Ganta Update Day 9 Team BlogDay 9 Sun. Jan. 26WOW! What a day this has been. We began the day with a leisurely breakfast of fresh fruit ( the pineapple is AMAZING ) scrambled eggs, and oatmeal. Then walked the short distance to the church around 10am where we sat in on the Sunday School which had already been in progress for about an hour. The thunderstorms of last night cooled the air enough to keep things fairly comfortable during church and the humidity was slightly lower than usual, so overall we were more comfortable today than we have been the rest of the week. The church service began with about 1/2 an hour of singing, clapping and swinging. Prayers were long and earnest. There was a time to welcome guests at which point, they asked first time visitors to come forward and be introduced. We were asked to wait so that we could be introduced by the mission director; Rev. Priscilla . Following our introduction, everyone was invited to get up, cross the aisle and greet us and each other. We were all amused by the female usher that patrolled the aisle watching for congregants falling asleep. If caught, the individual would get their ear twisted. We all made sure we stayed awake and attentive.The first and I stress first offering came early in the service and rather than pass the plate, the baskets were placed in front of the chancel. People walked to the baskets at will to deposit their gifts. Following was the message which was delivered by the principal of the school who is also a pastor. The second offering was taken. This time the ushers dismissed row by row starting at the back and everyone filed past the basket depositing their offering. After some more singing, a special offering was taken to help pay for new chairs that were needed for the youth program. After that offering, more song, then an announcement that the special offering did not hit the needed goal, so they needed 10 men and 10 women to come forward with additional gifts. More than the needed 20 people came forward and so they were able to announce that they had surpassed the goal and then they showed the chairs that were being purchased. Following the service we were warmly greeted by many of the members and we took pictures with the choir, the pastors and of course, the children. Our afternoon was spent with Rev. Priscilla who took her day to accompany us to the Leprosy Rehab facility. The rehab center is operated by Catholic Nuns who were very welcoming ( one of them was from Berea, Ohio and has been at the center for 23 years), and they answered many of questions then accompanied us to the store where the hand carved crafts and baskets made by the patients are displayed and available to help support the center. Very beautiful items. As we concluded our tour, we had a chance to see some of the women that were weaving the baskets. Of course as we departed we were trailed by a gaggle of children who enjoyed getting their pictures taken with these strange people!Rev. Priscilla then invited us to her home where her helper Esther had prepared a wonderful dinner of roasted chicken, rice ( very much like a spanish rice ), fried sweet potatoe wedges and fresh pineapple. She then surprised us with fresh coconuts. Unlike the coconuts any of us had ever experienced, these were completely filled with sweet coconut water, and the meat was relatively easy to remove from the shell. Our conversation was fascinating as we asked Rev. Priscilla all the questions we had been wondering about; issues regarding the war, the history of the mission and the hospital, her journey and of course her involvement in the women led protest that ultimately brought about the end of the war. ( To learn more about that; we highly recommend that you google; Pray The Devil Back To Hell it is a 53 minute documentary that was produced by public television. Well worth your time to view). After returning from dinner with Rev. Priscilla, several of the team went on a walk, while a few of us stayed back to start journaling (and writing this blog). The walkers visited the soccer fields where the children gathered around them and sang the Liberian National Anthem. A discovery that we ran out of bottled water put us into a brief tailspin. Luckily Easy was able to come by with additional water to hold us over until tomorrow. The news that the daughter of the head of the radiology department along with 17 other children drowned at the beach in Buchanan put our problem into perspective. (The kids were swimming when they were carried out to sea by a riptide.) The balance of the evening was spent preparing for tomorrows teaching and meetings. Jim will be doing devotions at the school at 7:30am, Terri and Doug will be meeting with the school principal, Robin, Karen and Cynthia will be heading into the community to do immunizations, Paula and Linda will be observing in the hospital. It will be a busy last three days in Ganta before heading back to Monrovia.For now, back to the nets. End Day 9God is good. All the time.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 14:32:07 +0000
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