A Story You Need to Read

Again, apologies for the silence, but blogging just hasn't been at the top of my to do list since I've been home!

Quick update:

Life has been good since returning to the U.S. I've gotten into pre-natal care with some midwives in Chapel Hill. Everything looks great for baby and me! I have been able to spend quality time with family. The only downside is Kyle's absence, but that is all about to change in approximately 30 hrs.! Kyle returns home tomorrow evening! YIPPEE!

Kyle's remaining time in Liberia was fruitful and we are so thankful that he was able to return for these last 6 weeks. Kyle and I wanted to share a story from these last few weeks in Liberia. A word of caution before reading- this story is hard to fathom for our American minds but it is very real in Liberia. Satan is at work in visible ways in Liberia and we wish we could say that this woman's story is unusual, but unfortunately it is not. That is why, among other reasons, the work of the Gospel in Liberia is so important. This is a story that I think will bless you and open your eyes to the reality of life for Liberian Christians.

This story is taken from an email from Kyle to his mom a few weeks ago.

During our time here in Liberia - there have been several occasions when I've had opportunities to see a little deeper into the real lives of Liberians. One of those came a few days ago when I was sitting in the office with Joe S. - my Liberian counterpart and all around great man. He is an elder in a small church plant along the "Guinea Road" which in this literal society is THE 10 km road to the Guinea border. He is level headed and a very good elder - and as such usually finds himself in the middle of things. Sometimes he shares stories with me - and on this day he shared with me a situation going on with a young lady that had just come to his church. This young lady was running away from her grandmother who had inducted her into one of the secret witchcraft societies that underlies everything here in Liberia when she was 12 - taking her away from her parents. Witchcraft here is not the tree hugging type like it is in the USA - its very real and involves human sacrifice and cannibalism. Over eight years she gave her little brother to the leaders of her sect for sacrifice - and probably others not of her family - she was asked for her sister and she refused - she was asked for her mother and she again refused. She then had to flee at age 20 for her life - and with no family she was on the streets. She made her way to the Guinea Road church where some of her family were and she confessed her sins and became a believer. She said she wanted to have a Bible - and asked if anyone could provide her with one - so she can read it and for just a bit of comfort - Bibles are not easy to find here. I went home that afternoon and was thinking about this story and how I wished I had a Bible to give - but all I had was my own and well - I wasn't ready to give it up yet.

In the evenings I have been (trying) to clean up our house at our little place in Ganta at which point I found a Bible someone (Kyle's mom) had insisted I take "Just in case". It was that little blue NKJV Bible with the flip cover and tiny letters (and magnifying glass) you stashed in our stuff before we left. I gave it to Joe yesterday. Its now in the hands of that young woman.

Just goes to show - you never know what and how things will work out - and for us Reformed theology folks - that God's Providence works in large and small - and in over-packing luggage.

Thank you for being insistent!

Kyle is returning tomorrow with more photos and stories to share from his last few weeks in Liberia. Please be praying for us as we process this journey and turn our eyes towards what God may have in store for us for the future. We look forward to seeing many of you in the coming weeks!

Sad News

Hi folks,

Nothing much (overall) has changed in the past week. Kyle is still in Liberia and I am still adjusting to life back in U.S. We can feel your prayers and are so grateful for your encouragement during this time! It hasn't been easy and this morning Kyle called to share with me some sad news. Our friend Victor lost his son to cerebral malaria. His son was only 11 years old. Please keep this family, as well as Kyle, lifted up. I wrote several months ago after another EQUIP Liberia staff member lost his newborn baby to malaria about the way death, even of close family members and children, is so common in Liberia. You can't help but feel helpless when these situations occur, but for so many Liberians this is a fact of life.

Please pray for peace and for Kyle as he is alone and in need of encouragement (hint, hint)

Peace,
Kyle and Jessica

Better Late Than Never

Hi Friends and Family,

Our apologies to all our faithful readers. It wasn’t our intention to leave ya hangin’ but sometimes blogging isn’t a priority! Not that ya’ll aren’t a priority, it’s just…well, you know what I mean!

Quick shout out to our dear friends the Davis’s. Spencer and Amy welcomed the newest addition to their family on Monday! Jedidiah (Jed) Spencer Davis made his entrance with a full head of black hair and at a walloping 10lbs. 1 oz.! We’re so happy for our sweet friends!

Back to Liberia…

We’re in Monrovia this week for a couple of meetings. Kyle got to sit with the big wigs in Water and Sanitation at a Monrovia level meeting. Now all ya’ll know that Kyle is the kind of guy that likes to get his hands dirty doing real work. The folks he was meeting with are the type that like to talk about doing real work. Needless to say, Kyle doesn’t quite fit in this scene. So back to Nimba we will go on Saturday so that the real work can continue.

We are under the two week mark until we leave on our trip to France! WAHOO! Pray for our sanity and focus over the course of the next two weeks! It’s like a kid waiting Christmas!

Thanks for the support and prayers. The next few months are looking as if they are going to be super interesting and exciting and more than ever I think we will need your prayers. Keep em’ coming!

Weekly Prayers Needs:

Pray for our health and endurance.

Pray for our work to be a conduit of the Gospel to hungry hearts (both to those we are working with and for!)

Pray for our safety as we travel to and from Monrovia and Europe. (Jessica doesn’t like to fly- ‘member?)

Pray for us as God grows and stretches our marriage.

Impatient These Days

Hi folks,

It’s Monday after Easter. We’re getting used to celebrating holidays here in Liberia, but we have to say that we’d loved to have been worshipping our Great God with friends and family yesterday.

We’re headed into the home stretch before our vacation. In 3 weeks we’re hopping a plane bound for Paris for a couple of weeks of much needed rest thanks to some very generous friends. We’re feeling a little impatient about the next 3 weeks. After 6 months of being stretched in every area we are in desperate need of some space to rest and get perspective.

I hope you read last Wednesday’s post about Kyle’s uber awesome well sighting abilities. It really was a highlight of our time here in Liberia to drive out to the camp and find that the drillers had hit substantial water at one of the sights Kyle selected. I’ve got a couple of videos from the day that I will upload while in France.

No news to report for this coming week. We are working away and the work as usual is “plenty”. God is moving in our hearts and we are trying to sort through the meaning of what He is saying. That in and of it’s self is a full time job. Nonetheless, He is good and has given us much during our time here. Things that right now we are too much in the middle of all of this to see.

We appreciate everyone’s prayers. Please keep them coming!

Weekly Prayer Needs:

Pray for wisdom as we make important decisions for the future.

Pray that we would continue to be healthy (Praise God that we have not had any sicknesses so far!)

Pray that we would be sensitive to the Spirits leading as we minister to those around us.

Pray for us to be energized over the next few weeks and run hard until our break!

Time Lapse

You know those videos where they speed up time and show you a 24 hrs. of a bustling city in 30 seconds? That’s kind of what life feels like here. Last week I talked about the lessons we’ve learned in 6 months of being here. I don’t think either of us can believe that we’ve been here 6 months already. It’s a crazy feeling!

Last week was an eventful week! The largest EQUIP supported health facility, Saclepea Comprehensive Health Center, had a staff strike! The strike was against the Ministry of Health not EQUIP, but it still effected us because Saclepea is a large facility (80+ staff, in-patient and out-patient, maternity and isolation wards for TB and Lassa Fever). We had to make sure that critical patients were cared for and transferred if there was a need. At this point the strike is still going on, but is supposed to be suspended for one week while county health officials and the head of the Ministry of Health try to work out the issues.

Thanks so much to those of you who spent time in focused prayer for Ivory Coast. Last week French forces arrested Laurent Gbagbo and turned him over to the forces of the opposing side. I haven’t heard what they decided to do with him, but it didn’t seem to help the overall violence in the country. The bottom line is that this conflict is along tribal lines. That makes it a perfect storm for widespread genocide no matter who is in charge. Please continue to pray.

This week we continue to tackle the beast that is meeting the water and health needs of Nimba County. We pray that we do this with the Gospel on our lips and in our hearts. We also turn our eyes toward the death and resurrection of our Savior- He is after all the reason we are here. We pray that Easter will be alive in your home, but more so in your heart. We pray that we all would experience Easter in the dusty corners of our hearts that need cleaning out (hopefully you won’t find any hand sized spiders like I do here!).

Weekly Prayer Needs:

Pray for our hearts to be focused on the Gospel.

Pray that we would run with endurance this crazy race.

Pray that our marriage would be guarded and guided by God.

Pray for all of the little projects that we are invested in here. Pray that there would be fruit and that we would have wisdom as to how to continue.

What We’ve Learned So Far…

We’re inching up on the half way mark of this journey. I thought it might be good to make a post about the things that we’ve learned thus far.

First, let us revisit why it is we came here in the first place. Well, our first reason was of course our belief in the Gospel and it’s ability to transform hearts, minds and lives. We still firmly believe in this calling for every believer’s life, not just our own. Our second reason was to explore foreign, long term missions as a calling for our life. We have indeed plumbed the depths of this concept during our time here. We are confident in the fact that there are few things more important than carrying the Gospel to the ends of the earth in Word and deed.

That brings me around to the things we’ve learned over the last 6 months of this journey:

• The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the ONLY thing worth living and dying for- not clean water, not good health care, not anything this world can offer.
• We can live (without killing each other) in 90 degree year round heat, without running or hot water, unidentifiable disgusting smells, and limited electricity.
• An irreverant older woman (as described in Titus 2) is a woman who you hear before you see as once said by Voddie Bocom – we’ve observed this to be true thanks to our neighbors
• We love Liberians in all their frustrating, puzzling at times, quirkiness. Speaking Liberian English is one of the most fun gifts of this journey. Although it has taken it’s toll on our once verbose vocabulary. (o.k. maybe not too big of a toll- I did just use verbose in a sentence!)
• We’re headed back to the U.S. at the end of this with a clearer understanding of the struggle of missionaries all over the globe and have a deep passion to motivate the Body of Christ to take hold of a renewed vision for the work of the Gospel all over the world.
• We’re unbelievably blessed in America- I don’t mean this in a trite, just got back from a two week mission’s trip, sort of way.  I speak this from the depth of my experiences here and through eyes that have witnessed a woman nearly bleed to death from a complication that would have never happened in America. Eyes that have seen mats on dirt floors where women push out new life and lose their own.
• “You don’t have to be successful, you just have to be faithful.” We’ve come to know the words of, EQUIP International’s Director Barrie Flitcroft, to be abundantly true as this journey has thrown us more than our fair share of curveballs.
• We realized that some of the most needy people in the world are not poor Africans living in huts. They are broken people just like you and me trying to run after jobs and worldly success to fill a gaping hole in their souls.
• We now have gained the ability to dwell alongside of the world’s most frightening creatures- once you’ve found a green mamba in your bathroom a household roach is like child’s play.

I could go on listing for days the way God is teaching our hearts, stretching our sanity and reshaping our lives to reflect more of Him and I think those are lessons worth the journey.

TOMS Ain’t Got Nothin’ on Us

So most people know about TOMS shoes. Ya know, the hipster shoes that are not in reality that cute, but cost a bundle which is justified by the fact that a child in the third world (presumably barefoot) gets an equally ugly pair of shoes whenever you buy yours. Kind of cruel if you ask me.

I’m not bitter. Really, I’m not.

Here’s the point, we’ve told you about the boys that live in the leprosy/TB community and make carvings, baskets and other crafts. Well, we have a system with them that we help them out with small money once a month in exchange for some of the best pieces that they can make. Last month we gave them their “contracts” and their small money. They know that technically they aren’t supposed to ask for any more money until the next month, but there is always some reason they find to come and ask for some more. We’re used to this so it was no surprise when Elijah came to us and said (with pouty, sad eyes), “Someone stole my school shoes from my house and I need money for school shoes”. Kyle looked at his feet and said that he was wearing shoes so he didn’t see the problem. The problem was that they were slippers (otherwise known as flip flops in America) and not proper school shoes. Kyle then proceeded to inquire about where the other money went. Elijah had used it to pay his rent for the next year. Great, in theory, but in reality when you live in a place where people steal shoes from your house you should probably put some aside “just in case” something crazy happens- because crazy things do happen here! So there Kyle was denying money to Elijah for shoes- man, how anti-hipster of him.

Fast forward two weeks- the boys bring their monthly supply of carvings, baskets and the wild card-that could be anything- craft (we’ve got a lot of gifts for ya’ll when we get back- and not all of you will like them!) and Kyle went to meet them out by the gate. They always try to sell us additional items and when Elijah (Mr. I don’t have any school shoes cuz someone stole them out of my house) pulled out his most recent creation Mr. Kyle couldn’t wait to rush back to the house and dig out the needed money to make a purchase. Kyle comes back in the house where I am making dinner with a ridiculous grin on his face and announces that he has found his Birthday present (April 6th in case you are wondering- the big 3-0 for him!) and that I should go buy it for him. We dug up the money and I sent Kyle back out to buy it for fear that I would get roped into buying something else.

I’ve learned that Kyle’s taste is well…how do I put this delicately…interesting.

It came as no surprise when he came back through the gate carrying this:

Yes folks, a duck/basket- dasket if you will- constructed out of palm. It’s actually quite amazing. Our friends here thought it was pretty awesome and we all agreed that it was kind of like something you would find in Ten Thousand Villages. So there it is folks. We got a dasket and Elijah got his new shoes. Kind of brings a tear to your eye.

Really though, TOMS are ugly, overpriced shoes. I’m gonna have to check on Elijah’s purchase and make sure they are decent, durable, sensible looking shoes- and I draw the line when he starts asking us to buy him girl’s jeans. Please don’t leave comments defending TOMS. I’ve linked to their website about a million times so that should be enough to prove that we’re not trying to steal business from TOMS.

Although we will take orders for daskets.

Short Week

We had a short one last week because we stole a couple of days of rest at the beginning of the week- but somehow when you have a short week it always ends up being crazier in the end. You have to cram 5 days into 3 days! We’ve come to expect this and we are hanging on here in Liberia with each passing week and standing in awe of God’s ability to sustain through even the most unexpected of situations. It doesn’t take being a missionary in the middle of nowhere Liberia to experience God’s grace and sustaining love in our lives. I hope that you’re experiencing that right where you are.

Staff meeting, spiders, new faces, lots of laughter, even more headaches and a few bumpy car rides, Liberian English ruining our vocabulary…that just about sums up the week.

This week Kyle heads back out to New Yourpea to finish a few things on the water system that he installed a couple of weeks ago. Plus, someone (and it isn’t me!) has a Birthday this week. He doesn’t really want to talk about it, but personally I do, because he’s a great man and 30 is not something to cry over- not that he’s been crying over it just misting a little bit- and I think that 30 is going to be the best decade yet for us! I’m not going to mention that I have a couple of years left in my 20s…that makes him feel bad. phhhhttttt…Leave him some Birthday love on the blog this Wednesday and read tomorrow’s post to find out about his Birthday present.

Weekly Prayer Needs:

Pray for us as we travel this week

Pray for rest and endurance to continue this race.

Pray for our marriage as we struggle to carve out time for one another here.

Pray for those that we serve and serve with to see and hear the Gospel clearly.

Good Internet = New Videos!

Well, I’ve raved and raved about the great internet we had in Monrovia this past weekend! It was doubly amazing because it allowed me to upload some videos! So take a look at the handful of short videos that I’ve taken since we’ve been here!  I’m no Steven Spielberg so don’t be surprised when you see the quality and lack of cinematographic vision- sorry Bryce.

International Hoover’s super duper awesome youtube channel!

I give the videos two thumbs up!

Weekend Away

Over the weekend we made a break for it to Monrovia. Kyle’s eyes were beginning to look glassy and I feared I was losing him to the dark side. It was time for a little R&R. We’re feeling much better- amazing what hot water and internet that moves faster than a tree sloth can do for the soul!

Last week was an interesting week. Kyle went to the village where they are transporting refugees to the camp (they call it a way station) to oversee the installation of an emergency water system. Can anyone else put “emergency water system installation” on their resume? Didn’t think so!

I spent a couple of days in maternity ward of Saclepea Comprehensive Health Center (SCHC) and got to see a couple of births and work with some expectant moms! I have to say that I was incredibly impressed with the midwives at SCHC. They have been doing this for years and I learned a lot just watching them. Just my element! Also exciting news is that I was able to finish all requirements to submit for certification with DONA International as a birth doula! I will FINALLY be certified! Kyle is happy about this because he thinks the hoops that I have had to jump through are ABSOLUTELY ridiculous- in some ways he is right…but it’s what you do! Soon and very soon I can put CD(DONA) behind my name…Ahhhhhhh….

We’re headed back up to our Ganta home either today (Monday) or Tuesday morning. We hop right back into the thick of things. The majority of the refugee influx has moved to the south (another county is now being heavily impacted) as fighting has moved south towards the capital of Cote d’Ivoire. The situation in Ivory Coast is increasingly desperate and civil war is imminent. The international press is giving little to no attention to the situation in light of Libya, Japan and the riots in the Middle East.

It’s hard to remember in the midst of all of that is going on in the world that God is always, eternally, now and forever in control. Through our time here in Liberia we have been reminded how little control we have over this world. It’s easy to think in the perceived safety of our daily lives, routines and schedules that we exert some little tidbit of control over everything that happens. That is pride folks. Dirty, stinkin’ rotten pride and God hates it. Sorry to be so blunt- but we live with people who have been through decades of civil war. There is no pretense of control here- lots of other issues- but no pretense of control. No, God is the one that has numbered the hairs on our heads and holds everything together. Living here in Liberia we are reminded just how tenuous life is. It is a lesson that I hope Kyle and I won’t soon forget.

So in that light we move forward- trusting that God has us in the palm of His hand. Won’t you trust Him with us?

Weekly Prayer Needs:

Pray for continued rest in the midst of busyness and craziness!

Pray for safety as we travel

Pray for wisdom as we look towards the future

Pray for a vision for ministry that reaches deep into the needs of those we encounter on a daily basis.

Pray for our marriage as we daily seek to honor God through the gift of marriage.

Liberian Dictionary

So by now Kyle and I have been fully immersed in language study. Not language study in the formal sense, but language study in the “What are these people talking about sense?” Liberians speak English, but that is debatable. Listening to Liberian English is a skill. One interesting thing about Liberian English is some of the words used have all but disappeared from American English. Some of the words are strictly made up by Liberians but they somehow make sense.

Here are a few of our favorites:

Constraints: A constraint is anything that keeps you from being able to complete your work. For instance someone said to me the other day when questioned about why something wasn’t done, “You must understand my constraints.” We hear that word a lot.

Embarrassed: Embarrassment is not meant in the same way we mean embarrassed. It means more or less to be challenged by something. You can say things like, “The car embarrassed me this morning when it wouldn’t start.” It’s amazing how many inanimate objects can embarrass Liberians.

Vexed: This is a favorite word of ours. It is the word you used when anyone has really ticked you off. It sounds way nicer than other words that might get used in those situations. We like to think that just as Justin Timberlake was responsible for bringing sexy back a couple of years ago we would like to be the ones to bring vexed back to America.

Gocome: It’s as simple as this: I am going somewhere and then I will come right back. “I will gocome to the bank, ok?”

Add these to your Liberian English dictionary and before you know it you’ll be as confused as we are about what our Liberian friends are saying! We’ll add more words to this “dictionary” as they come to our mind.

Mouse in the House on a Monday

Top of the Mornin’ to Ya! (said in my best leprechaun voice- sorry we missed St. Patrick’s Day)

Hope that Monday in North America is all you ever dreamed it could be. Phhhhhhttttttttt…..yeah, right.

We’re sleepin’ off the week and heeding God’s command to take a day of rest as I write this. Problem is we need more than one day of rest. When I say “we” I mean Kyle. Kyle is exhausted from work and playing mean tricks on me. What is that you say? Kyle? Play tricks on you? No. Never. It just can’t be. Yes, mean tricks on his gorgeous, hard working, intelligent, incredibly forgiving wife.

Picture the scene:

I’m walking across our front yard with arms full of brooms, mops, household cleaners with my heart, mind and muscles set to destroy that black icky stuff growing in our shower. Kyle, walking to the car, passes me by with a smile and sweetly says there is a surprise for me in the house. Awwwwww, my husband in the midst of exhaustion and stress has taken the time to remember his (insert description from the end of the previous paragraph) wife. He gets in the car because his work for the week is not yet through and he must continue on to the far reaches of Nimba County, my knight…sigh….I rush to the front door, unlock it with trembling hands, dropping the broom and mop. I enter the room eyes scanning for a glimpse of my surprise! Then I see it...lying supine on the floor, nose pointed to the ceiling.

WARNING: The following photos may induce panic attacks in those of you that suffer from musophobia (fear of mice).

My surprise was a dead mouse.

Not really what I was hoping for. Panic attacks are not good surprises…ironically enough. The panic didn’t come from the dead mouse. No, the mouse was not the problem. It was the unknown killer of the dead mouse. Is it me or does it seem weird that a mouse would die mid-stride in the middle of the floor? My first thought was a snake! As you recall we had a snake in our house about a week after getting here, but Kyle reminded me that the snake would have eaten the mouse. Then I thought maybe it’s a spider! If it was the spider left no marks and disappeared into the ether (otherwise known as our ceiling). So that leaves a short list of ways that the mouseketeer could have died; a health issue (I’ve heard heart disease is the #1 leading cause of death in mice- all that cheese and peanut butter they steal off of mouse traps) or a tragic accident. I guess we’ll never know.

That is life in Liberia- dead mice in your house, lizards and spiders ogling you from the walls, disgusting smells that you can’t locate wafting across your olfactory nerves on a near constant basis. Yes, life in Liberia- truly unforgettable. (cue the Nat King Cole)

What else happened last week you might ask? Kyle managed to finish up sighting some new well locations at the 1st refugee camp along with his hundred other responsibilities. I finished up a few projects that I’ve been working on and spent some more time getting to know the kiddos that I’m investing in for my Bible Club of sorts. Martin is still my favorite.

Next week Kyle is headed back out to New Yourpea along the border to finish installing a water system. The rush of refugees has calmed over the last week as the conflict has moved to the south of Nimba, so breathe out and know that it’s still safe for Kyle to go out there. I will be spending some time in the maternity ward at Saclepea Comprehensive Health Center. I am excited to spend some time observing there and hopefully giving some input so that Liberian nurses and midwives can better serve their patients.

God continues to be faithful to us here in Liberia. Though we have had times in recent days that we thought we just couldn’t be stretched any further God always proves one step ahead and endlessly merciful. Isn’t that what this is all about anyway? Glorifying God and enjoying Him forever? Right now is a part of forever so we are living here in Liberia, ministering out of our weakness and trying to live out a life of glorifying and enjoying Him in the here and now forever. Thanks for journeying along with us.

Weekly Prayer Needs:

Pray for our safety as we travel and work.

Pray for rest in the midst of busyness.

Pray for our hearts to be softened to the Word of God.

Pray for those we work with to be softened by the Holy Spirit to the truth of the Gospel.

Super Cool Guy

This is Sam.

 

Sam is 5. Sam is wearing Kyle’s Cubs hat and sunglasses. We had to wrestle them away from him. Sam has a constantly ailing foot (sometimes it is because he stepped on a sharp rock, sometimes it is a splinter)- whatever the reason it requires him to wear two different shoes- a flip flop (a slipper as they say here) on the injured foot and a boot on the other foot. Sam is constantly covered in dirt, mud, snot, ya know the stuff 5 year old boys are made of.

He’s got style, he’s got class…

Sam is one super cool guy.

Prayers for Franklin

Remember our friend/driver Franklin? Yeah, the one who eats bats…

Well, take a moment to lift Frankie up to the Lord today. Yesterday he started having trouble walking and then lost the ability to speak- we feared the worst, but this morning found out that he was diagnosed with a bad case of malaria. Scary, but treatable. Cerebral malaria can be nasty, but thankfully there are drugs that can knock it out. Pray that this is all that it is.

Pray for him and his family as he recovers at home.

Pineapple Under the Sea

You could actually have a roomy home inside of this thing. Kyle found it on his way to the border in one of the many villages that he passed through. He told one of his WATSAN guys, Sackie, that it was as big as he is…Sackie is a small man- but nonetheless.

The pineapple to the left is a “normal” size pineapple. The one to the right is the victim of some type of nuclear experiment. We paid $1.25 (90 Liberian dollars) for this beauty. Now we just have to find a chainsaw to cut it with!

Runnin’ On Empty

In the last week we’ve felt like a pinball machine being shot all around Liberia. Ganta to Monrovia, Ganta to some of the border villages, back to Ganta from Monrovia, back from the border villages only to turn around and go back out. We’re exhausted. Kyle especially.

The situation in Ivory Coast continues to deteriorate and it doesn’t look like our work will be letting up any time soon. UNHCR is establishing a second camp and the rumor is that there could be up to 12 camps established. The total number of refugees in Nimba could be close to 200,000 by the end of the month! We’ve definitely seen the direct effects that it is having on the clinics that we support and the water points that EQUIP is responsible for. Our facilities are stressed and resources are scarce. Please pray for us as we respond to these needs.

EQUIP has been distributing jerry cans for safe water storage among the Liberian host population and the Ivorian refugee population.

Remember the bats? Yeah, this is Frankie, aka Batman. Totally non-refugee related, but still relevant to our life in Liberia- note the sport coat he is rocking on a Monday morning- our drivers are class-eeeee

On a non-refugee note, I (Jessica) had a great time last week taking two of our Liberian staff to Monrovia to do a presentation. Genni and Lawrina are our Reproductive Health Supervisors and they work with traditional midwives in the communities surrounding our 23 health centers and clinics. They are constantly working on strategies to improve the rate at which women give birth safely in the clinic. Their success has been impressive, so impressive that the big wigs with USAID wanted to hear about it! So me and our Medical Coordinator, Kristen took them down to Monrovia to present! They did an amazing job and received extremely high praise from a very tough audience! It was a really proud moment! I wish I had pictures, but in the rush to leave I left my camera here in Ganta- boo-hiss!

So that is a brief overview of the last week- minus the giant spiders and detailed accounts of bumpy car rides and sketchy nights sleeping in illegal gold operations- wait what am I talking about? I’ll safe that for another post…if you’re lucky.

Weekly Prayer Needs:

Pray for our sanity- really it’s quite stressful right now!

Pray for Christ to overflow our hearts and out weigh our stress.

Pray for the current Franklin Graham Festival that Samaritan’s Purse is putting on across the country this month. Pray that it would be a fruitful work that leads to dedicated disciples of Christ.

Pray for rest and refreshment for our bodies, hearts and mind.

When Plans Change

We’ve been here in Liberia four months. Four months in which nothing has gone as planned. Nope, our plans have been flipped upside down by a few thousand (try 50,000+) refugees milling around Liberia’s eastern border. This past week we began to hear about fighting on the other side. Everyone take a deep breath and be reassured that we are in no immediate danger. Kyle and I are a long way from the border, 5 hours away to be exact, and the fighting is in the Ivory Coast not here in Liberia.

The fighting has however sent a rush of refugees over the border into the areas surrounding our clinics. The last month or so felt like a stale mate as far as the refugee “crisis” was concerned. This feels as if a dam has broken that had been holding thousands of refugees back. One of our colleagues that went out to our Buutuo clinic, a hotspot for Ivorian refugees crossing over, reported thousands of refugees packed like sardines into a local school to sleep.

We’ve had such an unusual experience in the time that we have been here. Lots of curve balls have been thrown our way and it’s left us wondering what it is that God is trying to accomplish through our hands here.  The needs are great. The work is plenty. Pray that the Gospel can be made known through our lives and through this situation. We are praying for peace in Ivory Coast and continued peace in Liberia.

Weekly Prayer Needs:

Pray for peace in Ivory Coast and for peace to reign in our own hearts.

Pray for rest for us.

Pray for safety wherever we may travel.

Pray for wisdom on the way forward in our ministry here.

The Difference Between Life and Death

Death is a way of life in Liberia.

I’m not trying to be morose. I’m not trying to be a real downer on your Wednesday. It’s the truth. We were warned before we got here that death is a regular occurrence. I know, I know- what does that mean? Isn’t death a regular occurrence everywhere?

As a student of public health you spend a lot of time looking at statistics. International statistics about rates of birth, death, and disease. Afghanistan, Sudan (in all it’s incarnations), Haiti all rank at the tops of these lists and so does Liberia. It’s easy to leave these statistics in the theoretical while sitting behind a desk or flipping through t.v. channels. It’s not so easy when you befriend the people that these statistics directly affect.

We’ve been here for four months and have forged friendships with a lot of Liberians. In the those four months we have gotten word of countless numbers of deaths amongst our friend’s families. Just last week we heard of two deaths connected with our EQUIP Liberia family. One was our young mechanic, Sylvester’s, one week old daughter. The believed cause was malaria- particularly dangerous for children and especially infants.

Sylvester was back at work on Tuesday. Sitting on the EQUIP office’s front porch surrounded by 15 or so men sitting silent with him- silence is not normal in Liberia- ever. Tears glistening in his eyes he told us that he needed to come back to work. The pain is there. Liberians aren’t immune to grief, but they have gotten really good at moving on in the midst of it. They’ve had to. Between two civil wars, 25+ years of conflict and public health problems that continue to plague the country there hasn’t been time to take a breath.

So we’re left with the question when death can’t be ignored. What do we do to help? The answers aren’t easy. The hard questions never have easy answers. We emulate Jesus. We weep with our friends. We sit- like those 15 men with Sylvester- in silence and allow our compassion to be the loudest sound around. We pray that by God’s grace we can place hands on the wound of death slashed across this country and at least slow the bleeding. We have faith that the little work that our hands do might be found to the praise and honor of Christ and live with the hope that in life or in death we might glorify Him through this work.

Death is a way of life in Liberia but life, true life, is found in Jesus who conquered death. I’m looking for true life in the midst of real life in Liberia.

February Flying By…

Welp, here comes another week. A week in which we promise to be better at blogging. O.k., we’ll really try- I retract my promise.

I (Jessica) wrapped up the Clinical Management of Rape training on Friday and there are now 17 clinicians trained to treat victims of sexual violence in Nimba County! Kyle’s WATSAN team has been working all over Nimba repairing water points and even doing much needed repairs to the roads. Last Friday refugees began to be moved to the camp. So yeah, we’ve been busy!

This week is the monthly staff meeting. We’ll share the highlights at the end of the week!

Weekly Prayer Needs:

Pray for our family as we miss them and they miss us!

Pray for our travels all around the county and back and forth to Monrovia

Pray for our relationships with those we work with that they would be fruitful for the Gospel.

Pray for us as we endure the heat of Liberia- without A/C or a fan.

M.I.A. on a Monday

Hey Folks and Faithful Readers,

Sorry about yesterday (and the majority of today!). We spent a few days relaxing in Monrovia before returning back to our home here in Nimba County. It was a nice break from Ganta and our constant work. We ate something other than rice and beans and enjoyed Dubai One, our new favorite Middle Eastern television station. All in all a really nice weekend- just too short!

We returned back to Ganta late Sunday. We put away all the goodies we got from the grocery store and readjusted our bodies to sleeping without air conditioning. Even a couple days of A/C spoiled us!

This week is a busy one as usual!

I (Jessica) am organizing and conducting a training on the Clinical Management of Rape. This training will allow many clinics across Nimba County to serve women (and men) who are the victims of rape or other sexual gender based violence across their communities. Kyle is continuing to direct his WATSAN team across Nimba. Our work (both health and WATSAN) now encompasses both our regular responsibilities as well as work with the Ivorian refugee population. Kyle and his team have much work to do in the next 3 months!

We will write more later to fill you in on the details of our work and the way that the Lord is working in our hearts and through our work. We confess that words fall short all too often.

Weekly Prayer Needs:

Pray for our sanity through long days, short nights and complicated work.

Pray for the Word to be alive in our hearts and in our lives.

Pray for our relationships with everyone we work with and alongside of here in Liberia.

P. S. There was a “devil” in Ganta yesterday. He was a Valentines devil apparently. Our friend Kristen had to pay him off so he would stop dancing next to the car. Happens. All. the. Time. Welcome to Liberia.