-Up

Yesterday was was my favorite day in Africa so far! On Saturday I had the chance to go with 8 people from Mercy Ships to help a family in need. A friend of mine, Rosie, told me about the Bangura family a week ago, and she began to plan a trip out to their home. Rosie told several friends back in the US about this family's situation, and donations began to pour in. Because of this, she is helping the Bangura family start a business of selling frozen water and various vegetables. The family has already received a generator and freezer for the water. We are hoping this will be more of a hand-up out of poverty than a hand-out. 

This family has been through a lot recently.

The mother in the home died a year ago. The aunt, Sally, is now raising her sister's children. However Sally has recently had fibroid issues and is currently in the hospital after being operated on. So this has left Sally's elderly mother to take care of several grandchildren and great grandchildren. One of the granddaughters who is 16 years old has been pregnant, and we found out that the night before we came she went into labor and the baby died. We wished that their friend, James, who works on the ship would have called the ship. One of our doctors could have come to help. Knowing that this had happened on Friday night put us in a somber mood for part of the day.

The house was quite small for about 10 people living there, but compared to many of the shacks here in the city, it was actually large. It had 3 rooms and was made out of mud bricks. Recently, stucco has been placed over the bricks so that we could paint the walls. 

One of the grandsons, Usman, is only 20 years old and has been crippled for a year. There is something wrong with his hips - we guessed it may be a disease like polio. So when we walked into the house and into the room on the right, he was sitting on a mat on the floor. This is where he spends most of his days because he can't walk/stand without assistance. At one point, someone brought in a can for him to urinate in since he can't walk outside. We are planning to go back to the house later this week - a guy from our group knows how to make bed frames, so he is going to make one for Usman. This will allow him to get up by himself once we take him a walker. 

Here are several photos from our day:

This is the home that we painted - you can see that a ton of neighbor children came to watch us working. :)

This is Usman. He was very nice, and we are planning to return to help him get a raised bed and a walker so he can be a little independent.

This sweet little girl did the cutest song and dance for us. Only afterward a lady told me that she does the song for neighbors to beg for food when there is none.

I loved the kids! The girl on the right was wearing a santa claus style dress...made me laugh.

 Painting!

See the Santa dress? :D

This was an impromptu puppet show put on by Jenny and Mourad. The kids loved it, even though the puppets were made out of shirts!

This was just some of them watching the puppet show.

Next, Jenny and Mourad led the kids in some goofy dance routines (marching?) and a game of "Simon Says."

We walked to a neighbor's house, and they took us to the back where they have a bakery. It was neat to watch them pounding the bread dough and rolling it through this machine. Seemed like a lot of work! They also had a large clay oven to cook the bread in.

It turns out beautifully!

We walked down to the river, and apparently Saturdays are wash days! It seemed like the whole community of women and children were there. The women were working hard scrubbing clothes while the kids had fun jumping in the river. Many of the kids who walked down there with us just threw off their clothes and jumped in the water!

This is where they come to get water, and the women or kids carry it in large, heavy buckets on their heads.

Walking back up from the river - the kids just loved walking with me and holding my hands. At one point I counted 6 kids holding on to me wherever they could! There were two in each hand, one holding on to the back of my shirt, and one holding onto the flap of my back pocket. The children here have really captured my heart.

This is us sitting on a rooftop that overlooks the valley where the river runs. It was a beautiful view, but a little scary to look down!

This was a chunky great-grandchild, eating mushed plantains.

Don't you just want to take him home?

It is very common to see kids who are only 4-5 years old carrying babies around on their backs.

 This is the main method of drying clothes...

But it doesn't work well when it rains like this! When it started pouring, we all gathered in the house and kept painting. Because the roof is tin, I have never heard such a loud roar from rain before!

This is the grandmother who is running the home while her daughter is in the hospital. I believe the boy is her great grandson. 

She broke out in song thanking God. The main line is "Tell Papa God Tanki" which means thank you. We all joined in singing with her. After that she began to cry loudly, and kept saying "Don't forget me...don't forget me!" Rosie told her that we had come to help them because Jesus sent us, and that even though we were leaving, they still had Jesus. 

When we drove off, several of the kids ran after us as far as they could...waving and smiling!

We were sweaty and tired...but very blessed.