October Mission Trip: Not done yet

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The first two weeks of October I went to Liberia with Michael. Our family is so grateful for the four months we had together, but Michael’s visitor visa required him to return to Liberia until the adoption is complete. It was really hard to be at our house in Liberia without our whole family. So many things seemed so familiar, and yet so much had changed. I was glad when Michael asked if Anthony could be his roommate in the house. Anthony is a really special boy to our family, and a really great kid. So, the boys settled in and we made arrangements for them while Michael stays there until the adoption is completed.

Meanwhile, I did make a calendar to plan my time in Liberia. When I arrived, I had one event planned. However, in Liberia, making plans isn’t always helpful anyway, and I saw each of my days orchestrated beautifully. At the end of my time in Liberia, I felt like I had fresh wind in my sails and a clearer direction for our course with Teamwork Africa.

First of all, I spent lots of time talking with our Liberian team. Oh, it was so good to see everyone again! We agreed the main focuses of Teamwork Africa right now are: education, medical care, and clean water. The values of sustainability, reproducibility, and partnerships were enthusiastically discussed.

Joseph Flomo and I identified 85 students that qualified as Starfish Scholars. Fifty of them lived near Great King Academy and we registered them. The other 35 students lived too far way, so we visited about ten different schools in Johnsonville and Paynesville to register them. It was so interesting to visit so many other schools and discuss educational goals with the faculty of those schools. It was really exciting!

In addition to registering the students, I also had the great fun of delivering books to two schools. It is always so much fun to meet the students that are eagerly waiting for us to arrive so they can carry the books to the room prepared to keep them safe. The teachers and students alike are so happy!

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I was also able to do a whirlwind trip to Bong County to visit our two village schools and the Bible school. I was very grateful for an excellent driver and trained mechanic, AB, to make sure we made it there and back! In fact, there was some trouble with the bearings in one wheel. AB let me know when we safely made it back that he was concerned that we could have had a breakdown, but he didn’t tell me. I laughed and figured it wouldn’t have done any good to have both of us worry about it!

Each day in Liberia was full, scheduled just as it needed to be. I left Liberia very, very sad to leave our dear friends and family, but also excited that we are not done yet!