Dear Friends and Family,

We made it safely to Monrovia.  There were no issues in customs.  Pastor Kollie and team met us at the airport and got us and our luggage settled at the Farmington Hotel.  

We will have breakfast tomorrow at 8am and then head to the school at 9am.

We have our return airfare issues taken care of.  The ground staff in Brussels was very helpful

Starting tomorrow I will post pictures on Facebook and add the link to the email tree.

Blessings,

Scarlet and Team

Today the Lord blessed us with our first visit to OSW school. The children and staff welcomed us as we toured the school and the property. We had the opportunity to visit each of the classes and the children and staff warmly welcomed us.  The children then impressed us with a welcome presentation that included a prayer and a benediction given by the school children.

We observed the children at play and we were happy to have them interact with us after the presentation and after their recess time. Hugs handshakes and a few high fives.

We then explored the exterior of the compound to the northeast where the property extends to a creek. The interest in that part of the property is the potential of putting a footbridge across to the community on the other side. The community of Dolo Town is much larger and has many children that could come to OSW if not encumbered by the journey to a regular road bridge in order to reach the school. That trip is significant due to the poor roads and hampers increasing the number of students at OSW.

Fortunately a meeting is set for Saturday morning with a  local political figure to talk about erecting a bridge with government assistance. We hope to impress on them the significant impact this can have on improving both communities.

We also had an opportunity to visit Pastor Kollie’s church, Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Cotton Tree. The church is well established and has 400 hundred students in their school. Pastor Kollie has been instrumental in assisting us and Olivia with guidance for the school. He has been a blessing in this process.

Its hard to realize the impact of the Word and the hard work of the staff on these school children and their families.  Yes, there are urgent needs, but God has moved mountains in building this school. Pray for the school and guidance as we continue to support God’s people in Liberia.

Blessings in the name of Jesus.

Ps Carl and Team

Here is the Facebook link for photos:                                 

We headed to the capital city Monrovia today. We had a long and productive day

It was a long ride over paved and dirt roads some with large puddles left over from the rainy season. Think of your busiest road/highway and add scooters and street vendors on either side.

We met with the CEO of JFK Medical Center. Scarlet explained the program she has been doing in Kenya. US medical students help with clinica and then do rotation in a local hospital or other medical facility. The CEO is all in and connected us to the chief medical officer. Praise the Lord for his provision!

We stopped for lunch at Stop n Shop and checked out the shelves. I've never seen so many varieties of SPAM or Bugles. One can pay in US or Liberian dollars.

Next we met qith Pastor Patrick Nanning of Hope & Care ministries. First was a school and church in Redlight and then a drive out to the orphanage and medical clinic. Student population is 400 students nursery through 12th grade.  The medical clinic was very impressive. A separate area for delivery included an incubator.

Off to return to the hotel via Pastor Kollie's compound for another delicious meal prepared by Charlotte, Pastor Kollie's wife. The highlight was the coconut bread.

God is blessing our interactions with the local community. Saturday we meet with local officials about the bridge and another hospital.

Beth and team

On Saturday November 22at 10am, Pastor Kollie picked us up and we went to the District Representative office to discuss the bridge construction project to our community and school.His name is HOR Ivar K Jones - he was nice. He explained and answered our questions and is willing to help us if we are ready for the bridge project.

Afterwards we went to ELWA Hospital for a visit. Jong Massaquoi’s father helped us to go in and talk to one of the staff members who took us for a tour around the hospital but restricted us from taking pictures. Pastor Kollie drove us to see the back of the hospital where the staff lives. He then took us back to the hotel where we prayed and had dinner together.

Today was a great day Nov 23rd.

We had an early breakfast , then Pastor Kollie came and took us to church. The sermon was very good and helpful. Our Pastor,Carl Emberger preached. It was great from Christ Memorial Lutheran Church

After church the ladies gifted us with Liberian clothes - dresses for the ladies and Pastor Carl had shirt and hat that was beautiful. Afterwards we went upstairs to eat lunch - rice with pigs meat and meat on a stick. With lots of water.

Pastor Kollie brought us back to the hotel to rest for the day.

Olivia and team

Our Facebook photo link:                           

This morning we had driven into the city with the intent on meeting two senators and hopefully the president. Monday is the day they return to office but their day is spent in meetings preparing for sessions that occur on Tuesday so we were not able to visit any of them on this trip.

We also paid a visit to the Lutheran Hour Ministries office here in Liberia. We met the Director Alphonso Claimet and Assistant Director Kogolee Gbamo. Kogolee is a member of Pastor Kollie’s congregation, Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cotton Tree. Alphonso is a deacon at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Paynesville. Along with radio broadcasts and publication distribution. They conduct life skill classes to empower people. The current effort is morning and afternoon sessions Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to train sewing skills.

Next stop was a shopping stop in a busy outdoor street market. We hoped to find cultural gifts. Other than clothing there were no items that we had hoped to find.

Then we had lunch at Harbel Supermarket. Harbel Supermarkets are a chain of markets in Liberia

Next stop China Mall. You guessed it a store full of Chinese import items. There was a Black Friday banner above the entrance. Low and behold there were Christmas decorations for sale. I can best describe it as Amazon in a building.

From the China Mall. We drove to the community where Olivia has a home here in Liberia. Unfortunately, we could not go inside the gates because the security person changed the lock.

On our return to the hotel we looked at items that two shopkeepers were selling in the hotel lobby which were more oriented to the cultural Liberian items then what we saw in the city.

Tomorrow we are off to spend a day at the school again. We brought gifts along and this will be an early Christmas party for the children. We are also planning to do some projects to unpack what we brought and clean up around the school property. I intend to walk the perimeter and try to plot positions on each corner of the fence and also where we expect a bridge would be built in the future.

Liberia is a poor nation with limited resources still recovering from the civil wars. Thank you for your prayers and support as we continue to evaluate what we can do to increase our assistance to the school children and community here in Liberia.

Blessings

Ps Carl and Team

Pastor Kollie picked us up and took us to go to the school.  As we turned down the road towards the school, a man on a scooter said a truck had dug up the road and it might not be passable.

We experienced another 'beautiful' road of mud and puddles bottoming out only once arriving safely to the school - approximately 1.5 miles from the main road.

Scarlet, Monica, and Beth unpacked all the donations, separating into school supplies and medical supplies.  Then bags were assembled (72), one for each child. Each child got a couple of pencils, stuffed animal and a water bottle.  The 5th and 6th graders got pens.

The principal called each child's name and they received a bag, eyeglasses or headband.  We were celebrating Christmas early.  Principal James also got a gift. Lunch of rice and chicken was served to the children and staff.

The extra school and medical supplies and backpacks were stored away for the future.  Several of the children stood up and thanked us and Christ Memorial for all the gifts.  We also sang Christmas carols.

While the gifts were being assembled, Pastor Carl walked the campus, noting the layout of the buildings and distances of the grounds.

Pastor Kollie picked us up and back to the hotel.  We had an early dinner and rested.

Tomorrow evening we fly to Brussels for our first leg of our journey home.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  We are truly thankful for God's provision on our mission trip; blessings as we contacted local officials, and their response of YES to our requests.

Continued prayers for the Olivia Sarnor Washington School and Good Shepherd Evengical Lutheran Church, Pastor Kollie's parish.

Beth and Team

Facebook link for photos today:

We made it through security. We start boarding in about 1.5 hours. Once we get to Brussels, I head to DC and then to Atlanta. The rest of the team heads to Montreal and then to Philadelphia. I will send a final email once we have made it to our destinations. Thank you for praying for us.