Ibrahim the Carver

It was a joy to meet Ibrahim. He is an amazing carver and has used his gifts to pay for his education. Ibrahim is an electrical engineer. He also is giving back to the community and invests in Sierra Leone's future by passing his knowledge on as he teaches others his expertise at the Hope Centre. He is such a joy filled, wonderful man! What a world changer he is! I gladly purchased each of my children an animal carving. After meeting him and learning his story it was wonderful to get the chance to buy his work & help support him. My children love animals, specially the animals of Africa. How great it was to bring them home a little "treat" from my time there.

This is a picture of me & Ibrahim at the Hosetta School, (and Fatmata -LOVE that child!) he & his students were doing the electrical work there during my trip.

Today my family leaves for vacation, a little "treat" for all of us. We are going to Cornerstone Christian Music Festival. My husband & I have been attending for many years. Cornerstone and some of the people we have met there have been very influential in the opening of our eyes to the great diversity of the Kingdom of our God. What an eye opening tool it has been for us to the world outside Jefferson City, MO. At Cornerstone we have worshiped with thousands of people from many nations, from urban sub-cultures to people from all over the world. From rock, rap, goth, punk, screaming craziness to... middle eastern & African music to ...poetry, guitars & hand drums and what my mom would call "hippies". Actually, it is where my husband Justin learned how to play the djembe. Cornerstone is also where we adopted one of our sponsored children: our Compassion child, Andrew - he lives in Uganda. When the Compassion representatives spoke at main stage and volunteers were passing out envelopes with children to sponsor, at age three Zeke kept raising is hand, against my best efforts to hold it down. I finally thought "Mom! what are you doing?" and let him raise his hand. Zeke has such soft heart and even at his early age I believe he is very sensitive to the spirit. The child we were handed turn out to be Zeke's same age & we have been SO blessed to be apart of his life! When my boys pray at night they include their brother Andrew (from Uganda they say). You can read more about Compassion International here:  http://www.compassion.com/default.htm
We are so excited to have a week away camping with our awesome kids and the great people that will gather there.

I am sad that this weekend I will miss the homecoming of my friends who are in Sierra Leone right now on mission. God's mission to LOVE those people! I can't wait to hear their stories of God's Greatness & Glory!! and watch and the infectious love for this people group flow out of them to the people around them, the hundreds of people in each of their own circles who will hear about God love & mercy through their stories and I'm praying eye opening miracles to happen in the hearts of us all! See you next week!

Mothers Day 2011

I have always loved children, LOVED CHILDREN...

Right out of high school I started working at a preschool and have been working with kids in various ways ever since.

From nannying babies to Taekwondo students and even teenagers my whole life has been wrapped up in investing in their lives. When I was a child I remember my Aunts telling me, Chris you are going to have 10 kids! And I remember thinking, sure why not??

I have had two Mothers Days that up until this point, I will remember them as being the hardest of my life.

One, the first Mothers Day I experienced after the year I lost my first two children during their pregnancies. That was a rough time in our life, we kept it very private and only a few of our closest friends knew about it at the time but the Lord held me close, gave me His strength and comforted my heart. We now sponsor two children from Africa, I can't think of a better way to honor their memory.

and two...

Mothers Day 2011. This year I spent Mothers Day away from my precious children, they stayed home with an amazing Daddy while their Mommy flew to the other side of the world to be with the children of Sierra Leone. I can't tell you how hard it was to leave them, but I am so grateful for my opportunity and what it has taught their little hearts! First let me tell you about my babies. *Ezekiel, 5 years old is my first born He is sweet, kind, compassionate and just last night said to me "Mommy, I love you, you are the most beautiful girl EVER" (LOL he will change his mind quickly someday, but I will hold on to that for now!"

*Gideon, 4 years old. Now, Gideon requires a little extra effort even from the beginning (I was hospitalized at 25 weeks & on bed rest until birth) but, he is the most passionate, fun, imaginative & loving child you will ever meet! Ask him to tell you a story sometime (he says he keeps them in his tummy)

*Levi, 3 years old this Sunday. Happy Birthday little man! "Mommy, I love you" he says to me all the time and he also says he is a Knight! and he has a whole list of princesses he holds in high esteem, but at the top of the list are his cousin Jillian and his precious Aunt Jenna.

*And my princess, Isabel, she turned one in February. We adore her! & She has us wrapped around her fingers. When the Lord gave us each of them we prayed for their tiny lives that they would impact this world in BIG ways. We know that they are not really "ours" but have been given to us to teach & prepare them for God's will and plan for their lives.

This Mothers Day, I had been away for almost a week already that morning, I was truly missing my babies' kisses & snuggles. I had a Mothers Day card to open thanks to my sister-n-law Erin who snuck it in my baggage before I left which gave me smiles that morning. Then off to church we went. Mayemi Baptist Church, a little stick structure building with tarps wrapped around for sides. We sat in the back & I enjoyed it, although I was secretly disappointed and would have much rather had a church service with less Americanism, fancy clothes and more hand drums & craziness, but very much enjoyed the service. I was starting to understand more and more Creole but Ibrahim was standing next to me and very kindly singing the songs in English.

A little boy came in the back and sat down with a small group of children. Little children caring for even smaller children is a common site in Sierra Leone. He had one little girl that had fallen asleep which is passed to Brooke, one of my fellow team members from Texas. He also had a little boy who was coughing and just couldn't get comfortable. He handed him to me and I snuggled this precious baby until the end of church.

He smelled as if he had been peeing in his clothes for weeks, his fever and his cough broke my heart and as I held him close, I could feel wheeze in his lungs. I prayed for this sweet child whose name I will never know. We left church and as we drove home I sat behind our driver Ibrahim with my head down and quietly cried. Babies taking care of babies... I just kept thinking of what my children had told me when we were talking about orphans a few months ago Zeke said "We will share you with them Mommy" and then Gideon "they can even come live with us, then they would have a Mommy!" The smell from this child washed out of my clothes, but he left a stain on my white skirt and one on my heart that will always be there.

We got back to Tom & Becky's and I called my children and wonderful husband, the minute I heard their voices I couldn't stop crying, but it was SO good to hear them say "I love you, mommy. Happy Mothers Day!" We received word from Margaret that she had just received a new orphan. A little baby a couple of days old, her young teen mother had just died from childbirth complications the day before (very common there in Sierra Leone) The baby's grandmother could not care for her. We walked down to Margaret's and it wasn't long before I was holding this sweet baby & wishing I could sneak her on the plane home. Margaret has 26 other orphans that she cares for, including Martin (who is in a wheelchair and needs 24/7 care) and Simon a joy filled downs syndrome little boy. God provides for Margaret and this group of blessed children, there is just no other way to say that. I can remember someone saying "Margaret doesn't have the money to take care of this baby" and then someone saying "well, how much money does formula cost?" (and before we left Sierra Leone the Lord provided, through the team, for this baby's needs)

Becky asked Margaret if she thought it would be OK if we went to pay our respects to the Grandmother. So we walked into the camp where the war widows live to visit the Grandmother of this baby. She was sitting out front of her 2 room house heart broken in complete despair. We realized that she had a house full of children and grandchildren already that were struggling to survive. I started to look around at the conditions surrounding me and the desperate children everywhere. My words would just mess it up. All I can say is walking back out of there to Margaret's house I lost it and one of those "uncontrollable cries" hit me. Mohamed (aka "pants on the ground" we called him) was walking by me and just kept saying my name and patting my back. Then one of the war widows looked at me and said "Why do you people love children so much?" I'll never forget that question and the look on her face because she didn't understand my broken heart or tears. What is a mom anyway? Why do we love children? This day...Mothers Day was the day after our visit to Waterloo--- (if you haven't read that post yet here it is http://afewwordsandramblings.blogspot.com/2011/06/ashes-for-beauty.html ) It will give you a better sense of what was going on in my heart and mind.

As we walked away from Margaret's house back towards the missionaries home, my heartbroken tears continued to pour. There isn't any comfort in the thought of my lifestyle excess and someone else suffering. I felt the Holy Spirit bringing up scripture after scripture in my heart about how taking care of these widows & orphans should somehow be more important to me personally than my home renovations, flat screen TV dreams and or my eating out budget.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth, 1 John 3:16-18

What is the best thing I could wish for my children? Good grades? Great college years? Become successful with great jobs or what if ... what if they disappeared to a far off land to serve the Lord, loving his people. What a hard thing it must be to let go and let them go but I pray that if that is what God's plan is for their lives that they jump in with both feet, run toward Him and never look back!

And as for the children of Sierra Leone. I love THESE precious wonderfully created children, children of our Father God. It is now month later and not a day goes by that I don't shed tears for these sweet faces, I might be on the other side of the world but when I close my eyes, I can see their beautiful eyes staring back at me. Right now, a team of friends from my church are there, falling in love with each of them and I am SO excited about it! It is an adventure that will forever change the way they think and live. When do you want to go? I'll take you...

Ashes for Beauty

A crown of beauty instead of ashes...a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair (from Isaiah 61:3)

The end of the first week in Sierra Leone came quickly, by this Friday night I realized the that first few days had flown by. We spent the day at Hosetta School. I once again found myself (like never before wanting to be a "Mary") longing to just be with the people of Sierra Leone. Sit at their feet, hear their stories and love on them. That night was a hard one for me. The weight of my heart was incredibly heavy; I was lonely, missing my wonderful husband and my sweet children -I'm so thankful for my life & blessings. The heart shock and numbness was starting to wear off from the things I had seen that week and I was starting to feel the hurt of these people. Honestly, I fell apart in the shower. Have you ever done that? anyway... Now, I see that the Lord was emptying me for what was to come.

The next day we had plans to visit Waterloo and then spend the afternoon at the beach. At first I had a bad attitude about that. I didn't come here to go to the beach I thought? really? But I was so glad we did. I feel like the Lord gave me a picture of going from Ashes to Beauty that hope I never forget. That morning we got up early and went to Waterloo. Waterloo is a small market town where a group called Codwela has been working with the street kids. "Street Kid" Wow that word has a new meaning for me. I had taken a journal and had been writing everyday about the things I had seen and what God was teaching me, but for this morning in Waterloo I had to leave a blank page and I still truthfully feel like I don't have the words. Other than to say, my eyes have been opened to a horrible reality. Before I left for Africa I "kind of" knew there where places & children like this (most of us do, but pretend we don't) When you see it for yourself, you hug & hold a child that will be sleeping in the dirt on the street later that night, maybe looking for place to stay dry? A hungry child - doing whatever, WHATEVER it takes to survive...I still can't really talk about it. But I can say this----The Lord started preparing my heart for this months before I even knew I was going to Sierra Leone. Last fall my husband & I were at Worship Night with an artist named Todd Agnew. The Lord spoke directly to both of us that night about many things through this worship leader. Todd said something in a new way for me that completely changed my world view about these children. Changed "my view" into more of what I feel like is God's view. To simplify it best I can, picture leaving your children with a babysitter. The sitter had a easy job, just take care of the kids' basic needs and put them to bed. Now at my house we joke about our sitters coming watch our TV or play on our Internet because our kids go to bed so early and they really only have to spend a little time taking care of them. This man told a story of how he came home, everyone was in bed safe but the next day when he asked his kids how their night went they told him that the sitter basically had them fend for themselves and didn't really help them or take care of them at all. They showered (said they didn't really know they could do that by themselves yet) and put themselves to bed while the babysitter was on the computer or watching TV. He talked about, how at first, he was mad. He had left simple instructions for this caregiver to follow but she was "busy" doing what she wanted instead of caring for his children. Would you trust that person with your kids again? Then he said "Now, if Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church... the husband... in that marriage relationship we are the Bride, the wife, then we are the mother figure. The Mom. He has left us a command to love and care for His children, all of them! As a church are we being a "mom" to His children? Are we? or are we too busy with our own agendas, plans, houses & ipads? Countless children are dying everyday because of a lack of basic needs, clean water & health.

When I stood on the streets of Waterloo where in the midst of this market over 1000 children living alone on the streets in the most horrible conditions. I was brought back to this new awareness! THESE are also my children, the children I was told to love and care for in God's word. I am sick over it. I can't put my brokenness to words. Would I allow my children to be treated this way? Well I am. I have kissed the faces of children who are motherless and hungry knowing that the money we spend on worthless things could save lives. We can make a difference, we just pretend that the problem is so big that my little bit can't help. But, these children have a Father! Our Father can save them. He can feed them with our "little offerings". How shameful it is to know that we are not willing to sacrifice the little things, knowing in the reality of the whole of His creation, it is worth giving everything we have. I left Waterloo and prepared for our trip to the beach with silence and in tears. (my many pictures from Waterloo are on my facebook page, not all of the children in my pictures are the official street kids these boys below are, but all have desperate needs...please pray for their sweet faces and for the interns of Codwela who are ministering to them) I did write this scripture in my journal the next day: Jesus said in Luke 9:48 "whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is the least among you all, who is the greatest."

We got to the beach and I was amazed at the beauty that the Lord has designed in this place. Wonderful scenery, crashing waves (I kept thinking, wow ... jobs jobs jobs... someday when the country infrastructure is back on its feet!) I jumped in the ocean and sat on the beautiful white sand beach and prayed for the Lord to speak to me, to forgive my selfishness and heal my heart. I ate local food and it was awesome! (my husband is so proud of me) What a gift it was to see the beauty of The Creator in Sierra Leone, especially on that day. I thank the Lord for placing my feet in that beautiful country and allowing me to love His beautiful people who live there.