Buwa!
We are happy to greet you one more time from Sierra Leone. (This was supposed to be sent out several days ago. The team is actually in the air, and their left behind team leader is sending it out as if it was a couple of days ago!) Our time in this beautiful country is quickly coming to an end. We departed Banta on Friday and headed to Freetown where we spent the weekend debriefing, relaxing, and shopping before we boarded our first plane on Monday at 5:30 am after an eventful ferry ride.
As we are wrapping things up and attempting to summarize all we have been privileged to experience and learn our thoughts race in many directions. In some ways, we are leaving with more questions then answers. In other ways we have been challenged and encouraged. When we think about you and all the ways you supported us, we are quick to acknowledge that you were part of our team. We are truly grateful and would like to begin to express our gratitude by briefly sharing some of the lifelong memories we've made and some heartfelt life lessons we have learned. We hope what follows below will be a blessing to you all.
Thank you again for your prayers and support. We are excited to return home with these things and more!
Britt's memories
This trip has been an overall great experience for me and I will always have a special place in my heart for Sierra Leone. I will miss waking up in the morning to the rooster crowing, the sound of dumping water out of a pail for a shower, and the joyful sound of the nationals singing hymns to start the day off right. I have tried to take in as much of the culture I could by interacting with the nationals (hauling water, cooking over a fire, making all cooking ingredients from scratch and washing clothes by hand). I will forever be truly grateful and appreciate what we have in America and I only wish more people could experience what we experienced on this trip to really appreciate what they have or ever lack of words cannot explain what I am feeling for this country but I will sum up the main thing I have taken from this experience: LOVE!
Emily
As the end of our trip approached I find myself challenged with the thought of trying to put all that I have experiences on this trip into words so one might truly understand all that I have gone through. How will I explain the culture I lived in for three weeks, the growth and change of my heart of the numerous relationships I built along the way, each one being so different. My heart has been challenged and pulled in many ways and for that it has been forever changed. I leave with a new meaning to love as I have seen it in many different aspects and more powerful then ever. I have seen that hope exists everywhere as long as you have trust in God to be there along the way. I will miss falling asleep at night to the echoes of the children's voices as they sing their praised to God. The laughter of the nationals as I attempted to speak Mende and Krio will forever echo in my heart. The genuine love each Sierra Leoneans has for God and people will forever be in my heart. The faces of smiling children playing football and dancing in the rain storms will be images stored for a lifetime. I leave Sierra Leone with a full heart and thankful for being blessed with such an amazing and unforgettable journey. God bless and see you soon!
Nicole
They say teachers are life long learners and that learning has continued for me on Sierra Leone soil. My prayer has been for an open heart to learn what lessons God had for me on this continent, and he has been filling it with much that I will continue to process as I return home. As I have learned chook-chook (cross stitch) from Aunty Mariama, hand clap games from Janet, Mende from Moses, and dance moves from Aminata, I have also learning how to live justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. I have been stretched by the questions of poverty, injustice, and the search for hope. But mostly I have been overwhelmed by love- the nationals love for God, the children's love for us, and the conviction that I must grow in my genuine love for others. I must learn to love deeply as I return- loving my neighbor as myself whether down the street or an ocean away.
Carissa
In a nation recovering from a tragic war filled with people who are broken and coping with heartache. I have found myself surrounded by the most loving and passionate people. I have always considered myself a very relational person, however, since landing in Sierra Leone, I have been changed in every area relationally. I ask myself daily, what it means to be truly relational? From this experience, I walk away with a renewed perspective on living relationally. God models the perfect relationships, that which is a self-sacrificing, passionate, loving, and focused on community. Upon return to America, I will find myself contemplating and evaluating my life and repeatedly identifying those relationships which I need to be targeted. I praise God for the true blessing of living among these amazing people for three weeks.
Julie's contributions
Its hard to summarize but here it goes: I am learning again the lessons of love…how to receive it from the Lord and then how to freely give it away without condition or reservation. I am full of thoughts still in process but one thing I will carry with me as we go is the sound of the children singing during their morning devotions at 6:00am. It is a beautiful way to wake up and it stirs up praise in me.
Kristen
Sierra Leone seems to generate many questions that swim around in my head. How can a country be so plagued by injustice? Why does God allow this to happen? With so much hurt and suffering, what can one person really do? I have found that the answer is simple and yet complex in its depth. But it is simply to love, to love those who reject you, those who embrace you, those who are rich, those who are poor. As Christ does not distinguish his love by race, wealth or fame; neither should we. Simply love.
Allie
What is self-sacrifice? Is it giving up a modern convenience that is meaningful to me? Perhaps going without a flush toilet or a hot shower or a cell phone? Doubtful. Perhaps closer would be using what God gives me everyday for the good of another WHEN IT IS HARD, or uncomfortable or unnatural. I have been give life, the ability to think, hands, feet, a voice…
This Sierra Leone experience has helped me catch a glimpse of Christ's heart regarding self-sacrifice. I am far from completion in this, but I am thankful to God for giving me the strength and conviction to inch closer. this moment came as I hesitantly surrendered my hands, and arms to dozen of little children, who in all their germs and filth, reached out to touch me, and in turn forever touched my life.
Sarah
What will I take from this trip? The memories, the relationships, the hard questions, the beautiful moments of hope, and the tears of brokenness. This place is my second home, these people are my people. The relationships here are what give me endurance to press on. The small moments of sitting and talking with Aunty Batu, playing with Kadija, hugging Fatu. Seeing all the familiar faces brings such joy to my heart. This place also leaves me with a lot of questions. More questions then answers. As I work among these people who are beautiful yet broken, I see myself. I see that I too am broken. yet God chooses to use broken people to fix a broken world. And God views us all with the same loving heart: a heart that longs to redeem, and restore all of creation- every tribe, tongue, and nation.
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