Diversity in Liberia

There are quite a few things that I have intended to write about over the past few weeks and haven't had the time. One is diversity in Liberia. (Above are photos of a rural mosque and a boy holding a tablet containing verses from the Koran.) It seems to me that most attend one of the many Christian churches on Sunday, but there is a real mix of people here. I have met some who have come here to live from nearby countries like Ghana and Mali and from far away places like the middle east. Many of these people are not Christians. The amount of cooperation between such different groups of people is what interests me. Quite commonly, it appears to me, Christians and Muslims share parts of the same dwellings and work spaces and each makes a meaningful contribution to the well being of the community. Survival seems to be the common goal. I think it is universally true that an attitude of love and humility leads to peace and restoration as, I believe, this is God's way (as demonstrated in Jesus), while arrogance, selfishness, and unforgiveness inevitably lead to destruction. Love and humility are being put into practice here also in the great effort on the part of the Liberian people to reintegrate ex-combatants back into society and to accept them as brothers despite the hurt that many still feel as a result of the war. The attitudes of our hearts in the present do more to shape our future than anything else we may concern ourselves with.

John

Driver's License

Last Friday I was at last able to go through driver's training here. Above is a photo of a local driving school in Monrovia. My driving school was quite different from that, though. Since I have a valid U.S. driver's license, I just had to be informed of the ship's rules concerning driving here and the use of Mercy Ships vehicles and take a short drive with the transportation manager "out into Africa". "Out into Africa" is the way I have begun to describe the idea of leaving the outer gate of the port here and entering the "real" Monrovia. On Sunday morning we signed out a vehicle and headed for the beach for a little, much needed, respite.

We went to White Sands Beach to the north. The name is a bit of a stretch as the sands are more of a dark burnt orange color here. Iron is one of Liberia's major natural resources and I'm sure that the soil has plenty of iron in it. I was happy that my first drive other than the driving test was on a Sunday when things are much quieter on the streets, despite my 10 year old daughter, Bethany's very concerned and frequent back-seat driving. We passed through Duala market on the way to the beach, which is usually very slow and arduous, but is much more subdued on Sundays. I must admit that I still felt a bit like I was "running the gauntlet" at times, but far less so than would inevitably be the case any of the other six days of the week. There are normally mobs of people everywhere, plenty of pot holes to dodge, and yellow taxis bumper-to-bumper as far as the eye can see, not to mention hundreds of wheelbarrows and carts carrying anything from flip-flops or sea snails to sugarcane, lumber or plastic buckets, moving along the shoulders of the road. It seems that most of the cars on the road are being used as taxis. These thousands of taxis (yellow or otherwise) and a few heavily overloaded minivans make up the fairly effective public transportation system in Monrovia. The other vehicles on the road, in general, tend to be motorcycles, which you can also easily hire a ride on, trucks, and government,UN, or Mercy Ships suv's (like the one pictured below).

Did I mention that things are a bit different here than back home in the U.S.? My wife has a tendency to understate things sometimes, but I think she summed it up pretty well last night when she said, "This is not a picnic." I'd say that that applies to driving too. We go though tough patches fairly often as I believe most all of the folks living on the ship do, but if you want a little extra excitement, it's not very far away, and even easier now, thanks in part to my new driving privileges. Please pray that I will be able to keep them.

John

Troubleshooting Follow-up

Well, after talking to several people, it seems that the trouble with viewing photos on this blog is not a problem unless you are trying to view them from the Africa Mercy in Liberia. So, I won't do anything unless I hear that there are problems viewing them from other locations as well.

John

Troubleshooting

It seems that about 2/3 of the photos uploaded to this blog are no longer visible. We will be trying to correct the problem as time allows.

John

Potty Talk and a Tour

Is there anything that you do on a routine basis that you just dread doing? For some time,I have been wanting to share with you what it is that now fills me with anxiety each time I must do it. And it is something as every-day as going to the bathroom! In fact, it IS the very necessity of sitting on the commode that I have begun to dread! No longer will I risk "meditating" on the throne while reading the latest "Guidepost" or Oswald Chambers' daily inspiration from My Utmost for His Highest. The reason being...our toilet seems to be alive! It very often, VERY OFTEN, has indigestion! I discovered this fact soon after we moved into our cabin on the Africa Mercy. It didn't take long for me to understand that at any given moment, the toilet could belch and splash up onto my backside! Can you imagine???!!!

One day last week the commode became clogged. The ship uses a vacuum system to draw the waste water out of the toilets. So, that means you can't plunge it like you normally would. We tried to flush several times, but to no avail. Our next plan was to avoid it for awhile. We would go forward on the ship or down a couple of decks to the public restrooms. After we had left the toilet alone for about a day, John and I were in the bed and heard the loudest belch-gurgle-spew and then FLUSSHHH! The potty lived happily ever after....that night!

I have yet to ask the plumber what causes this phenomenon, but we suspect the sewage gases just need to vent!? I HAVE asked our friends if their toilets offend in this way, but no one admits that they do. Maybe they're just protecting their potties' reputations! Or is ours the only one with "potty-mouth"?

And now, on with a tour of our cabin....These images were obtained using John's wide angle lens. As you enter the cabin, the bathroom is on the right and both kid-rooms are to the left. (David has been caught exiting the WC and appears to have just washed his hands. Good boy!)

The kitchen is straight in through the entry-way and the living-room/dining room/parents' room is through the kitchen. The computer sits on a pull out shelf in the kitchen area.

The offending commode looking very subdued...

The kids' rooms have bunk beds mounted on the walls. Bethany has flipped up the upper bunk to allow more head space while on her bed and more light for her stuffed animals & projects.The couch transforms into John and Jenny's bed.

We are beginning to feel like we are home. The people in our small village on board are becoming familiar as we work and play with each other. This past weekend we had a grand cookout and lots of games on the dock as we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the birth of Mercy Ships. We were blessed to hear testimony of the Lord's faithfulness through the years to all who have had a part in the ministry. And tribute was paid to all the beautiful vessels that have carried thousands of crew members to be hope and healing to the poor in Jesus' name.

Jenny

Arthur

I recently had the opportunity to follow and photograph a patient through his surgery and into the recovery phase. This is the first time I have been able to follow a patient through like this. I more commonly spend my time doing public relations photography and photos of crew - less of patients due to my schedule with the kids and the unpredictable, sporatic nature of doing before and after photos of patients.

Below is (1) a photo of baby Arthur before surgery on the ship to remove his tumor, (2) a photo of our good friend Fotios, a Greek-German anesthesiologist who has since returned to his family and work in Germany (we enjoyed getting to know him and hope to see him again!!), carrying Arthur into surgery, (3) a photo of the surgeons praying for Arthur before the first incision in the O.R., and (4) a photo of Arthur about a week after his surgery.


Amazing things are happening here!

John

Nick Vujicic's Visit to Liberia

A little over a week ago Nick Vujicic of Life Without Limbs (http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/) visited Liberia on a world tour that he is doing and we had the privilege of having him and his team stay on the m/v Africa Mercy. Nick is from Australia and was born without arms or legs. He struggled with the pain of being different from the other kids in school and has had to learn, with great difficulty, to do things that most of us would consider simple, but would probably seem impossible to conceive of doing without limbs. Nick questioned why God made him with no arms or legs, but eventually realized that God had a purpose for his life. Nick is now travelling the world encouraging others and sharing the good news of life in Christ. I was able to go out to the Samuel K. Doe arena (named for one of Liberia's former dictators who rose to power through a bloody coup and who's end was equally as bloody) in Monrovia and photograph Nick's public speaking engagement there with thousands of the Liberian people. There was much singing and dancing prior to Nick's arrival. They also played Michael W. Smith's "Healing Rain" over the loud speakers. For me that was a very poignant moment. It is my prayer that God would continue to bind up Liberia's wounds. How desperately it continues to need healing!

After a couple of hours of singing, Nick spoke on a table on top of a raised platform. He shared Jerimiah 29:11 with the people: " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' " He told them that if God can use a man with no arms or legs to be His hands and feet, then He will also use war-torn Liberia for His purposes as well. Nick's story was one of redemption, redemption of Nick's seemingly hopeless situation. And he encouraged the people there to believe in God's redemptive purposes for Liberia.

One interesting thing I saw there was a man with a tape recorder with a large amount of orange wire hanging from it. I spoke to him briefly and found out that he was reporting on Nick's visit in the Bassa language so that he could later reach the Bassa-speaking people, who would otherwise be hard to reach, though radio broadcast. He told me that often, in the bush, if a woman gives birth to a child with birth defects that this is considered a curse and the baby is often discarded. He wanted to spread the news of Nick's visit and his testimony to encourage families not to consider birth defects as a curse, but rather as an opportunity.

Above is a photo of a young man in a wheel chair that attended the event. One thing that I heard Nick say while he was here was that if you put "Go" in front of "disabled", you end up with "God is abled". Nick's message is very powerful for anyone and we felt very privileged to have met him. We wish him and his team well on their continued journey around the globe.

John