We had a Games Day with our Paynesville children on November 29, a national holiday. We had planned to hold this on Independence Day (July 26) as we did last year, but the robbery occurred on July 23 so everything was cancelled. The kids enjoyed games and food, and then all the helpers came to Dwazone for pizza and ice-cream! As we were driving the helpers home that night, we were saddened to see many children and young people drinking and hanging around the clubs. Truly, the work in which we’re involved seems like just a drop in the ocean of sin and depravity all around us, but we know that the Lord can use even the small things to bring about great good for His glory.

Our Children’s Day in Paynesville is quickly approaching on December 15 – please pray that parents will attend and will be spoken to by the Word in song and recitation, and that the kids will be encouraged in their learning.

The Bible Club in Balla Creek is going steadily – we have dropped down to about 25 children who come faithfully each week and are really interested in the meetings. We have recommenced monthly women’s meetings in Paynesville, and this month we’re starting to meet with the Balla Creek ladies. Pray for our women – they work very hard to try to find food and school fees for their families and as a result they often find it difficult to make time for meetings. Several of them cannot read. Pray for wisdom for me as I teach God’s Word to these dear ladies.

A note of thanksgiving – we’ve been able to buy a new generator which we just got up and running a couple of days ago, and so far it’s going well. (I say “we”, but of course I didn’t have anything to do with it. But I do have to learn how to use it now.) It’s wonderful to be able to use the washing machine and iron again, to have hot water, and to sleep in an air-conditioned room – all these luxuries make life so much easier!

October Update

The Bible Club in Ballah Creek has been going well each Thursday, and the children are starting to be more attentive. We get between 40-50 children, and I’ve been teaching them the Child’s Catechism, memory verses, and a Bible lesson each week.  

The Reading Clubs and Bible Club in Paynesville, all of which had decreased in attendance after the robbery, have grown steadily again. I’ve started meeting with the little children (pre-school to kindergarten level) twice a week for what I’m calling a Story Club – I read to them and teach them memory verses. These little ones are too young to come to Reading Club, and although they attend Sunday School and Bible Club, yet they don’t get much individual attention. We are studying the Christian soldier/Armour of God in Bible Club, and the Lord is giving great help in the teaching and the listening!

On a rather fun note, I’ve located a grand piano in one of the hotels in Monrovia, and I’ve arranged with the manager to bring my “piano” students to see it and try it out. They’re all very excited – none of them have ever touched a “real” piano before (we use keyboards for lessons). I give each of these students an individual lesson once a week, and then one Saturday a month we have a group class to do some singing, a lot of listening, and learning about famous composers, instrument families, etc. Each Saturday afternoon, I have a small group music class for some younger children who want to learn piano. Unfortunately, most parents in Liberia do not seem to get involved in “sending” their kids at set times to do things – if children come to Bible Club or Reading Club on time, it’s because they’ve remembered and come by themselves. That’s a generalization, but it seems to be true in most cases. In fact, very often kids miss a meeting because their parents have decided to keep them at home to wash clothes or have sent them to the market for something. Of course, we teach the children that they should obey their parents and help at home, but we do wish and pray that the parents will order their lives so that their kids can be free at the set times for the meetings. (These are all parents who, if you asked them, are very happy that their kids come to church, but it’s just the organisation that is lacking.) So, for these 10-11 year olds, I’m keeping them in a group to see who is serious and diligent and might be able to keep themselves to a schedule of lessons and practice, and then I’ll move those children on to the keyboard lessons.

We’ve been having some problems with our electricity recently. The main generator that we’ve been using in Dwazon for the past 8 months broke about a week ago, and they’re still working on getting it back into shape. Obviously, this is important not only for everyday “living” tasks, but especially for the security lights that are so necessary. Please pray that this issue will be sorted out quickly and properly!

We have a new arrival living on the compound now – a 3 month old German Shepherd puppy. We had always been planning to get dogs for security reasons, but since the robbery, those plans have had to be stepped up a little. We bought Bentley from an acquaintance here in Monrovia who had brought him from South Africa. This is an answer to prayer, since locating pure-bred dogs in Liberia is usually highly unlikely! We do need to get more dogs, of course – ideally, we would like one dog in each house and a couple more roaming the compound outside at night. We have been offered another German Shepherd free of charge from the UK (another wonderful opportunity, because he is a trained dog and is worth  around £6000!!), and we are trying to figure out the best way to get him here. It’s not a simple matter (some airlines refuse to transport live animals to Liberia because of complications in the past – I suspect possible corruption issues, although no one has come out and said that), but pray that the Lord will make a way and provide the necessary funds for transporting him here.

Pray also for some people in our churches who have been unwell recently. One pastor’s wife has been very ill recently. She spent four days in hospital last week and has now been discharged, but she’s still not fully recovered, so please pray for strength to be returned to her. Another young boy from Sunday School will probably need surgery – I’ll be taking him to a hospital for screening next Thursday, and then we’re hoping that he will be accepted for surgery under an international team that comes annually to do free surgeries on children.

"Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee; the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain."

Many of you have heard about the events in Liberia in the past couple of months – in fact, just a couple of days after my last post here. At 3am on July 23, four armed robbers entered the compound here in Dwazon and pulled the window bars from Rev. DiCanio’s kitchen window. He heard a noise in his kitchen and came out from the bedroom to investigate (thinking it was a mouse or something). The four men beat him with machetes and forced him back into the bedroom and forced him to open the double safe in the closet and give them $10,000 USD. They then shut him in the closet and ransacked his bedroom, taking his laptop, camera, phone, two backpacks containing some documents including his passport, and emptied his wallet. When things got quiet, Rev. DiCanio slipped out of the bedroom and (not knowing where the men were) quietly opened the front door and ran across the compound to my apartment. He got me up and we jumped into my car and went to our neighbour’s house, where we called the police.

That’s a very brief account of what happened. Some might have wondered why I haven’t written anything up to this point, but to be honest, at the time, I didn’t really feel like writing about it! And then in the weeks since, things have been SO busy! But I know many of you have been praying for us here, and we really do appreciate your prayers. So I thought it was time I wrote somethingJ

As Rev. DiCanio and I have discussed this incident, we know for a certainty that God’s hand was upon both of us during it all, and that He was in control. A few examples – the thieves took Rev. DiCanio’s old laptop, not his new one (which was sitting in plain sight in the bedroom). His old one had a lot of programs and data of course, but his new one has all the info for the running of the mission here – finances etc. It would have been a lot more difficult to carry on the work here if all that data had been stolen.

Also, I see God’s providence in the fact that I didn’t wake up until the moment when Rev. DiCanio knocked on my door – but I woke up right away then. I’m a pretty heavy sleeper, but I do sometimes waken in the night, and up to this point, if I had heard noises outside in the middle of the night, I would have had no problem going outside to see what was going on (I’ve been warned never to do that again!) We know for a fact that the robbers must have passed my door a few times at least, because they tied up two of our workers and dragged them right past my door to the generator house. But the Lord kept me sleeping until exactly when Rev. DiCanio knocked my door.

This was a very serious incident. We are so thankful that Rev. DiCanio’s life was spared, and that he only suffered some bruises from the machetes (they didn’t cut him, only beat him.) We’re also thankful that the robbers didn’t come anywhere near my place – there was no sign that they even attempted entry into my apartment. We’re thankful that although they manhandled and tied up two of our workers, they did not seriously injure them. According to those who saw the robbers, these were violent and dangerous men, and the outcome could have been much worse. But it was still a serious incident, and there have been and will continue to be repercussions. Please do continue to pray for us and for the work here.

A few specific points for prayer:

The building project has been put on hold since the robbery (as far as the second house is concerned). Major changes were necessary in the security on the compound – a lot of which we had planned to do in the future, but priorities have changed. Rev. DiCanio and I left the compound for about a month after the robbery and stayed at a guesthouse belonging to missionary friends. We were advised that we should not stay here at night until the window bars were all changed (this time welded into the steel structure of the house and apartment), steel doors installed on the buildings, and professional security guards placed on the property. This has all been done, and we were able to move back to Dwazon on August 24. Currently, the security wall is being raised and razor wire installed. Dog kennels are also being constructed for the guard dogs that we are planning to get (again, this had been in the plan for the future anyway). We are planning to build a guard tower with an alarm system and security cameras so that the number of guards on the property can be reduced (thus reducing the monthly costs). Obviously, all of these changes take money – a lot of money; therefore, please pray that the needed finances will come in. We do praise God for many gifts that have already come in.

Pray for wisdom in making these changes as well. We don’t want to go overboard and be living in a bunker, but this robbery has been a wake-up call to us. Since it happened we have heard so many stories of similar attacks and break-ins – even where there has been a loss of life. Since the regular police are not armed (and therefore usually don’t respond to calls in the middle of the night), and private residents/citizens in Liberians are not allowed to own firearms, the “rogues” as they’re called here don’t feel threatened. There is no 911 or 999 number to call, so if you don’t have special contacts with the UN or special forces in the police, then your security is based on whatever measures you have in place – and in God’s hands. (By the way, our neighbour does know someone high up in the police, so when we were robbed, the Special Forces arrived with AK-47s – but it took them an hour to get here.)

And then pray that the current building project will be able to continue. There are deadlines for the second house being built, and then of course Rev. DiCanio is looking forward to the time when he can resume the classes with the pastors. This building of safe missionary accommodation is foundational for the extension of the work here, as we pray for others to be called to come and help us.

Pray also that the robbers will be caught and brought to justice. We were in the police station and courts nearly every day for two or three weeks after the robbery. Because of stupid mistakes that the robbers made (in God’s providence), we were able to get some good leads, but we have as yet not heard of any arrests. We have heard before that the police and justice systems of Liberia are thoroughly corrupt, but we have been very careful to not pay any bribes or facilitating payments. But it is an undeniable fact that the police especially are labouring under a severe lack of resources and funding. (Or, if they’re getting the funding and the resources, it’s being mishandled and wasted or else siphoned off into someone’s private purse!) For example, the police at the local station phoned us a couple days after the robbery to ask us to transport some suspects to the central police station in our vehicles. They had no vehicle and no money to charter a taxi! Needless to say, we said no. (Can you imagine me driving a car-load of suspects for armed robbery through Monrovia – that is, possibly the very men who had just beaten Rev. DiCanio and robbed our compound?) Anyway, pray that the robbers will be caught. The police say they are still working on the leads and looking for suspects. We’re trying to keep in touch regularly so that they know we are still expecting results.

Do continue to pray for the children’s work. Obviously, everything was cancelled/postponed in the weeks immediately following the robbery – we didn’t have the Independence Day program or the VBS in Rivercess. I was able to have the VBS in Ballah Creek church August 26-30, and I’ve started a follow-up Bible Club every Thursday in that church. Pray for this new opening – we had 200+ in the VBS but to be honest that was too many kids since we only had three helpers, and none of those kids knew how to sit and be quiet! We had around 60 last Thursday; that was much more manageable, and they listened very well. Pray for the regular meetings in Paynesville. Consistency is very important with children, and since I wasn’t able to get to Bible Club and Reading Club for a few weeks, I have noticed a decrease in the number of children. Ironically, this robbery happened just the week after the Paynesville VBS, when a lot of new children had started to come to all of the meetings and activities. But while it may be ironic, I know that the timing was all within God’s will.

To conclude this very long post, my biggest prayer request right now is for more workers here. I was speaking with friends recently, and they said that perhaps people don’t realise that there is a need for more workers here – perhaps folks think that we have two missionaries in Liberia, and that is sufficient. Believe me, there is work here for many more! Yes, there are concerns with security, and yes, it is very expensive to maintain missionaries on this field, but if God calls people, He will protect and equip and provide the means. So please pray that the Lord would call some others to join us here.

Summer doings

Thanks for your prayers for the VBS in Paynesville. We can certainly testify that God answered prayer, both in bringing in new kids and in giving help and strength to teach. Now keep praying that the lessons taught will remain in the hearts of the children. We had four or five kids in at Sunday School today who were at the VBS -- pray that they will continue attending!
Someone remarked that hopefully I can take a bit of a rest now that the VBS is over -- not so! We are continuing Sunday School and Wednesday Bible Club throughout the summer -- in fact, I'm continuing the full schedule of Reading Club and music lessons as well. I believe the summer months are maybe the most important time of the year to reach out to the kids -- it's true that some will be travelling here and there to "spend time" with family members, but many more will be at a loose end and will be looking for something to do while school is closed. So we don't want to miss this opportunity.
In fact, these couple of months are going to be very busy indeed, so I would really value your prayers! This Friday is Liberian Independence Day, and we are organising a "program" as they call it here -- meaning we are going to have games and activities for the children for 4 or 5 hours, and snacks and icecream etc. Last year (which was the first year we did this) we had around 200 kids -- and we only decided to hold the program four days before Independence Day. This year the kids have been talking about it for weeks, and everyone is saying that we are going to have a lot more than 200 kids. My concern is that we don't have enough helpers for more than 200 -- keeping in mind that once we get a signed consent form from the parents and allow the children into the school property which we're renting for the day, we are responsible for the kids' safety etc. So please do pray that plenty of helpers will show up and that everyone will be kept safe -- and that we'll have the energy we need to get through it!! LOL.
Then the next week, we are planning a short 3-day VBS in our Rivercess congregation. This will be the first time that we've done this. I have visited there before of course, but I've only ever stayed one night. We plan to go early on Thursday 1st August (it's a 4-5 hour drive depending on the roads), and return on Saturday evening. So we'll have three meetings with the kids. Nathan Barco (who is the children's worker in Paynesville and who works closely with me) and a couple other young men from Paynesville will be going to help out. In fact, Nathan is going to teach the lessons for the three days, which will be a first for him. Pray for him as he teaches, and for me as I teach memory verses and songs etc. We may also hold a seminar for children's workers/SS teachers while we're there. On a practical and personal note, please also pray that accommodation will be sorted out, and that I will be able to sleep at night! I know that might sound strange, but on previous trips there, I've hardly slept a wink for feeling that "things" are crawling over me all night. I'm laughing as I write, but it's true nonetheless. Probably a combination of the heat, the few "things" that might actually have been crawling over me, and a lot of imagination on my part!
Speaking of crawling "things", we had a visitor in church today. Most visitors are warmly welcomed, but this one was of the four-legged variety and was NOT welcome, especially since it kept appearing right beside the piano where I had to sit and play. And then the pastor went and decided to sing an extra hymn today, so I had to sit up there even longer! AND one of my SS students (for badness or what? I don't know) kept pointing at the mouse every time it came running out from under the bookcase (about a foot from my foot), so it wasn't like I could just try to forget it was there.
Although, ok, it was kinda cute -- I think it was a baby. And it was probably almost as scared as I was! The people must have thought I was getting a bit Pentecostal, since I was probably almost dancing at the piano. You see, both my hands were busy obviously, and then one foot was working the pedal, so my free foot had to keep hopping around on the floor just to discourage the mouse from coming too close.
Back to the VBS schedule, our last one this summer is tentatively planned for the last week in August, and that will be in Ballah Creek. Details to follow, Lord willing!

Paynesville VBS prayer request

Hi folks, please pray for our VBS that is going on at the minute in our Paynesville congregation. We started yesterday with 80+ in attendance, and they listened very well. This morning when I woke up, it was pouring outside and I immediately thought, "Oh no, the kids won't be able to get to the church." I was praying that God would over-rule, and He did, for the rain died down about 9:30am (the meeting starts at 10). We had 130 kids in today -- in a building that comfortably seats 70! As one of the church guys remarked, maybe we should be thankful for the rain, because it's probably keeping some kids away, and we just don't have room for any more!! But it's a good problem to have.
I'm teaching this week on the "I am" sayings of Christ in John's Gospel. Pray that God's Word will bring forth fruit!

Our times are in His hands

One of the first people I remember from my first trip to Liberia was a lady named Kidee Dorliae. She was our cook when the team was here from Ulster and the USA -- she would bring meals to the guest house where we were staying. She was a great cook, and a very happy and affectionate woman! She attended the Paynesville church and often on Sunday after the services she would come up to the front where I'd be packing up the piano, with a big smile and "Joanne, how are you?" and give me a big hug.
Kidee passed away last Thursday morning. She had been suffering from diabetes for the past few years, and had been in and out of hospital a couple of times in the last month. When I saw her in hospital at the beginning of last week, she was starting to look a little better, and she was discharged on Wednesday evening. On Thursday morning, her condition suddenly deteriorated, and she died enroute to the hospital. Kidee's funeral was today. We are so thankful that her testimony before she died was that she was trusting in Christ as her Saviour, and we have the sure hope of seeing her again someday. But it's still hard to believe that we won't meet again on earth -- but our times are in His hands and we know that God's will has been done in taking Kidee home.
I know the majority of those reading this post didn't know Kidee, but please keep her family in prayer. She has four children -- the oldest girl just graduated from high school, and the youngest is 6 years old. I'm not sure where they're all going to go now. A couple of them have been staying with their father, and a couple have been with a family friend. The 6 year old also has diabetes, and one of the other girls is deaf and dumb. So pray that they will be cared for physically, but also that they will be fed spiritually, even if they're too far away to attend our church.

Green Tea and Mob Justice

I’m feeling rather African tonight. I’m sitting around a table with 4 UN soldiers from Gambia, drinking green tea and listening (involuntarily I might add) to Gambian music. Never mind the fact that the tea is so “green” that I can practically taste the grass in it and that the music sounds like the same line repeated over and over again about twenty times – it’s still an interesting experience. I’m in a guesthouse, by the way – I’ve been staying here since I got back to Liberia two weeks ago. The UN guys are staying here for a while as well – they just came to Liberia a week ago and are doing some training in the city before being deployed somewhere else in the country. They are all Muslim and we’ve had a couple interesting conversations – pray for them please!

I’ve restarted most of my usual workload since returning – Sunday School, Bible Club, Reading Club, music lessons, and teaching at the Christian School. I was very encouraged to find that the children’s work in the church went on well in my absence, under the direction of Nathan Barco (the young man who’s the official leader of the Sunday School and has been working alongside me since I came here a year ago). There was a slight decrease in attendance which I had feared, but Nathan didn’t let it discourage him. He told me today that he didn’t mind how few kids were there, he was determined to start each meeting on time. He’s been teaching the Bible Club lesson each Wednesday since I returned, and he’s doing really well. Please keep praying for this young man – he certainly has a heart for the children’s work.

I’ve been teaching my Bible class at the Christian school the story of Noah and was reading again of how the earth in those days was corrupt and filled with violence. I got a very dramatic glimpse of the violence and corruption of Liberian society on Sunday after church. I was just getting into the car to head home when a lady who was getting a lift home with me suddenly shouted, “Don’t kill him! Don’t kill him!” For a minute I thought she had gone crazy but then I also looked across the road and saw a crowd gathering. We ran over to find that the men in that house had caught a thief on their property, caught him apparently red-handed, and were now taking justice into their own hands by stripping and beating him.

It took some time to calm them down, but we eventually convinced them that they should send the man to the police station to be charged for his crimes. An off-duty policeman came on the scene and showed us his ID and then took the man off to jail. We haven’t heard anything since Sunday so I don’t know if the offended parties actually decided to prosecute him or not. They were protesting that the reason they were beating him was to teach him a lesson because the police and court system are so corrupt that they would never get justice from them. Sadly, they were right about the corruption.

What really astonished me about the whole episode was the absolute violence and cruelty that exploded in front of my eyes. Certainly, the men had a right to be angry with the thief, but they actually seemed to relish beating him. And the crowd of young men who gathered were eagerly joining in on the beating, even though they had no idea if he had done anything to deserve it. I asked one of our church men afterwards if he might actually have been killed if we hadn’t been there. He said yes, it was very likely. He said that Liberian “mob justice” often results in the person being beaten to death, and then his body is thrown on the road. As I said above, I was astonished at the violence and cruelty, but I was also scared – not for myself, but for Liberia. Not just because of the potential for physical violence that was evidenced, but because the episode gave a glimpse into their hearts. There is much talk of peace and reconciliation here, and education and moving forward and “building Mama Liberia”, but the bottom line is that nothing but the Gospel will change Liberia for the better, because nothing but the Gospel can change the hearts of wicked and violent men.

First year anniversary

It's hard to believe that on Thursday I will have been in Liberia for one year! Actually, I don't know how this will work because I'm actually leaving the country on Thursday to go home for a few weeks -- so does that mean my one-year anniversary won't be until I get back?
Anyway, the Mission Board has asked me to bring a report at the Easter Convention (I'll be showing a DVD presentation at the Friday night meeting by the way, if any of you can make it!) and I'm going to take a few weeks' annual leave while I'm home. I'm looking forward to it! Please pray for safe flights and for help in reporting at the Convention -- and for a restful time with my family!
My lease on the apartment actually expires on Thursday as well so I'm in the throes of packing -- I'm going to store everything in an empty room in Rev. DiCanio's house while I'm gone. When I return, I have a couple months booked in for a room in a guest-house until there is other accommodation available. I'm thankful for the provision of this guest-house -- the owners are a Baptist missionary family so the location is quiet and secure!
I have to give tests tomorrow at the school where I teach Bible and Reading, and then get all 80 or so of them graded before I leave, so the pressure is on!
The work at Dwazone is progressing -- the security wall is 3/4 done, the water tank is being put in, the windows are installed, most of the electrical fixtures are in place. Thanks for your continued prayers!
Please pray for a 12-yr-old boy named Abraham who is one of our most faithful students at Sunday School, Bible Club, Reading Club, and anything else that's going on. (He is taking keyboard lessons as well.) More importantly, he's professed salvation within the last 6 months and has shown encouraging signs of growth and interest in spiritual things. He has recently been diagnosed with Hepatitis B. There is no cure, but the doctor has prescribed anti-viral drugs to slow down the progress of the disease. This has been hard on Abraham (and the whole family --- they will all have to be tested to see if they also have Hep B). It's especially scary for Abraham because his "birth pa" died of the same disease, and his older biological brother has it also. Abraham is living with a family here in Monrovia who have taken him in and sent him to school, while his biological mother is living in the interior with her other children. Hep B is widespread here in West Africa -- it is highly contagious but the vaccine is only given to some health workers, probably due to cost issues. So there's really no control on it. Pray for all involved, for the family who are struggling to come up with money for these expensive drugs, and especially for Abraham himself.

Many people have been wondering how the building project is going so I thought I should give a little update here. The first house is almost finished -- Rev. DiCanio is living there already. There's no running water yet, but the drains are working so he can wash/flush etc with buckets. (I won't go into more details! LOL) The window bars are in place but the windows still aren't installed -- please pray that this will be done very soon! It's wonderful being right on the ocean front, but there are drawbacks too -- like the salt air which coats everything and corrodes metal very quickly. So the sooner the windows are installed, the better to protect things inside the house. The generator arrived last week so they have electricity at last -- only at night of course because it would be far too expensive to run it 24/7. The generator house is built, septic tank is done, and they're working on the security wall.
We've been able to get a month's extension on the lease for my apartment, which is a relief because I was supposed to be moving out on February 15th and I didn't have anywhere to go yet! So I'll be in the apartment until I go home for the Easter Convention, and then when I return, I'll be moving . . . somewhere :-) Lord willing, there will be something built at the site by then so that I can move in.
The rest of the work is going on as usual. I've had a rather long break from school, because the Ministry of Education changed the dates for exams and the second semester start date, but school opens again next Tuesday so I'm busy getting ready for that. I've been glad that there's been no school, actually, because things have been SO busy! With Rev. DiCanio being away and then having to spend so much time overseeing the building project, I've been helping out with other administrative type things which take up a lot of time.
The reading club has really grown recently, with a lot of new kids coming. Last Tuesday I read with 17 children/young people between 3 and 5pm. It's great to see the interest, and kids bringing their friends along, including some who don't attend Sunday School here. But the increased number of children means that I'm really rushing to let each one have a few minutes reading with me individually. I would love to extend the Club time to 3 hours, but there just isn't time at the minute. Pray that the interest will continue, and that I'll find a way to accommodate all the kids who want to read. Of course, for those of you who may not know, the children can all stay for the entire two hours and read silently from the books that we have on the shelves, while I call them one by one for their individual reading time with me. Well, I say "silently" -- that's the plan anyway! :-)

A belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all! I was thinking yesterday of Joshua 13:1 -- "There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed." This is true in my personal walk with God -- in my knowledge of Christ and my love for Him, I have SO far to go! (And it's struck me recently that every time I take a step forward in this regard, my eyes are opened a little more to see how much more land is there to be taken, land that I hadn't even known existed before this.) And then of course, in the work here in Liberia, and in the work of God world-wide, there is SO much land waiting to be possessed for God and His Kingdom! May we see great advances made this year!
Thank you for your prayers for the Children's Day service. The Lord helped us all -- a few first-time parents came in to the meeting, the children did a good job and things ran relatively smoothly, and everyone heard the Gospel as Rev. DiCanio preached. Pray that this Word will bear fruit!
Rev. DiCanio is at home over the holiday period for a well-deserved vacation, so pray that things will run smoothly in his absence! The work on the building project has been slowed down while he's away, which I'm rather thankful for! They are working on the generator house, and I'm keeping an eye on that (not that I really know what I'm looking for LOL).
Thank you all for your prayers for me through the nine months that I've been in Liberia. And keep praying with me and for me in 2013! May the Lord bless you all.

We had our first women's Bible Study this evening in the Paynesville church. It's something that the women have been asking about for awhile, but we've only gotten around to getting it organised at this point. To tell the truth, I don't know many of the women very well yet because I've been spending so much time with the children! Even after the Sunday service and the prayermeeting, one of the kids usually manages to get my attention with a question, or "Miss Joanne, can I say my verse to you?" so that by the time I get outside, a lot of the women have already left. So hopefully this will be a means of getting to know the ladies as well as ministering to them.
I've been teaching on the Ten Commandments in the Wednesday Bible Club, and I've been challenged by how foreign the law of God is to many of them. One 11-year-old told me that he didn't know what the Ten Commandments were until he started hearing about them in Bible Club. Until a couple of years ago, he lived in the bush and it seems went some of the time to a Jehovah's Witness church; then his father died and his mother was left with 5 or 6 kids to raise. So she brought this boy to a family in Monrovia and asked them to take him in and send him to school. (I'm not sure if there was a prior connection between the two families -- I don't believe they're related in any way.) This family attend our church, and now the boy is one of the brightest and most conscientious students in the Sunday School, Bible Club, Reading Club, and anything else that's going! More importantly, he's showing some encouraging signs of a work of grace in his heart. Pray for him and others like him. This is just one story out of many that could be told.
We are planning our first Children's Day Program for the Sunday School in Paynesville FPMC. It will take the form of an end-of-year program, where the parents will be invited and the kids will be presenting what they've learned during the past year. It's planned for the Sunday service on Dec. 16, Lord willing. Please pray much for the preparation and the day itself.
Continue to pray for safety on the roads. There was an accident a couple of weeks ago just outside the Christian school where I teach. A drunk man drove his lorry off the road and knocked a 20-ft container over, crushing two men under it. I went down to the scene, and at that point they had pulled one man out, but he was very dead, and they hadn't realised yet that there was a second man under there. It is certainly sobering, and sickening, to see the low value that is placed on human life -- not only through the carelessness of the drunk driver, but also in the people who were standing all around talking excitedly and taking pictures of the dead man on their phones!
Pray for the 15-minute radio broadcast that goes out on two different stations each Sunday. Rev. DiCanio is airing Dr. Cairns' series on the Law of God at the moment. Pray that people will be brought to see their sinfulness before God and their need of Christ. A man visited last Sunday who had heard the program -- the first visitor we've had as a direct result of the radio broadcast.

At the beginning of September, I started helping out at a nearby Christian school a couple of days a week. I’m teaching Bible and Reading to 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th graders, and then doing a choir or singing class with high school students once a week. The students are from quite a mix of backgrounds – a lot are from Pentecostal churches, and several are Muslim. They are also at quite a mix of levels academically -- in the fifth grade class, for instance, most of the kids are between 12 and 15, but there is one 19 year old who is a very poor reader! And then in the 6th grade class, I have one or two good students who work hard and get top marks -- and then there is a boy from Guinea who speaks French and very little English -- and certainly can't read English. I have no idea what he's doing in sixth grade! He doesn't speak enough English for me to find out if he's actually at sixth grade level if everything was in French. I spoke to the principal about him, and he promised to look into it, but then the boy hasn't been at school for the past week. I asked the other kids where he was, and they told me that he had washed his uniform and hung it out to dry and someone stole it! And he's not allowed to come to school without a uniform, for security reasons.
Please pray not only that the kids will learn academically, but also that their hearts will be opened to the Gospel. Pray that the singing class will be the means of teaching the young people solid hymns and choruses – all that they know so far seem to be Pentecostal-type choruses. They're very keen to learn new songs -- so I'm happy to take advantage of that and teach them some good ones!

Encouragements

I've been here five months now! Hard to believe :-) I was having a bit of a self-examining session the other day in light of that and thinking of what the Lord has done in these five months.
I've been really encouraged by the Bible Club the last two Wednesdays. We've had approximately 30-50 kids at Bible Club ever since the VBS in July, and they have been very enthusiastic -- but also getting noisier and more unruly each week. So 2 weeks ago, I had to be very serious with them (cross in fact) and gave them quite a lecture on their behaviour. They were still mostly listening well to the lesson, but the rest of the meeting was getting out of hand. So both Nathan Barco (the man in charge of the children's work) and I were quite sharp with them and told them they need to mend their ways or they'll go home for good. We were pretty burdened about this -- because there's no point in their coming to the meeting if they are causing so much noise that they can't hear the teacher, and more importantly hear God's Word.
But last week and yesterday, we saw a dramatic improvement in behaviour! And I don't believe it was simply our scolding that made the difference -- it's the Lord settling them down in answer to prayer. So we are thankful!
We're encouraged by a couple of kids who really are wanting to learn the memory verses, and even one or two who have attended the prayer meeting and prayed in public. We don't know their hearts, of course, but these are encouraging signs! Pray that soon, if it's the Lord's will, other teachers will be raised up so that we could divide the children into classes and teach in a manner better suited to the different age groups. When I consider the folks in the church at present, I cannot think of one person who is even near to being ready to take a class! So I'm glad that the Lord is in charge of the work, not me, and He is the One Who does exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think!
And while you're praying for teachers, you better also pray for more space! At the moment, we only have the one room for the children. If we were going to divide into classes, we would need somewhere to put them. Thanks for your continued support in prayer.

Skepticism or Reality?

The Independence Day Program was a lot of fun, although we had 11 helpers to nearly 200 children so we were slightly outnumbered and very tired at the end of the day! We rented a school near the Paynesville church and had games and races and other activities (and food!) for children ages 4 and up. These kids are like kids the world over -- they have boundless energy! We arrived at the church at 8am to set up ( a lot of kids were already there waiting for us), then the program started at 10am and lasted til 3 or 4pm, and then cleanup. We did the usual sack races, egg&spoon and three-legged races, a water relay (I stole the idea from memories of our youth camp in the States, but it wasn't quite as well organised LOL), a treasure hunt (which the kids did NOT get at all), balloon basketball, musical papers (newspapers to stand on instead of chairs to sit in since we didn't have chairs). And then the food which Rev. DiCanio kindly organised and prepared -- bread and jam, juice, popcorn, and ice cream cones (I was almost as excited about the ice cream as the children!) The juice is interesting -- they made it up in little plastic bags so you have to bite a hole in the corner of the plastic bag and then suck it out. For one thing, how can that be hygienic? And secondly, I can't seem to bite and suck at the same time . . . . so I got sticky koolaid all over me. I guess I need more practice. They sell water on the street like that but I usually avoid it because I think it's unhygienic:-)

Anyway, it all went well I believe, and random people were passing on the street saying "thank you so much for your work." It's funny, people here thank you for things that they have no connection with -- like one time I was washing the windows in my apartment. All the workers from other apartments were coming over to thank me for doing it. I couldn't figure it out! It's not like they were going to do it if I hadn't done it! They probably think I'm rude because I don't thank them for washing their employer's dishes . . .

Yes, so as I was saying, the general community seemed to appreciate the effort on Independence Day. Or . . . maybe they just wanted some ice cream. We had a couple adult neighbours join the queue for ice cream, saying "I haven't had mine yet." Oh, this wonderful "African socialism"! "If I don't have, I can ask (and expect to receive) from someone who does have, and if I do have, I have a responsibility to give to those who don't have." I read that very statement (as nearly as I remember) in a Christian Religious Education textbook in Kenya, and the man who said it called it African Socialism. It's not Biblical! Try this: "If any would not work, neither should he eat." "Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread." (II Thess. 3:10, 12).

Not that we didn't give them the ice-cream since we had some left, but it's the general principle that is being illustrated here that I wanted to share with you :-)

Happy Independence Day!

VBS went well I believe -- a lot of kids came in (about 130 on the last day), and although we had the usual problems of overcrowding and lots of distractions, many of them seemed to listen intently. I need to keep reminding myself that even those who didn't seem to listen at all (and there were a few in that category!) may still have been touched because God's Word is powerful and will not return to Him void. We don't know what is happening in their hearts!
Some of the new kids at VBS have been attending Sunday School or the Wednesday Bible Club since then, and we're really encouraged by this. Five children (one of whom is only 4 years old) received their very own Bibles this past week in Sunday School as prizes for having learned and recited Psalm 121 perfectly. They've been working on it for many weeks now!
My time with my family was wonderful! I think they were all a bit busier than they had anticipated, but they certainly helped me out a lot. They were rather traumatised by the traffic and the roads -- one day an accident happened right in front of us, and we ended up taking a lady to the hospital. Or maybe it was my driving that was traumatic! I was "arrested" one day for not pulling to the side of the road when the vice president's convoy was passing. My excuse was that the lead police vehicle, which would usually have "VP Escort" written on it, didn't have any such marking, and I thought it was just a normal police car passing (in which case you get out of the way, but you're not required to pull over and stop.) Anyway, it turns out that the "VP escort" vehicle had broken down and they were using a regular police vehicle as a substitute so a lot of people were having difficulty recognising it. So I apologised politely and didn't say much more than that and played especially dumb when they hinted about a bribe and they eventually let me go.
But apart from such minor catastrophes, we all had a good time. The electricity and water went off and on just enough to give my family a true picture of living in Liberia. :-) Truth to tell, I was more frustrated than them when this happened. Dad preached at the Sunday service in three of the mission churches, and at prayermeetings as well. He also spent some time working with the men at the building site (that's his idea of relaxing!) Mom and Jerusha helped a lot with VBS and the children's work in general, and with the Reading Club which meets twice a week.
July 26th (this Thursday) is Independence Day in Liberia. Apparently liquor is sold freely on that day and on Christmas Day, even to children, and a lot of kids as young as 9 or 10 get drunk. So it was suggested yesterday that we have some kind of program on Thursday -- games and activities for the kids so that they won't be at a loose end and will be less likely to get into trouble. It's all systems go since we're planning this at the last minute. Pray for this effort! Sin is practiced openly and unashamedly all around these children every day, and it's only the Lord Who can keep them from it and make it distasteful to them.

VBS

It suddenly occurred to me tonight that I'm supposed to be keeping a blog here. I had kinda forgotten that little fact for about a month! Sorry, folks.
Anyway, just to update you, I am now a resident of Liberia -- for a year at least -- then I have to renew my permit again. The next thing is to get my Liberian driving license which I hope to do very soon.
My parents and sister Jerusha arrived last Thursday for an eagerly anticipated visit. It's great to see them and let them share in the work -- they're supposed to be on vacation but so far they've been pretty busy!
We are holding a Vacation Bible School in the Paynesville church this week. Please pray for these meetings -- from 10am to 12 noon, Monday to Friday. We went round the neighbourhood on Saturday, giving out special invitations to the meetings. We had a good response from parents so pray that the children will come and learn and that their hearts will be touched.
The building has commenced on the property in Dwazone. The foundations for the first house are underway. I was down on Friday and it was exciting to see the progress being made. Pray that this building project will go smoothly, and that Rev. DiCanio will be able to move into this house by the time his current lease is up in September.

I can't think of a title right now . . .

June already! I know, what an original way to start a post. But seriously, I was just thinking about the fact that it's really easy to get out of touch with what's going on in the world. Part of the problem is the fact that I don't read newspapers, I don't watch TV, I don't listen to the radio, and since my internet's so slow right now, I don't keep up with news that way either. (By the way, none of the above is because of conviction or anything like that -- I guess it's just that I'm lazy and my head just naturally buries itself in the sand unless I make a supreme effort to dig it out.) Anyway, at home (in NI), I couldn't help but hear the news from my large and talkative family (some of whom are pretty clued in to current events). Here . . . well, it's easy to be out of touch. And hence the fact that it's June is rather surprising to me -- my head seems to have stopped somewhere around March 21st!
Only in that one sense, though. In many other ways, I'm extremely conscious of the passing of time -- because it's going so fast! And there's so much to do . . .
I'm thinking and praying about holding Holiday Bible Clubs during the kids' summer vacation (which is starting in the next week or two). Pray with me about this, please.  It would be a good way to kickstart a children's work in the Balla Creek and Gardinersville churches -- I haven't done any work in either of them yet since I came. BUT there would be no point in holding a Bible Club and contacting children if the folks in the churches don't then put their shoulders to the plow and continue the work the rest of the year. In Paynesville (where I've been working the most), the church people have really gotten behind the work with the children. I would like to see that happening in the other churches too. The way I see it, the missionary can help with teaching, and especially with training the teachers, but the people in the local church need to dedicate themselves to the work, week in and week out -- getting to the church early to set up, going out into the community to round the kids up, etc. So pray that the church folks will be burdened for their own children.
The Paynesville work has been encouraging. Nathan Barco (the committee member in Paynesville who is heading up the Sunday School work) and I went out on "visitation" round the community a couple of weeks ago. We had made up a leaflet to remind the children about Sunday School, and we made a point of speaking to the parents directly to encourage them to send their children. We stressed the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day, and of teaching their children to do the same. We challenged them not to send their kids to wash clothes or sell in the market on Sunday, but rather to get them up early and send them to Sunday School on time. Of course, most parents agreed with everything we said (only one Jehovah's Witness lady said point-blank that she wouldn't be coming or sending her children). I wasn't sure how many of them actually meant what they said, but we've definitely had some new kids in the last couple of weeks, and last Sunday some parents actually brought their kids right to the church (and one lady stayed for church). So pray that these children will remain. We've been encouraging the children to come on time and we're going to give little prizes each month to those who come on time every Sunday in the month. Only 4 children got the prize for the month of May! But the prize-giving certainly raised some interest among the others. It's really distracting (both for the kids and the teachers) when children are wandering in any time from 9:30 (when Sunday School starts) right up until 10:45 (when it ends). And then obviously the kids who come late are missing a lot of the teaching.
Last weekend Rev. DiCanio, Pastor Andrew Joe, and I travelled down to RiverCess -- it's about 120 miles away. It took about 5 hours to drive -- the road was paved for the first 2 hours (actually a really good road!). We were on dirt roads after that, but it wasn't too bad, and it didn't rain so that made the travelling a lot easier. RiverCess is the fourth Free Presbyterian Mission Church here in Liberia -- I had only been there once before (I think in 2009). It was nice to visit again and meet the people. Rev. DiCanio had a committee meeting on Saturday evening when we arrived, so I met with the children informally and taught them some choruses (they were all waiting for us at the church!) Then on Sunday morning, I taught Sunday School -- they do have a good group of children there. Most of the people in RiverCess speak Bassa and I had thought that I'd have to be interpreted, but it turned out that the kids all learn English in school and they assured me that they understood me. I don't know about the little ones, but it was definitely easier to teach in English without having to be translated. There's a lot of work to be done in RiverCess -- the church people seem to be putting effort into the children's work, and I'd like to help in some way. Obviously, the logistics of getting there are more difficult than for the places close to Monrovia, but pray that the Lord will make the way -- perhaps to go down and stay for a few days and hold a Bible Club.

Sorry for the silence for the last couple of weeks. They've been crazy! My shipment arrived last Wednesday with a lot of books and teaching materials and also a few musical instruments! I was really grateful and relieved that nothing was damaged in transit. I played the piano in church for the first time on Sunday, and I've used the keyboard for a couple of music lessons already. I had some "household" articles in the shipment as well, which I've been scattering around in the apartment to make it look more "homey"! Exciting . . .
A couple people have asked about the girl with the arm injury -- she's actually having surgery tomorrow, Lord willing. When she saw the orthopaedic surgeon, he said it's a pathological fracture due to an underlying bone cyst (told you my x-ray reading skills weren't very good!!) So we took her to the hospital today and got her admitted -- please pray that the surgery will go ahead tomorrow as planned and that the Lord will keep her safe and give the surgeon skill.
The Wednesday Bible Club has gone well for the past couple of weeks. We do find that the kids are pretty sleepy in the afternoon (they're up very early in the morning to start school) so we're trying to make the lessons quite interactive, more so than on Sundays. The numbers are smaller on Wednesdays too, so it's easier to make it interactive and actually work with the children instead of just teaching at the front. The numbers have gone down on Sundays as well, which is not entirely a surprise because that's usually what happens when the novelty wears off. We're really praying about this -- we don't want the kids coming simply because of novelty, but at the same time we're burdened to know that these children are in the neighbourhood and are not hearing God's Word. At least a few of them that we know of are being kept at home to wash clothes or to go with their parents to sell in the market -- and we're definitely praying against that!! Pray that wisdom will be given to us to know how to contact them again, and pray most of all that God will give the kids the desire to hear His Word and the parents the willingness to send them.

Bits & Pieces

Last Wednesday evening as I went into the church for prayermeeting, I saw a dozen or so kids sitting in the cry room singing Deep & Wide. Some more children were already sitting in the church itself, looking very pleased with themselves! I must admit I was glad to see them there, but a little nervous about how they were going to behave, since they're only just learning to sit in Sunday School. The committee men decided to let the older ones stay but send the little ones home (there were some 2 or 3 year olds there -- with no adults in sight of course!!) They didn't do too badly, to be fair to them. A couple had to be put outside (and then of course they stood and made faces through the windows because we don't have curtains yet!). There was a little chatter and bustle but altogether I was pretty proud of them!
We had already planned to have a meeting about the Sunday School work after the prayer time. As we discussed the work and the children, we felt that it would be good to have a mid-week meeting for them as well as the Sunday School. So, Lord willing, we will have our first Bible Club meeting this Wednesday at 3pm. Please pray for this meeting, and for the kids who attend!
I'm planning to take a little girl to see an orthopaedic specialist tomorrow. She's 11 or 12 years old, and she broke her wrist in November or December. Sadly, at that point, she was taken to see an herbalist (practicing traditional medicine) and a cast was put on without the arm ever being x-rayed. She's had pain, swelling, and loss of function ever since -- she's missed a lot of school, she can't grip things properly, etc. She finally got an x-ray two weeks ago, and her grandfather (a man in our church) brought it, and the child, to me on Saturday. Now I'm terrible at reading x-rays, but even I can see that there's definitely something wrong here! It looks like the whole head of her ulna was broken off and pushed up in between the radius and ulna a little farther up the arm. It may not be that, but there's definitely a big lump on her arm, and that's my guess as to what happened from looking at the x-ray. So we have an appointment tomorrow -- pray that something can be done for her here in Liberia. It's so sad that she's suffered all this time.
By the way, if you ever have an emergency in Liberia, don't ring 911! Nobody answers. (even though that's supposed to be the emergency number). I was in the city centre last week, and a man was having a seizure on the sidewalk. A few people were standing around looking at him, but most folks were just walking on past. I ran and got gloves from my car, and by the time I got back, the seizure had stopped. The shopkeeper next door said he had tried to call 911 but no answer -- and I tried again but it just rang out. It seems the man lives on the streets, and some of his buddies told me that he has seizures now and then. We stayed with him for a while --- he came round quite quickly, and his friends said they would keep an eye on him. So I went on my way -- but now I know there's no-one to call in an emergency! (I had been told this by Rev. DiCanio, and now I believe him! :-) Someone told me afterwards that there is a number for the police, but it takes a long time for them to answer and to be honest, from my experiences with them, I can't see them doing much to help.

"This is Africa"

This is Africa. That's what people say here whenever they're trying to excuse something that shouldn't have happened, or that should have been done by now, etc. Here's a story that illustrates the saying:
Liberian law requires that the name of the NGO (in this case, the Free Presbyterian Mission Church of Liberia) be placed on the sides of the vehicle if it comes in under the duty-free category. So we needed to get decals made and stuck on the sides of the vehicle I'm driving (otherwise it could have been impounded). It took us five trips into town to this one business to get them done -- spending an hour or two there each time!
Trip 1 (Thursday) -- Obviously, we wanted to get something that would look good. Rev. DiCanio and one of the guys at the printing business designed the logo -- the guy is good at his job but his computer is really slow so it took ages to get it done. The man who does the printing was away somewhere else so we were asked to come back the next day.
Trip 2 (Friday) -- We arrived back at the shop to find that the man had printed our decals -- but they had come out of the machine some shade of pink and lilac instead of grey. He tried them a few times but no joy, so we headed home again with his promise that he would definitely get them printed on another machine and we could pick them up the next morning.
Trip 3 (Saturday) -- The decals were printed, the colour was good -- but when they went to put them on the vehicle a couple drops of water got onto one of them and the ink started running. Now the rainy season is just about to start here in Liberia, so that would never do. So the guy said he would print them again and let them dry over the weekend and we should come back on Monday morning.
Trip 4 (Monday) -- We arrived at the shop around 10am to find the workers all eating rice. We were asked to sit down with them, and after a few greetings and some small talk, we asked if we could get the decals because we had a lot to do. Well . . . the owner hesitated and then explained apologetically that he had printed the decals on Saturday afternoon, but on Saturday evening his children had come into the shop and had cut up our decals to make aprons!!! I couldn't believe my ears!!! It was so like the classic "my dog ate my homework" excuse that I seriously thought he was joking. Should have known better -- who could have thought of an excuse like that? I actually just laughed out loud because it was either that or explode. He showed us the ruined decals -- and to be fair to the kids, they had made a pretty impressive apron out of them . . but it wouldn't have looked good on the car.
Trip 5 (Monday) -- So we left and he printed them again (I still don't understand why he didn't reprint them as soon as he found what had happened on Sat night). We went back in the afternoon and finally picked up the finished product. The guy who came to put them on the car had just been painting and kept smearing paint on the car whenever he touched it. Also, he didn't have any tools with him at all -- nothing to measure etc, and in fact looked a bit confused when we mentioned that he should measure the space to make sure the sticker went on straight. But he borrowed a yardstick from someone, and then was about to scratch a line on the car with his thumbnail since he didn't have a wax pencil. So at that point, he got fired. The second guy who came along seemed to know what he was doing, and at long last I have the decals on my car and I'm legal to drive.
You think this is an incredible chain of events? So do I, but after all . . . this is Africa!