Building From The Bottom Up

If by chance you wonder what that means you only need to come to Liberia.  Liberia was once a beautiful thriving country, then came the revolution, a generation was destroyed.

Liberia is a very poor country, apparently number two in the world. It still is beautiful, lush and green, but most of what I have seen is shambles.  The Rafiki grounds are adequate but to maintain the grounds and cottages is a challenge.  What were are told is that many of the educated or craftsman were killed or left the country.  Few were left to carry on from that generation.  The highest level for most people is the 3rd grade.  This is even true of those who work in the hospitals. They have a difficult time finding people to work because they have few skills, which even includes some of the most basic skills.

Even though today is Saturday, Elaine and I spent the day working.  We saw 16 of the young girls and 3 of the Mamas.  This evening we had dinner with the ROS.  This is always a highly educational time as well as a time of camaraderie.  Elaine and I feel this is also a time of bring encouragement to those who spend their lives out in the mission field.  These are truly remarkable people, they love what they are doing despite the huge challenges, long days and hardly a glimpse of the end result.  We all agreed we will not see the fruit of our labor on this earth.  It is a long, long road.

Tomorrow we will go to church and if the weather prevails we will go to the beach.  I understand when it rains, it literally is a deluge.  They get about 200 inches of rain a year.  Malaria season is all the time.  I am taking my Malaria medication.  I hate the stuff but I do not want to get malaria.

The skies are very blue with some of the most wonderful clouds. It is humid and I am drenched in perspiration yet there is something pleasant in the ocean breeze and the smell of salt air.  I feel very far away from my world in Littleton.  Liberia tugs at the heart.