during the accident in the bush!
Well, today was different than all of the others days we have been in Liberia. We have run from one thing to the next never stopping but to get a few hours of interrupted sleep a night. But today, WE RESTED - RELAXED - and REFLECTED!!!
What a wonderful feeling. Vanessa and Macey spent some time with Pastor Charles' wife O'rita shopping for dresses and going to get some custom tailored clothing. Can you believe that they were able to pick out fabric at a store, take it to a tailor, get fitted, and have the dresses ready within about 24 hours? I just think that is crazy. The neatest part is that the tailor will make the entire dress for only $11!
We have had a driver for the entire trip. His name is Shadrach (everybody calls him Shad). He is 29 years old. He goes to Pastor Charles church and is one of the sweetest men I have ever spent time with. I told him today that I am really going to miss spending time with him and that he should consider himself part of our family. He has literally dropped everything to care for us with whatever we ask since we have been here. When Pastor Charles introduced us, he said that Shad was a "submissive" man and would do anything we asked. I had no idea how true this is.
Shad is going to college majoring in Accounting. He manages the finances for the church and has done an absolutely superb job of keeping checks and balances in place - keeping the money in the hands of people who do not make the decisions, and keeping the decision makers in check by having to request money from the money handlers. What a wonderful thing to know that people like this really do exist!
So we took Shad, Pastor Charles, and Orita to lunch today at Golden Beach. Any of you who have adopted through the same agency we did have probably been there. But Shad has not. Shad was telling us that in order to go to college he would wake up at 4:00AM and go take a wheelbarrow over to a bakery. He would buy as much bread as he had money for, load it in the wheelbarrow and go up and down the streets selling the bread. He would sell what he had and then head to school. After school, he would refill and continue selling until all of his bread was gone, sometimes after 12AM in the morning. If he had $10.00, he could make $2.50 profit for the day - but only if he sold all of his bread. If he had some left over, he could even have lost money for the day.
School is not cheap for the people here. Shad's family had to move from Lofa County to Monrovia during the war. His family owned over 250 acres deep in the bush but have not been able to make enough money to ever return. He dreams one day of returning and trying to begin farming again. Hopefully Spirit Liberia may make this dream a reality some day.
People like Shad are all over Liberia. People with dreams, ambitions, and hope. But these people have no one to turn to. Shad is a strong, very strong Christian man. I believe with my whole heart that he is the prime example of why Spirit Liberia is here. We are here to help the Christians realize that their prayers, hopes, and dreams have not been unheard. God is bringing up a generation of people who desire to see these people get back up on their feet and realize that God's timing has had a purpose.
I was asked to give some closing statements to the people at the crusade on Saturday night. It was off-the-cuff, but I spoke to them about how Jesus did not come to earth and spend time with the pharasees and the rich. He came and sat with the sinners, dined with the tax collectors, and ministered to prostitutes. He is looking for people that realize they are weak, wounded, and weary. He is looking for the physically and spiritually needy. No one is too low for God. No one has sinned beyond what Christ's blood can purify.
And when I finished talking, I realized why God has opened my eyes to the need of these people - because he loves them dearly!
We will be adding many pictures when we return, we have not been able to upload them from Liberia!
In Christ,
Greg
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