A Machine Gun, Monkey-in-the-middle, and Austrian filled Christmas Eve

In case you are jumping in late... I am blogging my journal entries from Africa. It starts with "Africa in a Nutshell" followed by the first journal entry on December 16th! I would love for you to read along. If you are, then please let me know by following me (its easy to do... just click "join site")!



December 24th, 2011


Happy Christmas Eve! Today truly has been amazing. We were expecting a bridal party sleepover at our place tonight so we got up early to clean the area up and prepared small gifts for the girls.


Once we finished breakfast we headed to town to run a few errands to prepare for the conference. At the Church, I met a sweet girl named Cecilla Davis and reunited with two boys from earlier in the week. Cecilla was reserved and I very much wanted to be intentenal with her. She was writing on a chalk board in the basement of the church, so i asked her if she knew what tic-tac-toe was. She responded "No," so I asked her if she wanted me to teach her. She once again responded, "no," and I was super discouraged. A while later after attempting to form a relationship with this little girl, I asked them all if they knew what monkey-in-the-middle was. They did not verbally answer, but their body language did... they jumped up, and we then enjoyed a good game of of monkey in the middle!


We made a million stops today, but my favorite - a place we could use the Internet at for a few minutes... time has never gone by sooo fast!


Through our many stops, it was great seeing Dennis and Vania invest in the community and share Christ love and Christmas cheer. They have such big hearts! Our friend Yessa came along with us... it was so great spending time with her because she had been really sick the last week, and everyone was beginning to worry.


During our morning travels we saw some of the after-effects of the riots which were slightly scary... worse than that, was the UN men with machine guns and tanks lined through out the town. it made me slightly...lets be real...REALLY nervous!


When finally getting back to the compound we quickly ate lunch and headed out again..this time to Bohnestown!


To get there we took another safari ride through ht the jungle - even driving through water! I really enjoyed that part! I LOVE driving through villages and seeing all the children waving! It will be sad to get home where "white women" are not interesting!


When reaching Bohnestown we toured a school of CRCA(Christian Revival Church Association- the organization I was working with!) and the foudnation of the new school space being built. We met a bunch of new friends that I can not wait to see again o nthe 26th! Their school that they loved made me thankful for ECCPS school systems!


When we left we took with us - rabbits on top of the car, and four men, and about 5 LIVE chickens in bags in the back of the car with us!


Coming back to the compound we learned today was our friend, Thomas's Birthday, so we gave him a small gift. Not sure if it brought him joy, but it brought me much joy to give it to him.


We then cooked dinner for our guest coming in tonight from Lofa. They are very successful young men from Austria who have dedicated nine months of their live to the Lord, by serving in Liberia. Their testimonies are amazing and their stories hilarious. I am really looking forward to spending time with them in the next week.


God is truly doing great things in my life and those lifes around me. I am praying he works through me ... looking forward to a santa, chocolate, and tradition free Christmas tomorrow! Christ is the [only] reason for the season!!


-Luke 2:11

Playing monkey-in-the-middle, in the basement!

part of our jungle ride...

Fetching water....like I said...pants are optional!

The friends we met in Bohnestown! I love them sooo much! (Sarah didn't make it to the picture)

Their classroom, that they are very thankful for!

The BEAUTIFUL view from the school! God's beauty amazes me!

The new project.... it will be the first ever cafeteria...the kids will finally recieve meals!

Thomas wearing his shirt we gave him for his birthday!

Police Encounter #2

December 23, 2011

Seven days into the adventure and I am ready for a hot shower, air-conditioner, and well...to be really honest....America.

Tonight  I was able to talk to my dad for a short bit and he asked, "is it what you expected?"... There is no way I could have predicted this, though I do love it here. I very much wanted to ask my dad to pray for my safety and peace in Liberia but did not want to frighten him.

After going to the church this morning to get things to prepare for the conference, we decided to stop at the shop on the left side of the road to buy some wood carvings. We parked on the right side, Vania placed Lucas on her back, and we prepared to cross Liberia's crazy street. This in itself would be a risk.

We got to the half way mark alive (there is no turn lane) and waited for traffic to stop. People definitely were turning their heads at the sight of three white women and a baby. One truck stopped for us to pass, and so the car beside him did also... the car behind did NOT and smashed full force into the back of the truck - directly in front of us (as in a few feet), while we were in the middle of the highway in the worse traffic I have ever seen. Have you ever seen a wreck, where a car was completely compacted, yet did not sway left or right in any way? This would not make since to happen right? Well....by the grace of God it did happen...and I am alive.... I did not even get ran over! : )

People then began shouting everywhere - we finished crossing the street and attempted to aid the shaken women who stumbled out of the car, with blood running down one women's head. Thank God, no one was too badly injured.

Many people blamed us for being a distraction. Apparently we should have known this would happen... I mean we were white. duh. Though I guess us white women did in fact cause this wreck...it was not our fault. I have to admit .... when the police can... I was terrified. I imagined myself in some sketchy police office again... the police man was kind and forgave us.

The interesting part is that the same truck crashed into was the same truck that kindly toad the car away. Apparently Liberians always solve their differences quickly.

Not everyone solves their problems with peace though... back to the reason I wanted to ask my dad to pray for protection...

We had somewhere to be at 5pm so we began to leave the compound around 4:30, when we got a call not to be on the road - to stay at home. We did not know why but later we learned this...

A few weeks ago the government hired students to clean up  the city and do other odd and end jobs for two weeks. They were each said to receive $100 usd at the end of it. Because of the lack of technology, names of those hired were not properly recorded and people who did not work were claiming to have worked, and receiving money...also the government only paid half of what they said they were going to pay.

This may not seem like a huge deal - but here it is - $100 usd is more than most people make in a whole month!

This scenario caused a HUGE riot. People were blowing up cars, catching a ton of buses on fire, throwing stones, blocking the streets with trees they were chopping down..... Dennis  was on the street and had to escape to a back road. Tomorrow night the entire town has a 6pm curfew.

I am praising God for my safety! Though it is a little frightening, God said to "fear not" so that's what I will do! I am blessed with His peace tonight, and am praying these riots end asap!

"The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe. " -Proverbs 29:25

That certain time things are "suppose" to happen!

For young adult women... the hardest thing to entrust God with is relationships. There is a certain time you are "suppose" to meet the boy of your dreams, a certain time you are "suppose" to fall in love, a certain time you are "suppose" to be engaged, and a certain time you are "suppose" to be married. I cannot figure out who exactly decided when all these things were suppose to happen... but whoever they are... YOU ARE WRONG AND I HATE YOU!!! (disclaimer: i do not actually hate anyone)

I am not saying this to teach you a lesson, or explain how to fix a problem. I am simply publicly announcing my own struggles in hopes it encourages someone else.

Two things are for certain. One, I know without a doubt that when God decides to place the man of my dreams in my life, He will also give me complete and total clarification that he is "the one." Two, I am certain that I wish this moment of clarification has already happened....it certainly has not!

That "suppose" to happen time is slowly slipping away, and I am faced with two options.
1. I throw a pity party for myself. I cry about how lonely I am, am jealous of all my friends who are dating, engaged, married, and having babies. I decide that God's timing is not working out and I can handle it by myself.

2. I realize that the "suppose" time is not decided by me, by Hollywood, by my friends, or my family. It is decided by someone much bigger than all these things. I trust that Gods time is perfect... mine is not.

I chose option two. Is this easy? No. Do I always do it? No. For the majority of days I can honestly say that I truly trust God with this area of my life. I truly am content in Him, and Him alone. But... some days I honestly have a hard time trusting God, because I want things my way. (how selfish right?) I want to be using all my wedding pins on pintrest to actually plan a wedding. I want to buy Alfred Angelo style 1816 wedding dress instead of selling it to customers at Louisas Bridal. I want to wear a square cut diamond ring on my left hand, instead of seeing it on everyone else's. I want to love someone who loves the Lord more than me...

God clearly says in scripture that singleness is a blessing. It was brought to my attention in a sermon...single does not just mean never being married. Being single means you simply are not married at any given moment. So, if God has not blessed me with marriage yet...He has blessed me with singleness. I need to embrace that blessing. How?

1. While I do not have distractions of a husband.... I should spend time with my precious Savior with no distractions.
2.Pray that God continue to grow my future husband into the man I know he will be.
3. Enjoy my great friendships I have been blessed with.
4. LOVE my pink, lime green, and zebra room while I can. (i would never be ok with marrying someone who approved of this room decor.)
5. Trust. Trust me? no. Trust God? absolutely.

I would venture out to say, this is not just a struggle of young adult women... but also young adult men.

So... you are not the only one struggling... I am too! : ) I am down for talking to any of you single folks who need a little encouraging. God is sovereign over our lives... I pray you remember that!

My Dad is such a great example of what a Godly man should be.
Thankful for his influence in my life!


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