Yekepa 09!

Since everyone works non-stop, we figured it would be good to get all the girls to go away for a weekend trip- this time to Yekepa since most of them had never been there! So we loaded up two landcruisers with ten women and off we went!

Of course it wouldn't be a trip to ABC without having a snake killed... here is a black cobra, about 6 feet long that was killed in the generator house.

We took the ladies to all the "hot" spots of Yekepa.. one being the old train station... here are all the SP ladies, just missing two!

Hiking on the mountain.. in the clouds.

There is our landcruiser up on the left.. SO beautiful up there!

I think I need to wear a different shirt... I am realizing that I wear this one a lot!

Back at the house we all pitched in to make my famous pizza!

Here it is!

ABC Farm

Ladies picking rice to transplant. I love the vivid green color.

We were on our way to see a newly found waterfall, but with all the rain the bridge was washed away... next time!

No worries, we got out with no problem. These vehicles are amazing!

Monkey nuts!

So this is one of my favorite fruits in Liberia... Monkey Nuts. Or Litchi if you prefer. Just little red furry balls of goodness!


You pierce the skin and peel it away to find a large white grape like fruit, with a large pit in the middle. Pop it in your mouth and grind away the fruit and spit out the pit. It can be a bit sticky, but oh so good! Sometimes when we are traveling up country we will buy a whole bag off the side of the road and just dig in!

Great friends, Good times

I was privalaged to have two great friends of mine out here to teach VBS for 7 weeks! Alison and Lisa definitely roughed it by serving and teaching deep into the bush each week, Monday-Friday. SInce the area they were working in has no road access, they were flown in and out by our SP helicopter. They experienced some deep cultural issues and darkness, but also were able to see over forty children enter into the family of God!

Alison and I on our beach the day before she left... one ONE sunny day we had all seven weeks!

Hanging out with the kids...

Using the handpump that SP had installed for clean water.

Once their rice is harvested, it needs to be beated and sifted... I tried my hand at sifting it but I didn't have the right rhythm!

Typically when you go to these villages, you have a following of 20 kids watching your every move. During the first week of VBS I went in with the girls. As they were preparing for the first session, I was trying to keep the kids away from them... So I attempted to teach 100 kids how to play duck duck goose in a language they didn't understand! It basically ended up being kids chasing each other around the circle... but it kept them entertained for a while!

We took a guitar into the bush for a week, the kids liked to sit around and listen to the strumming.

My buddy Felix.

This little guy would come and sit on our laps and sleep- anytime of the day! So cute.

Rice and Sauce time... our one meal a day besides our oatmeal packet at breakfast.

Hanging out at our bonfire on the beach, back in Monrovia.

We met this older lady in Gbarngay who was telling us her story about how she knows President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and had helped her out of jail back in the 70's.

I was finally able to see the little baby I had named after my dad- 7 months later, here is Dean!

We finally had a non-rainy night on a weekend in Monrovia, so we celebrated with a bonfire on the beach!

Taytay and I

We had a great visit with MaryLou Fisher, our SP health expert... we had been talking and learned that she grew up in LeMars! Then I had gone to the grocery store and actually found Wells Blue Bunny drumsticks... so to celebrate 4th of July, we splurged and treated everyone to our Wells Blue Bunny treats! She was so excited.... at $12 a box!

Our ride back to Monrovia, loading up the chopper.

Felix and I hauling our stuff to the landing sight to load up the chopper.

The hard working VBS team!

I got home and a guy had this chimp, asking if I wanted to buy him.

The ladies on their way into the bush for the week.

Setting up our little portable water filter for the week.

Brushing my teeth in the bush. No sinks here!

This is our shower stall

Our Latrine, freshly painted.

Alison praying with the new believers in Morequaleh!

260+ kids stuffed into this church. And all sitting still and quiet.

Lisa and Al praying with the new believers in Gbarngay.

Scars on a little two year old girl from the bush society.

Their sins are nailed on the cross and covered with the blood of Christ!

These kids have never had the experience to color a picture... so coloring time was a highlight!

Thanks Lisa and Al for sacrificing your precious summer to spread the Good News in Bokamu! We miss you around here!

OVC Women's Team

I hosted an all women team from Chicago in the month of June, to work and be exposed to our Orpans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program. They spent their time up in Foya, painting some of our churches that we had reconstructed in the mornings, and having a kids Bible camp in the afternoons, as well as visiting some of our HIV/AIDS beneficiaries in their homes around Foya and in Monrovia.

Visiting a lookout in Foya, and praying for the country of Liberia.

The team, plus our security guard, program manager and drivers.

One of our newly constructed churches!

My intern Emily, jamming out with the kids.

Some of the girls from our OVC skills training school- ironing their tye-dye that is for sale.

Praying for one of our beneficaries.

One of the only war monuments I have seen out in the villages. Horrible atrocities happened in this particular village... Rebels came through and asked each citizen if they preferred long sleeves or short sleeves. Each citizen was then brought into a room where if they chose long sleeves, their hands were chopped off. If they had chosen short sleeves, their arms above the elbow were chopped off. This monument lists all those who were killed, also from this village.

We took the team to take part in one of our fishpond harvests!

Emily showing off her catch!

So basically they drain the pond, and you get in up to your knees with strainers, grabbing as many fish as you can as they flip flop in the mud around you and through your toes!


It's always a riot, especially for the locals! Some of the ladies on the team said that the fishpond harvest was the best time she had had in her life!


I will admit, I was quite nervous to host this all women team out in the "bush"... but it was so much fun and I was blessed to have them around for 10 days! Thanks ladies, for coming!