Dance!

I wish I had had my video camera today! I would have loved to capture our fun at the center this afternoon. After church, the children moved their chairs into a giant circle and we had dancing, skits, and memory verses. I spent 2 hours laughing at the goofy dance moves and smiling at their pure enjoyment. These children have so much fun with 2 drums and a good beat. And we have some very good dancers.

Often on Sunday's in the past weeks the kids have watched football or a movie on TV, but this week, the TV broke! It was quite the crazy time at the center. I was in my office and heard a huge crash and then everything went insane. There were kids shouting and running upstairs. They were screaming at each other and the staff, as if a major catastrophe had happened. And in a way it did. No one was hurt, which was amazing because about 10 minutes after it happened one of the staff came to me and asked what to do…clean up the glass was my response…I didn't say duh but I wanted to. They hadn't thought of that yet. Of course the boy who was rocking the TV back and forth on the shelf (it was a big TV) just to see what might happen when it fell, said he had nothing to do with it. Everyone that was in the room was screaming his name so I'm sure he did have everything to do with it. I had to keep him in my office for a while for his own protection. No punishment though…it seems that having 80 children and 35 staff upset with you is enough of a consequence!

So, with no TV, we danced and sang! In my opinion that was a much better way to spend the afternoon anyway!

Photos?

So in all the excitement and chaos of life in Salone, I have been neglecting to get one very important thing done….get my picture taken for my work permit. I knew it was going to be an experience, like many experiences here…weird! So Osseh called ahead to his friend Mohammed who has a stand…well an umbrella, chair and white sheet…across from the immigration office. Do you feel akward getting your picture taken in the middle of Walgreens? I do! But imagine getting it taken on one of the busiest corners in town. I sat in the little plastic chair and half the people who walked by stopped to watch this glorious occasion. A white woman, whose face is bright red from sunburn, and greasy as all get out gets her picture taken. Chalk that up to another awkward moment! I didn't get any marriage proposals though; so I guess in all it wasn't so bad! I asked a friend last night why men here feel free to just walk on up to you and ask for your number and say things like…God told me I would marry you, what do you think? She said its just and understanding that if you don't ask you don't know…so why not give it a try! There is no fear of rejection, they just shrug it off and go on and ask the next white woman they see on the street!

On a completely separate note, Lucy came home today. She is smiling and happy. It was fun to watch Sam, Betty and Fallah greet her and play with her. She has a small plastic, red chair that she sits in like it's her very own throne. That and her hot pink cell phone, purse, and napkin use after every bite of food earned her a new middle name...Princess.

And as it turns out Moses has the same birthday as me…just a few years laterJ

Finally

Betty and Moses

Today it finally happened. Lucy and Moses were moved to the center! I held Moses for the first time last September, when we came to set up the orphanage. He's the baby in the video on this blog. I was so overwhelmed today when I got to hold that precious little one again. They say he is 3 but I would guess he's not much more than two. In September I held him for hours and hours one day until I thought my arms were going to fall off. Today it seemed he weighed less than a year ago…but that smile. I can't even begin to describe how precious it was to see it again. We took him to the Doctor and then I had the privilege of talking Moses to his new home. He was welcomed with open arms by Augusta and Daniel who will love on him and introduce him to all his new brothers and sisters. Betty, one of the girls who knew Moses and has not seen him since last October, perfectly expressed what I was feeling. She gave the loudest shout when she saw him and then burst into tears as she scooped him up and sobbed as she held him. It was a joyous reunion!

Lucy

Lucy will be staying at the hospital for several days. She is severely malnourished and in need of extra care. We had a picture album of her with pictures of her and Tina and her sponsors and she smiled and laughed as she looked at every picture. She recognized herself and I think she might have even recognized the others. What a privilege it was to be with her today.

I have included some pictures. These are the children that we are here to help…the ones that no one else will. They are the most vulnerable of the orphan because they can do nothing to care for themselves and no one will help them because they "are not normal". Osseh came back with a picture of another girl, Mary, who is in the same state of neglect as Lucy and Moses. I desperately want to figure out a way to welcome Mary into our home as well. I am praying that God will call more organizations and people here that will care for the special needs children well, because we cannot take them all…but we can save ONE…today it was TWO more---which puts the grand total at 83! Tomorrow we might add 6 or 7 more. Holy Moly!

Demon Water and Chocolate Cake

Demon Water and Chocolate Cake really have nothing to do with each other except I know where each comes from. Demon water comes from Satan and chocolate cake, well that most DEFINITAVLY comes from God. I was given a whole cake to bring home tonight and put in my fridge (which isn't working right now due to the fact that there is no electricity) and I should share with the others who live here but I don't want to! We'll see what happens tomorrow. For now, I will keep it safe in my fridge!

So I asked today why it seems that so many people here are scared of water. They don't swim or go out in boats. Quami is always telling me "Water is for fish not for Quamis!" The answer I got today when I asked was that as children they were told that there are demons in the water and if they went to play or swim there without their mothers the demons would grab them and eat them or something. I am sure that this tale came from the mother's wanting to keep her children safe—like if you keep making that face your face will stay that way forever! But it also comes from a deep undercurrent in this county of sorcery, witchcraft, and evil. In the last week I have heard a lot about the spiritual aspects of the traditional culture here that keeps people oppressed and in fear. It seems that not too long ago all the best sorcerers and witchdoctors were invited to a contest of skill in a neighboring country. Sort of like the Olympics for animism and traditional religion. Guess which team won? Sierra Leone! People speak of curses, devils, secret societies, and all types of evil. It is not hard then to imagine why the children at the center have continual nightmares and why young girls talk openly about being demon possessed and not understanding what or why they are doing things and why the country continues to fight oppression and darkness. The devil has a strong foothold here.

All this reminded me today that our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.--and drives me to pray for the salvation of this entire nation from the clutches of the evil one; these are God's people created by him to do good things. God bring freedom from darkness here; may your word penetrate our hearts and keep us from the clutches of the evil one, in Jesus Name. Amen

A Good Samaritan

Today I want to give a HUGE thanks to the random gentleman who picked me up on the side of the road! Before you freak out, I wasn't hitch-hiking and I wasn't alone!

Because the two staff members with vehicles were up-country today, I found myself leaving the center with 2 children and our Home Father Daniel at about 10:15am to find a taxi to take us to a doctor's appointment and to pick up one of our babies who was being discharged from the hospital. The rain was threatening but we were sure that we'd make it to our destination or at least inside a transport before the rain began. We climbed up the hill to get to the main road and waited...and waited…and waited. Every taxi that went by was over full and it began to seem hopeless, and then it started to rain. There's a certain frustration level that quickly envelops me in these situation. I'm standing out on the side of a busy road with 2 young children and one adult staff member and it's raining and there is NOTHING I can do. In this case though, both Daniel and I started praying. I was praying for an empty taxi but Daniel…he asked for something better—A Good Samaritan. And in the space of a few moments God answered with a large green SUV driven by an older man who I am sure is the kindest man in Sierra Leone. He picked us up and didn't just drive us to the nearest junction/taxi stand but took us all the way, out of his way, to the hospital and right up to the front door! A free trip and a wonderful blessing!

Some of you have heard that we have had many medical problems in the past few months. I was glad to bring home Geraldine today so all of our babies are back together again after about 3 weeks. We are working very hard to make sure that these little ones are healthy and growing. When Geraldine went to the hospital she was so lethargic, she wouldn't hold up her head or respond to her name. Today she was so alert and active. We are so grateful to see her little personality come out again! I am also grateful for some new friends we met last week. Jackie and Kelly are RNs working as missionaries in Sierra Leone and they have agreed to visit the children often and help us to set up some systems to ensure that we are getting good medical care and are keeping good records of all of our kids. God sent these two women to answer a huge prayer as well.

These are my small miracles today…there was one other that I need to mention—a can of coke (my 1^st dose of caffeine since last Saturday!).