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Day’s Journal
I’ll back up a day or so to
catch up on the events leading up to today.
As I make more and more trips
to Liberia the anxiety over the trip itself seems
to diminish. It’s almost becoming
too relaxed. I found myself patting
my pockets on the way in this morning to make sure I had everything, as if
I could do anything about it at this late time.
Having friends like the Bearchells is a real blessing. Dave had set up a meeting of the 12 Stone
Liberia Team after tonight’s worship service. First, the worship service. One thing that 12 Stone knows how to do
is rock the house. There was a lot
of music and also a time to reflect on how God was “doing a new work” in
our lives. My favorite part was the
baptisms. Several people who had
entered into relationship with Christ had completed the new members’ class
and were ready for baptism. Hearing
a portion of each person’s story of how Christ made Himself know to them
was exciting. As a side note, over
100 people per month have become followers of Christ since the beginning of
2008. One thing 12 Stone believes is
that results matter. If people are
not entering into relationship with Christ through the church’s effort then
they are failing.
After the service we met with
a portion of the Liberia Team who have agreed (along with Cross Point and
others) to own prayer coverage for this trip. It was good to share with them the plans
for this trip so that they could pray more specifically. This team will travel to Liberia December
27 – January 10 to spearhead 12 Stone’s increasing investment in
Liberia. We are exploring the
opportunity to partner Cross Point’s (my church) participation in this trip
as well. No firm commitment yet but
it looks possible.
Baimba
& Vivian Norman (Laurance and Christine
Norman’s son & daughter-in-law) as well as cousin Joseph Tolbert were
also part of the Team meeting. It
was good to spend time with these great Liberian friends living in the
Lawrenceville area.
Karen Bearchell was
thoughtful enough to bring her camera so that we could have a picture of
the group. So thanks Karen for doing
this.
Finally, Dave and I went to
KFC for a gourmet dinner and then home for a good night’s sleep.
Okay, it’s finally Saturday
morning. Dave’s up at 4am for his
morning prayer time (I’m trusting him in this as
he didn’t wake me up until 5am).
Gayla had prepared all of my clothes, bought me snacks and,
generally, had me packed yesterday.
Robert needed some filters for the Ford truck that Suwannee Baptist
provided last year. So I had to
rearrange some of the packing to accommodate the extra items. Dave, always looking for ways to out
serve me, had put my bags into Karen’s van for the trip over.
The 45 minute trip to the
airport gave us a chance to discuss some personal items in the way that
close friends do. As mentioned, the
check in process was the easiest ever.
I’m on American which seems to do a better job at this than some
others.
So, for now, I’m sitting at
gate T10 in the Atlanta Airport waiting for the flight to Chicago. Then later to Brussels and, finally, to
Monrovia.
One good thing. Baimba told me
last night that his mother, Christine, was getting everything ready for me
(that means Esther is planning some great meals).
We’ve finally left for
Chicago. The boarding process is
about 30 minutes late and upon our initial taxi we find that we’re number
30 for takeoff. The Atlanta airport
is reported to be the busiest in the world and it sure seems that way. So by the time we take off we are an hour
behind schedule. Yet I’m as cool as
a cucumber (5 hour layover in Chicago J).
What’s so special about
Liberia? I think about that quite a
bit. Of all the countries of the
world, is Liberia special in God’s eyes?
I don’t think so. God is
working in so many places. India is
a current field where many people are coming to Christ. The former Soviet Union, South America,
the Far East, all have great work occurring. There’s an organization from my own home
town that does Kingdom work in Sierra Leone. That’s only one country up from Liberia. Why don’t we work there? There’s so many countries that are
similar, why this one?
Thirty-two years ago I met
this girl. She was pretty much like
all the other girls of the world (there are billions of them). Some were taller or shorter than her. Some had darker skin, some lighter. She did speak English (the southern kind
that I understand best). Yet she was
just one girl of so very many. Why
did I fall so madly in love with her?
(A better question might have been why she fell in love with me
back.) The point is that I did fall
deeply for her. An
our love affair has lasted until today.
At STS, we are in love with
Liberia. There are many reasons but
primary among them is that God has called us to serve Him there. Secondary reasons are the openness of the
Liberian people to the gospel of Christ, the friendly spirit of the people,
the beauty of the children and the substantial need that exists. Part may be that we simply have the
ability to make a difference. To add
to the significance of our personal lives by loving other human
beings. Ultimately though we return
to God’s call on us. It’s just so
much better to serve a people that you love rather than find yourself in
the position Jonah was in, not liking the people he was called to serve.
Looking back at the main trip
page we find the following 3 primary goals for this trip:
1. Work with Robert
Cuppah and the Liberia Board of Directors to move more of the day to day
control of the ministry, as well as the longer term planning and
“ownership” to the board. After all,
they are much more familiar with the opportunities and needs in Liberia
than those of us on the U.S. side.
2. Start up as many of
the business enterprises (2 ice production facilities, generator sales and
trucking) as possible.
3. Meet with key
governmental leaders to determine the opportunities to establish
construction equipment, truck transportation and road building businesses
through promotional opportunities with companies and investors within the
United States in partnership with Liberians.
When I look at the above
goals, I can see where people might say, “What does this have to do with
Kingdom work? It sounds like a lot
of business stuff to me.” I guess
the thing I’m learning more as I work in Liberia is that there is no real
separation in God’s Kingdom of everyday life (work, family, play, rest,
corporate worship, etc.) from serving God.
Every aspect of what we do should be saturated with who we are in Christ.
So Liberian people need jobs
(approx. 80% unemployment) and they need jobs that can produce enough
income to feed their families (average wage hovers around $2 - $3 per
day). Helping Liberians become
business owners expands influence into the business community. I think our motives are pure in this
area.
It’s 8:30pm and we’re
somewhere over the North Atlantic.
We were about an hour late leaving Chicago and the estimated time
into Brussels is around 8:30+ local time. I’ve been trying to figure out the
difference in time between home and Brussels and I think it’s either 6 or 7
hours. Monrovia is 1 hour less in
difference.
The flight is 100% full. I’m in the second to the last row between
two toilets. Fortunately I’m not in
the last row. They have to look at
the toilet doors. I’ve got noise
cancelling headphones so I don’t really hear all the toilet flushing that’s
continually going on. For some
reason, however, everyone that comes out and turns the corner seems to bump
into my arm. So if the spelling gets
bad, that’s my excuse.
Now to take care of some
business with my wife. They didn’t
have the cookies with dinner that you wanted. Instead they have and Oatmeal Chewie by Love and Quiches Desserts. It is “The little package with the BIG
taste!” It also has 0g Trans Fat,
which is why I’m not eating it.
I don’t know how much more,
if any, I will right tonight. There’s
really not much happening. They get
a heavy meal into you pretty early (roast beef, mashed potatoes, etc.) then
turn down the lights and put a movie on hoping everyone will go to
sleep. It seems to be working pretty
well so far.
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