Mobile Impact Team: Sierra Leone DVD available
If you are interested in a DVD of the team's experience in Sierra Leone, please call our office at 509.673.2290 or submit a request in the "contact" section of this page. We would love to send you a copy!
Updates
10/8/2007
Leg 1 – To Kamasundu: The Faithful
We left our house in the early morning darkness and drove through Freetown like I've never seen it: utterly void. Our Baptist friends, Phillip and Francis, met us at 6 (well, 6-ish... this is Africa) and we all made our way to the bus station.
Well, let us say "bus station." There aren't actually any busses at the bus station, at least as we know them in America; there are instead glorified vans, boasting a seating capacity equal with many busses, but at the expense of light and air for its passengers. No matter; in we crammed, about 20 people in a 10-passenger van and made our first leg. Two hours later we met Gutleck Husby, a Norwegian Baptist missionary with shiny new SUV, who helped us bridge the last 12 miles to our first destination. The ride was something out of a Land Rover video and the views reminded us all of Vietnam (not that any of us have ever been to Vietnam; but we've seen lots of movies).
The Baptists picked Kamasundu as a strategic hub for reaching other villages. In our three day stay we walked to two other villages to visit the believers there and, as was the stated purpose of our trip, just "see what's going on." We saw, and it was incredibly moving. Our first village, a mile stroll away -- through rivers and carpets of man-eating ants over the road, though also through breath-taking rice fields -- was Masembeh, the church in which boasts a population of: 1. Mohammed Jalloh, formerly second to the imam at the mosque, now for the past two years a Christian living out his life as a farmer day-by-day. We met him with smiles and read Scripture together on his front porch. To be honest, the four of us were kind of wondering what we was supposed to be "happening." It was just then, when Phillip began to share, that our trip's purpose (at least in part) became clear. What the four of us didn't see, because we didn't have the villagers' eyes, was that one ordinary day, in a backwater village, suddenly a handful of foreigners had come not only to Sierra Leone, but had left the city and ventured into to bush and, coming to this no-name village, made a beeline for one man's house: Mohammed Jalloh's. Why such a visit? Why such an honor? And so the questions would lead them to the obvious source, that we are the fellowship of believers in Christ. As Christ said,
This became a theme of our trip: simply being there, and letting the encouragement happen. And the encouragement was no doubt two-way! The next day we walked 3 miles to Mabureh and met with the 15 or 20 faithful there, encouraging each other with Scripture and singing some songs. It was awesome to see these simple, suffering Christians in the middle of nowhere loving the Lord and waiting on Him. They had no church programs, classes, or even buildings, but only the promise that they were His through faith alone. And can you imagine, even among these few and frail, there are those who feel called to go out and reach others. This is the Church! "'And the gates of hell shall not overcome it.'"
8/22/2007
(From Paul) The Lord answered my prayers this month! I know, surprise right? I've been praying from the beginning for a guy to really pour into and disciple and study with. For the first 5 1/2 months, I met a lot of guys, a lot of them Christian, but none who really were interested in putting forth any effort to get closer to God. Then, out of nowhere, I "accidentally" met this guy named Sori while I was looking for a different guy I had met a few days before. The "r" is soft, like in french, so his name is more of a "Sogh-yi" or even "So-yi". Anyhow, he is on fire. He had already applied for membership at our church. About 2 months back, he broke things off with his girlfriend who was living with him, because he didn't want to live in sin anymore and just wanted to seek God. God has done some cool things in his life to bring him to this point. So, now, I've been meeting with him 2 times per week, to study the Bible. So far that has been really sweet. Then, I've been feeling like the Lord wants me to spend more time evangelizing again, seeing as how I've spent most of my time building relationships with people I already know. It's perfect because I asked Sori to start coming out with me to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord is just working so perfectly to train this guy up to do His work. Really be praying for him in this time. With his new move to really follow God, he's been getting slammed with some tough trails.
7/23/2007
(From Keith) As I was considering what to say I began thinking of what had happened since the last time I had written an update. There having been encouraging things, discouraging things, and areas that I've grown in. One of the things that has been a little bit disheartening for me is setting up times to meet with people for Bible studies and then having them not show up. The Lord in His Word has reminded me, that it is Him that does the work in peoples life and Him that gives the increase. Not that it's not frustrating when it seems as though you are wasting your time but remembering that it's the Lord's work and there is no quota that we need to fulfill or agenda to keep. We're called to preach the Word in season and out, whether it's harvest time or not.
An encouragement to me has been the slow growth in Foday's life. He came to church not long after I wrote my last update. It was the first time that he had been to a Christian Church since he was a small boy. He explained to me that when he moved to Regent to live with his Uncle and Aunt that everyone thought he was a Muslim and therefore didn't invite him to church. He came and helped us at the Vacation Bible School that we had for the children last week and has also been coming to the Bible class that Michael teaches twice a week in town. I met with him this morning and we had a small Bible study and agreed to start meeting twice a week for an hour to study and hang out
7/19/2007
(From Paul) I'm afraid to say, that after such a short but oh so sweet time, the water has stopped. As it turns out, we apparently used 500 gallons in 4 days. I don't think that is actually possible for 5 guys, and neither did anyone else. We've concluded that there is a leak somewhere in the line from the tank to the house, or in the house. Anyways, praise the Lord! Back to hauling water from Regent every other day. We're by no means devastated. The only things that changed dramatically was that the tank on the toilets refilled after you flushed, instead of having to fill them from a bucket. To me, I can't help but think that it's just another test that the Lord is using to grow us and check our hearts. So, keep praying.
6/30/2007
The rains have at last really begun to come, falling most every day at least a little, and some days a lot. Every now and then they bring a huge wind of 30 or 40 mph with them and we have found that not all of our bedroom porch doors are flush with the floor, and not all of the floors are flat! So I'm considering paper boat races in my room, spectating from the foot of my bed. And the rains brings with them some other guests as well:
1. cool weather! It's delightful some mornings to actually need my hooded sweatshirt (for a few minutes, at least);
2. mold. Booo mold. Mould? How do you spell that? Ye olde moulde. Anyway, it grows much faster than we clean. And on everything: bags, shirts, food, wristwatch bands... and probably myriad places we're yet to discover!
3. patience. We had some laundry on the line for the entire week last week, never quite taking it down in time for the next rain. (We've finally made better use of our covered garage space.) The rain has kept away the power line people who are finally getting close to being convinced to come reconnect the line they clipped. (We found out the clipped it because (they said) it was burned and was a hazard. ...And that it had nothing to do with money. Promise.) Pray for:
- municipal power soon!
Our yard man Mohammed continues to pick up the leaves and beg Tylenol from us for his arthritis, which we happily give. The neighbors are friendly as ever, if not more numerous. One development is that a kiosk 15 feet in front of our gate has recently become the new drug and drinking hangout for the area. For some reason it has abruptly replaced the one a quarter mile up the road. The palm wine smells like vomit when you walk by and the weed wafts through our house and yard when the wind is right. Sometimes there is music blasting and occasionally fights. Two guys are with them who have come to our church, Samuel and Victor James. Victor James is a Rasta, so you know what that means. Samuel goes to the Mormon church and feels conviction about selling palm wine to the whole neighborhood, but believes he has no power to stop and fears losing his income. We have talked with them before, they have both expressed faith in Christ, and plan to follow up this week. Please pray for Samuel and Victor James to trust Jesus with their whole lives, hearts and for wisdom for us as we encourage and teach them.
Unfortunately, Mickey whom I've mentioned continues to be irregular and noncommittal. His parents are Muslim and if he "really" becomes Christian will cut his money for schooling. Please pray that Mickey makes a decision to follow Christ earnestly.
Trev has been gardening and cooking, Paul has caught a few minutes of movies here and there with his Regent friends, Keith keeps exploring the outer reaches of the village. This week I ate snail and roasted, salted termite. I'm looking forward to monkey and maybe cat (sorry cat-lovers!). We're all in a great place for really pressing into the next few months of ministry. Elections happen on August 8th, and who knows what that all will bring. Please pray for continued fruitfulness in each of our ministries; a peaceful election that produces an honest leader.
6/21/2007
(From Keith) I met him a few weeks ago when I stopped at a house in the village where there was a group of guys beating coconuts on rocks. Someone had just climbed the coconut tree and now it was time for a snack. Sounds really primitive, I know, but that is how they get the husk off and get the shell cracked. I knew one of the guys so I stopped to chat with him. He gave me a coconut to try for myself. After a while everyone had left except two of them. One of the guys was helping me as I was struggling to tackle the mess of shell and stringy husk. Eating food here requires a lot of work sometimes. I asked him his name and where he was from. His name is Foday, he lives in Regent with his uncle and aunt. The next thing that he said really grabbed my attention though and I won't quickly forget it. When I asked him where he went to church he said "Nowhere actually, I am a Muslim. "But I want to be a true follower of Jesus Christ." I was shocked! Usually it takes a bit of a conversation or sharing from the Word of God and having people realize where they stand with God before they want to make a decision to follow Jesus. I asked him if he knew what he needed to do to be a Christian and he said no. So I sat down with him and started sharing the gospel from the very beginning. He was definitely listening and I could tell he was being convicted as he started asking questions like, "What is Faith?" and "What does the Bible say about drinking, smoking, and gambling?"
At one point I asked him and his friend Sylvester, who was sitting there with us, what it would take for God to be able to let them into heaven. Sylvester, who told me he was a Christian, started talking about the things that he does that he thought God would approve of enough to let him in. When I asked Foday what he thought he said in as many words, "I would tell God that I believe in Him and that I believe in Jesus". I was thrilled to hear his answer. I asked him where he learned that and he said that he learned it from the Bible. He reads it everyday; it's hidden in his room at his house. I asked Him if he had believed on Jesus for salvation and he said "yes". Wow! The Holy Spirit had already begun working in this young man's life. I didn't have to do anything except ask questions and rejoice at the profession of faith that came from his mouth. I plan to start meeting with Foday, and a couple of other people who have showed interest, a couple of times a week to study the Bible and go over some basic Christian principles and doctrines.
6/5/2007
(From Trevor) Those who are faithful with small things bigger things will be given. That is my own paraphrase of Mark 4:24. This truth is so refreshing to me. Me, a person that desires to do and see great things for the Lord. Along with this I rest in the fact that there is no such thing as a self made-man; it is the Lord that makes a man. Oh how often my zeal for seeing the great has been to me a slippery slope into pits of despair, and a neglect of the small things. I lose my sight of the Lord and the glory of His name and replace it with self-will and the glory of personal achievement. God is not looking for great people, but people surrendered to His will. People who are willing to change diapers, clean toilets, listen to (not instruct) people with hurts, people wiling to serve, people faithful with the small. At this point I would like to ask forgiveness for not sending this update sooner, there is no excuse, just simple neglect of the small that is truly not small at all J. The ACTS team has come and left. And what a blessed time that was. A time of: sweet fellowship, obedience to the great commission, service, encouragement, and of course Vacation Bible School. The mission house was packed with 16 people rooming together, for a total of 25 days. We went to the village just about everyday of the week. We met up with some of the local Christians, paired off into groups of 2-4—one local with at least one of us—and shared Christ with the people of the village. Each day 3/4s of the team served in the village while the other 1/4 stayed back to cook and clean. The time was very fruitful, at least in my estimate.During the outreach we received a comment from one of the villagers: "There is something different about Regent, people are reading their bibles more, church attendance is on the rise, not only at Rivers Edge but all over, people are more friendly to one another." As time passes here in Sierra Leone, as we are faithful to the small things, we are more and more aware of God's sovereignty, His ultimate control; He is building His church. And as we submit to Him and His work we are privileged to see Him change lives, to bring people into to true heart knowledge of Himself. During this time the Lord reminded me of the need of being faithful in the small things. And the one area that really struck me was family. There are four of us guys living here together and it is really easy to get caught up in serving the Sierra Leoneans and forget to serve one another. And on top of that each of us have families and friends at home. If you can't serve those close to you how can you sincerely reach out to serve others? Or as John put it "he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?" – 1 John 4:21 This is what the Lord spoke to my heart during our week off.
5/25/2007
(From Paul) We are now almost done with our 4th month in Sierra Leone. We have just over 6 months left before we come back, unless of course, God has something else in store for us. The ACTS team has come and gone. It was a blast having them here, and very refreshing. I'll tell you one thing, worshipping with a group of Americans is a very pleasant change from worshipping with Africans; it's just so much more familiar. Anyways, the Team did amazing here, and taught me a lot. We were able to really blanket most of Regent with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have a lot of cool new relationships from their work. Towards the end of their time here, they put on a Vacation Bible School – esk program. It was super sweet. Something like 140 children (or pikinden as we Sierra Leones call them) showed up. We had games and songs and skits for them. They memorized John 5:24, which says, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word, and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed over from death to life." We also taught them the song Lord I Lift Your Name on High. It's so sweet because since the Team has left, randomly as we walk around the village, kids will run up and recite their verse, or sing with us that song. The VBS ended on Sunday with a big presentation by the kids in front of the church, where they recited and performed the song and verse. It was so sweet.
I never mentioned this before in past updates, but just after we got electricity, our one good power line got cut, so we still have no power, and haven't gotten any closer to getting water. In fact, for the next couple of days, our other source of water will also be closed for about 4 days because the water reservoir is too low. We'll be fine for drinking water, because we now buy this really cheap, bagged water, but we will be hurting for water for showers, flushing, dishwashing, and other uses. However, the fact that we are without these things is not new, and if God wants us to get power and water, we'll get it. Until then, we'll just keep pluggin' along. The rainy season should start any day, and the Portuguese man-o-wars will be migrating through soon, so all is well and I hope to hear from all of you, or at least a few of you. Be praying for leaders to be raised up, in both the worship team, and for the church leadership. You can also be praying about the upcoming presidential elections in August; simply that it would go smoothly and peacefully.
3/21/2007
(From Eli) "Who is sufficient for these things?" 2 Corinthians 3:6
These first five weeks have flown by faster than I expected and we're now mounting high enough ground — clamoring up through the thickets of Krio language learning and driving patterns (or lack thereof), bucket showers and early morning neighborhood calls to prayer —to get a glimpse of where we're going. So let me share a bit of what we see.
Vista #1: ACTS is Coming!
Within a week of arriving here, we confirmed with the current ACTS (Antioch Christian Training School) students, presently in session at the home base of our sending mission, GCM (Great Commandment Ministries up in snowy Tieton, WA) that they should plan to spend their month-long missions outreach here with us in Sierra Leone! It was a big step of faith, but one we believe will bear fruit. On April 20, by God's grace, ten students, four staff, and one daughter will stagger off the plane for a stay of almost 1 month, putting the total inhabitants of our house at 20! We can use prayer for that! They're coming to minister in Regent by joining us in sharing Christ with the villagers, discipling new believers, as well as hopefully run a VBS (Vacation Bible School) and maybe some sports extravaganzas. Seriously, a tupperware top-made-frisbee is a sports extravaganza to these kids, if the one throwing it is white enough. (And we definitely are).We had a great prep trip with the Gunden family coming for 9 days in late February. The dad, John, a pastor from Michigan, started this whole church plant idea with Michael years ago, and they came to officially dedicate and open the church. It was an awesome, encouraging time… and they brought us LOTS of peanut butter.
Vista #2: What We Do
So that raises the question, if they're coming to join us in ministry, what do we really do here? Well, it depends on whom you ask. The local shop owners? We wantonly abuse the Krio language and merit firm (but loving) scoldings. The police men? We grant generous opportunities to really perfect their pulling-over technique (we've been 'arrested' four times, at least until we put Michael on the phone with the cop, listened as the cop tries to get a word in edge-wise, then receive back our phone and license through a dejected mumble). The guy on the beach? We're a new best friend... that can give him a ride across town? The little girls on the street where we live? An inexplicable sight gag that drives back and forth several times a day.Ask some of the villagers we've connected with, and they'll tell you we bring the Word of God. Sometimes to a relaxed after-work group, sometimes one on one, sometimes to a sudden-formed crowd on the street, we stand with our Bibles and present Christ the best we can. Actually, some afternoons we just ask people around the village if they have any questions about Jesus. The responses are amazing. Having heard some parts of the Bible strongly emphasized, and some parts not at all, they have a heart for the Man, but not always an accompanying understanding. But God said in Deuteronomy that "man lives by EVERY word that comes from the mouth of the Lord," 8:6, and that means declaring the "whole counsel of God," Acts 20:27, not just what fills the pews or lines the pocket.
2/15/2007
(From Eli) Hey me padis! At long last, after over half a year of waiting, anticipation, planning, and prayer, we are HERE! In fact, tomorrow will be our 1-week anniversary (which I think we may celebrate with some ice cream).We touched down in Freetown Friday at dusk and welcomed the humidity as we walked across the tarmac, remembering that we were shivering when we boarded in London. Our main man here Michael met us, smiling and sweaty, having just arrived aftercatch a canoe-taxi across the channelbecause he missed the ferry. Our first images of Africa were, thanks to the taxi driver's efficeincy, somewhat blurred, but vivid: patchwork shacks, red clay, animals scattered about, lanky shapes hanging off porches. After dodging a fistfight and arrest, and a very diesel ferry ride, we headed up the jumbled slope of the city. The dark was thick as the crowds in the poorly unlit streets, speckled by tiny flames of storefront oil lamps. All this was offset by the arrival at our house: they secured a two-story, gated compound able to accomodate the whole ACTS team, now slated to come for a whole month this spring. It's a great place, with starfruit, mangos, and pears in the yard, a porch now home to Paul's hammock, and a view of the city and the sea. Howard is Michael's protoge who is living with us and let me tell you, we are blessed to have him! We have become instantly knit, singing and joking and working together. As for me, the first few days have included a crash course in 3rd world driving. Michael was forced away for a two week trip on Monday, leaving me as the driver for the team and his family - taking his two kids to and from school every day, and getting us into town and (somehow) back to the house everyday. Michael described driving here best: "battle." But I'm getting the hang of it... and it turns out to have mostly to do with my horn. Amid the throng of peddlers and animals women (and men) gracefully transporting huge loads on their heads, I feel safe. A wide-eyed, intruding stare from a passerby suddenly becomes a grin and a wink. Thumbs are up all over town for us, and "Eh white boy!" is more endearing than it probably sounds. We're working on some basic Krio phrases with Howard, which we're all eager to use. But what makes the doors fly open are our new African names: Keith is Bombolai (a chief), Paul is Saio, Trevor is Yapo, and they named me Santigi. Boy do they love that! So we're feeling pretty good.We've cooked a melon-sized yam, fried plantains, and picked through whole roasted fish. Bread around the corner costs a buck for 10 hoagie-sized rolls, and we've started purifying water with UV rays on our roof. We don't actually have running water or electricity in our huge house yet, so it's bucket showers in the morning and our generator for a few hours at night. It gets the fridge cold again and lets us recharge our "electricals" as they say. So far, my most useful item: LED room light (thanks to Santa). As you can probably deduce, getting to email hasn't been the easiest thing so far. We'll keep you posted and fill you in on the ministry as we get into it this week. Praise the Lord, we've been perfect in health, un-burned, and in good spirits. Continue to pray for strength and unity in the Lord, and God's leading the ministry here step-by-step. Also pray for the current ACTS team now making plans to come and work here for a month.