Lorhn 2, pictures, pictures, pictures!!!

The second day in Lorhn was wonderful. We spent time relaxing with the people, eating and just enjoying the day. In the afternoon, when the men came from their farms we had a soccer game! It was so much fun. Our guys played against the local team. In the evening we had a wonderful outreach service and had many people repent and accept Jesus as their personal savior. This included one of the town elders! What an exciting evening!




Mark, who is on our staff, is from Lorhn. His mother, father and many other family members still live there. It has been a real blessing to make such a positive impact in the lives of these special people. This is Mark's dad.





I had the pleasure of cooking lunch for my family with the other women in this African kitchen. It was really a fun and unique experience! I cooked Kidney beans with beef and rice. It was good!!This is Hannah, Mark's sister. She was a huge blessing to me and helped out in the kitchen a LOT!


These are some pictures of kids in the village. There are a LOT of them!!!
When we finished the beans there was a lot left over. We gave it to the little ones.

As you can see, they finished every last bite!




All of the guys enjoying some Dumboy. This is a traditional African food.


Everyone sitting around enjoying the day.


Beautiful view of Mt. Gibi.
Walking to the soccer field.

Enjoying some roasted corn while watching the activities :-)



All of us fans supporting our team! No one scored....no winner, no loser. This was a good thing :-) Just for fun!
Lorhn's local team in their new uniforms!

Our team along with some other guys from the community filling in.


The last post on Lorhn will be next! We are also working on a farm project here with a local organization focused on the rehabilitation of former child soldiers.

Lorhn

We took a trip back out to Lorhn, Margibi County, recently. This was a real family adventure! Lorhn is about 3 hours from the city. We took a crew of about 16 and headed into the bush. We all slept in the little village. It was a great trip!



The trip started off with a breakdown. Our truck was overheating BIG TIME!! But, we still made it, just very SLOW......:-)


The boys relaxing in the back while we waited for the truck to cool down.


Alex enjoying Matty while we waited yet again for the truck to cool down! Alex is on our music team and comes for all of our events to lead the praise and worship time.

Finally getting close! This is one of 3 interesting bridges that we had to cross.


Slipped into the mud trying to line up for the second bridge.

Back on our way! Everyone loading up.....
YES!!! We made it!

Matty having an African bath. He is an old pro, they have bathed him like this in this village many times already.

We spent 2 nights here in Lorhn. The first evening we played the Jesus film on our projector and it was wonderful.
We took a break in the movie to speak briefly and also to present the town with soccer uniforms for the local team!



Mark presenting the gifts to one of the town elders. They were very happy!!!! They have asked us to also provide a hand pump for the town, as they have no safe drinking water. We hope to do this very soon.



I will post on the rest of the trip soon. What a great time of fun, fellowship and ministry!

Happy Happy Birthday!!!!!

Happy Birthday to a very special man........34 years????? You have accomplished what can take most a lifetime.



Happy Birthday to the BEST Dad EVER on planet earth!!!!!!!




Happy Birthday to the most wonderful, handsome, loving, caring, romantic and self-sacrificing husband EVER!!!!
We love you sweetie! Even though you are far from us physically you are with us in our hearts and minds and prayers today and always. You are the BEST!!!! You deserve the BEST day ever :-)


with much love,

Vanessa, Macey, Kylee, Elijah, Jacob, Jaden, Samuel, Liberty, Noah, Judah, Maxwell and Mathias.

Gbarnga Central Prison, Bong County

On the way back home from Ganta we always make time to visit the Gbarnga Central Prison. They are always very excited to see us and beg us to make our visits more often. This prison is about 4 hours away.



Matty in the car. He was still smiling after the hours of driving! He had Mark and Pastor Richards to entertain him in the back. The were actually entertaining all of us while entertaining him!



Mark and Shad unloading some gifts and the cameras, tracts etc.


Prison information board. There were 103 prisoners this day with about 30 in for Muder and 8 for rape. The rest was everything from bad debt to drugs, to armed robbery.


Pst. Richards speaking to some of the cells.

Shad ministering in a different area.

Pastor Richards, Matty, me and Shad in the entry/office area.
The guys at this prison LOVE to sing! We are planning a praise and worship time here in late June or early July. Please pray that it would really make an impact on the lives of these men and women.

Let There Be Light!!!

Well, I guess it would be better said, let there be ELECTRICITY! We cannot thank all of you enough that gave towards the generator. We were able to purchase the 15kw generator. It was installed this week and is working wonderfully.

I talked with Kylee today and she said that she is so used to not sleeping with air-conditioning (almost been a year now), that she had to put on a sweater last night. I asked her why she didn't just turn it off and she said that she wouldn't dare...she was so excited to be able to sleep with air-conditioning now.

As the director of Spirit Liberia, as well as the proud father and husband of my family in Liberia, I cannot thank you enough for your support! I do not take it lightly and I do not take it for granted. I stopped specifically tonight and prayed for each of you who gave so that we could improve our living conditions and effectiveness as a ministry.

When we chose to start Spirit Liberia back in 2007, we made a commitment not to quit, no matter what the consequences. We knew that God was calling us to a new way of thinking, a new way of living, and a new way of believing. This past year has brought many difficulties. We have had trials that we would have never expected, and days and weeks that seemed to last forever. But God has remained consistent just as He promised. He has remained faithful to provide for us as He sees fit. He called us to obedience, but He continues to remind us that He has not called us to sacrifice more than necessary.

We have learned over the past year that we do not NEED air-conditioning to live. We do not need lights and a refrigerator, or even a hair dryer and iron (well - some of us may feel differently about this!). But these blessings come as a reminder that we have a loving God, loving friends and family, and we can look to tomorrow knowing that God is in control and actively protecting, guiding, and providing. What an incredible God we serve.

THANK YOU!!!

The new generator

Sanniquelli Prison, Nimba County

We had a great visit at the Sanniquellie prison. It has taken me a long time to get this post up due to major difficulty getting the pictures to load. Sanniquellie is deep inside Nimba county (about 7 hours from our office) and is a very unique and beautiful part of Liberia.


Entering the prison with Matty on my back. I put him there to limit the people trying to hold him :-)



Shad and myself and Matty with some of the prison staff, including the superintendent.


Pastor Richards preaching inside the yard.


Some of the inmates, notice the elderly man. His story is very sad and it seems that he is in prison due to some people trying to steal his land. This type of retaliation is common here.

Shad preaching to the individual cells. Some of the inmates are not allowed into the yard due to bad behavior/aggression.




Pst. Richards speaking to the inmates in the yard.
Farina we gave as a gesture of kindness to feed the prisoners. Farina is a milled product made from dried cassava. Cassava is a starchy root that is commonly eaten here in Africa.
The inmates listening as Pst. read through the gospel tract with them that Spirit Liberia has produced in Liberian English.

Mark (the one always behind the camera) and Matty having a great time together!
On this day there were about 107 prisoners in this prison. 7 of them were women and all of the women were in prison for murder. I have noticed that nearly ALL of the women we find in prison are there for murder. Murder and rape are the top crimes at all prisons with usually 20-30 people in for each. The next highest is robbery. Ministering to these people is a special calling. The conditions are rough but God is blessing us, the inmates, the staff and the country through our reaching out to this most desperate population.