After something like 20 years of civil war, the country of Liberia has begun to reemerge from the rubble. The 'bitter taste' upon arrival perhaps came across partially because of my own attitude and partially because of seeing the state of affairs which the war has left in its wake. The country's economy and infrastructure, crushed by war, remains in ruin. The capitol of Monrovia remains without mains electricity or running water. Corruption is prevalent and unemployment and illiteracy are endemic. Extreme poverty plagues the city, the surrounding countryside, and the neighboring slums. Atop of all that, it was hot, extremely humid, our site was in an uncleared jungle with crazy snakes and spiders and things, it was the beginning of monsoon season, and the malaria carrying-mosquitoes were out in full force. Honestly, I wasn't all that excited to go. I felt rather ashamed of my fear and reluctance, but nevertheless, it was there.
However, Liberia was exhilarating!
Like the kola nut (which I did get to take a bite of!) even though the first taste is bitter and almost unpleasant, so many good things come from it.
The kola nut, where Coca Cola got its name from, is native to Liberia and enhances alertness and physical energy, it elevates the mood, increases tactile sensitivity and suppresses the appetite...as well as contains my favorite stimulant, caffeine.
This rare opportunity is sought by many and presented to few, and of those few, even fewer return to their native country after finishing an education abroad. By the grace of God, Sam Enders was one of those few. Having surrendered his life to the Lord, he decided that after being blessed with an opportunity to study in the States, he would use his privilege to help advance God's kingdom in his home country as well as do what he could to help bring what he so eagerly desired and so luckily acquired to the masses of children without one, an education.
Decorated with an MBA and Masters of Divinity, Sam has started an organization by the name of African Dream Academy, and through it hopes to bring a quality education to children across Liberia without a high cost. Investing in the children seems to me to be the surest way to positively affect the future state of the country and give God a stronghold on the direction and future leadership of the country.
It is easy to get excited about being somewhere new when you know that the work you are doing is enabling a ministry like the African Dream Academy to realize its vision.
From the point of hearing Sam's story and his vision for ADA, God took away my apprehension and fears. Like the caffeine in the kola nut, He stimulated me.
I find it rather refreshing that even through fear and hesitation, God can use a faithful heart.
Jean and Sully our two amazing civil engineers spent about a week and a half following guys with machete's around in order to survey the perimeter of the land, only to find that the plot was not what we thought it was. The deed that ADA had for the piece of land was 85 acres, but the plot of land we surveyed was about 45! Turns out that about half of what looked like land from a satellite areal image, was swamp.
What was amazing was seeing God work through this. What could've been viewed as a disaster by both parties, He used for His glory. eMi recognized that regardless of whether we got to design a full project or not, without the survey we did, ADA would have continued to invest money and time into a site that was half the size they needed with very poor access. ADA recognized that without this mishap they would've never thought to explore other options for a site, which they were forced to do. As it turned out, just north of the river a whole village was living without any access to a school. Because of the river, they had been rather cut off and no development had ever moved to them. Now Sam is in the process of purchasing a new site, big enough for the whole design and in a place where the need is the greatest! Praise God :)
The other good news is that even though we didn't design a school campus for a specific site, we made one up. It was pretty awesome drawing in a river and trees where we wanted them to go rather than working the other way 'round. The building designs were made so that they could be adapted to any site around the area...as long as it wasn't in a swamp...When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England....eh, yes. where was I...
thus, we actually did do some design work even though there is not a site for it yet!
and for your viewing pleasure, our fly-through video of the scheme:
(cant get the insert to work so heres a link)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVTEWNEtpnE
All in all, I had a wonderful time seeing God moving in Liberia and designing some awesome naturally ventilated structures and a master plan on an illustrative site with an absolutely amazing team from the UK, USA, and Ghana! Oh and I celebrated my birthday in Africa! It was a pretty darn sweet trip.
I am so sorry this has taken so long to post up! Lots has been happening since I got back but really I am just a slacker face who likes sleeping more than writing, so I apologize.
Do take a look at my picasa site with select pictures from the trip!!
and to update you a bit with Prayer Requests:
the couple I used to stay with in London while working on monday and tuesdays, had a still birth a couple of weeks ago. It was their first baby so it was extremely heart breaking. This couple is actually daughter to Mike and Marietta who I was living with in Colchester, and because of this, I have moved to a different host family's home in Colchester to allow them to have space at Mike and Marietta's place while they need it. I know Lore and Jon would appreciate prayer for healing and comfort.
At the moment, I am living with Jessica (one of the summer interns) with a lovely couple and their youngest son, Ian, Susan and David Sydenham. They are amazing for opening up their home so last minute to me and now are living with two extra people in the house. Things are not quite sorted out long-term as far as living arrangement goes, however, and although I can be a spontaneous being, I don't much like living out of a suitcase for long periods of time. I would love it for you to pray for a place to stay, with easy access to work/trains to work, where I could stay from now until next April.
I would love for you to remember me as I am currently in constant conversations with God about how to live each day as if I actually knew my life is eternal and yet that life here could end at any moment. It's something people throw around all the time: live like there is no tomorrow...seize the day...etc...but I know my priorities would be different if I actually lived in Christ's eternal perspective every moment. How important are the things on top of my to-do-list? Half the time I make them so important merely because of the existence of the to-do list. This stems from another prayer request really. One of the vicars, Bob, at the church I attend, St. John's in Colchester, has been diagnosed with a form of cancer in his abdomen and has been given six months more to live. He is truly an amazing man and an inspirational spiritual leader. Prayers for him, his family, and his congregation would be greatly appreciated.
And of course continued prayer for African Dream Academy as we at the UK office finish up drawings and the report for them and as they embark on their fund-raising campaign to raise the money needed to see this project through! www.AfricanDreamAcademy.org
See the top of the blog for my picasa link or watch some of them go by on the right hand side bar :) Thank you once again to all who have been praying for and supporting me and who made it possible for this design to happen and ultimately for these kids in Liberia to have the opportunity to go to school, get an education, and learn about how Christ loves them!
as the British say
Ta-ra Chuck
