Family Trip to Salone

  It has been an amazing and busy week. I was so blessed to have my sister Stephanie and her husband Ben come and visit me for ten days here in Sierra Leone. This has been the first visit for me from friends and family back home. I know that it was a huge sacrifice for them, yet I pray that it was a time of learning for them and a time of seeing the needs and work here in Sierra Leone.

A lot of our time was traveling between Makeni and Freetown, and the time seemed to speed by faster than light. We had time to laugh, catch up on life back home and experience the work taking place in Sierra Leone. For many, pictures and words can never fully communicate what it is like living and working here. That is why I am so thankful that their visit here will be a catalyst to help me communicate fully the joys and challenges of working on the mission field to you all.

One of the highlights of our week was spending a Sunday with Pastor Emmanuel and his family in the Deep Eye Water area. Pastor Emmanuel is my first Sierra Leonean instructor for Tree of Life and has since begun a new church as a result of his sharing the Truth with his students. The Sunday we spent with them was inspiring as we sat in their house church packed out with 28 people. It was their 6^th service.  I am thankful for how God is blessing Pastor and his family for his faithfulness, integrity and perseverance as we partner together.

We also were able to visit the Binkolo Growth Centre led by Ismail Bangura. My family was able to see were our next new Tree of Life class will begin in December there and to hear about our potential partnership with the centre to process moringa and make it available to populations at risk for malnutrition and for possible exportation.

We also had some fun time together at the beautiful Tokeh Beach. I could not let my family fly thousands of miles without letting them enjoy the beauty of the beaches here in Sierra Leone. It was a relaxing and long overdue opportunity to just ‘chill’.

I also want to say thank you to the individuals and churches who gathered needed items for me and the work here. Also, I want to say thanks for the fun items as well. I may be subject to a Skittle overdose! ;-) You all will never know what the little things mean here and how much they are treasured.

I will be writing more soon as I prepare for the new class in the coming weeks. Please continue to pray for more leaders to arise. Pray for the new church Pastor Emmanuel is leading and for his family. Pray for our team as many are traveling and as change is on the horizon. I love you all. LG+LP

Honest Faith

This season of my life I am learning about suffering. I confess in the past, the suffering I experienced in life consisted of things such as a flat tire, hoping my depleted checking account would cover my bills, or a transient sickness would knock me out of pocket for a few days. Please do not misunderstand me. I am not trying to diminish or minimize various types of suffering, yet even in those situations, it has occurred to me that my past sufferings seem small in comparison to the war that rages around me now. I realize the blessing of having lived in a country blessed with abundant resources, access to a family of faith and the peace of mind knowing that safety and security is a priority. That stands in direct contrast to my current world where suffering and persecution is on a much larger scale minus the safety nets I took for granted. The truth is, we cannot empathize with the hungry unless we are hungry. We can’t understand a martyr’s allegiance in the face of death until we ourselves face a persecuting mob. In other words, we can easily rattle off scripture, but can never truly understand how that will flesh out until our own lives and faith are in the midst of those same circumstances.

As a believer, I have discovered that faith is a radical thing. In a culture of faith and freedom of religion, it is easier to exercise it and proclaim it. We often forget that the tests of our faith reveal the depth of our faith. We learn the right verses to quote, the correct blessings to pronounce and the cliché responses that are expected in the world of Christian culture. I have been humbled to examine my own religious culture and to examine if what falls out of my mouth is what truly is felt in my heart. This may be the last thing you expect a missionary to write, yet I would be a hypocrite to recite expected religious liturgy without acknowledging the truth about all believers…we are human and flawed.

I often think about John the Baptist and doubting Thomas on their quest of solidifying their faith. We may think of Christians who ask “Why” to be heretical. And God forbid if we question God and admit that we do not understand His ways or thoughts. Through this time of my life, I have come to relish the honesty of those who hurt, do not understand and who ask those questions. It is not a guarantee that God, in His sovereignty, will in fact give us all the answers, yet there is something beautiful about people being honest with themselves, other hurting believers and ultimately with God.

My faith started with the question “Why?”. Growing up in a Christian family, I learned the proper responses and church culture required of me. I thank God for Christian parents that exposed me to the Truth of the Word, yet we all know that faith is a personal journey and not an inherited way of life. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I started asking, “Why do I believe what I believe?” I had to strip away much of my learned behavior and begin the solitary journey to discover Jesus for myself. This was a milestone for me.

Now is the season of testing. It is the time in the caves alongside David fleeing from Saul’s spear. It is a time when faith seems to slip, questions come, and yet silence. James reminds us that we should ‘rejoice in our sufferings because it yields perseverance’. This is when the providence and faithfulness of God’s hand reaches down in the midst of my ignorance and utter exhaustion to fulfill that promise.It is the time in-between that is the battle.

What would our family of faith look like if we were honest about our questions and doubts? How much more could we relate to those within the faith and those struggling outside the faith? How much encouragement and solace would it bring to us and others knowing that we are walking the craggy, narrow road together and not possessing all the answers? I write this today to remind us all to be honest, to remain steadfast in prayer, trust God and to never allow ourselves to be calloused to the sufferings of others and their battle to endure it.

I love you all! LG+LP

Praises and Prayers

Life on the mission field is filled with extremes. Sometimes work is overwhelming, fast and never-ending. Other times, the pace is slow and seems to creep by while the rest of the world spins out of control. I can say that the past couple of months have been more on the moderate paced side. I have been blessed to be settled in my new place and making new friends within my neighborhood. The place is very secure, yet I cannot say that it is extremely quiet. Of the four walls of the compound, outside one wall is a church, the other a mosque, the third a road and the fourth an entertainment center that plays soccer matches over a PA system. Though the area is full of activity, it is a blessing from God and I am thrilled to be there.

Our Tree  of Life classes are doing well. This week I met with Pastor Emmanuel, the lead instructor for the Tree of Life branch in Freetown. He just finished up his latest class of 9 bringing our total of graduates up to over 160 since last October. He also has relocated to an area known as Deep Eye Water which was born out of a seeker from a previous class name “A”. “A” asked Pastor Emmanuel to come to the area and begin a new church since the area is lacking and very populated. Pastor has found a house and is meeting regularly with “A” and six others who have expressed interest in knowing more about the Christian faith. Please be in prayer for this new church plant and for Pastor Emmanuel as he teaches these seekers of Truth.

Tree of Life will also be beginning a second class in Makeni starting in the month of October. We are dialoguing and working with the Binkolo Growth Centre in Binkolo,, a village just north of Makeni. I am hoping this will be the site of the new class. We also are dreaming together with this growth center about developing it to allow a network of farmers grow and sell moringa for processing at this center. This will provide moringa to local and international markets. It also will create jobs and open more avenues for the Tree of Life curriculum in villages surrounding the Makeni area. Please be in prayer for all who are involved in these initial stages of planning and discussion.

I also am happy to announce that in November my sister and her husband will be visiting Sierra Leone for 10 days. I am so excited that I will get to see my family and have them experience life here in Sierra Leone. My prayer for them is that this vision trip will help them know more about the needs within Sierra Leone, the needs of missionaries and others working here, and to return as advocates for the work and people within the country. Please pray for them as they prepare to come.

I will keep this brief for now and will write more soon. I hope to have transportation by the end of the month, so that is another answered prayer. Continue to remember my team as we strive to work and serve here in Sierra Leone. With every victory comes a new challenge. I love you all and am forever grateful for your support, love and prayers. May God continue to bless you and keep you.

Busy and Blessed

The last month has been a a busy and exhausting week full of praises and new challenges. I first want to say thanks to God for the answered prayer of a new place to live. Renting here is not always easy. Finding a fair price and a place that is secure can be a challenge. My lease was up on my old place on September 1. Up until a week before this date, I had no idea or confirmation of a new place to live. I literally was riding on a wave of faith and prayers trusting that God would provide. He did.

The new place is the same price as my old place with the added luxuries of a fence, security guards, running water and a gas burner. No more cooking with charcoal! ;-) A good friend of mine, Tracey, who was working with a partnering NGO advocated for me concerning this house since she was leaving at the end of August. They even threw in some furniture and beds. This by far has been a relief and has taken a load of stress off of me concerning the past break-ins and security risks.

I also am praying about purchasing transportation soon thanks to another blessing of God through an anonymous donor. This will help greatly since I commute back and forth to Freetown and since the project will now be expanding due to a future teacher training conference that I am planning. Continue to pray that this purchase and the reliability of the transportation will suffice for the work here.

I am excited to say that Tree of Life is going strong, yet slow. I am focusing on quality and not quantity at this point. Pastor Emmanuel, my lead instructor in Freetown, reported four new conversions this past month and is moving closer to the new church he has planted. We also have five potential new teachers for the ministry, and I am working now on developing the training for them sometime in November.

I also am grateful that some of my family will be coming in November to visit me and for a vision trip. One of the biggest fears of missionaries working abroad is the thought of being forgotten. It is really a blessing to know that they will be coming to encourage me, my friends, our project and to see things first hand in order to report back in the States. I have been blessed greatly by all of you who have been faithful to continue to support me financially, through prayer and kind emails. It means so much to me and only God knows the value it holds within my heart.

One thought from my journal before I go…

Exodus 4-6

Today as I read from these chapters, I was fascinated by Moses’ continual doubt and questioning of God. I guess I should not be surprised. I am guilty of the same thing. Moses must have expected his own words via Aaron, and the signs and wonders to bring about an immediate release of the Israelites from Pharaoh's hand. It did not. Moses continued to go back despite that his own people began to despise and blame him for their increased work, Pharaoh’s resistance, and also Moses’ perception that God did not hold up his end of the bargain. God, you always uphold Your promises but in Your own time and in Your own ways. Just as Moses was persistent to listen to Your voice to “Go tell Pharaoh…”, help me persevere during my own circumstances and doubt to obey You knowing that you will fulfill your promises with complete perfection.

I love you all! LG+LP

Binkolo Growth Centre

Often I find myself amazed at the kinds of people and organizations I encounter here in Sierra Leone. So many Sierra Leoneans are doing great work and are making the most of their skills and resources in order to further the development of their country. You rarely hear about these success stories in contrast to the bad news that often carries the weight of the media’s attention. One of these people is Ismail Bangura from the Binkolo Growth Centre near Makeni.

Binkolo is a small village just north of where I Live in Makeni. I met him through a friend from a partnering NGO. My friend heard of my work with moringa and knew of Ismail’s new venture with the processing of moringa, and she connected us. Tree of Life is growing and we are praying and exploring the possibility of joining partners in developing a network of farmers for the production and sale of moringa to local and international markets. This will give jobs to the local farmers and others and would hopefully encourage a new moringa industry that will benefit the country as a whole. We are still in the discussion and planning stages so I ask that you pray with us as we seek wisdom in this facet of the ministry here. We believe this will also open up opportunities into various communities to share of Tree of Life curriculum and the truth of the Gospel.

Binkolo Growth Center is truly a breath of fresh air. Mr. Bangura has been at the center since the war began and later reopened it when the war ended in 2001. His goal is to impart skills to local communities, advocate for them in the areas of marketing, and to encourage them in striving toward a self-sustainable life through the use of the skills they have acquired. The center consists of a carpentry shop, blacksmith shop, agriculture center, computer lab, conference hall, canteen, cassava/moringa processing center and various offices.

It was amazing to me to walk into the blacksmithing shop and to see polio victims, physically disabled, teaching young, healthy men the trades and skills that they had acquired. Mr. Bangura made a note of the role reversal and said that this was intentional. Mr. Bangura recognizes that many disabled individuals have intact minds that should be utilized in training others in their various areas of expertise. This has instilled within the disabled a sense of dignity since many often struggle with stigmas and the rejection of society in large. Mr. Bangura shared with us that he is a Christian and his commitment to the people at the center truly revealed a heart that longs to help the less fortunate within his country.

My prayer is that the Binkolo Growth Centre will continue to flourish and will be a partner with us as we continue with our ministry here. Please pray for Ismail and the center as they continue to make a difference in their community. Continue to pray for Tree of Life as we grow and form into a sustainable ministry here in Sierra Leone and for the development of long lasting partnerships. God bless you all and thank you for your continued support and prayers. LG+LP