Moving up and out!

I feel like I have climbed Mt. Everest today. We have been preparing the Tree of Life curriculum for several months now, and today I give thanks to God that all the lessons have been completed and are now print ready.

Many people and lots of blood, sweat and tears have gone into this process. I want to give special thanks to Joshua Smith, Moses Kamara, Mark Sesay, Sullay Kargbo, Sada Herrera, Megan Ryan, Kerry Kennedy, and everyone else who has encouraged and prayed us through this process.

We have completed 15 community health lessons that are picture driven and designed for learners who cannot read or write. They are laminated with the English and Krio written lessons on the back. We also have three lessons dedicated to moringa education in the same format. This makes a total of 18 lessons. We have also 18 Bible lessons starting from Genesis and going through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Each class will contain both community health lessons/moringa lessons and Bible stories. By the time the class is done, we will have shared the Gospel with the students in each class.

 

We will have our first class in Jui, Freetown and will soon be traveling to the Makeni area, where I am based, to take this education and Truth to the rural villages. We have about a half dozen people who will be the “Dream Team” behind this ministry here in Sierra Leone. We hope to be training them in the coming weeks. I also know that all of you reading these blogs, giving and praying are our extended team around the world. Thank you and may God give back to you all that you have given us 100 fold.

Move to Makeni

The gazillion stones I moved one by one...this is half the pile!

Time in Africa seems to move at an exponential rate of slowness. I know that I have been communicating my move to Makeni for the sake of the project for months now. It has taken these months to secure housing, make repairs, and tie up loose ends in Jui, my previous home. We, Joshua and I, arrived in Makeni last Saturday, August 18^th.

I do have mixed emotions after living two years in Jui. I am so use to my neighbors calling my name in the streets, the warm greetings and the adorable children stopping by for a cup of water or candy. I also am missing my two other disciple Mark and Moses. They came and helped with the move on Saturday, but I felt tears coming to my eyes when I realized that they would no longer be dropping in every day for a meal or bible study. I hope that God will allow us to continue our discipleship from afar. Both guys have committed to visiting here often, and I will be going to Freetown every month as well.

The finished layout....now comes the planting!

So the house is nice and big. I am anticipating teams from partnering churches and family members visiting as the project grows. We have been working hard on the house the last five days in cleaning, prepping, making wire mesh widow screens to combat the mosquitoes, and removing a gazillion large stones from the garden area in the back. FYI I did ALL the work in the garden myself!

Joshua hard at work making wire screens to protect us from mosquitoes

Joshua has been a big help and it is my first time seeing his carpentry skills come alive. He is doing a great job and I definitely admire his skills. He has been such an asset to the project and I know that God will continue to use him in the ministry. He is talking about full time missions and is still reading eagerly the Word of God. Continue to pray for him and me both. Cultural differences have been our biggest challenge. I am praying for unity, trust, honesty and understanding.

I have completed 15 Community Health Lessons that are print/lamination ready. I also have 5 moringa lessons and another 20 Bible Stories. Since February, this has been the giant staring me in the face, but today I knocked that Giant in the head with a stone and am celebrating that the translation, research and compilation of these 40 lessons are coming to an end!

The next step will be training local pastors/Christians in executing the project. That is my next step. I hope to plan a two day seminar that will give them all the prayer, tools and encouragement they need to go teach their communities that God wants them to be healthy and whole through Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray for us as we finalize these lessons and begin preparing for training.

Gusteau the Security Dog!

We are still raising money for a car to help us get to the remote areas of the country. Pray that the right car will meet us with the right price. Pray for my brothers, Mark, Moses, Sullay and Joshua. Pray that they will continue to hold tight to their faith as we adjust our means of discipleship.

Oh, and I almost forgot! Meet Gusteau, our new watch dog! The only thing he watches now are the flies he tries to catch on the veranda! ;-/

I love you all and will update as soon as I can! Please write and let me know how I can pray for you as well.

Humble & Fruitful Beginnings

Today is a glorious day and a time of thanks for the first Tree of Life workshop that was held in Grafton Sierra Leone. There has been much preparation for this event and many people have sacrificed time and money to make this event happen. The event was held in a war widows’ camp led by a wonderful woman of God, Margaret Tucker. These widows, who have lost much due to the 10 year civil war in Sierra Leone, have banded together and are known as the ‘War Widows for Christ’. They are 80 in number and are farming together to try and build sustainable lives for themselves and the children they care for.

We were invited to come and share the good news about the moringa tree and the Good News about Christ. We took this time to teach them and to encourage them in their work and lives. Myself, Pastor Emmanuel, Joshua, Mark, and Sullay were the teachers that taught during the two day workshop. We also had a team of volunteers who had come to serve alongside of my teammates, Tom and Becky Brockelman, come and help us. Tony Anderson, an agriculturalist, and his wife Sarah joined us and helped teach the widows how to plant moringa. I am so thankful for the people God put together to put this program together.

The program began Monday evening. We led our time with a time of praise and devotion to God. Pastor Emmanuel shared the Word of God and shared about Jesus being the Living Water. He then taught the widows how to use sunlight to make clean water. He did an excellent job and provided much needed information to this population who has lost children due to sickness from drinking unclean water. After the water lesson, I introduced the widows to the moringa tree. I shared with them how much God loved them to put such a wonderful resource all around them in Sierra Leone.

 

Tuesday morning, we began with devotion and prayer. We then went to the garden and planted 10 moringa seedlings. Tony Anderson demonstrated to the widows how to plant and then encouraged them to plant the remaining seedlings. There were so many good questions and everyone put their knowledge into practice. It was a wonderful time working together.

We ended the morning with a lesson on moringa powder. We talked about malnutrition and how to use this powder to prevent it. Joshua and Mark demonstrated how to make the powder. I am very proud of them as this was their first time standing up and teaching a crowd. They did a marvelous job. They continued to show the widows how to incorporate the moringa powder into their traditional African food. All were receptive and committed to sharing their new knowledge with their families and neighbors.

My heart is soaring and I am encouraged in the work God has called me to here in Sierra Leone. I am thankful to the people God has brought along side of me to partner in the work. Our hearts have been ignited as we have seen the open hearts of this community to the truth about moringa and the Truth about Christ. Let God continue to lead us to those communities in Sierra Leone that are in need of physical and spiritual healing. Praise be to God for all!

Making Progress

A completed moringa lesson.

 Big things have been happening with the project. The first thing that I need to inform you all about is my move to the village of Makeni. I hope to be moving in the month of July. Makeni is two hours away and closer to the rural villages of the country. I feel that this location will be more strategic and economically feasible as we begin to venture out. I have already secured a house and am praying that God will supply means of transportation in the coming months. I praise God for donations that have been sent specifically for a car, since we will need a car to go to the more remote areas. Please pray as I contemplate on the best way to buy and secure this car. Used cars here are double the price and half the quality. Shipping from America can be costly and risky due to the corruption of the port here in Sierra Leone.

My moringa tree two weeks after harvesting leaves.

The past couple of months, we have been focusing on developing our community health lessons, moringa lessons and Bible stories into a picture driven story format. Kerri Kennedy, a summer intern, is here for five weeks and is helping me along with my friends M,M & J. Missionaries, Sada Herrera and Megan Ryan, have also joined in the work to help prepare these lessons. All in all, the lessons will be comprised of 15 community health lessons, 5 moringa lessons, and 20 Bible stories. Once these lessons have been refined and translated, we will begin training teachers.

My intensive plot two weeks after harvesting the leaves.

I am so excited about the progress that God is bringing together step-by-step. We also harvested our moringa plots and have made our first batch of moringa powder. These are the pictures post-harvest. After 1 ½ weeks, you can see the new leaves that have emerged. Also, you can see the seed pods on the larger tree. To date, we have counted over 500 seeds on this tree that is not even one year old. This is truly a remarkable tree!

I ask all of you to continue to be in prayer for the project. Pray for us in the coming months as I transition to Makeni. Pray that God would provide the additional funds needed to move and begin traveling to the outer provinces. I love you all and thank you for your prayers and support. You all are part of the team. May God bless each of you for your faithfulness. Love God. Love people.

Open Door

In recent days, I had the opportunity to help a village chief from a remote village near the Moyamba district. I am good friends with his daughter and son-in-law. For many years, this man has suffered with a hernia that was so large he could barely walk. With the help of God, we were able to find a doctor that performed a surgery to repair this hernia. As of last week, the operation was a success and the chief is on his way to a full recovery. Glory to God! During our visits, we began to tell this man, who is a strong “M”, the truth about Jesus Christ. He came to thank us for the surgery, but I quickly told him that it was Jesus who he should give thanks to. All of our prayers for him have been offered up in the name of Jesus. This man even came to the Easter celebration at my house and was able to see The Passion of the Christ film. After our talks, the chief shared that he would like me to come visit his village. I begin to tell him that I would love to come and share about Jesus and the Moringa Project as well. He even told me that he could provide land for us to teach the people.

Through this encounter, and a sleepless night of prayer, God begin to pose a question to me about the location of this project. As it stands now, the project was planned to be centralized bringing students in, yet God is challenging that strategy within my heart. I feel that he is asking me to take the project to the people. The vision that is evolving is simply this: As God opens doors through relationships such as the one mentioned above, I hope to take the Gospel and knowledge God has given me regarding Community Health/Moringa to the remote villages in the provinces where the name of Jesus has not been heard or fully understood. It will require me and partnering followers of Christ living in the village for 1-2 months teaching them about Christ and about God’s love for them through the provision of the Moringa Tree.

As many of you may know, a centralized project will call for construction and maintenance costs. However, I believe this model of going will be more affordable and more biblical. I don’t know all the details yet, but I need to announce this as a prayer point for the project. I want to be obedient to God fully in every decision that I face. I ask each of you who have received this email to pray for this decision and prompting. I cherish and welcome your advice and wise counsel. Please know this will not change anything about the project other than location and will minimize the cost. The same teaching and education will happen, yet it will happen onsite in the village. All hands-on practical (growing, purifying water, etc.) will be done in the village. We still hope that people will understand God’s love and desire for PHYSICAL health for his children through the provision of the Moringa Tree and that they will also see God’s love desire for SPIRITUAL health for his children through the tree which Christ died upon.

Thank you all for your support and prayers.