Home with the Hollingsworth's

Beautiful kids!

2009-02-21T06:08:00.000-08:00

My Church in Liberia

2009-02-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

Liberia!

2009-02-21T05:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-21T05:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I just want everyone to know how much I love and appreciate you all!! I wish I had time to write a personal letter to each one of you who are thinking and praying for me but please know I think about you all often. I send you all Valentine’s Day hugs through the email and a BIG SMILE I hope you can picture on my face! You all mean so much to me and I thank you daily for your support and encouragement to me to be living in Africa, desiring to love those I meet, share all the medical knowledge I have with those I am supervising, sharing the Love, Joy, Peace, and Hope of the Lord with the people God brings into my life, desiring to disciple, build up the body of Christ, pray against the eveil I see here, and ask the Lord to open the Flood gates of Heaven on Liberia.

Sorry for the lack of emails over the last month. Please know that my lack of correspondence reflects nothing of how much I think and pray for my friends, family, and prayer warriors back in America!

It is Pineapple season in Liberia and Mango season is almost here. I have been eating a pineapple a day!! You can get three huge pineapple for $1.00 USD. We are now in Dry season and the Dust is intense. Red, thick dust covers all the trees along the road covering the dense green forests. Dry season is so much different than rainy season. I think I told you about the rainstorms I experienced when I first got here. They would be so severe that we would have to stop our car and just sit through the storm because the rain was so heavy you couldn’t see through the window and the car would shake from the thunder so much that you were in danger to be pushed over. During dry season you can’t see rain! People said that a few years ago during the war and before the war there were no handpumps or hand wells and the water was so scarce that you were not even aloud to take baths. Every drop of water was used to cook or to drink. Living in this dusty time I can not even imagine that! I am pretty much dirty all the time. The temperature has been dropping though. At night I even had to put on a fleece to stay warm some nights!

Oh how much I have to share and to talk about. I will use this email to sum up my many adventures and then if you want more details I will fill them in on my blog!

Christmas time in Liberia was beautiful and it was my first green, hot, beach, sand, and sun Christmas and one I will never forget. I spent the few days around the holiday surfing and swimming in the ocean every day. I find the ocean to be a place that is so peaceful and where I can just walk and talk to God so freely. I am continually in awe with His creation, His power!

I had the opportunity to talk at a Christian Youth Conference in Kakata, Liberia over the Christmas and New Year holiday!! It was a great time of challenging the youth to live their lives focused on Jesus Christ and setting an example in Speech, Life, Love, Faith, and in Purity. There are so many struggles that the youth face in Liberia and to have an opportunity to talk with them, encourage them, share real life stories with them, worship, and read scripture with them, I was so encouraged and built up in the body of Christ. 45 students gave their life to the Lord and rededicated their lives to God!

New Years I celebrated while camping on the beach with the Waines Family. We were swimming in the ocean at midnight with thick phosphorescence all around us! If you have never swam in warm ocean water filled with phosphorescence before the only way I can describe it is large sparkles of glitter all around your body, looking like you are bathing in the stars. It is truly amazing!

The beginning of January I was busy making final visits to the 10 clinics Equip has. I love visiting the staff and spending time with them. We performed some 3 day workshops for the staff to teach and review topics such as Maternal/Child Health, Emergency Care, Growth Monitoring for children under 5, Universal Precautions, and Malaria guidelines and protocols for treatment. I love having the opportunity to teach at these workshops. The clinic staff members are so hungry for knowledge and love to learn. We did a lot of group work and had them do a lot of presentation for the group concerning the different areas of discussion.

The second two weeks of January I became the Chairperson of the Nimba County Health Fair Committee!!!! Wow! I was given this title when I was absent at the County Health Team Meeting in early January and the CHO (County Health Officer) Dr. Jebbeh-Howe decided to put me in charge of the first ever health fair in Nimba County! Teaches me to miss a meeting! I spent many days preparing for the Fair, holding meetings, getting people excited, learning how events are held in Liberia, and praying for the blessings of the Lord in every step. It was a great time because I had the opportunity to really get to know the Important people in Liberia in regards to health care. They all ask me if I will come live in Nimba and join them on the County Health Team, helping better the medical system in Nimba.

We had a celebration of one of the new clinic buildings we opened in Nimba! It was so fun!!! This clinic is serving so many people in Ivory Coast as well as Liberia so it was a neat celebration seeing the two people groups celebrating together. This clinic is 5 hours away from the nearest hospital on a terrible road. Some people will walk up to three days to get to the clinic, sleeping in the bush, so the grand opening of this building was a HUGE celebration.

We also celebrated Equip 10 year anniversary serving the people of Liberia. It was a great night sharing the joys, struggles, and visions of Equip! To hear about the struggles Equip went through desiring to care for the people of Liberia during the war, offering them public health teaching, vaccinations, and encouraging Spiritual growth for each individual in the communities is so inspiring to me!

February has been busy already. I helped run another medical workshop for the members of the clinic. I love using my love for medicine and my passion for caring for the sick to teach the people of Liberia different health care topics. I am also heading up the clinic monthly supervision that we are starting completing a checklist in each facility monthly to make sure that the progress we have made goes forward and not regresses.

This week there has been a large Christian Crusade happening in Ganta with a Christian church from Monrovia! It has been so fun to praise the Lord with around 4 to 5 thousand people underneath the stars all night long!

Today I saw the power of the Lord in a mighty way! We were driving from Gblarlay, which is about 5 hours away from where I live in Ganta on an awful road. We were carrying a 9-year-old girl who was suffering from Sleenomegly (enlarged Spleen), which was so large it was protruding from her abdomen when she laid down. She was in severe pain and urinating blood. I knew that we had to get her evaluated so I thank God that we were in Gblarlay and were able to transfer her to the hospital. But on the way to the hospital to bring the small girl we turned the corner on the dirt road and were the first bystanders to A HUGE car accident on a dirt bridge. The van had been driving fast on the dirt road and the tire had popped right over the bridge. They flipped over landing on the hood with the nose of the van hanging over a bridge. 11 people inside, one was a mother with a small baby. I saw them climbing out of the shattered windows, barely able to get out under the crushed hood, the car just hanging there. No one killed, the mother and a baby inside were OK, one man suffering from head trauma who was underneath all the goods that were in the car, and one man's wrist that looked broken. I grabbed all 11 of them pulled them into a circle and just started praying, thanking God for His safety and His provision in their lives and for His mercy. I grabbed some cardboard and splinted the wrist of the man and we just started praying over the swelling!! By the time we finally flipped the car over, having to drag it back so we didn't flip it over and it landed in the river below, and took the man to the hospital with another one of the other men in the car, the doctor took off the splint and I know that the power of God made his wrist straight! The swelling had gone down, the bone looked straight, and we just wrapped it and thanked God for His healing, nothing was broken, he was moving his wrist and all his fingers. WOW! What a day! Thank God for life!

6 kids off the street just accepted the Lord into their Lives!!! Praise God!! 25 kids came running and dancing up to me off the street wanting me to give them money for them to buy a new soccer ball. I recognized one of the young girls and she had come to the children's Bible study we have at 4 pm on Sunday afternoons and so I asked the other children why they were not at Bible study with her. I started talking to them about football and I just started talking to them about what the Bible says about how physical training is of some value but Godliness is what we should be training for. Then I asked them if anyone wanted to know about God, how they could have a personal friendship with God, and know if they died they would be going to heaven! It was a precious time. These 25 rowdy kids sat on the grass and listened to me and another Liberian women share about the greatness of our God!! It was another moment in Liberia that I will never forget!

Births are all over the place and the babies are so so so cute!! The women here are so tough, walking home hours after their delivery to the next town. I have been doing a lot in the communities and clinics in regards to education and encouragement.

An update on some of my good friends in Liberia.

Peterson is struggling. He is the young boy suffering from lymphoma. He is living with his family in the bush at a country medicine doctor’s home. I am bringing the family dressing materials, medicines if he needs them, soap, and lots and lots of prayer. I feel so much for this family. They love their boy so much! Thank you all who have helped me be able to bless their family. Every time I go he is smiling at me and asks me, “What’s Up?” He is such a blessing in my life and I thank God that I have the chance to know him.

One of my good friends at the leprosy clinic died a few weeks ago. His name was Sunday Bia. Many of the children that I spend time with and know well are connected closely to the leprosy clinic so many of my friends were grieving the loss of their father, brother, husband, and friend. It was so hard for me. I will miss him dearly. He always had so much Joy on his face.

Elijah is now selling eggs and Kerosene to make money for him and his family. He is doing well and growing in his Faith. Two weeks ago in his community the Poro Society, or Devil Bush was forcing young boys into the bush to be initiated into the society so he was fearful of his life, telling me he was ready to die to stand up for his faith instead of joining the devil bush society. The “devil” was arrested and now the forceful activity has been stopped.

Merci is a new malnourished child in the compound that I just Love. Pray for her and for her strength. She was abandoned by her mother as well so pray that she may be healed of abandonment and she may see how much God loves her through my love!

All my Liberian friends and family always say hi and they also thank you for your support and prayers!

Loving up Liberia
To the Glory of God,
Sarah Joy Carlson

First Baby I Delivered

2009-01-22T09:52:00.000-08:00

Bush Meat

2009-01-22T09:42:00.000-08:00

African Children

2009-01-22T07:12:00.000-08:00

First African Dress

2009-01-22T04:30:00.000-08:00

My new African Dress and my friend Hannah who made it for me! I love wearing it!

Christmas in Liberia

2009-01-22T02:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas time is beautiful in Liberia. It has been my first green, hot, beach, sand, and sun Christmas and one I will never forget.

After a very busy beginning of December going from clinic to clinic in the rural bush villages of Nimba County doing clinical teaching with staff members, aiding in the accreditation preparation by the Ministry of Health, and bringing medical supplies to the clinics, I went to Monrovia to visit the Waines and spend the holiday with their family! It has been so special to be with them and the many people have made me feel somewhat like I am home. I feel like one of their children and Audry has a way to make one feel so welcomed.

I spent the vacation surfing and swimming at least one time every day. Christmas Eve I went on two swims and I also went on a long walk along the beach looking for shells to make into a necklace with Rebecca Waines. I find the ocean to be a place that is so peaceful and where I can just walk and talk to God so freely. I am in awe with His creation, His power!

On the 23rd we had many people over to the Waines and we had a Christmas Celebration. We first played games on the beach such as three legged race combined with dress up which was quite a sight to see. Three legged race to the pile of two sets of clothing, one for a lady and one for a man, and after you and your partner are fully dressed a three legged race back, tag your next team mates and they can go! The sand made it all the more fun! We also had a trust race with blindfolds and then we played a water game in the ocean where your team tires to fill their bucket with water before the other team but the bucket yo have to use has many wholes in it so you get pretty wet!

Christmas Day Santa Claus, aka Dave, came to the house, dressed in his African Santa outfit. He didn’t eat the cookies, drink the milk we left him, or respond to the note we wrote but he did hide our hobo sacks (stockings) around the house and I was one of the last people to find mine. We spent Christmas swimming, singing, playing the guitar, eating, and relaxing around the house

It was a special time and I thank God for Liberia, his creation, and the people here. Due to the lack of snow, lights, trees, Christmas Carrols on the radio or in the homes this season I was able to truly focus on the birth of Jesus Christ because that is the true reason to celebrate the season!

Prayer Warriors

2008-12-17T06:01:00.000-08:00

My Prayer Warriors

Life has been great yet busy and after passing the three month mark I feel so much at home here and can’t even imagine leaving. I have made some great Liberian friends and have been able to do some exploring with them around Liberia.

Thank you for your prayers for the people that God has placed in my life!! I can testify to the way He orchestrates my daily! It is awesome.

My Big prayer request is that I was asked to be a speaker at a Church Youth Conference from December 26th to December 31st!! Please pray that I will be able to speak what the Lord wants me to share and that I may encourage the young people of Liberia to live for the Lord! I believe the Lord will start a revival among the youth and I am praying for BIG things and just am praying that God would empty me of myself and that I may be filled with HIM!!! Just pray for wisdom, for clear speaking so that all can understand me when I am speaking, and for the Holy Spirit to shower down on Liberia. We will be in Kakata, which is a smaller city in Liberia!

Praise the Lord, Peterson’s tumor is getting smaller on his neck!! He now is developing huge sores on his bottom from staying in one position for long periods of time but I am giving him and his family dressing materials for his sores and some medicine for his infection and I will be buying him some pillows so that his sores do not get bigger.

Elijah is really seeking after the Lord and to me that is so exciting. Freedman is another boy that I have been able to give a Bible to and have some great conversations talking about trusting in the Lord through hard times!

I met a woman two months ago who I ran into again yesterday. Her name is Josephine so please pray for her because she is sick and no one knows what is wrong. She is my age and has never born any children so I feel like I can relate to her very well.

My sister’s volleyball team in Alaska sponsored 16 children, placing their names on the back of their jerseys over their own names during the State Volleyball Tournament!! It was such an awesome idea so please pray for each of the children they sponsored that I may be able to use the money to share the love of Jesus with them!!

My church in Alaska is also raised some money for some of the local churches here to help buy musical instruments!! It is so exciting!

God continues to challenge me every day. We were driving down the dirt road into the bush the other day and I was keenly aware to all the small trodden paths that divert from the main road. As I was looking down the trails as we passed as far as I could see with the thick brush all around I happened to see three children playing in a field, kicking around a makeshift ball, two small children with one older child. The older child was dragging his right leg behind him as he tried to race the small children to the “ball.” In that instant I became overwhelmed of all the many stories of the children, parents, and families that lived down each of these walking trails. The tears, the fears, the work, pain, and Joy that I cannot even see as I drive down the main dirt road. I immediately felt the Lord say to me, “Sarah, this is how BIG my LOVE is. I know each one of these children, adults, families, and I know each tear that is shed, each fear that is felt, and each ounce of Joy that is portrayed. I am that BIG!! There is no limit to my knowledge, no end to my Love, no boundary for my Joy, and no obstacle for my grace!”

It is a rare occasion to see an African child in cloths and if they are wearing cloths they are filled with wholes, zippers do not work, or the material has been cut to allow the piece of fabric to still fit the child. I was reading this morning in 2 Corinthians about how as believers in Jesus Christ we are awaiting the day to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling. I was thinking what a day that will be when we are clothed with the beauty of Christ, worshiping Him.

Well, it has been interesting to be celebrating the season in such a different climate! Warm weather, no snow, hot sun, no Christmas music playing, no lights, wreaths, or Christmas trees. I read the other day in a devotional book I have about a family who moved overseas to share the love of Jesus with others and as the mother went through her first Christmas in a different land she missed all the material decorations and had wished she would have brought her Christmas decorations with her. One morning it hit her how often material decorations, familiar songs, and common activities associated with Christmas can capture our attention and take it off the true meaning of Christmas and that is Jesus Christ! My attitude has changed as well and I am daily reminded that all I desire to do is celebrate the true meaning of the season and that is the birth of Jesus Christ! What a humble King we serve!!

I thank the Lord for your fellowship in the gospel! I daily desire to Shine for Jesus so that others may see Jesus through my actions and smile, to die daily to myself that I may walk in the strength of the Lord and not my own strength, and to be the aroma of Christ sharing His love and Joy with those whom I meet.

The clinic work is going well! I have been able to continue to do much clinical teaching with the staff on Emergency triage of patients that come into the clinic, universal precaution, assessment skills, implement organizational and structural protocols, and do preventative health teaching with nutrition and malaria. I love working with the clinic staff at each clinic and meet the people in the villages that they serve. Please pray that every day when I am at the Clinic I may pray with each patient that I see and that they may know and feel and see the POWER of God and the way that He alone can heal!!!

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

2008-12-17T05:28:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

Sorry this email is coming so late but I wanted to tell everyone Happy Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!! My Thanksgiving was unlike any Thanksgiving celebration I had ever had before but it was a day of thanksgiving all the same! I was the only American around, and to eat I had rice and peanut-butter soup! Interesting but good (it is one of my favorite Liberian dishes because it doesn’t have a lot of oil in it!)! On Saturday however, a few of my American friends got together and with the absence of turkey we had a beef stew and I made real mashed potatoes, squash, and a cucumber salad! I also bought watermelon for dessert! It was a large feast with great friends who I live near in the TB compound. I continued a family tradition of passing out corn kernels to everyone with each one representing something that you are thankful for then going around the circle placing your popcorn kernels inside a small dish as you say the things you are thankful to the Lord for! It made me feel like I was home!

Life has been great yet busy and after passing the three month mark I feel so much at home here and can’t even imagine leaving. I have made some great Liberian friends and have been able to do some exploring with them around Liberia.

Recent Adventures:
I encountered my first Rhinoceros Beetle this evening as I was coming home from working in the clinics all day deep in the bush! I screamed as it flew at me, but after I was told that they are harmless I watched it and, no joke, it looks exactly like the blue beetle from A Bugs Life. I just laughed to myself. They are huge and look just like a rhinoceros.

I tried my first Liberian Sweet Pear today! It looks slightly like a Mango in shape, size, and color both on the inside and the outside, but has a pine tree smell. The light orange flesh of the fruit is sweet yet bitter but the CRAZY thing about this fruit is the seed on the inside. In the middle of the fruit is a seed that has sharp spines protruding from it! The spines are sharper than any thorn or thistle bush I have ever seen. The thorns extend fairly far off the seed so after pealing the piece of fruit trying to cut pieces of it is difficult because of the thorns. I am thinking that if I eat these Sweet Pears enough I will one day miss them. It will definitely be an acquired enjoyment because of the work that goes into eating one piece!

There is a little lizard crawling on the mosquito net hanging on my bed! I guess I will have some company tonight!

I saw a Liberian FIRST the other day when I slept in the bush. I got up in the morning and went to sit outside the hut. This young girl passed me going to get water, she was holding onto a string with something on the end as she walked. At first it looked like it could be a stone on the end, as she was swinging the string out and then moving from the end as it came back to her. With closer observation I came to realize that the thing that was at the other end of her string was ALIVE and yes, it was a Cockroach!!! My first pet cockroach ever seen! This young girl had caught a cockroach and then had placed it on a string and was watching as the bug as it would fly back towards her as she tossed it away from her body in the air.

The market has been so enjoyable! I recently found watermelon and pineapple! It is so good and so fresh! I saw people selling bags and bags of snails! Bags and bags of snails!! I was offered my first snail soup and after much careful thought I decided to have a small nibble but then leave most on my plate for the hungry child that would come and eat my plate after me. Chewy.

God continues to challenge me every day. We were driving down the dirt road into the bush the other day and I was keenly aware to all the small trodden paths that divert from the main road. As I was looking down the trails as we passed as far as I could see with the thick brush all around I happened to see three children playing in a field, kicking around a makeshift ball, two small children with one older child. The older child was dragging his right leg behind him as he tried to race the small children to the “ball.” In that instant I became overwhelmed of all the many stories of the children, parents, and families that lived down each of these walking trails. The tears, the fears, the work, pain, and Joy that I cannot even see as I drive down the main dirt road. I immediately felt the Lord say to me, “Sarah, this is how BIG my LOVE is. I know each one of these children, adults, families, and I know each tear that is shed, each fear that is felt, and each ounce of Joy that is portrayed. I am that BIG!! There is no limit to my knowledge, no end to my Love, no boundary for my Joy, and no obstacle for my grace!”

It is a rare occasion to see an African child in cloths and if they are wearing cloths they are filled with wholes, zippers do not work, or the material has been cut to allow the piece of fabric to still fit the child. I was reading this morning in 2 Corinthians about how as believers in Jesus Christ we are awaiting the day to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling. I was thinking what a day that will be when we are clothed with the beauty of Christ, worshiping Him.

Well, it has been interesting to be celebrating the season in such a different climate! Warm weather, no snow, hot sun, no Christmas music playing, no lights, wreaths, or Christmas trees. I read the other day in a devotional book I have about a family who moved overseas to share the love of Jesus with others and as the mother went through her first Christmas in a different land she missed all the material decorations and had wished she would have brought her Christmas decorations with her. One morning it hit her how often material decorations, familiar songs, and common activities associated with Christmas can capture our attention and take it off the true meaning of Christmas and that is Jesus Christ! My attitude has changed as well and I am daily reminded that all I desire to do is celebrate the true meaning of the season and that is the birth of Jesus Christ! What a humble King we serve!!

I miss you all and love you tons and thank the Lord for your fellowship in the gospel! I daily desire to Shine for Jesus so that others may see Jesus through my actions and smile, to die daily to myself that I may walk in the strength of the Lord and not my own strength, and to be the aroma of Christ sharing His love and Joy with those whom I meet.
The clinic work is going well! I have been able to continue to do much clinical teaching with the staff on Emergency triage of patients that come into the clinic, universal precaution, assessment skills, implement organizational and structural protocols, and do preventative health teaching with nutrition and malaria. I love working with the clinic staff at each clinic and meet the people in the villages that they serve.

I read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 this morning and read it in a new light this morning! “Therefore we do not lose heart, though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix out eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” What a great promise that no matter whatever the present circumstances one finds oneself we can fix our eyes on what is unseen not on what is seen! For what is seen is only temporary but what is unseen is eternal!

May the Lord bless you all this Holiday season and may your eyes be fixed on Jesus and the amazing and awesome birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and not on the material possessions and celebrations that often distract us.

Sarah Joy Carlson

PS. I want to testify to the goodness of the Lord and let you all know that God is providing for all my needs in unbelievable ways. I can testify to the provision of the Lord! Boxes are making it to my address in Liberia, so if you want, children are in need of school books of any kind, Sunday school materials with pictures to teach children, and black closed-toed shoes or sneakers for school (37 to 40 European sizes, girls and boys 14 to 18, larger sizes are always better because then they can grow into them if they need to). Anything you find that you think a child would love I am sure I will find a place for it.

My address again is

Equip Liberia,
Sarah Joy Carlson
PO Box 2499
14th Street Coleman Ave
Monrovia, Liberia
West Africa

#06-779-181

Prayer Partners

2008-11-09T07:16:00.000-08:00

Today I was overwhelmed with the thought that I have so many people praying for me in America, praying for my safety, warring for me, believing for me, and praying for the strength, Joy, and Love of Jesus be poured out through my life to the people of Liberia, and I just started crying. I started thinking to myself that I am excited to be rejoicing in Heaven with you all and looking at the times when the army of the Lord was so encamped around me that the enemy just had to run away from the presence of God. I know mom and dad you haven’t been sleeping at night and just been praying for me and that means more to me than you will ever know. You are truly my prayer warriors and I am so blessed to have parents who hold me up in prayer like you both do! God is good and as mom always says, “The safest place to be is in the hands of Jesus!” and that is where I daily desire to rest! God is my Portion and my Cup! He is making my Cup overflow! He is my strength and my strong Tower! He is my song when I feel like crying, my words when I don’t know what to say, and my Wisdom when I don’t know what to do!! The JOY of the Lord is truly my strength. So with tears I want to tell you all how much I appreciate you and your prayers and ask that they would continue to come to cover me. You are all warriors and I pray that the Lord richly bless you and that you would feel His presence as you spend time before Him!! I want you to know that I am praying for you all as well and love when the Lord brings one of you to mind during the day! There are so many times that I experience something and with that one of you were here to experiences it with me so that we could laugh about it together later!

I just wanted to send a specific prayer letter to you and give you a better idea of what is going on in my heart and soul. What I feel God is doing in my life here in Liberia. It is so much and truly difficult to put into words but I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that God is growing my love and need of Him daily and guiding my passions into alignment with His. I desire to daily give everything I have to Jesus and desire to actively love him with all my heart soul and mind. Like Paul said, I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection.

I cannot hide that fact that Liberia is a hard place to be. There is so much need everywhere and I am tired of people always seeing me as the rich white girl who has never worked a day in her life and never had a want or need that wasn’t met. As I am thinking about it, I really have never been in need like people here in Liberia. I have never lived a day not knowing if I would have enough money to eat. I have never lived a day not knowing if I would be able to go to school because mom and dad couldn’t afford it. People in Liberia live that everyday. They are a people who live in survival mode. Even 5 years after the war they are survival people. It is normal for an individual to go days without eating and I have found out that during the war they used to go weeks without putting any rice in their mouth. Even oranges or other fruit that is here they sell it more than eat it because if they eat it they do not make any money off it.

I just need prayer in wisdom how to respond to the cry of the poor. I want to see people with the eyes of Jesus. I want to be able to truly disciple young women and build friendships. It is just hard when people want you to give them money, and money is something I do not have a lot of but yet, I don’t want to be so attached to the small money that I have that I do not use it to bless those God brings in my life. It is just a minute-by-minute struggle.

I was in the bush all week, Monday through Saturday, and Liberia again amazed me. I met a women who came running into the clinic holding her son, probably about 7 year old, out to me pulling down his pants to reveal a extremely swollen and enlarged scrotum. She didn’t speak a language!!!!! She just made gestures and grunts from her throat. This lady didn’t speak a language!!! I thought it was crazy that I was seeing a woman who lived in this day of age who did not even know a language. The people at the clinic saw this as normal. She left her son in my room and ran out of the clinic grunting and making hand motions and people said she was going back to the farm but no one really knew what was going on. I was in shock and now just laugh about it!! The boy was scared to be in the room with me but I called some of the clinic staff in the room so that when this happened again to this small boy they would know how to reduce the ingroinal hernia this young boy suffered. This is often common among children and usually the child will outgrow the condition but you have to learn how to reduce it and what to do when it happens and I knew it would be impossible to try to explain anything to the mother!!

I had a 25 year old women carried in to the clinic in a wheelbarrow with about 15 other women pushing her and yelling. They carried her into the clinic and put her on the bed. She had taken some “country medicine” two days prior to try to aboard her baby. She had said she was only two months along but it turned out she was four months and was suffering from an incomplete abortion. We did not have any D & C tools in the clinic to perform any type of procedure or exam so I placed two IV’s in her and we gave her some Pitocin to see if we could increase her contractions for her body to expel her baby two young to live. The medicine was not enough so we referred her to the hospital, which is extremely hard for any patient to get to the hospital because of the expense in transportation as well as the hospital fee. Many people have to make the decision they will just have to die in the bush because they cannot make it to the hospital. It was crazy to think that those were the decisions the people in Liberia make!

The bush was good but hard. I have never felt so welcomed in a foreign community as I did in the towns of Bunadin and Duo. The town chief, elders, pastors, youth, and other community members came to welcome us with singing and dancing and a totally of three chicken throughout the day! It was so special! It was the first time in Liberia that I have had three meals a day! It was so good! We were able to go to two markets and I bought a pumpkin to bring home and eat at some point. We got a lot of work done at the clinics and it was neat to see what an effect these clinics have on the people of the town. Each morning at 8 am they have a song and then a devotion and then a health talk for the patients. It was so powerful! I was able to give the devotions some morning and it is powerful to see the faith of the people in these communities. I also learned more about the evil that is so threaded into the lives of the people of Liberia and how the Devil has used fear to hold people in such bondage. The very freedom that Christ suffered for on the cross for us has been suppressed. As I have been reading the Old Testament, many of the struggles that the people of Israel continued to fall into and Moses continued had to seek the forgiveness of the Lord for the Israelites is what the Liberian people fall into. Sexual sins, which is increased because of one-room homes where parents have sex in the same room that their children sleep and soon the children have sex in the same room the parents, are having sex in. Children are becoming pregnant and forced to grow up so quickly. Men with multiple wives and mistresses, fear and jealousy that women deal with quietly because they do not want to be beaten. Drunkenness. Playing with evil spirits such as people who can call the dead back and have them raise and walk around, unable to speak but can follow commands. “Country medicines,” potions that are used to prevent from all kids of evil. Rituals done to women and children that are supposed to prevent from any demonic powers. Women circumcision. Death. Malnutrition among children.

We arrived at one house at nightfall and emptied our bag out of the car and went into our room where a Rat ran quickly out. The kids of the house all grabbed a big stick and chased it until they killed it. As I began to close my eyes I heard the cockroaches first and then I felt them, crawling quickly on my chest and to my neck and I threw one off my neck and heard it hit the wall. I turned on my headlight and grabbed my shoe hoping I wouldn’t hit it so loud that I woke other people in the house up. I killed it and lay back in bed but knew that where there is one cockroach there are many more and from my trip to the outhouse and seeing them all over the wall, I knew that this was a cockroach filled place! I ended up killing a few more during the night and then I just slept with my flashlight on because often light keeps the insects away!! They are BIG here too!!

I went to the high school graduation of Steve, the younger brother of Phillip who is a guy I work with at Equip. I witnessed again the heartache many children in Liberia have lived through. I watched as this 19-year-old boy, who had just finished high school, wept in front of the family and friends who had come to celebrate with him. He wept because his mother and father were not there to share in this joyous and exciting day of his life. He wept because he had finished high school, which Phillip leaned over to me and said, “It is not a easy thing to finish high school in Liberia.” Even through the war he was able to continue with his grade school off and on as he ran from village to village to escape the fighting. He wept as he sang a song that he wrote with the words, “I still have Joy! I still have Joy! After all the things I have been through, I still have Joy! There was a time in my life I couldn’t go on. There was a time in my life when the devil tried to hold me down. But when I got on my knees, convicted by the Lord, He said to me, ‘Son, you still have JOY.’ I still have Joy, I still have Joy. After all the things I’ve been through, I still have JOY!” I started crying as he sang the song because before he had started singing, as I had watched him weep over the fact that his parents were not able to share in this celebration with him, I felt like the one thing the Lord wanted to tell him was, “The Joy of the Lord is your Strength!” Right after I felt like the Lord gave me that prayer for him he said he wanted to sing a song and those were the words of the song he sang. Nineteen years old is fairly young for a high school graduate in Liberia. Phillip and Steve have been living in and out of orphanages since they were young and their mother died a year after childbirth from a reason no one really knew and their father found another wife who didn’t like them. Their father ended up dying early in the war and they were forced into a orphanage all through the war because their step mom did not want to care for them. They experienced running for their life from village to village in the bush during the fighting. While they lived in an orphanage a missionary came to visit them and was impressed with the boys and paid for their schooling so even during the war they were going to school when they could. The brothers were separated when Phillip, who I work with, left to university, which was during the last years of the war. During the last year they have reconnected and began to live as a family again. Phillip told me as we drove away that he never knew that side of his brother. It was a powerful afternoon for me to experience Liberian history. (So a funny side story. One of the uncles bought a goat for the graduation celebration which was a HUGE thing. Maybe close to $100 US dollars he spent on the goat and everyone was so excited to eat it. Well it was my first time eating goat in Liberia and it sounded pretty good…until they brought it out and as I looked at my soup of goat there seemed to be more goat hair then meat in my soup. I quietly passed it to a hungry child sitting next to me saying it was a little too spicy for me! Ummmmmm!)

Here are some of the people God has placed in my life that I want to introduce you to that you may be praying for!

Elijah—a 15-year-old boy in 7th grade who I have gotten to know. I helped him buy a school uniform and now I am helping him buy a pair of tennis shoes so he can participate in Gym. He LOVEs basketball! He is a good kid and I met his mom and sister today at church and his father is a leaper and no longer lives with their family because he wanted to live near the Guinea border. I am not sure about the details of that, if his father is ashamed or if Elijah still interacts much with him father but I hope to just keep sharing the Love of Jesus with Elijah. His mother is a cleaner in the Leprosy and TB compound. He wants to study nursing after high school but it is hard for kids to dream here because they just are setting themselves up for failure because it is most likely that they or their parents will not be able to afford college and it is very hard to get a scholarship or find sponsorship. I am spending one day a week tutoring him in school and we read scripture and talk about God. The funny thing is that I was praying as I was walking home from the office one day that God would bring some young women in my life to disciple and invest time with and I saw these three girls in front of me so I walked fast to catch up with them. They were coming from choir practice and just walking one girl named Louis close to her home. It ended up that I walked Louis the rest of the way home because she lived near where I was staying and we talked about singing together and her teaching me African songs and I teaching her American worship songs and she was excited because she lived really close to where I was staying. It turns out that Louis and Elijah are brother and sister! I met their mom today and the only thing I have really given to Elijah is the school uniform but his mother quietly just said she appreciated my help so much since she has no money right now. It is hard because for a student to get a small job is very difficult so it impossible for Elijah to go to school and try to make money to buy things like shoes, cloths, a backpack. I feel that the Lord brought the family into my life now so pray for them as I try to invest in their lives. I hope to be able to go to their home. Maybe make them something to eat! I just want them to feel the Love of Jesus in my life.

Susanna and Agnus—19 and 16 year old girls who come over on Saturday and help me do my laundry and we eat together, hang out, and have a little devotion together. Yesterday we talked about purity and I asked them what their goals were and visions for their family someday. Being in the bush and seeing the sexual practices of the people of Liberia I just wanted to discuss with these girls what their thoughts and dreams were about a family someday. I wanted to tell them about the man that God desires them to be with is one to first of all loves the Lord with all his heart and one who will want to help you raise a family that loves the Lord! It was a neat time. Pray for more good conversations!

Peterson—a 15-year-old boy who is a patient at the TB center. He has a huge tumor on the right side of his neck with swollen lymphnodes. He had a small mass on the right side of his neck for the last two years according to his father and mother who just show so much love and care for their young son, and over the last two months the mass on his neck grew very fast and they brought him to the hospital where the doctor initially diagnosed with Extra pulmonary TB. After three weeks of initial TB treatment didn’t help his symptoms or chest x-ray the doctor continued the medications but diagnosed his with Lymphoma and his prognosis is death. We just found out today and I need wisdom and grace to love the family who are all waiting to hear what we can do to make their son better. Since I met Peterson I have been praying with him and his family and asking that the Lord would remove the tumor like He has the power to do but for some reason the Lord has not and I only trust that His ways are so much higher than my ways! Just war in prayer with me for this precious boy. Today I taught him to say, “What’s Up!” when I greet him!! The tumor is getting large and is cutting off his airway. He has lost all strength in his lower extremities and is incontinent of urine showing that now he has a lot of spinal cord involvement. Lord, Heal HIM!!!

Larwuo, Patience, Olive, Lorence, Paygar, Victor—Some of my Liberian co-workers that I want to be encouraging to deepen their faith and trust in the Lord their God with ALL of their Heart, ALL of their Soul, and ALL of their Mind!

Christina—my accountability partner who I met in Liberia. Pray that she would be blessed and that she would be comforted and that he times with Jesus would be powerful! She lives in Monrovia so we don’t get to see each other often but the times we do are so fun!

I am sorry this is so long but I just wanted to share my heart with you and mainly tell you how blessed I felt today, overwhelmed with the thought that I have so many friends and family praying for me. The pastor on Sunday held up a $5 bill and asked how much it was worth. Everyone said $5. Then he split in half and asked again how much it was worth now. Everyone said $0. He then talked about how God asked us to give Him ALL our heart, soul, and mind. Not just some of it, or a part of it. If we only give God a part of what he asks for it is almost like giving Him half of a $5 bill!

I love you all and may you be challenged like I was to give the Lord All of myself!!!
Your sister in Christ,
Sarah Joy

Speaking Mano

2008-11-09T07:14:00.000-08:00

Well, today I had Crab Soup over white rice and I watched as the two other people with whom I was sharing my bowl of food put their fork in the middle of the crab’s body, broke it in half and then put the whole piece of crab—face, claws, body, and guts—in their mouth and began to chew—crunch, crunch, crunch was all I could hear. All I could think of was, “how can that be enjoyable?” I tried to do like them by placing an entire crab leg (Wooo!) in my mouth and biting down but the crunch and the pain it gave my teeth just didn’t seem worth it! Liberian style Crab Soup! Expect the unexpected when it comes to food! I am only beginning to understand what people mean when they say that Liberians don’t waste ANY food. The bones of fish that you would usually give to your dog or cat are loved by Liberian men, women, and children more that the fish itself. I watch kids fight all the time with the scraps coming from the area around the coal pot!

I saw another first when it comes to Liberians and their food! I was watching a HUGE football game, Monrovia verses Ganta, and was cheering loud for Ganta when the man standing beside me bought fried plantanes (they taste and look like potatoe chips) and after consuming the chips he just started eating the clear plastic bag they were packaged in like it was totally normal!!!

I have been trying to learn the dialect here in Ganta, which is Mano, and I have loved it! “Ba Vo” is “Good morning.” “Um toe la de?” is “what is your name?” “Um toe la, Sarah” is how I respond meaning, “my name is Sarah.” “Coma, ipea?” is “How is the day?” “Ipea la se!” is, “The Day is Good!” It means so much to the people I pass when I try to use my Mano. They sometimes try to teach me a new word or correct my pronunciation. It is so fun!

Liberians are known for their Liberian handshake!! It is similar to a normal handshake in that you grab the other person’s right hand and you shake but as you pull away you both snap your fingers. I love it! Because handshakes are so engraved into the culture here I have made up an “American” handshake that the kids LOVE to do as I walk by their homes in the morning and evening. I have made some great friends along my path. I met one lady whose name is Hannah and she is a seamstress and is going to make me my second African gown. She has a sister named Sarah, so we said that we are family since I have a sister named Hannah as well! It has been great to get to know her. I always ask Liberians their name because many of the names are Biblical and it is a great way to talk about Jesus and the Bible and about the man or women in the Bible they are named after! It has been some great conversation starters and I am praying that God would receive all glory and continue to draw their hearts to His!

It is hard being here. There is so much need, so much poverty. Kids and young adults who have so many dreams about what they want to do with their life but because of the lack of money they are unable to finish high school, let alone pay for college tuition. The song, “Give Them Jesus,” plays over and over in my head as I walk through the village. That is all I can give them is the Love of their Heavenly Father. It is hard to have so many people coming up to you asking for money to help them go to school, buy them a school uniform or shoes so they can attend their classes, notebooks, backpacks, help them attend computer school, or asking if I will carry their child back to America. Sometimes I have to hold back the tears as the mothers hold out their child and tell me that I can have their baby when I leave and carry them back to the states. Lord, provide for these children and shower them with your love!

I tell you it is still so funny for me to walk down the road and pass people just peeing and pooping in the open area, not even seeking privacy. Grown ups and children alike, and everyone stops in the middle of their poop to say, “Quiplu! Quiplu! Quiplu!” which means, “White woman, white women, white women!” while there are squatting and then they finish as I pass by! I have to smile and just laugh to myself! Women just walking around without a top, women nursing their baby as they are cooking or walking, Liberians bathe in every stream that is visible by the road because they can walk to the water source by the road so it is easier for them, many naked bodies as you pass by! Not only are they bathing, they are washing their dishes, washing their cloths and sometimes going to the bathroom in the same pool of water. It is quite a sight.

The orphanage that is in the same compound as Ganta Equip office functions often as a Foster Home for extremely malnourished children, which means that when the children are healthier and doing better physically they are able to go back to their parents. Often one family member, either a mother or an older sibling, will come take care of their sick brother, sister, or baby at the orphanage and then when the child is healthy they will carry them back home. It is so exciting to see a child come in so malnourished then leave healthy with their family member, but it has been hard to see some of the kids I love so much leave. Little Tiedo, Pappi, and Emmanuel have all left. I just pray that the love that I was able to pour out on them while they were at the orphanage was the love of Jesus and that they may know that their Heavenly Father loves them so much!

I have been thinking a lot about what the people in Jerusalem did when Jesus walked down the street. How did He respond to them? Did they ask Him for money? He was God so He could tell whose heart was sincere when people asked Him to help or heal them. I know that it says in scripture that wherever Jesus went crowds followed Him and I wonder if some of those people only desired to get something for themselves. I am sure the weight of the sin of the people weighed so heavy on Jesus that He longed to get away to His quiet place and just talk to His heavenly father. I pray that they Lord would give me Kingdom Eyes and give me a greater hunger daily of the need to draw deep from His well that never dries!

We are getting a lot of stuff done in the clinics. There is so much work to do but I am just praying for wisdom and energy from the Lord.

2008-11-09T07:03:00.000-08:00

Wow! Hello Friends and Family,

So much has happened over the last week! Please check out my Blog because I have been able to post some pictures and more will be coming. The connection here is often so slow but I look forward to sharing with you some of my experiences through pictures.

I am now living on a Leprosy and Tuberculosis Compound with three wonderful catholic nuns!!! I have met and spent time with all the patients and I cannot describe to you in adequate words what my heart feels every time I am with these patients. Leprosy men, women, and children, who are often shunned by society, with crippled hands and feet and open sores on their body, come up to me smiling and asking me how my day is going! A man, who because of leprosy was unable to see well, with contracted shriveled fingers and crippled feet, grabbed my hand and started dancing and singing, “Praising the Lord!” As I watched his face a sudden wave of emotions came over me and I started crying because I felt the Love of God in such a Powerful and Sincere way! The patients in the compound have all started their treatment so they are considered in remission. They take medication for 1 year and then they are able to say they are cured. Once a patient has started the treatment there is virtually no way they can pass the disease to anyone else. Because of this, Leprosy compounds and treatment centers are closing down all around the world and patients are encouraged to live in their own communities with their families after they are given the medication. The stigmatisms, however, are still present so many patients love to have a place where they can live with others going through the same disease and be loved and not shunned from their towns and loved ones.

The TB patients in the compound are so thin, but they all have smiles on their face, and when you meet them and asked them how they are doing (“how’s the Body”) they say, “Thank the Lord. My body feels good!” There is a craft shop in the compound with hand-made crafts that these men and women make, both Leprosy and TB patients, and I was in awe as I walked inside. Brooms, woven baskets, floor mats, woven purses, stationary cards, and wooden crafts filled the room. Ex-patients now work on the compound in the lab and drug administration station as well as make prosthesis legs and special shoes to allow the patients to walk more easily. It was a powerful morning for me. I saw a baby who was 7 months old suffering from TB and severely malnourished, a 26 year old girl with an unknown diagnosis that the doctors could not find out what she was suffering from but her abdomen was enlarged and distended, I saw a 12 year old boy suffering from Leprosy, and I saw many men and women with arms and legs that no longer had fingers and toes, yet they shake your hand with excitement and love, not ashamed of their physical appearance but happy to be in the healing process!

The material I bought in the market a few weeks ago I gave to one of the Leprosy patients to sew me an African Dress. I am so excited to wear it!!

There have been some hard things going on here as well. Please pray for me. A 9-year-old boy Richardson who arrived at the orphanage 2 months ago, severely malnourished, the size of a 1 or 2 year old, died on Friday. When he arrived his body was severely swollen from the shift of fluid due to the lack of nutrition and since he arrived at Hope Village he has been improving and the fluid in his body has shifted back into his cells causing his extra skin to peel creating open sores all over his body. With the open sores the flies swarm around him. He was not doing well on Monday morning, he was lethargic, did not have the strength to sit up, would not eat anything, had been having diarrhea all night, and was breathing with shallow respirations. We prayed hard that the Lord would heal him for a long time. I decided that they should bring him to the hospital for tube and IV feedings and re-hydration. He was doing much better on Wednesday and came home from the hospital and the most EXCITING thing was that his mother, who is a young girl who was not able to care for the child while he was growing up, came to the hospital to see him. At the hospital, when Richardson was feeling better, he told his mom that he wanted to go home with her and so she took him home. I found out yesterday that Richardson died on Friday and I have to tell you that it has been so hard for me. The Lords ways are not are ways. Please pray for healing for the family and that the restoration between the mother and her child that happened God would use for His glory in her life.

I play with the kids at Hope Orphanage every day! I have been bringing my guitar and singing children’s songs such as, Jesus Loves the Little Children, Every Move I Make I Make in You, My God is so BIG, Lord I Lift Your Name on High, and many more. They have been teaching me many songs as well! It is so fun to learn African songs and African dances! On Saturdays I have been singing while the women are washing cloths and fixing the food to distract the children. I truly feel like I have a whole bunch of children of my own!

I have been working out of Ganta this last week, focusing on the Equip Clinic in Ganta by helping assess and treat patients that come into the clinic as well as working on clinic protocols and tools to place in each clinic. I have been assessing two new RNs that Equip has hired to work in two of the clinics going through the BPH Accreditation process. I went through the baseline assessment of their clinics with each of them and I think it was helpful in giving them vision of the areas their clinics need to go to meet the Accreditation standards. It has been a joy to work with them, get to know them, and share information and knowledge with them. Today I sat and talked to them and wanted to hear their testimonies. It was a powerful afternoon. It is hard to imagine living through a war like they did and trying to continue their education at the same time running for their life when war broke out, going 3 weeks without eating, watching their friends die, caring for their siblings as often their parents split their children up and ran on alone. Boys fearing that they would be caught and forced to be soldiers, women raped and beaten.

Tuesday and Thursday is Big Belly Day at the Equip clinic. That means all the pregnant women come to get their check ups!!! It is so fun!! Women laying on all the benches, trying to sleep or get comfortable, stomachs of all different sizes, all different ages. Health talks are performed on the prevention of malaria, dehydration, and malnutrition for the mothers. I asked them if there was other information they would like to learn about and all the women said, “Gas!” So I guess I will be preparing a GAS talk for women during pregnancy!!! Hahhahah!! It has to do with their diet here so maybe I can give them some knowledge to make their pregnancies more comfortable!

I love the Women’s Soccer team I am able to play with when I have time. Ganta Women’s Sports Association started in August of this year, the first time ever that the women in Ganta have had any type of organized sports league available to them. It is so fun to be playing with them and meeting the women in Ganta. Pray that I will be able to have many great talks about the love and provision of Jesus with them.

I went to a women’s Bible Study/Pray group on Monday afternoon that was a powerful time of fellowship with women who desire to call out to Jesus that the Holy Spirit would fall on Liberia. The women have quickly welcomed me in and prayed over me. I thank the Lord for this opportunity to worship Jesus with the mighty body of Christ in Liberia.

I have been trying a lot of new foods, which has been a lot of fun!! There are these peanut/cassava/sesame seed cups that are so good. I will hopefully learn how to make them. I bought roasted cassava, which is just like a large dense baked potato, roasted corn on the cob, cucumbers, grapefruit, and oranges off the street! I cannot wait to buy a pumpkin next and make cooked pumpkin! Papaya is almost ripe so that will be fun to eat as well!

The Lord has been so faithful to meet with me and draw near to me as I have been seeking His face and His heart in the morning and throughout the day! I rely on Him for my strength! I pray that I will continue to be His fragrance, saturated with Him and Him alone, to be the Aroma of God. I daily want to leave myself at home and walk in His steps. Thanks for your prayers and support! God is so good and I am blessed to be able to be in Liberia sharing the Love of Jesus with the people here.

Liberian Food

2008-10-07T06:55:00.000-07:00

So this is Liberian Food: RICE (a Liberian says they have not eaten today if they do not eat rice), potato greens, Casava (a root that is similar to a extremely dense potato), Casava leaves, Foo Foo, GB, Fish, eel, goat, sheep, pig, ochra, pumpkin soup, peanut butter soup, pepper soup, HOT SPICES, FRIED everything, OIL, Orange, Grapefruit, Pow pow (Papaya), cucumber, godi plum, coconut, and peanut butter/seed bars, etc.

There is no electricity so there is no stoves or microwave which means everything is cooked over a hot coal pot outside! It is great!!! I will have to show you more pictures as I take them. The Liberians are known to eat anything that is mobile so I have not been so excited to eat the "meat" in dishes when I go places!! They also use every part of the mobile creature, meaning they do not take off the head, tales, scales, guts, eyes, hoofs, of any creature so that makes dishes that more exciting! The Foo Foo and GB is a dish that is made from pounded casava (which is a root) and then it becomes a dough like substance and then you pull off a piece, dip it in some type of "soup" and swallow it whole! It is a different experience!

My favorite things to eat are grapefruit, oranges, cucumbers, pepper soup, pumpkin soup, peanut butter soup, and coconut candy and the peanut butter/seed balls! I am learning how to make all of them!

A Day Spent Holding a Child

2008-09-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

A Day Spent Holding A Child
September 27, 2008

The same secured compound in Ganta that Equip Headquarters is based in and where I will be staying the next three months, is in the same compound as an orphanage called Hope for the Nation. This is only my third day here but the last two days I have been out in the communities visiting the clinics and having meetings with the Equip team to put together immediate, short term, and long term goals for my time here. Last night I heard kids singing to "Every move I make I make in you. You make me move Jesus....waves of mercy, waves of grace, every where I look I see your face...." and I was so excited to be able to spend some time with the children today because it was Saturday.

I saw what I have seen in all the adoption advertising commercials throughout my life but never really knew how real those pictures were until today. I walked into the yard (literally the back yard of Equip is the front yard of the Orphanage) and I met a lady whose name was Maryanne who was the director of the orphanage. I told her I was an RN and would be staying at Equip for the next three months and would be working with the clinics, but since the clinics close at 4pm every day and I can't do anything after dark because of security issues, I would love to spend my evenings with her and the children and help in any way I could!!! It was amazing talking to her and hearing some of the children’s' stories. All have lost their mothers usually in or quickly after childbirth due to complications of the pregnancy, and either the father could not take care of the child or they were from a single mother. Maryanne has about 25 orphans in the orphanage but the yard is open to all the kids in the village during the day so there are many kids running around the compound.

I walked around and many kids came running up to me and I held a few and saw 4 little babies sleeping on a mattress of the ground but then my eyes fell on a little boy in the corner who looked like he was no older than 10 months old, who was sitting on the ground eating rice with his fingers. I could see all his ribs, spine, and bony arms, and his stomach was enlarge and bloated. He just sat there, no facial expressions, no eye contact with me, but just sat there. I asked about him and found out his name was Tiedo, he was 4 years old. Maryanne said that he was in a cycle where he would gain weight but every month he would loose all the weight he had gained and when she takes him to the clinic they don't find any problems with worms, malaria, or any other diseases.

I picked him up and I have never felt anything like that in my hands before. I truly felt like I was going to crush his bones in my arms. I put him close to me and went to sit down and just held him in my arms at my chest. I just kept whispering to him that Jesus loved him so much. His mother died at childbirth and his father never comes around to visit him but his father does not want to give him over to the care of Hope for the Nation so Tiedo is just living at the orphanage because of his sever malnutrition. Maryanne said he looked much better than last week because he is standing again but when he goes through these cycles of weight loss they often wonder if he will make it. I just rocked him and sang to him. I talked to all the other kids who were there and many of them put on a "show" for me and sang me the Bible songs they knew and showed me all their dances which were so good and I just got to watch, sing, and hold Tiedo. When it was time for me to go to bed I truly didn't want to leave him. I wanted to take him up the short hill to my room and allow him to sleep with me. I placed him on the dark mat and he started sobbing. I picked him back up immediately and brought his ear to my lips and told him that I had to go to bed and that I would come and hold him tomorrow. I told him Jesus loved him and that I did too. I placed him down slowly again and he still cried a little but I was able to comfort him before I left.

As I was there I also fell in love with a 3 month old little girl who is so beautiful but whose mother is young, it is her first child, and her breasts are hurting her too much to breast feed so her 3 month old is extremely small and malnourished. I feel that the malnutrition of the child is due mainly to the lack of knowledge of nutritional information for her child. The baby was so tiny, 3 months and couldn't hold her head up, the size of her wrists and tiny fingers were almost unbelievable. Her mother told me that when I left I could take her baby with me to America. That almost crushed me. This beautiful child she just wanted to give to me!

Home Sweet Ganta

2008-09-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

Home Sweet Ganta
September 27, 2008

I arrived in Ganta three days ago and the last two days I have spent traveling to the three Equip Clinics that are going through the BPH accreditation process and performing a baseline assessment. It has been busy but exciting at the same time knowing that I will have the opportunity to work with these people and serve the people in these clinics and the community.

Today was Saturday and after doing all my laundry by hand, hanging it out to dry, and having a short meeting with some Equip staff members I went with some friends to watch a game of Kick Ball!!! Kick Ball is a huge organized sport here for the girls and women. I found out that they practice every day at 5 pm and that I can play on one of the teams so I hope that will work!! It was so fun to watch a sporting event in Liberia. I took some pictures of the referee and you will laugh! The game of kickball was highly attended and pop music was played so all the kids were dancing! It was so fun to be a part of the festivities.

I went and bought some fabric in the market today to have an African dress made for me! It cost me about $4.00 US to buy all the fabric to make the dress. It will probably cost about $5.00 US to have the seamstress sew the cloth together to fit me! I am excited. Yes, the color is pink! I buy oranges and bananas a lot. The exchange rate is 62 Liberian Dollars (LD) to 1 American Dollar (USD). You can by 3 oranges for 5 LD, which is about 8 cents! I eat the same thing every day--Pepper Soup (rice and spicy beef broth). The meat I saw in the market today blew me away. Dried whole hind legs of small goat, cow, and sheep with the hoof and leg hide still on and flies swarming and landing all over the meet. Smoked LARGE snails are all over the market! I just wonder how long some of those have been in the same sellers basket of goods!

Home Sweet Ganta

Arriving in Liberia

2008-09-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

Family and Friends!!

I cannot believe it has been a week since I arrived in Liberia. Thank you for your prayers over my travels. They were felt and it is hard to put into words how excited I am to be here! I have spent the first few nights staying with David and Audrey Waines, the couple who started Equip Liberia and whom I am volunteering with for the next three months. The first few days I spent going to the main office in Monrovia to read about projects Equip is running, materials they have used in the past, and listening to the visions of what Equip has for this coming year.

Currently Equip is heading up 11 clinics in the Nimba County and three of them are going through an accreditation process. Right now there are many focus areas that need much improvement in these clinics. The accreditation team will reassess the clinics in December so basically my time in Liberia is perfect to help head up this project and help these three clinics meet the BPH accreditation guidelines to ensure that they receive the proper funding to stay operating. I feel this is totally a God thing to allow me to be able to really pour myself into one project and help Equip work on providing the best care possible to their clinics. I will be living in Ganta for the majority of my time in Liberia to head up this project. Please pray for me and for wisdom to help build up these clinics to meet their accreditation requirements. I know that God will lead and direct me and bless my efforts as long as I am seeking Him first. Pray that I may draw close to the Liberian men and women who are running these clinics and that it would be a sweet time of discipleship and waiting on the Lord for the workers and patients of each of these clinics!

I sleep under a great mosquito net, tucking all the edges into the bed before I go to sleep. I fell like I am sleeping like a princess every night!! I have been swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, in huge waves with strong rip tides that will carry you down the beach or out to sea if you are not careful. Liberia has some of the best surfing waves in the world but you have to be very careful about the strong currents. The Waines live about 100 yards from the beach and I fall asleep to the waves pounding along the sandy shore. I have been eating Liberian style, which consists of rice at every meal and fried fish or chicken with fried potato greens or fried cassava leaves and lots of HOT spices. The first night I met my friend Steve. Steve is an 8 in Spider that I noticed on the dark floor of my room in the Waines home. I thought the rug was moving in the dark but as I watched it closer I saw that it was a SPIDER! I went to bed that night tucking the mosquito net in tighter around my bed. In the morning I was startled to find Steve in the shelves where I store my cloths! He just won’t leave me so I named Him. I left Monrovia for five days and last night when I returned to the Waines' home, Steve was not in my shelves. As I was brushing my teeth, Steve returned this time on my wall. Not sure as to how to address Steve being unwelcomed in my room I asked Audrey how she thought I should go about killing something of this size. She grabbed a shoe of mine, and then asked if I had one a little bigger, and then swung, trapped it, and used two hands to squish it. To say the least, I was not sad to report that Steve died last night and I slept very well.

The people here are beautiful and I want to just hold each little child on my lap with their beautiful braids in multiple patterns all over their head. Orphans are a huge number here from both war and from parents giving their children to the adoption agencies in hope that they will be able to be fed and clothed because the parents can not afford it. Malaria causes the most deaths in Liberia and usually happens before a child is 5 years old. The medical statistics of this country will blow you away. Just a few years ago ever 1 in 3 children would die before the age of 5. Malnutrition and Malaria are the major causes of this high mortality rate. In the areas where Equip has set up clinics the mortality rate has now decreased to 10% among kids under 5 years old. There is much work to be done but the Lord is bringing His love among the people through these health clinics and prayer.

There continues to be much devastation from the Civil War that was said to have ended in 2003 but many Liberians, whom I talk to, say that the war is still going on because life for them has not improved much. Many call Monrovia, "the biggest Village in the World." Monrovia is the capital city and still people are cooking on coal stoves on the mud floor of their wood and grass huts. Roads are still devastated from the war and due to the heavy rainfall June through October the roads are mudded pot-wholes and many are near impossible to pass. There still is no electricity current in the entire country. They live off of rice that they only import. They do not grow their own rice because of the huge push in the past has been for the production of rubber from the large organizations like Firestone. So Liberians work harvesting rubber trees instead of building up agriculture and growing rice and greens which they rely on for food to meet their own needs. The Liberians were told that if they harvest the needed rubber they would be repaid in rice. Now, the price of rice in rising and since Liberian families have no means of producing their own rice, families are struggling to pay for food.

Liberian English is the only language spoken here and it has been fun and challenging to learn. It is difficult to make sense of at first but I am getting the hang of it. You basically put an “o” at the end of the last word in your sentence, “th” is pronounced as “t”, and they usually just pronounce the first few letters of the word which can be tricky at times to figure out what they are saying. People have explained it to me as speaking lazy English. Church sermons are powerful. God has gifted these people with the ability to speak with Power when they call on the name of the Lord! Liberians feel they have to dress nice to go to church that forces many people to not be able to come to worship because they have no money for cloths. I asked two young boys if they went to church on Sunday and they said that they could not because they didn’t have any cloths. They were dressed in old, beaten, tee shirts with wholes in every seam, and underwear that had wholes in the seat part of the underwear and my heart just hurt for them. I asked them if they knew about God and that Jesus loved them so much and they said, “yes”.

I just returned from Greenville, which is in the Sino county of Liberia. I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to travel there because not many who live or work in Liberia have been there. Greenville is extremely remote, with little to none outside access or communication, huge medical and educational needs, and it was the area where most of the war was fought since it is a port. Buildings are now bombed shells of concrete; families eat only if the fishermen are able to catch fish during the day. Like the rest of Liberia there is no electricity but where many companies in the cities can use generators, people in Greenville do not have enough money to support a generator and getting it there would be difficult. It took us 9 ½ hours to arrive in Greenville from Monrovia, crossing over bridges I was just praying that we would be able to stay on and not fall off or break while we were driving over them, driving through red mud dirt wholes that came close to covering the hood of our car a few times, digging ourselves out of a few mud pits when we got stuck. It took us over 13 hours to drive back. It was as if we were going four wheeling down the Swede-Lake Trail for the Alaskans reading this. Equip has 6 clinics there so I was able to volunteer at the clinics, see some kids, help with organization of one of the new clinics that just started, and see some of the great teaching needs in Liberia of simple water sanitation, malaria prevention, the need to cover your poop when you used the bathroom in the woods, and keeping drinking water covered to prevent flies and other bacteria from contaminating the water. The clinics can do all the vaccines and treatment of malaria to the villages!

I am so excited to be here. I know that I will not have time to write these kinds of emails often but please pray for Liberia when you think about it. Pray for the orphans and that the government would again allow these adoption agencies to open to allow children to be adopted to the US and other countries. They recently closed all adoptions and it has been a huge devastation among many children who were almost through the long process of adoption. Pray for the lies these people believe in terms of traditional medicine that has caused much evil to be practiced among the Liberians. Pray that people in Liberia will worship God in Spirit and Truth and that all the traps they fall into with believing that appearance, money, and status is important or needed to praise the Lord would be removed!

I love you all and am so excited to be in Liberia and see all the ways that God is moving! Pray that I would be expectant for the Power of God to rain down on Liberia!

Sarah Joy

My bags are packed, I am ready to go!!

2008-09-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

I can not adequately place into words how excited I am right now to be leaving for Africa tomorrow!!! I can not deny that I am slightly nervous--so many details that have to go in order such as my Visa still has to come in by the morning, 2 extra bags of medical supplies have to get through all the connections and security, not to mention my luggage ;), and I have to find the people picking me up at the airport. Strangely though I have a peace knowing that my life, including my every moment, and the details of every day are in the hands of God, and as my mom says, that is the safest place to be!!! I know that I will miss many of my friends and family as I am in Africa but I feel that even though the miles may be great between I am excited to experience everything in Africa though sharing my heart and experiences with those I love back at home! The time will pass quickly. Please pray for me tomorrow as I will be flying for a long time. For energy, patience, Joy, peace, and for the absence of fear and a great Faith in God for everything!

Lircay, Peru

2008-08-13T01:10:00.000-07:00

I have so much to tell you all and catch you up on! God is so good and I feel like all I can do is testify to His love! I wanted to fill you in on Peru. We flew into Lima and then took a double decker bus 20 hours in the Andes Mountain crossing over 16,000 feet. It was breathtaking! The Andes mountains can not be placed into words. They are truly majestic. After 20 hours on a bus we arrived in Lircay and set up a dental clinic in a church. Lircay one of the poorest cities in all of Peru and we had men, women, and children walking over 3 hours one way to get their teeth pulled out. I triaged and discharged all the patients that came into our clinic! It was so much fun for me and the Lord confirmed in my heart that sharing God's love through helping people with their medical needs is where I find such JOY! I triaged dental absesses, rotten and decaying teeth, mouths who smelt so foul it was hard for me to keep a straight face while talking to them. Women who were 24 years old asking me if they could have their 4 front teeth which were already decayed pulled out. Some women when I was triaging and asking them how old they are would just look at me and laugh not knowing their age and thinking it funny that I even would care to ask. These men, women, and children have never been to a doctor, they take no medications (so a medication list is obsolete;). Living at 14,000 feet in the Andes Mountains the people who came into our clinic had low blood pressures (systolic in the low 100's), heart rate in the 50's and complained of constant chest pain, headaches, and stomach pain. After seeing the way they live I have a pretty good idea why they all complain of the same symptoms. They are so dehydrated from limited available beverages due to inability to consume the water and expense of the soda and other drinks. Even thought they have great heart rates and blood pressures seeing their diets which are extremely hight in oil, fat, and salt, I would bet there is quit a bit of plaque built up in their arteries. The people of Peru are short and barrel chested and after living in Lircay and trying to walk even short distances at that high of elevation you see how their lungs have fully adapted to allow them not become winded after walking to and fro.

It was as low as 30 degrees at night and we slept under huge, thick, llama blankets. Music was a major part of their culture and people where such bright and beautiful colors! Medicine was practiced much different than I am used to. Frog juice was drank daily by everyone to prevent illness. Because warm packs were hard to come by due to the cold temperature of everything, warm packs were created by peeing on a rag and then placing it on the sore muscle or injury.

I saw a man poop right in the middle of the Street. Women where huge bell skirts that are about calf length and they will just squat in the middle of the street under their skirt and just start peeing. It is totally normal. You will be driving forever and then all of a sudden you will see a man with his herd of llamas and sheep. We ate Papa Fritas (french fries) at each meal as well as a lot of white rice and eggs! Interesting food that was for sure.

I loved Peru and it was so hard to leave. When I discharged patients I was able to give them a Bible in Spanish and one women started weeping in joy when I handed it to her and it made me think about how I look at the Word of God. I want to treasure my scripture like that women. A Vacation Bible School was also run by some of the people on our team who went to Lircay and they had over 100 kids at each VBS and they had two sessions a day. It was awesome to see these kids learning about God's Love for them!

I loved Peru! The Andes reminded me of Alaska and the people were so beautiful! I would love to go back some day if the Lord opens that door!

Arriving in Beautiful North Africa!

2008-06-18T03:38:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends and Family,

I arrived in Morocco yesterday!!! It is such a beautiful country! thank you for all your thoughts during my travels. I flew into Casablanca and stayed with a good friends' family who I know from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. It was so good to meet them and I felt so at home. I saw the third largest Mosque in the World, saw the vast ocean, walked all over Downtown Casablanca, fed pigeons in a park, ate home made Moroccan food, danced to Moroccan music, and had some great and exciting conversations with new friends. I woke up this morning and took an hour train ride to Rabat where I met up with some friends from Boston and will be staying here for the next two weeks. It is another beautiful city from what I have seen so far, and I am excited to explore. Please keep me and my friends in your thoughts for safety and that we may have many fruitful conversations with such hospitable and beautiful Moroccan people while we are here. I truly have never felt so immediately welcomed into a culture and I desire to share with them an unconditional love, peace, and mercy. I am excited for the adventures to come!

Love you all

A Sunrise!

2008-05-19T04:13:00.000-07:00

After much prayer I am heading to Africa to volunteer for one year doing Medical missions. I am creating this blog to keep in touch with family and friends, people who I love deeply and want them to know about the adventures I will be taking part in over this next year of my life. Please visit this site as you so desire. I will try to update it every so often and post pictures of the people I meet and places I go. Please pray for me, that my heart would break for the things that break the heart of God, for safety, and for obedience and guidance as I am overseas. I am so so so excited for what God has in store for me. May God richly bless you all daily!

"My bags are packed. I'm ready to go..."