PICTURES!!!!!!

Ben sitting in his favorite spot outside our room

Normal Freetown homes

This is the Freemans house. Mine and Ben's room is through the gate on the left.

Some Sierra Leonians playing on the beach

Just thought this was a cool picture. I had to climb up a shady looking ladder

that looked like it was made out of driftwood and onto the roof of an unfinished

building to get it but it was worth it! :)

Juggling at our home during down time :)

My servant team

The view from the school where we go to Krio lessons

Aberdeen Beach

Pretty much every road in Freetown when it rains. :)

Aug 26 (Finally A Description!)

Ok, so we have some free time before our Krio lesson today so I am going to attempt to describe my life and surroundings here. I'll start with where I live.

Me and Ben stay in a one room building, a little bigger than the walk in closet I used to sleep in at the Locust St. house. It is part of a small compound in town that belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Freeman, an older couple probably in ther 60s. Mr. Freeman is funny. He likes to have really random conversations in broken English and many times will forget most of what was said by the next day. Mrs. Freeman is a mother and caretaker of the highest caliber. She runs the compound. She also cooks authentic Sierra Leonian food for us every night, probably one of the best cooks in Freetown! Typical food is rice with some sort of "sauce" on top. The most common are cassava leaf, potato leaf, palm oil stew, ground nut (peanut) stew. I will have to take some pictures of the food later so you can see it. I am pretty sure I am losing weight but it is not because I am ever hungry, probably because we walk everywhere!

We sleep on foam matresses on a bunk bed that wobbles so much I made Ben sleep on top for fear that if I was on top I might break it and crush him during the night. We sleep with only a sheet over the matress and no covers and still probably lost a pound or so of sweat in the night. About 1/3 of the time we have electricity so when we are able to go to sleep with the fan on it is a welcome blessing. :) There is a bathroom with a real toilet which is awesome! We have to flush it by pouring water from a bucket into the bowl. We also have a shower which I am pretty sure if I had room that I could run under it without getting wet as it is really more of a fast drip than a shower. Hot water is definitely non-existent. We are just happy when we have water which is about 60% of the time. The first few showers literally took my breath away it was so cold but now one of the highlights of my day is a cold shower before bed. :)

The town itself is crazy and colorful. Motorcycle taxis zoom in and out of beat up taxi cars, UN and NGO cars, and potapotas (a mini van taxi that holds about 20 people, African style of course) in a seeming free for all that while it may have rules, they are definitely not any that I learned in Drivers Ed. :) Here pedestrians definitely do not have the right of way. Walking anywhere is like one big game of Frogger! Also, everywhere you look there are people carrying things on their heads, selling anything from toothpaste, watches, sunglasses, matches, candy, food, and underwear. (Don't worry mom I haven't had to buy any underwear off the street yet.)

Most of the houses are made of cement brick with corrugated tin roofs. There is trash everywhere. I think I have only seen maybe 3 trash cans in the city. There are animals everywhere! Stray dogs, goats, chickens all over the place! Even though up close everything looks very rundown and dirty, the landscape on which it is built is absolutely incredible, mountains that stop at the ocean and rivers with cascading waterfalls, palm trees and green everywhere. It seems to be a city of contradictions both ugly and beautiful.

Oh one more thing, I guess a lot of clothes they get here are surplus that wasn't able to be sold in the US or other countries and so some of the T-shirts people wear here are downright hilarious. My favorite so far was on that Anne saw a little old lady wearing that sad "I fart on the school bus." Haha we definitely find humor in some of the most unexpected places here! :)

Aug 25 (Green Eggs and Ham)

It has been 9 days since I arrived and I think that I am just now beginning to get used to my new life here. I can get around mostly on my own and this week we actually have somewhat of a schedule. One of my main responsibilities here will be to tutor some of the Lighthouse and Kroo Bay kids. School doesn't start for another couple of weeks here so we have been playing games or reading with them. The Lighthouse boys are older (15-22) but reading and writing in English is a struggle for them. I am amazed and humbled at these boys desire to learn.

The first day (Monday/yesterday), my friend Alimome, who is 22, asked if I would read with him and he pulled out this book that looks like it had washed up on the beach with all the other trash. When I opened it I almost laughed out loud! It was a book published in the 1920's in England and the title was something about how to make a happy home for the newly married or those about to get married. :) We do have other books for the boys to read but he wanted to read that one because he had borrowed it from a friend and was the only English (albeit British English) that he had. We slugged through words like ne'er, o'er, and efface for about an hour. He would ask me the meaning of some words that I didn't even know myself. Life is just funny sometimes. :)

Today I began to teach some of them how to juggle, had a business consultation/conversation with one of the boys name David who is a tailor by trade, and read Dr. Suess's Green Eggs and Ham with my friend Morris who is probably around 18. Ha, I'm sure that was a funny sight but these boys are so eager to learn they want to read anything and everything. I am really excited about continuing to get to know these kids and working with them.

Once school starts some Kroo Bay kids will also start coming who are younger. Yesterday, Steph kind of chuckled and said I was already assigned an 11 year old boy named Remi who apparantly has severe ADD or ADHD. Haha that is going to be an experience for sure! It's going to take a lot of prayer and creativity to work through ADD, a foreign language, and culture barriers. :) I'm excited about the challenge though.

August 22 (Two days in a row at the beach)

Fridays (yesterday) are ourday off during the week. Anne, Krysta, Ben, and myself ended up exploring all over. We made it to the beach about 4.5 miles away. Quick recap, the landscape was beautiful but the beach was dirty as all the rain has washed the city trash into the ocean. It should clear up as soon as the rain stops. We saw a group of fisherman pulling a huge net into the shore with all kinds of fish in it. A group of Sierra Leonians were standing standing around a sea turtle that was flipped on its back. I think they were trying to help it but they all seemed scared of it because when they would try to flip it over they would scream and jump away when it started flapping its flippers. I found two coconut trees to string up my hammock which was amazing! Part way through hanging on the beach a man with white warrior paint all overs his body chose us as his next audience for his "performance" which turned out to be kind of disturbing. He said that he wanted to show us a trick and when we agreed, proceeded to fill a huge bowl with sand and then EAT five or six double handfuls of it!!! I didn't want to watch but kept thinking that maybe this was just an intro to the real trick but after he finished he just thanked us and walked away. After talking to our friends here, we were happy to be reassured that is definitely not considered normal here. :) Though it makes for an interesting story for sure!

This morning my new friend Alimome (Ali-mommy) from Lighthouse asked if I wanted to jog with him. Many of the boys from Lighthouse go to the beach on Saturday mornings with Chris, one of the staff, to play ultimate frisbee. Chris has been teaching them how to play for about a year now. Alimome decided that it would be a good idea for me and him to run the four and something miles to the beach, which would not have been bad except that he is substantially faster than me. I could tell he was slowing down for my sake and I did have to walk once for a minute or two and yet we still finished the entire distance in about 30 minutes! Considering I haven't run in months and the fact that everything here is either up or down a hill, I'm just glad that I made it without passing out. And of course while I'm resting at the beach, Alimome decides to take off on his own for another 30-45 minute run.

After spending the day on the beach with the boys, we went to the Kroo Bay kids club, which is another one of the things WMF does here. Kroo Bay is an extremely poor slum next to the water in Freetown. Noah, a staff member for WMF and local Sierra Leonian has been working with the kids for over 10 years. 200-300 kids come every Saturday to sing and dance and be taught the Word. Later Noah and some of the Lighthouse boys help clean and bandage the kids cuts and wounds in order to prevent infection, which can be so dangerous in the slums. I am excited to get to know some of the kids in the weeks to come.

***Hopefully pictures will be coming in the next week or so!!!

August 20 (Lighthouse)

10:00 PM

We got to go to "Lighthouse" tonight which is one of the main things WMF is involved with here. Basically they have worked with the same kids for many years helping them go to school and/or get a job and provide an overall support structure for them. Some have parents, some don't, some have a place to sleep, and others sometimes sleep on the streets. Every Thursday night they all meet together to study the Word, pray, and worship. Everything is a mixture of Krio and English so as of right now I only pick up part of what is being said. What I can see though is the great amount of love within that group. The kids there (about 20 of them from 15-22) seem to have a genuine thirst for the Truth of the scriptures. I have a feeling I will learn much more from them than they ever do from me.

11:00 PM

I can't sleep right now because my adrenalin is running right now. I was just about to go to sleep when our fan turned off. We usually only have electricity for a few hours a day so it is a luxury if the fan is on when we go to sleep (It's extremely hot and humid btw). Well as I looked toward the fan I saw a little flicker of light which turned into a flame which caused first me and then Ben to jump out of our beds. Our power outlet was on fire! I knew I couldn't put it out with water and of course a fire extinguisher is out of the question here so my reaction is to start blowing on it as hard as I can. I swear it was like one of those trick birthday candles. Every time I would blow it out it would wait a second before flaming back up. I then grabbed my towl in order to suffocate it, in the back of my mind hoping that it was not still wet enough that it would somehow be able to transfer any electrical current to me. Thankfully, it worked and I was able to avoid a painful recharge. :) We did buy a new power strip and everything is good to go now. First week and already floods and fires! Haha it's an adventure for sure, but God is good and is in control. Plus I'm getting some great material for some new stories! :)

August 19 (Cups)

So to those of you who I am sure are wondering about actual physical characteristics of where I am, I am not ingoring your interest, it is just taking me a while to be able to take it all in and to try to somehow put it into words. I have been taking lots of pictures but I am still trying to figure out how to post them on here. Most of the computers at the internet cafes are really old and I'm not sure if they will even do it, but I may be able to post pictures sporadically using my leader, Steph's, computer. I will try to do it soon I promise!

Our field director, Cami, gave us a visual this morning of a cup, sitting in a bowl, sitting on a plate. Basically we are the cup and as the Father fills us up we overflow into our close community which in turns overflows into those around us and those our community is trying to reach. There are all kinds of analogies and comparisons which can be gleaned from this visual but I particularly can relate to something that one of the staff members, Karolina, said. I'll put it in my own words. As the cup, it seems that so many times instead of being focused on the Father so that he may fill me, I instead find myself looking around and comparing myself to all the other cups. Is their cup bigger or smaller, dirtier or cleaner, more ornate or plane and ordinary? This comes from being prideful and/or insecurities in ourselves that sause us to run in the wrong race, a race against each other rather than towards the Father. (And yes I realize that I switched analogies mid-point) When we are focused on the other cups, we are not being filled as we should by the Father and are therefore not overflowing life into our community and those we are trying to reach.

Aug 18 (Hey White Boy!)

Aug 18 8:00 PM

It has been an eventful day. We had prayer meeting at 9:00 AM but the two girl servant team members, Anne and Krysta, did not make it because the river behind where they are staying flooded their house. There was really heavy rain (as it is the rainy season) and they woke up at 2 AM to three feet of water in their bedroom. The crazy thing was the girls just kind of rolled with the whole thing and seemed barely phased by the whole ordeal as far as being in good spirits. We definitely have a very chill servant team with the two girls, Ben, and myself. That is a huge blessing as I don't do well with high stress or high maintenance people. :)

I am finally learning my way around the city. It is an incredible place. Me and Ben have actually picked up directions pretty quickly and have been exploring on our own. At first, our leader Stephanie was a little nervous to let us venture out so quickly but I think we've proven ourselves now so she feels comfortable with us on our own. It's quite humorous when I go walking about because of all the attention I get. I often get called "Hey white boy!" to which I've learned to jokingly respond "Hey black boy!" Ha! Which is not offensive here btw. :) Many people have commented that they like my "stamps" referring to my tattoos. On a couple of occasions it has been really funny as a younger guy would jokingly call me out or challenge me in some sort of fight or physical contest in order to show out for his friends. One guy actually yelled about 30 yards down a hill at me, "Hey big guy! You see me!?" as he flexed and pounded his chest. I of course busted out laughing, to which he started grinning and all those around to see the whole macho display were greatly amused.

Here is a prayer that we all prayed together this morning that I have heard before and hope to make my life prayer. It is from St. Francis of Assissi and I think it describes so well how we are to live out this seemingly backwards kingdom of Heaven here on earth.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, may I bring love
Where there is wrong - forgiveness
Where there is discord - harmony
Where there is error - truth

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is doubt, may I bring faith
Where there is despair - hope
Where there is shadow - light
Where there is sadness - joy

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive
and in forgiving that we are pardoned
and in dying that we awake
to eternal life forever and ever. Amen.

Aug 17 (New in Town)

Aug 17 8:00 PM

As has been my experience with African airports, it was crazy. 15 people trying to help me find a taxi or carry my bags to try to get a tip. It always seems like there are 10 people trying to do one person's job. Haha even loading the bags into the van took forever because there were more people trying to load the bags than there were actual bags. It was an interesting experience for sure but I think having been in Kenya before and maybe just being older and having experienced more since then has helped de-intensify the culture shock at least somewhat.

I have, however, experienced some of the "What the heck am I doing here" phase that tends to happen the first little bit that I go somewhere new. I think the differentness of everything, feeling like an outsider, being unsure about what to say or how to act, and especially the very daunting task ahead of me of ministering to a people that right now I feel like I cannot relate to at all. The kind of thoughts running through my mind are like "how can I make a difference in peoples' lives when we can only barely understand each other when we speak?" But in all that, I have to keep reminding myself that it is not my responsibility to change a person's heart. It is only my responsibility to obey in love, and love can transcend all language or cultural barriers. God is the one who changes hearts.

There seems to be a pride issue with those thoughts that creep in my head. It's almost a discouragement based on a fear of failure before I even begin my work. "Am I doing the right thing and am I going to be able to make a difference, to make an impact?" I think these are the wrong questions because they stem from my own pride of wanting to be able to say that I "accomplished" something. I think they should instead be something like "Am I acting in loving obedience to the Father and am I actively seeking to pass on his love to others around me?" It's funny, that sounds a lot like "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and sould and mind. And love your neighbor as yourself." I mean Christ did say these are the two greatest commandments. I sometimes take the complicated route through the pride and selfishness issues but I always end up at these two commandments. The good news is that the journey seems to be getting shorter. :) "Succeeding" in these two commandments is so much more important than any other sort of measurable success as we might think of it. The rest is God's responsibility. It is not achieving results that must be my motivation but it is obedience and love, first for my Father and then my neighbor.

AUG 15 (In the airport)

Ok so I don't have access to a computer every day so I have been keeping journal entries so that I can remember all the crazy stories and stuff that is going on. I will write the date above the post so that you will be able to at least follow my timeline a little bit. I am not going to post it all because I don't want you to have to read a book or anything but I do want to give you all as many details about my experience as possible. I am going to type really fast so please excuse any typos.

Aug 15 11:20 AM

I think I have decided that I am now jealous of the disciples for a different reason than ever before. I feel that I can relate to them in a sense because it is also the call of God in my life which has prompted me to embark on this current journey to Sierra Leone. Like the disciples I have lefts behind a job, family, and friends. The part that I am jealous of is that in their case the calling prompted an immediate departure rather than some predetermined date months in the future so that there is time for goodbye letters, going away parties, and hyouse visits the week before leaving to make sure everybody gets their hug. I have honestly been amazed at the outpouring of love and support that I have received, and I especially have appreciated how all my students have shown me so much love. Two sisters even came to see me off at the airport and I almost cried it touched me so much. All that being said, all the extra time to think about leaving and saying goodbye just makes leaving that much harder. I guess I wouldn't want it to be any different. Maybe its just the more you love and are loved the harder it is to leave. I think the only reason I can do it is because I am following an even greater love, the One who IS Love.

.................I know this entry is still while I was in the airport in LR but more to come about Sierra Leone soon I promise!

Ready to Leave

Well I think I am finally packed and ready to go. I find it amazing that I was able to fit everything that I needed to live for 4 months in two suitcases (well actually I fit it into one but it was too heavy to meet the airline restrictions). I have been looking forward to this day for so long now, it seems almost surreal now that it is almost here. I want to say thank you so much to all of you who have supported me financially and especially through prayer as I begin this journey.

"The kingdom of heaven is at hand"Christ kept proclaiming while he was on earth. The people had a hard time understanding what he meant because the kingdom that he spoke of was completely backwards from any kingdom they had ever seen. In this kingdom those who are last are first, those who give up their life save it, those who are poor are blessed. Strength and power are not honored but instead humbleness, service, and child-likeness are commendable attributes. It is a place where the poor, dirty, uneducated, and unclean can become heirs with Christ to the kingdom of God. Some of the first of these were called the apostles. :) It is a kingdom in which all are invited to the party. Rich and poor, clean and unclean, "good" and "bad", Jewish and Gentile, socially refined and socially outcast, are all invited to join the celebration of our Lord. Any kingdom in which it's own ruler compares it to a mustard seed or yeast spreading through dough is one strange kingdom indeed. Sounds kind of small and subversive, based on principles very different from the usual "how to establish a kingdom" manual that Attila the Hun, Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonapart, and many others seem to have followed. Instead it is a kingdom made up the "the least of these."

"I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."
- Napoleon Bonapart

I love how Mother Theresa talks about the "smallness" of the kingdom in words that we can live by day to day. In her simple wisdom she said, "We can do no great things, only small things with great love." These words seem kind of backward in a society where success is usually measured in percentages,numbers, size, or scope. I am beginning to learn that God does not call me to produce tangible results as we might measure them, but he does call me to love and to serve. If I do that, all the "results" tend to take care of themselves. But of course there is always that human pride that seems to creep up, wanting to do something "big" to "change the world" as so many idealistic youth have touted. It almost sounds like were trying to redeem mankind, which is funny cause I think that's already taken care of. :) Granted, if we all fully lived out the love of Christ the world would surely change but it is not up to me to change it, it is only up to me to obey in love. As you pray for me please pray that I would be able to resist the temptation to be merely a social activist trying to accomplish some sort of measurable success but instead that I would do every small thing, every tiny act of service, with great love. That I may be a reflection of that seemingly backwards but so very beautiful kingdom of heaven.

One last special thanks to all of my dear friends who have spent late nights or long lunch breaks talking and praying as we pondered together so many questions in our search to know God and his purpose for life. I think we came up with more questions than answers but I think we're farther along than when we started. I look forward to renewed conversations when I get back.