Sunrise, Sunset

Sunrise, sunset

Swiftly flow the days,

Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers,

Blossoming even as we gaze.

Here you see the sunrise and the sunset over my new home. It reminds me of that song from Fiddler on the Roof, and as the days move swiftly by I watch the seedlings grow.

Things are always changing here. Our village is growing, the children are growing and we are all learning new things. Since I last wrote you, we have had two new additions. Precious are the little ones that God has entrusted to us, each coming with their own stories, their own heartaches, their own need to be loved. The Bible says that love covers a multiude of sin. (1Pet. 4:8) We are trusting Him to use love to cover a multitude of heartache as well. All of our children come hungry for something, some for food, some for safety, but all for love.

It was a joy to watch our little Theresa, who just arrived last week, today begin to smile at us and wave from across the way. She is beginning to feel the safety of this place and I think also the love and acceptance. And tonight as our newest addition, Timothy, snuggled in my arms at movie time and fell asleep, I felt the joy of being a part of bringing him to a safe haven provided by the wonderful grace of God. Here, our tiny Tim will have the opportunity to flourish in a way that he would not have had otherwise. God has a plan for each of these little lives and it is a joy to be a part of it.

Today was our last day of school. We will start a new school year in January and there is much to do to prepare. The children were excited to be promoted to a new grade level and to have a holiday. The weather is warm here, but the message of Christmas is still alive as our children rehearse their Christmas program. All but the babies have a part in proclaiming the message of the birth of our Savior. They have worked hard to learn lines. They are proud of their accomplishment. Next we hope to present our Christmas Story to an audience. As we do, please pray with me that this message will go deep into the hearts of our little ones and that God will use them to speak to the hearts of those who hear their message. May your Christmas season be blessed, as well, with the knowledge that your are loved by the Savior.

Sunrise, sunset, the message is unchanging. God still loves. God still saves.

And so continues the old song,

Sunrise, Sunset,

Simply fly the years,

One season following another,

laden with happiness and tears.

But let us not forget that on that glorious day, "the Lamb . . . will guide us to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from our eyes." (Rev. 7:17)

A Girl Named Grace

In Romans 3:34 we are told that God gives grace to the afflicted, in Ephesians 2:8, "By grace you have been saved. . . ". In 2 Corinthians 12 our Lord tells Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." It is with this backdrop that I proceed to tell you about our little Grace.

As you know, I am here in Liberia to minister to the orphans of this great continent. The ravages of sickness and war have left too, too many little ones with no hope, no future, and no one to care for them. But there is hope and there is a future and God is here to care and to give grace. He sends His people to do this work and He uses His people, folks like you, to send us.
Thank you for that wonderful gift - to me, to the children of Liberia, and to your Father.

I was thankful for the privilege lasts week of experiencing first hand a vision of why we are here. I traveled to another area of Liberia to pick up 4 1/2 year old little girl. We're going to call her Grace. We traveled for three hours over very bumpy dirt roads. The distance would have not been so far but the slowness of driving through potholes and washed out areas in the road made travel very difficult. Along the way I saw jungle, people doing laundry, others marketing their produce, children playing in water holes, construction workers building a new bridge, and young people chopping back the growth along the road. The jungle rules here if you let it. I saw churches and schools both new and old.

Finally we arrived in a larger community and proceeded to the place we were to meet little Grace. She was waiting for us and ran out to meet us when we arrived. She was beautiful!
I was surprise at the emotions this experience evoked within. Here was this little one we had come to rescue from life without adaquate medical care, limited food and poor or no education, what a joy to be a part of this opportunity in her life. But here was a little girl who at four had already faced the tragedies of losing her mother and now her father, how sad. And then there was this home that she had been taken into, where she was loved by extended family members, a family with many small children of their own for which they were caring. I felt their loss, as well, as they said goodbye to this precious little one. As they lovingly let her go, we said our goodbyes and climbed into the vehicle. I turned around and saw a small girl with a new name and a new life that she knew nothing about, a little girl holding a baby doll, probably for the first time, a little girl who had never had a book read to her. What was she feeling? What was she thinking? What courage! What hope! As I now watch her take each step in her new life, I know -Grace is the name for her.
May God's grace be with you,
Julie

Learning to live in Liberia

To get you caught up on life here, I thought I'd share a little that I have experienced. In my first two weeks here, I have been allowed out of the Village quite a bit. I have had my first experience buying groceries, both in a store and in an open market. In the grocery store we shopped in US dollars which was easy. On the streets it is Liberian dollars. It takes $67 Liberian dollars to equal $1.00 US. That means you are carrying around a stack of bills just to buy a little fruit. It was a little overwhelming to be counting out $20 bills by the oodles to buy some lettuce. But the good news is I survived. Most things are available here PART of the time. There is always a very limited selection though.

I have had the opportunity to make a few trips to the ocean. It is only a 20 minute walk.
It is very beautiful and refreshing in the 86 degree/75% humidity weather. It is a bit confusing though as I look out on the deep blue sea I think I am looking toward home but since Liberia is on the downward curve of Africa I am actually looking southwest. I was here a few days before I realized that my house faces the ocean. I thought it was in my back yard somewhere. Sometimes early in the morning I can actually hear the waves crashing.

The Rafiki Village is built on a very sandy piece of land, although there is quite a bit of jungle on our property farther back, enough for me to be cautious to watch out for snakes if I'm out at night. I haven't seen one yet except dead in the road.:) That was enough to excite my nephew, Landon.:) On an interesting note, the land that we are using was formerly "Boy's Town", as in the ministry started in the US back in the day. You older folks will recall the Spencer Tracy movie made about the founding of the "Boy's Town" ministry. Well, it was here in Liberia as well. There is still a small, very poor village down the road called "Boy's Town".

It is interesting, but sad, to see a country recovering from civil war. I am told employment is at about 20%. That's employment, not unemployment. The roads are in poor condition. As I traveled across the land last week I saw several of what looked like "Andy Griffith" type gas stations, but with no pumps. They said "gas for sell" and where the pumps should have been there would be a couple of one gallon glass jars full of gasoline. I asked and yes before the war
there were functioning gas stations everywhere. There are still electric lines in many places where there is no longer any electricity (which is everywhere unless you have a generator).

I have tried to give you a picture of life in Liberia. I realize it doesn't fit my blog title but there is more to come. After all there is Joy in serving God where ever He puts you. Don't miss the next posting.

Julie

Getting Started!

Dear friends and family,

Well, I have been in the Rafiki Village in Liberia for two weeks now and have decided it is time to create this "blog" to make it easier for me to keep more of you informed on what is happening.

I am new at this so we shall see how it goes.