October 5: scenes from Liberia

Dave arrived home on Friday afternoon, so glad to be back on his scheduled return-day! This is not something we take for granted when traveling around West Africa!

His trip went well, with many hours of talking and listening to team members. Please continue to pray for their leadership needs! (The acting director is leaving earlier-than-planned because of health concerns.)

He was able to be part of a "men's night out" with the SIM'ers there... they brought sandwiches to the top of the Ducor hotel and got ice-cream afterwards.

He also got to visit with some of our many Liberian friends-- who are the reason we love Liberia so much!

February 23: ELWA Radio

Please continue to pray for ELWA Radio as they share the gospel of Jesus Christ over the airwaves in Liberia!

February 23: ELWA Academy

Pray for ELWA Academy as they provide quality Christian education in Liberia.







(personal side-note from Mary: I can't resist posting several of Dave's pictures of the ELWA Academy students!

ELWA Academy was Danny and Joey's first school. SO many memories!

And I love the sight of of Liberian kids in their school uniforms! I miss living in Liberia!!)

February 23: ELWA Hospital

Dave, Burt and Mark with Les Unruh in front of ELWA Hospital.

Please remember to pray for this hospital as they shine the light of Christ while ministering to physical needs in Liberia.

February 22: reunion with friends in Liberia

Dave is enjoying reconnecting with many friends in Liberia. This couple, Steve and Carol Kejr, have been praying, encouraging people and ministering in many different ways to those involved with SIM and ELWA ministries over many years.

Although they've been living in Charlotte, they have been in Liberia for the past several months to help out with an urgent need in the services department.

February 20: Dave in Abidjan

Dave, Mark and Burt's travel to Abidjan went well, and they spent time visiting ministries, auditing and talking with SIM-related colleagues in Cote d'Ivoire.

October 30

Ghana conference: I was thankful for time to consult with others involved in the "people care" aspect of living overseas. I was thankful for time to consult with skilled and trained counselors, with coaches and encouragers. I was blessed to be able to take pictures of ocean-sunrises for five days. I enjoyed sessions of learning more about depression, anxiety, healthy sleep and other topics-- and am looking forward to integrating the material into my life and work here. I was blessed with reunions with long-time friends, and developing relationships with new friends. I'm more encouraged and motivated for the work of the days ahead! Thanks for your prayers!

October 16: in transit!

Yesterday I flew from Dakar to Abidjan (Ivory Coast) , and from Abidjan to Accra, Ghana. Today I'll go by road to the conference center where I'll spend the next five days at a retreat and consultation for people involved in support and care roles for overseas workers. I'm excited about the people who are part of this time, and looking forward to spending time with them, in consultations, worship, and times of refreshing together!

(and I'm loving the guesthouse garden!)

casablanca

this is just a quick hello... my computer stopped working last thursday so i have not been able to blog. i am in an airport cyber cafe in casablanca at the moment, and will write more about the trip when i get home to a working computer with an english keyboard! travel in west africa... not always what you would expect!

Liberia: my friend Mary

Mary, an elementary school teacher, has been one of my best friends since 1995. She was married to one of our Liberian "sons" in 1999, and was widowed when he was struck by a car in 2004. She has been a testimony of God's faithfulness as she raises her children on her own, and looks to the Lord for provision of her needs. It was a great joy for me to spend a bit of time with her, and bittersweet to be able to visit TC's grave along with two more of our Liberian sons, Reuben and Doco.

Liberia: new growth, new beauty

My trip was short but each day I marveled at the beauty of the ocean near the ELWA beach.

During the war in 1990, all the coconut trees had been cut down... but many have been replanted and are now growing up into beauty.

May God continue to do His pruning, re-planting, and growing work in Liberia, and in all of our lives!

Liberia: Ma Kortee's girls

Ma Kortee invited me and a few friends to her house for lunch! She treated us royally with check rice, boiled plantain and gravy. We enjoyed her company and enjoyed being pampered by her too!

It was so special for me to see Elizabeth, Sis Pate, and Linda after many years-- all daughters and nieces of the Ol'Ma who has been special in all of our lives!



(I'm having trouble formatting this post with captions. )

(photo 1-- Christina, Naomi, Sheila)

(photo 2 Elizabeth, Mary, Ma Kortee)

(photo 3 Sis Pate and Linda)

liberia day 2

Ma Kortee, my Liberian "Ol'Ma"






















Valarie and Blessing






(too tired at the end of this day to write anything but will continue to try post pics-- hopefully will add text, as well as higher resolution pictures when I'm back to "normal" life.

liberia day 1: airport fun

a
These sweet girls, Alison and Kiara, were going out on the flight I came in on... but Doco worked out a way for us to see one another. What a fun moment!! I'm going to sleep.. for the first time in 4 1/2 years... in Liberia! More tomorrow if all goes well! (im going to try to upload the pics in low quality from here and will replace them when i get back to a faster connection.)

August 4: Abidjan

Guinea photos!

Dave returned late Thursday night (actually early Friday morning by the time he got to the house!) from Guinea. He took some amazing photos, and wrote some descriptions as well. You can see them by clicking on this link. (To read the longer descriptions, you will have to double-click on the individual pictures.)

We are thankful to work in support of this dedicated team serving in upper Guinea!

Road Trip Pictures

Finally, the link you've all been waiting for! RoadTrip Pictures

This is a set of the best pictures from our road trip!

We were blessed by the grace of God and the kindness of His people on our trip, and hope you will enjoy these with us! For best viewing, select "view as slideshow"!

If the whole set is more than you want to see at one time, you could look at the separate sets that make up the whole set. Here are the links:

Chicago area September 15-17
visits with the Roys, Schlagels, and our Liberian son, Doco's family.

Columbus-Pittsburgh Sept. 18 (including lunch with the Tanquists in Columbus and pictures of the Carter girls you prayed for, who are now very healthy and happy!)

New York September 18-20
Visit with the Cook family, and a day in New York City.

New England/Boston September 21-27
includes Cape Cod, a day in Boston, and Fenway Park!

Trip home: Niagara Falls and Chicago area Sept. 28-30

hello from Cranberry!

We are really enjoying our road trip so far! We are feeling blessed by the great people God has put into our lives, and by this time to re-connect with many of them. If you're interested in seeing the pics from our road trip, I'll be updating them on my flickr page when I can. (here's the link: road trip photos)

We drove from Apple Valley on Saturday to Chicago. Spent the night with Steve and Susan, he is a former pastor from our home church who now teaches at seminary. (We enjoyed their puppy, Maggie, too! ) We visited their church in Chicago on Sunday morning, and then had a great afternoon in sunshiny Chicago seeing a few of the sights. I went with Dave and Jacob on the Navy Pier ferris wheel, despite my fear of rides and heights it was a gorgeous view.

We spent Sunday evening and Monday morning with Mike and Lane and their kids. What a fun family! We haven't seen them for almost 20 years! He is a family counselor After breakfast we set off for the home of one of our Liberian sons, Doco, and spent the afternoon and evening with him, his wife Alison and their darling baby Kiara. That was another special reunion.

Yesterday we drove more than ten hours. We had lunch in Columbus, Ohio, with our Tanquist connections. We work with Mark Tanquist, and my brother is married to Martha Tanquist, so somehow we are all related! Mark and Martha's sister and her husband fed us a wonderful Mediterranean meal. Yumm!

We drove until 8:30 last night where we spent the night with the Carter family in Pennsylvania. Many of you prayed for the Carter girls when they had their cerebral malaria, and we are happy to report that they are in great health and look beautiful.

Please pray for Joey who is having a great time in Northern Ireland, but has injured his wrist. He doesn't have good internet access so we haven't heard an update but we are praying for it to heal quickly!

packing up...

What goes with us for seven months in the States? What gets stored here for when we come back? What gets given away, sold or thrown out?

June 6: update...

It's been feeling a little hectic around here! I posted this picture on my other blog, feeling like we are climbing "the cliffs of insanity"! (Watch Dave's all-time favorite movie to understand the allusion if you don't... oh, you don't know Dave's favorite movie? Not sure what to tell you then.)

Yesterday was Jacob's last final, and this morning was the school awards ceremony. Ask Jacob to tell you about his awards! And tonight is graduation, to be followed by the traditional all-night party for the seniors, and our own traditional party on the roof with some friends who will not be together again for quite a while!

And in five days... we will be boarding the airplane for the States!