We have been in Liberia now for about a week. In that time we have had no Internet service
so I have not been able to send a blog. We travelled last Sunday from Monrovia to Ganta, which is in the far
north. The road to Ganta is
challenging. The first 2/3's is paved
but with lots of pot holes. The last
section is not paved and has a lot more rough spots. On the way up our driver swerved and braked
sharply and accelerated suddenly after each pot hole. Although the road is fairly straight I got
really carsick. It was 8 hours of
torture. Edie and three men were crammed
into the backseat and it was tough on them as well. I insisted on driving back myself on our return and it went better for everyone. I did not get sick and the driver went in the way back with the luggage
so there were only three in the backseat.
Our time in Ganta went really well. The 18 men we trained were all good learners
and did a very good job with the material. They did well in grasping the initial training principles and really
engaged in the message of the book of Jonah. They thought through carefully their attitudes about other tribes, etc.
that separate Liberians. There are still
strong feelings about the civil war that occurred here and they wrestled with
how to overcome these issues with the gospel.
The conditions there were a little rustic, although Edie
and I had the only room in the hotel with air conditioning, for which we were
very thankful. It is not too hot here but very humid as it is the rainy season. We had electricity only when it was
dark. Everything is run on generators,
although the town of Ganta got its first electricity on Friday. Everyone went downtown to see the street
lights come on. We had no hot water and
everything is makeshift in the way it is built. But in spite of these small inconveniences, we left there rejoicing in
all the blessings we received from the people. It was especially good this time since the men and women spoke English
so we could talk to them. We visited a
number of small churches and came away so impressed with their tireless
faithfulness in tough conditions. The
food was simple but good, usually rice with sweet potato greens.
On Wednesday afternoon we traveled a couple hours to a
refuge camp. About 11,000 people, mostly
from the Ivory Coast, live there. The
Evangelical Free church has a church plant there. I
came away realizing that many of these people would never have the chance to
hear the gospel if it were not for the war in their country. God uses disaster to bring eternal blessing
into people's lives. They are hopeful
that many will eventually return to the Ivory Coast and plant churches at
home. The little church there put on a
great welcome for us, inviting other pastors from the camp, etc. They insisted on feeding us, again rice and
greens. The seasoned it just a bit spicy
and it was delicious. The people all
brought offerings of a little rice to give as a gift to us. We ended up with about 30#'s, quite a gift
from people who have so little. Most
live in small tents. Eleazor, the
leader here, said when they do this, he just brings it back the next time he
visits as a gift to the church. Eleazor
is a fine godly leader. We saw him in
various situations and were so impressed with his leadership, humility and love
for the people. He had time for everyone
from little kids to old folks. He gets
up from midnight to 3 am or so to do computer work since that is the only time
his cell phone connection to the Internet works well. We on the team felt privileged to get to know
him.
We leave for Ghana tonight to spend a few days there
meeting with various groups scouting training opportunities. We need real wisdom in making good
decisions. Our team is at its capacity
for training already. We need pastors to
sign up to come along with us in the future if we are going to be able to
maintain these trainings.
