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Day’s Journal
From Beccy:
What a glorious day! Honestly today the Lord poured out His
blessings. One of the things I have
been asking the Lord privately for is while I am here to be able to pray
with the Liberian women and bless and encourage them, at the Crown Business
By the Book, the teacher asked me to come and do just that. It was all I could do not to weep for
joy, that the Lord had given me such an opportunity. I was able to speak with several of the
women and to see their commitment to the Lord and their country. We also had the opportunity to visit with
Major Dixon and Major Gaymo and share with them
the needs we have regarding property and to hear their needs as well. In the next couple of months they will be
opening a school and are in need of teachers with expertise that can pass
their knowledge onto the students and help them to develop a trade. The Salvation Army has a strong presence
here in Liberia and are well respected. Tomorrow should prove to be a very busy
day, please pray that the Lord may choose to lead us to the property that
will be just right for His work in Liberia through STS.
From Rodney:
Today we move from the
Baptist Compound to the Norman’s. So
we woke everyone up around 7am so that they could get ready for the
business leader’s small group study at Greater Love Baptist Church. Since we are moving we had to pack up
everything. I don’t know about the
ladies but getting Dave and Matt packed is a major effort. Everyone packed their stuff up and we
moved it all to one room so that it could be secured until we finished the
Crown conference today.
We had a breakfast of eggs
with onions, bread, peanut butter & peach jelly, fresh mango,
tangerines, oatmeal and coffee.
James, our driver, joined us for breakfast as well and we enjoyed a
great meal.
At about 9am we left in two
separate vehicles. Matt, Jan and
Mario went on ahead because they needed to set up and start the
conference. The rest of us took a
quick side trip to look at the property that Mrs. Thelma Cato has and is
considering selling to us. It’s on
the road that runs along the back of the Baptist Compound and is probably
only 200 yards away. It is 1 acre of
land with two block houses on it.
They are pretty run down and at least 1 will require a new roof
(maybe both). Of course it does have
the benefit of overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. That’s not really that big of a deal for
Liberians but the American mindset assigns increased (substantially) value
to it. However, our requirements do
not give preferential treatment of oceanfront property. We can accomplish the mission that God
gave us with property located elsewhere.
So it will have to make financial sense in order for us to acquire
it. We simply drove past the
property and stopped on the road for a few moments and then left for the
conference.
The conference had about 30
or so business people in attendance and a surprising number of them were
women. Mario did a great job of
involving the attendees and captured their attention immediately and held
it throughout the day. The
opportunity to have business owners understand that the primary goal of a
Christian’s business is to bring glory to God is an exciting prospect. My friend, Clarence Jaeger is always
telling me that marketplace evangelism is the way the world will be
reached. I’m starting to believe
him. I believe that Liberia could be
changed dramatically if those receiving this training will make application
of it. I would also encourage all
U.S. Christian business people to take this training.
Dave, Beccy, Gayla and I
slipped out about 12:45 to visit with Majors Dixon and Gaymo
of the Salvation Army to see how we might serve them and partner with them
where it made sense. They also have
agreed to help us find property, which is a real blessing. They have built a very nice technical
training building in Monrovia and should open it for the fall semester
2008. At first they were going to
make it solely a training school for teachers. Now they have decided to add to that
technical training in areas such as electrical, plumbing, mechanic,
carpentry, etc. This began to ring
bells in our mind about the generator project that we have underway. Perhaps we could help with the training
of their mechanic and/or electrical students. As we continued to explore this we found
that the biggest need they have is for qualified technical trainers. They would love to have experts in these
areas to volunteer for a semester each and come to Liberia to teach. They would also like to have people from
the States to come over for 2 week sessions and train their teachers to
increase their competency. If you
have a skill in one of these areas and would like to do either a short or
medium term mission trip please contact us and we will put you into touch
with the appropriate person.
After we returned from the
Army visit we returned to the Crown training seminar. I stepped out to call Isaac Wheiger, Wesleyan Church of Liberia, to set up a visit
to see the business enterprises that he was operating. We may be able to serve him by partnering
to provide a generator. We’re not
sure yet that this will work but do want to explore it.
When I finished the call a
young man, Michael, came up that Dave and I had met while walking back from
Equip Liberia yesterday.
Yesterday he came up to us
and introduced himself. “Great”, I
thought at the time, “another kid wanting something.” As it turns out what he wanted was to
tell us that he did wood carvings and sold them at the Royal Hotel up on
the main highway. He was
professional as he talked and did a pretty good marketing job. I politely told him that I have purchased
wood carvings during previous trips and would not need any this time. I did say that there were others with me
that might be interested but that, if they were, I would bring them by the
Royal. He was a better marketer than
I thought as he said, “tell me where you are staying and I will bring them
by for you to look at.” Since we
were staying many miles away that wasn’t an option. But it was fun to watch him work through
my objections, something every good salesman learns to do. We shook hands and said goodbye.
Today when he came up he
asked if I remembered him, which I did, and reminded me that he had met
David and I yesterday. I spoke to him for a moment and then he
launched into a presentation of a business plan that he was
implementing. He pointed to his
motorcycle and said that it was new and that he used it to shuttle people
along the roadways. He said, “I make
600 Liberian dollars (about $10) per day.
I spend $115LD on gas and oil (it was a 2 cycle and required that
the gas and oil be mixed). I save
$400LD and I use the remaining $85LD for food. I will save this amount for 3 months and
then buy another motorcycle which I will have another person drive for me
and I will save the money from that business and then I will buy another
one. He had my full attention by
now. So I engaged him in discussion
of his business plan. He showed me
his laminated high school card showing that he was in the 11th
grade, 3rd section at the local Lutheran high school. We talked
about the fact that he would not be able to save $400 from the second cycle
because he would have to pay the driver.
So he figured that he would pay him $200 per day and save the
rest. He mentioned that he could
make more than a taxi driver because, during rush hour, he could move his
passengers along faster since he didn’t have to sit in traffic but could
move between the cars and get them where they were going faster. So he knew what his business advantage
was. Good for him. He volunteered that he wanted to be a
businessman because people respected a businessman while they thought that
people who didn’t work were lazy and unreliable.
Before you start clapping, he
did come back around and say that I could help him by purchasing a gallon
of gas for him. Still the entrepreneur
but having shifted methods. I
explained that if he was making and saving money that he had the funds to
buy his own gas. He agreed after a
couple of additional “tries”. So we
said goodbye, again, and I went inside.
I was so impressed with the young man’s
professional presentation skills that I told Matt about him. “I wonder where he learned that from,”
Matt asked. Why didn’t I think to
ask that? I wish I had taped an
interview with him.
Later Hezekiah, his business
partner, showed up and set up a display of their wood carvings across the
street and came over to entice me to come over and see them. The “don’t take no until they say it 8
times” methodology was evident.
Again, good for them. I
explained, again, that I would not be needing any
but a couple of the folks who were with me might. I also explained that we would be leaving
immediately after the seminar and would not be able to look at the carvings
today but that we would be back at Greater Love church within the next
couple of days and might look at them then.
He seemed disappointed but I was soon to learn that the tag team
approach was in full swing. So
Michael shows back up and points to his “business partner” and says I should
look at his carvings. I started to
tell him, again, that I didn’t have time but decided to do a little
bargaining. If he would let me
interview him on video we would look at his carvings.
So I went inside and got the
video camera, brought Gayla out and we walked over to look. I knew I was going to buy something from
them, not because their work was overly impressive, but because their
persistence and skill at marketing/selling was so highly refined. (Remember that we have 30 business people
inside learning about God’s plan for their business and I doubt any of them
was as good at the selling part as this young man.)
Now came
the next test, his bargaining ability.
Gayla and I purchased a carved nativity scene while we were here
last year so we really didn’t need another one. Yet that offered the most items and, I
thought, the best opportunity to check out his bargaining skills. Plus, since we really didn’t need it, I
wouldn’t feel pressured to buy it.
He was quick to say that he was giving us the “reseller’s rate”. I’m impressed. I ask him the price of the nativity
scene. $45US he says without batting
an eye. “That’s too high!” “It’s just the asking price,” he says. “We
can negotiate.” So he offers it at
$30, “a $15 discount!” I’m sure he’ll
go lower so I say it’s still too high.
“What is your bottom price,” he says. (He really means what is my top
price.) So I tell him $20. “I’ll take $27” he says. Notice he didn’t get into the “meet you
half way” mode because he really wants $25.
So now I can offer $22 and we can meet at $25. So I tray another test. “Give me something else with it for free,”
I say. He seems a little confused by
that and asks me, “For free?” “Yeah,
what else will you throw in with the nativity set for that price?” He looks around his stuff for a little
while and finally picks out the smallest thing he has which is a village hut carving. I look at it but say, “I don’t want that…
what is it?”
So he launches into a full discussion of the type of hut this is and
what the people used it for, etc. He
knows his products well. Good for
him. I still don’t want the
hut. In the meantime Hezekiah, his
partner, is showing Gayla a carving of two hands doing the “African
handshake snap” that I still haven’t mastered. I did kind of want one of those. So I said, “through that in and I’ll buy.” He wasn’t going there and said it was too
much. So I gave him a little wiggle
room and said I would pay $30 for the nativity set and the snapping
handshake. He looked at his partner
and whispered, “what do you think?”
I think he’s traded cars in America because this is the equivalent
of, “let me ask my sales manager” once they know that it’s enough for them
to sell it to me. “Okay, I’ll take
it” he says. Unfortunately they are
very good because Hezekiah has taken this time to interest Gayla in
something else. “He’s cut the price
from $20 to $12.50” she says. Now
who’s testing who? So, to keep from embarrassing
us all by being too easy, I say, “I’ll pay $10.” “Okay,” he says immediately. Which confirms that we
paid too much.
So we make the purchase and I
tell him to come over and we’ll interview him on camera. When we get there he asks, “what will I
get for this.” “Nothing,” I
say. He makes like he doesn’t want
to do the interview so I tell him he doesn’t have to. Some of the others standing around start
to tell him that it’s his opportunity to “help others”. I make like I am putting the tri-pod up
and he relents and says he’ll do the interview. So we tape an interview about his
business plans, why it’s important and what it means to him. This time I ask him where he learned to
be a “business man”. Surprisingly he
said, “From my mother. She was a
business lady and sold material and other ‘lady stuff’.” He was obviously impressed with his
mother’s business abilities and had learned a great deal from her. I could hear her words coming out of his
mouth as he talked about being respected and having people’s
trust. Perhaps this was just part of
his spiel but I still through it was pretty good stuff.
Finally we pack up and leave
to pick up our bags from the Baptist Compound. There are 6 of us in the van plus enough
baggage to move the Children of Israel into the Promised Land. I’m feeling very “Liberian” by the time
all the people and luggage gets stuffed into the van and we’re on our way
to the Norman’s.
One neat thing, on the way
there our driver, James, who has attended yesterday and today’s Crown
training sessions, tells us about his wife.
That she is a business woman.
She started with one bunch of plantains, cooked them, sold them and
then bought more. Now she has a
little roadside stand on the way to the Norman’s where she sells several
food items. He’s very proud of her
and their twin 6 year old daughters, Martha and Mary. He stops along the side of the road where
his wife’s stand is located and introduces her to us. Her name is Ruth and she’s very shy but
also friendly. Then we’re off for
our new home.
Shadrach Saywon, Willie N.
Wylie Memorial Children’s Home, is scheduled to meet us for dinner tonight. My love of Liberia started when I first
visited the Children’s Village a few years back. He and Jeremiah arrive shortly after we
do and we spend some time together talking about the Children’s Village and
how things are going there. We also
talk about the ice making business that we sent over last year which has
not gotten going yet. It’s only
making cold water which is a much lower profit item. We sent over on the last container some
insulated foam board to allow the cooling area of the container to be
reduced by 2/3rds in hopes of making ice.
So we diagram out how this will look and agree that I’ll stop by tomorrow
at the business so that we can discuss it further. The real problem, per Shadrach, is that
they are having to purchase the water they are
using because their location is in a section that can’t put in a well due
to pollution from a former paint manufacturing factory. As it turns out, the purchase of water
alone is costing them almost $2,000 per month. It also sits in above ground tanks until
it is used which means the refrigeration units have to cool it from 80+
degrees rather than the 65 that it would come out of a drilled
wellhead. I ask what a single lot
would cost on the main road in the area that had enough traffic to support
the business and also had good water that we could drill a well to
access. He thinks about $1,500. No brainer. So he and Jeremiah will start looking for
lots in the Red Light and Kru Town areas (no
jokes about searching in the Red Light district… it’s the actual name of a
town). So we’ll see them tomorrow
afternoon around 2:30 to discuss things further.
We eat super after our
discussion and it’s good, as always.
Esther is an excellent cook and we are hungry having missed lunch
today while we made the Salvation Army visit.
Everyone that wanted a turn
at the computer tonight has had it and I’m trying to finish this before it’s tomorrow.
But I doubt I will get done before midnight.
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