Vote Jesus

I haven't posted anything since I got back from our travels, so I don't know if anyone is going to see this, but I think I will start writing a few things when I have something to share. Let me know if this strikes a chord.

I had to come up with a sermon topic for last Sunday and with the election coming I was looking for something to do with an election. I love old testament stories so I decided on the story of Jeroboam and Rehoboam. It is not really an election, but it was a tax revolt, and a change of leadership, and since I was doing it, it was my call. In the process I thought about all the adds and phone calls I have been getting for and against candidates, so I decided to make one for Jesus. I listed what are the hot button issues this year and started filling in what I thought Jesus' position would be. Then I decide that it would be more fun to make a negative campaign add. Here is what my add would look like;

Jesus too RADICAL for us

Here are his positions on these important issues

Taxes; Pay them, He doesn't really care about taxes!!

Borders; He says welcome strangers, He says we aren't really citizens here anyway!

War; Love your enemy, Pray for them, Turn the other cheek, Seek peace.

The Economy; Store up treasures in heaven, God will take care of you, You can't love God and Money.

Jobs; Be happy, no matter what you do, work as if you were working for God

Religion; He argues with all the religious leaders and spends time with unsavory friends.

Crime; JESUS IS SOFT ON CRIME!! He failed to prosecute a woman caught in the act of adultery, He pardoned a convicted felon on his execution day! He has been convicted HIMSELF!! He has been seen in the company of prostitutes.

JESUS IS TOO EXTREME FOR US!!!

After I finished I compared this with my positive add and there really wasn't much difference. I realized that as I chuckled about my negative add I was really convicting myself. I am too American, too invested in my own comfort and ease, too much in charge of my own life. As I thought more I realised that we have an election every day, we vote for who is in charge of our lives, too often I vote for myself instead of Jesus

Trying to Sum it up

I'm back home finally. I saw a lot and think I learned a few things, or at least I have more things to think about. My bed was great, it will take a few days to get back in this time zone though. It is 2:45 am here now and I can't sleep, a common theme for me on my trip, so I'll try to put a ribbon on our travels. This could be a long post, I was laying in bed thinking and there are a lot of things I want to address.
First it is so good to be home! I agree with Dorthy, "There is no place like home". Home is where you are you, that isn't always good, but it is comfortable. My dog is at my side, he missed me. He was usually not far from me anyway, but now that I have been gone he is even closer, I don't think he will let me out of his sight. Austin is a 1 1/2 year old Yellow Lab, who is nothing like Marley. He is right at my feet as I type, I think we can learn from dogs. When we got here Susie was waiting, she said she had to wait for us to give us a hug. Susie, Alec and Casey house sat for us and took care of Austin. They are our neighbors and good Friends from Lummi Island and they wanted to see what it was like living on the mainland. There was a basket of goodies and a card from Mary, Mattie and Nathan. Both of the kids asked if they could stay home from school for one day so they could catch up, actually, Mattie asked for two days, one for grandma and one for grandpa
Our trip was long and draining, it will take a while to sort out all my thoughts, at least I hope it will, in fact I hope I never get over some of it. I switch pronouns a lot, I use "I" and "We" almost interchangeably. The trip wouldn't have been the same without D'Linda. We are best friends, We have different vantage points on life, and We can disagree, but We have each others back. On the plane back We kissed and she said people wouldn't think we had been married for 39 years. I wrote about her before, so you know how I feel. I give her a lot of the credit for keeping me sane. We do work well together. I usually bounce things off Her first, she is always trying to protect me, and calm me down. She may be short physically, but she has a giant's heart.
I met Teddy on my first full day in Liberia, if you haven't read my first post you probably should, to understand the impact He had. At first I wasn't as focused on Teddy, but the conditions of all the orphans there. The more overwhelmed I became with the culture there the more hopeless it seemed. Then I came across that old Jewish proverb "If you save one person, you save the world", Teddy became my "one person". There seemed so little I could actually do, so I had to do the most important thing, pray to The Ruler of the Universe. I have vowed to not say a prayer without mentioning Teddy until he is out of there. I have also enlisted the help of you and almost everyone I meet by telling about Teddy. I don't know what will happen to Teddy, but he will not be forgotten as long as I can help.
Culture is a funny thing, I have maintained for a long time it is much more powerful then we give credit. I am even more convinced now. I have been exposed to quite a few on this trip. It is easy to see the differences, but it is harder to weigh whether they are better or worse or just different. It is even harder to realize the impact our own culture has on us. Our culture places great importance on the rights of the individual, even to the point that it hurts the whole. The Jewish culture is almost the opposite. The survival of Israel is the most important thing. In Liberia your reputation is most important. In Spain it seemed to be the "good life" or living well. It is impossible to reduce cultures to so simple of terms, cultures are very complex and powerful. Jesus knew that, that is why He called us to live differently. To take on the culture of The Kingdom of God. He said the greatest command was to love God and He always included that we were to love our neighbor as our selves. He said that people would know us by our Love. That we should be about clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, getting justice for the oppressed, visiting the lonely. He told us that we should treat others how we wanted to be treated. He told us that we would be known for our love. I saw some of that, but after 2000 years I'm sure Jesus expected his people to have more of an impact. The "Holy Lands" really drove that point home. Millions of Christians have visited there and what I saw most of were souvenir shops, pushy tourists, and old church buildings. I met and heard about some remarkable people, but they were the exception, not the average. Jesus called us to serve, but most of us like to be served. Jesus called us to be last, but... I don't have an answer, but I want you to think, along with me, about how much our culture effects us that we don't think about, that we just accept. We really do need to renounce our culture and become citizens of the Kingdom of God. That sounds simple, maybe it is, but why can't we do a better job of it?
I think the tour we went on was very good. It was good, partly because there were some problems. I have told you about Daphne, we talked with other group members and most of us had expected to have a Christian tour guide. Daphne gave us a Jewish perspective and some insight into Her culture. If we had had a Christian guide feeding us the "party line" we wouldn't have learned as much, or been challenged to think about some long held beliefs. There were traffic and schedule problems, and there were crowds that have different rules on personal space. I got caught in one crowd of oriental women that were more intimate with me than some girls I have dated.
The people in our tour group were a good mix, mostly Catholic. We were on the go most of the time and didn't have as much time to just talk as I would have liked. One person was in a wheelchair and he was traveling with his wife, son, daughter and Mother and father-in-law. They had to stay in different hotels than us a few times because of accessibility problems, so we didn't get as much interaction with them. There was a Pastor from Bakersfield, Garvin, and his assistant, Danielle. Garvin was a very sincere person who was very touched by Teddy's story. Danielle had some pipes, she sang for us a few times. In one Church from Crusader times with reverberating acoustics she sang and it could have been the most inspiring time of the whole time in Israel. I would pay money to listen to her sing there anytime. Another time she sang for us she was so overcome with emotion she couldn't speak for quite awhile. The only other time we had music was in the boat on the Sea of Galilee and that was inspiring. I think music is a better way to connect with people and God than old church buildings, and you can do that anywhere.
Mary Willis, 16, and her sister Lea Hannah, 18, were in the group with their parents Roy and Tracie. They were beautiful girls inside and out. It was wonderful to be around such polite, intelligent, fun teenagers. I think one of the best times was floating in the Dead Sea with them. They just enjoyed it like little kids. It was really neat to float so high in the water, it was more like you were on the water than in it. When we went to old Jerusalem a man offered 400 camels for the girls, I'm pretty sure it was in jest, but from then on Roy didn't take his eyes off of them. Roy is retired from the Navy and gives most of the credit to Tracie for his daughters. What ever they did they should bottle it and sell it, maybe they could make more than 400 camels?
There were 23 in the group and we got along very well, Daphne said we were a very good group and that she enjoyed us. She gets paid, and I'm pretty sure she never tells a group they were the worst, but I think our group was good. We exchanged email addresses and I'm going to send pictures of Teddy. They all said they would pray for him, Garvin said he would get his whole church to pray.
As I reflect on the whole trip I was struck by the remarkable people I have encountered. There is evil out there, lots of it, but there is also hope. I think two of those remarkable people are Rusty and Jamie. They had the "American Dream". They were in their early thirties, had a new big house, new cars and all the toys. Rusty was part owner of a very profitable construction company. They had very little debt and were on their way to the top. Then they turned their back on it all and left for the third world. They have seen a very different life there. They have given away much of what they had left. They have seen need and despair up close. They have saved lives and given hope. I am so proud to know them. I hope when I grow up I can be like them.
Finally, when I left I had no intention to write a blog, it just kind of happened. I didn't even know how, I read my kid's blogs, and look at a few things online, but I'm not that into computers. I don't have any plans past this last blog about the trip. I appreciate the comments that I have received, I have tried to respond to most of the comments, but haven.t always done that. The future of this is in your hands, if I have written anything that has helped you please let me know, if I can answer any questions, or at least give you my thoughts let me know. This has been a good exercise for me, it makes me collect my thoughts and articulate them in a rational way, anyway I tried. What ever happens I hope I have been able to communicate a little of what God has shown me on this trip. I know some have had a hard time trying to post a comment, so just email me direct if you want jack@lairdmail.com.

Kissing Rocks

I might have been a little harsh in my last post. I keep wavering between trying to see some holiness here and just crass commercialism. I’m still waiting for someone to try and sell me autographed pictures of the apostles and something carved from the original cross. There are souvenir shops at every attraction, hotel and stop sign. There are merchants trying to sell you all sorts of things, but they aren’t as aggressive as they are in Mexico, so it’s not bad.

I counted 36 buses in front of the hotel yesterday. There were more around the corner out of sight. In defense of Daphne, I may disagree with her on history and theology, but when it comes to getting us around she is a Pro. She has been good at shuffling our schedule to avoid the busiest times at attractions and restaurants. She is on the phone more than Carli Costello checking on things ahead of us. She even tried getting our flight changed to get us home a little faster, but it looks like Monday afternoon is when we’ll get to Seattle. We are really homesick and I miss my bed.

We were at the Western Wall and the Muslim Quarter of old Jerusalem Friday. Friday is the holy day for Muslims and they go to the temple at noon and get out at about 1:00. Daphne got us there early so we could be out of there by 1:00, she said that they had a radical speaker and he could get them riled up and sometimes they riot afterwards. There were lots of riot police at every corner, more than she had seen before. She is always telling us everything is safe, but she was clearly nervous. We were away from there at 1:00, but nothing happened. She said that the Muslims in Jerusalem were peaceful, but many Palestinians come into the city on Fridays and they are the ones that cause the problems.

The only other time that I have seen her concerned was Thursday afternoon. We were in front of the Church of all Nations, beside the Garden of Gethsemane, which is next too a very large Jewish cemetery. Some Ultra Orthodox Jews started coming by, just a few at first then enough to block one lane of traffic, then the whole road. She told us not to take their picture because they have been known to come and break cameras. She told us not to look at them and they wouldn’t bother us. Apparently a high rabbi had died and they were going to the funeral. Jewish law requires burial before sundown. Daphne said that the Ultra Orthodox cause a lot of problems. She said they are all on public assistance and “breed like rabbits”. The biggest problem is that they vote in a block and the present administration needs their votes to stay in power so they won’t do anything about them. Those have been the only times that there has been any concern; we have felt very safe all the time.

We have seen lots of sites, too many. I am getting real tired of old rocks. It seems like there is something on every block. We can’t stop at everything, but we have seen plenty. They are all starting to run together. I have taken lots of pictures, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to differentiate them. I have seen way too many people kissing rocks. So many of the sites have multiple churches claiming to be on the exact site of this or that. Nothing dates back to Christ, everything here has been built, destroyed and rebuilt numerous times. Christian Churches are destroyed and Mosques built on the site, then they are destroyed and churches rebuilt and so on. So many of the locations are based on tradition, there is no real proof. I have seen lots of emotional people. I can understand that being here imagining what Jesus went through can trigger great feelings. I just can’t see kissing rocks that may or may not have been touched by Him. I know that most of these people are sincere, but it still looks like idolatry to me. I really don’t want to do or say anything that could take away from an emotional connection with God, but it sure seems misguided. This place is rich with history and tradition, but the thing that stands out to me is that no one gets along. All the different Churches fight over turf with each other and the Jews and the Muslims. There are a few Churches that are owned by a few different traditions that are in need of repair or restoration, but it can’t happen because they don’t agree. All of this just doesn’t seem like how Jesus would want it.

This may be my last blog from here, or I might have some time tomorrow, you’ll just have to wait and see.

Jet skis on the Sea of Galilee

We have been without Internet for a few days now, I could have paid for it, but I’m too cheap and I didn’t have my thoughts collected. I don’t have Internet now, but I do have some thoughts. I’ll write them down and when we get to Jerusalem later today I’ll post them even if I have to pay.

It is about 4:00 Thursday morning. I have developed this sleep pattern that I can’t seem to break. I will usually fall asleep easily, but only sleep for a few hours, then lay awake for quite a while eventually getting some more sleep. While lying there I think about many things, projects on the farm, things I’ve seen, and what I want to tell you. Well I’ve sorted out some thoughts and can’t seem to get back to sleep so I guess I might as write them out.

When we decided to make Israel part of this trip, it just seemed like a good thing to do because we were going to be in the area. I have always wanted to see what it is like. I guess I also thought that walking the same ground Jesus walked would help me to better understand Him. My prayer on this trip was for God to open my eyes and ears and let me really see. I may be premature in my conclusions because we still have Jerusalem to visit, but I have some very clear examples. I have tried to remain open, I realize that I don’t know all the answers and that I am positive that I am wrong about some things. As I listened to our tour guide, Daphne, she pronounces it daff nuh, I kept getting upset with what I felt were inaccuracies. I spoke up a few times, but D’Linda kept telling me to bite my tongue. The first example was when she said that Jesus was not a wood carpenter, but a stone carpenter. I had to ask her about it, her reasoning was that they build mostly with stone and that they didn’t have much wood around the area of Nazareth. I said that even for the stonework they would have had to have built false work for the arches and scaffolding, and the doors were wood and they did have some furniture. She was pretty confident that she was right though. On the grand scream of things whether Jesus was a carpenter or a mason really doesn’t matter, but the thought of being wrong on something so simple really bothered me. The Bible is the most scrutinized document in the world, why had I never heard this theory before? At almost every stop Daphne would say something that I thought was inaccurate or flat out wrong. I was trying my best to be open to everything, I was surprised that nobody else was speaking up. I didn’t want to reject all she was telling us, but I didn’t want to swallow the camel either. It was really bothering me, I had prayed for open eyes and ears, should I close them?

You know when you are watching a movie and something strange happens and you hear the sound of the needle being drug across the record, well that happened. I went for a jog early Tuesday morning along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. I was looking at the boulder-strewn shore imagining how hard it must have been for Peter and Andrew to land their boat, when the needle went across the record. I came to a yard full of jet skis. All of a sudden I could imagine Jesus walking on the water as jet skis whizzed by. Later in the day we were on the Mount of the Beatitudes, Daphne was telling us that we couldn’t speak in the church that was there, and that after we went through it we should walk alone quietly around the gardens, but the needle was going again, there was a groundskeeper using a bucket truck and a chainsaw to prune some trees nearby. That needle went across the record at the Jordan River. We got there and there were hundreds of people being baptized. They have a dressing room there and you can get a white robe and go into the river and get baptized. The white robes were the kind that once they got wet they were see through, but that wasn’t the needle. The needle was a group of Japanese teenage girls holding their noses, because across the river was a stable and the smell was very pungent. I have to admit it really stunk there, and I don’t mind farm smells.

One saying I had heard in the past kept going through my mind, I don’t remember who said it or even the exact quote, but here is my paraphrase. “Proximity to Holy people or places doesn’t make you Holy any more than standing in a garage makes you a car”. I certainly don’t want to take anything away from the many very sincere people coming here to draw closer to God, but you can be every bit as close to God right where you are, and it might smell better. This place might have some historical significance and interesting ruins to look at, but these old rocks that have been fought over time and again have no special powers. I thought of all the lives that have been lost trying to control this piece of ground. I know that a lot of people believe that this place has significance in prophecy, but don’t they think God can pull it off if he wants to?

30% of the Israeli economy is tourism. Most of that is American Christians. All of the souvenir shops have everything priced in US dollars and if you buy something they even give you change in US $. Would you want to have your leading industry be catering to a religion you don’t believe? That is probably the biggest needle scratch of all. How much more useful could all that money be if we used it to change the world, feed the hungry, heal the sick, set the captives free. Instead we are making people wealthy who think we are misguided fools.

Daphne had said at one point that Ahab was Solomon’s son, I waited until there was no one else around and told her I was sure she was wrong about that, she said she was sure she was right, but would check here Bible later. When she walked away she made a phone call and came back and said that I was right. Later she asked a question about who the Samaritans were, no one spoke up, she looked to me and I answered it. We sat at the same table at lunch and she asked me what I did. I told her I was a carpenter. She said she didn’t believe that, I said that I had been a building contractor. She wanted to know what schooling I had, I told her that I just read some, I’m not sure she believed me. I should have just stuck with the carpenter, she must have something against them.

First Impressions

They say first impressions are fairly accurate, well we'll see. Tel Aviv airport is large and modern, with more security than most, but not oppressive. I noticed the concrete work outside the airport, it wasn't good quality, functional, but not as good as I would expect. The Madrid airport was really big and quite a architectural and engineering feat, probably the nicest airport I have ever been in, so that might have hurt the comparison. I noticed most of the taxis had dents on the sides. Driving in Tel Aviv it seems a lot more like the U.S. than anywhere else I have been. Our van driver might have learned to drive in Liberia though. This is not a very old city so the buildings are newer, some real nice, but a lot are run down and in need of repair. It was Sunday afternoon and the traffic was said to be light, but it seemed pretty heavy, so rush times must really be bad. I said it was like home, except for the road signs. They are all scribbles, however most of the store signs are English. Our hotel would be a four star in Liberia, but just an average motel at home. Our dinner was included in our package and it was excellent with quite a few strange dishes that tasted great. We met our tour guide, Daphne, maybe late 50s, with very short dyed red hair. She was born and raised in Jerusalem and assured us that we would be safe where ever we went, she encouraged us to go out any time we wanted. Our group will be 23 people, the average group is usually around 40, so she told us it will allow us to do a few more things. There are a few more people coming in tonight, but the ones that I have met so far seem pretty nice, there might be one person who might be hard to take. I hope that first impression is wrong. We're going to head out for the Sea of Galilee in the morning so I better head to bed.

Moving on

We're packing up just about to leave San Sebastian. We have had a nice stay. Yesterday we went to the Rizola Museum of Cement, I almost missed it. Those of you that know me well, know that I love concrete. D'Linda spotted it in one of the tourist brochures so of course we had to go. It was a little anti climatic. They had a portion shut down for renovation and they didn't have much in English, but I'm still glad we went. If I had found out about it after we left I would have felt cheated.

There are some real differences here, some I like and some not so much. In the not so much category is the schedule of things. Generally stores and businesses open between 9:00 and 10:00 and shut down for lunch between 2:00 and 5:00. I mean shut down, they lock up and turn the lights out. Then they reopen until about 9 or 10, except for the restaurants. They don't open until 1 or 2, so if you want to eat lunch at the correct time of noon you are out of luck. Then they close at around 5 and don't reopen until 7:30 or 8. They eat a large leisurely lunch and a late dinner, it doesn't fit my schedule at all. We did have a traditional lunch yesterday, it consists of a 3 course meal. They give you choices of each course and include wine with the meal for a set price. Our waitress didn't speak English so it was fun making our selections. For one of the choices she said "Moo" and motioned like she had a tail, that is what I chose. D'Linda chose something about a pig. My ox tail was good and D'linda's pork roll was excellent, she said. D'Linda had a salad and I had a rice and clam and mussel dish with a chunk of fish on it. It tasted like a solid clam chowder, they were excellent and the deserts were too.

In the like column, I had said everything is more expensive, but I have modified my thinking a little. The price you see is the price you pay. All taxes and fees are included in the advertised price. Tips are not expected either, so it is really not that much more expensive.

I also like that times are are based on a 24 hour clock. That helps with confusion on trains and planes and business hours.

Well we have to leave for the train station to go back to Madrid. We will stay there tonight and leave for Tel Aviv on Sunday morning. We will probably be out of touch until we arrive there.

One last note, my mom said in an email to D'Linda that she didn't want to post a comment on my blog because it might embarrass me. Well she has known me longer than anyone else and she could probably embarrass me, but just posting won't mom. That goes for all of you, please comment every once in a while just so I know someone is there. Thanks to those that have, I enjoy the comments.

Next report from Israel.

Mornings

I've seen some great sights and enjoy being here, but I think my favorite thing is in the morning with the boys. Every morning when Caden hears me he gets up and comes and talks with me. We have had some fun talks. He goes to school and we take off for the day, so we don't get a lot of time together. He is very articulate and smart, he tells me about all sorts of things, and asks questions. Sometimes I can answer, but sometimes it is too complicated for him to understand so I'll just say "I don't Know". Owen takes a little while to wake up, he can be a little cranky at first, but it doesn't last long. He still isn't completely over what ever he had. Owen has a round face with dimples and red hair. When something spills or he doesn't know something, he is quick with a shrug of his shoulders. He talks real clear and has a large vocabulary for a two year old. I love the honesty of young children, they aren't afraid to ask what ever is on their mind, no PC spoken here. Maybe that is one of the qualities Jesus had in mind when He said we needed to come to him like children?

D'Linda and I really love our grandkids. Don't tell our children, but I think we love the grandkids more. I already miss the boys and Blessing and we just left them a few days ago. We have a hard time with Andrea's girls living so far from us, D'Linda is always afraid they will forget us. That is unlikely because she talks with them on the phone or skype regularly, but it 's not like being there. We see Gabe and Sophie about once a month, we had them for a weekend just before we left. We see Nathan and Mattie almost every day when we're home, but that is not too much either. If I had my choice I would have them all living in one place with us. If that really happened I would probably change my mind though. Maybe if I could just talk to each one for a few minutes every morning that would be the perfect way to start the day.

Maybe our Father in heaven is like that? If we just talked to Him each morning for a few minutes, we could tell him our plans, or what we've been thinking, or ask him a question. He might answer, or just smile knowing that we can't understand, or he might reach down and turn that puzzle piece so it will fit. Or maybe we are trying to fit a puzzle piece for the wrong puzzle, or their might be a piece missing. Good parents know that sometimes they have to let children struggle to learn, but they will help and encourage. Why not talk to Him, you might enjoy it too?

Why can't we all get along?

Yesterday we spent the day wandering around San Sebastian. I just love seeing the old buildings and different styles of architecture. We went to the top of Ilgeldo, that is a hill on the opposite side of the harbor from the statue of Jesus. It is a little higher and there is a tower on top that has a fantastic view of the whole area. It was another great day weather wise. We also walked on the beach and watched the surfers.

Today we went on the train to Hendaye France. It was only about 30 mins. away. It is a resort town and most stores and homes were closed for the season. It has a beautiful very big beach. There is a large harbor with lots of sailboats. The style of buildings is very different than here. We went to a restaurant for lunch that was owned by a man from Portugal. He could speak a little English, we were having a little trouble communicating, but we decided to have the daily special. The soup was calamari, I thought it was very good, but D'Linda wasn't so sure, but she ate it not wanting to offend. We had turkey and french fries for the main course. The desert was good except for the bitter liqueur that was generously spread over it. We ate most of that and were really full. We then took the train back.

As I thought about the mixture of peoples we have come in contact with I wondered why we can't all get along? Americans vacationing in Spain visiting France eating Portuguese food, and it all worked just fine. Here in Spain though they have the Basque who want their own country and occasionally create havoc. In Liberia there are the former slaves that founded the country who only make up a few percent of the population, the indigenous tribes who resent that, but can't get along with each other. In the US we have ethnic disputes, republicans and democrats, conservative and liberal. It seems we all belong to some group that has been wronged.

As I traveled in Liberia I saw lots of old abandoned church buildings, I also saw lots of others that were being used. Why can't we as Christians get along? Why can't we show the world that it can be done? Check your Bible, there is one God, one Savior and one Church. We don't have to agree on every point to glorify God. I'm not saying everyone who claims to be speaking for God is right, there are wolves masquerading as sheep, but there are lots of Christians who won't associate with other Christians. We need to be doing what our God wants done rather than critiquing our brothers. Jesus was accused of associating with the wrong people, he spent time with prostitutes, Samaritans, tax collectors and all sort of riffraff. He showed us that he loved them all. Can't we love other people who love Jesus?

I have a couple brothers who aren't getting along right now, it is bothering me. That is probably why I got on this train of thought. I am sure that one or the other or both have probably done something wrong or thoughtless, but who hasn't? Why not give each other some slack? What if all Christians got along for just one week, no arguing, no name calling, just good will towards each other. Give it some thought, and Prayer please.

Everything is so, European

First of all some of you may not know who Joel and Kelly are, so let me introduce them. One of my son, Rusty's best friends was John Perry. They were such good friends that they married sisters so they could be brothers-in-law. Well Joel is John's younger brother. He also went to school and was friends with my daughter Andrea. So we have a double connection. His wife Kelly is a sweet heart and has become good friends with Andrea. Last fall they were home visiting while we were planning our trip to Liberia and she invited us to come and visit. We had planned on taking in a few other sites, seeing we would be so far from home anyway. So we decided that that would work out good. Joel is working doing research into robotics here in Spain. They have two sons, Caden 5 and Owen 2. Owen wasn't feeling good yesterday but he is recovered and doing fine now. I have had some great conversations with the boys they are both very articulate.

D'Linda and I spent most of the day wandering around San Sebastian, it was a beautiful day and everything is so interesting. We went to the top of a hill where there is an old fortress that has a commanding view of the harbor and the city. At the top there is a large statue of Jesus. It was all quite fascinating. I like all the old buildings and narrow streets. Back home a building is old if it is 100 years old. Here that might be the newest on the block. There are lots of old cathedrals with bells chiming every 15 minutes. The sad thing is hardly anyone goes to church here. The pace of life here is slower, people walk more, but nobody seems in a hurry. Most of the shops close from 2:00 to 5:00 for a long lunch then they open back up until 9 or 10. They eat dinner late, lunch is the big meal.

One of the reasons we decided to come here is we have traveled in Mexico quite a bit and I know a little Spanish, not enough to really talk, but enough so I can survive and find or buy what we're looking for. The problem here is they speak Basque, Most speak Spanish also, but a lot of the signs are in Basque, and it is nothing like Spanish.

I took Joel's bike for a ride this morning to get a look around. They have bike lanes almost everywhere, and lots of people ride bikes. With the narrow streets and the traffic, bikes would probably get you places faster. Bike etiquette is a little different here and while I was trying to learn it I almost got hit by a bus. After a couple of near misses with cars I'm getting the hang of it. They honk a lot here also.

Guess where we had lunch... Okay, MacDonald's, I'm not a big fan, but I have to admit the fries tasted great. It's been at least a month since we have had fast food, or a fountain diet Coke. If you know me you know I'm a diet Pepsi guy, but the diet Coke was almost as good as the fries. Everything seems expensive, Kelly told us that most people live with their parents until they save up enough money and then usually move in with a roommate. It's not unusual for people in their thirties to be living with parents. Apartments are pretty small. Joel and Kelly's is large for here, but would be considered barely adequate back home. My impression is people seem to be more concerned with living good day to day rather than sometime in the future.

There is a lot of graffiti around. Kelly told us that they consider it art and don't discourage it. It is just teenage boys expressing themselves and trying to be like Americans. Isn't it great to know we're looked up to for something?

On the train ride up I was thinking about my experiences in Africa. I was just writing down words that represented some of my thoughts. One word was "bars", I meant the kind that are on all the windows. There are fences or walls around most homes and bars on the windows and steel plate doors on the houses. I noticed that most of the houses and ground floor windows here in Spain are the same. We associate bars with jail or prison, so why do we make cages and lock ourselves in? are we really free? The only place I saw without bars were the huts in the villages. They didn't even have doors. They didn't have much, but they had food and shelter and seemed happy. So who is really free?

We are here now

Well here we sit in Brussels, there is an earlier flight to Madrid, but they won’t let us change. I have 5 hrs to kill so I’ll tell some more stories.

John is another of those remarkable people. We rode to the airport and sat in the waiting room with him. I had met him at ELWA, but hadn’t spent much time with him. He had been in Liberia for 6 weeks. Some of that time he spent in ELWA, the rest out visiting churches he had planted. John is late 60s early 70’s and “retired”. He lives in Portland now, but comes to Liberia for at least 6 weeks every year. He also goes to eastern Russia for 6 weeks each year. He would go more but he made a consesion to his wife. He, his wife and 5 daughters lived in Liberia from 79 to 90 when he had to evacuate because of the war. He was one of the first back after it was “safe”, and stayed until the next war broke out. He has some real war stories, he thought it was the end a few times, but he said God spared him. He said when he returned and saw all the destruction he just wandered around ELWA in shock, asking why? He went into the gym at the school, it had been hit by mortar fire, but still on the wall was a map of Africa with an inscription that read “Jesus loves Africa”. He said he thought about that and knew it was still true, so he just started worshiping God. He loves the people he is discipling and communicates with them over the phone and internet when not here. He grew up in the Port Angeles area, one of 10 children. His father became a Christian when he was in his mid twenties and felt called to preach. John said his father never got a regular paycheck the whole time he grew up. His father just traveled around preaching. They had twenty acres and grew and raised just about all their food. John said that he decided to be a missionary at the age of 10 and never had a thought of doing anything else with his life and never regretted it. Of his 9 siblings 6 were missionaries. John is undergoing treatment for multiple myoloma. You see John is dying from cancer, he doesn’t fear dying, but he said he hates the thought of not being able to share Jesus with lost people.

Well we finally made it to San Sebastian. We spent more time in Brussels than we were suppose to. Our flight out of there was delayed 2 1/2 hours so when we got to Madrid our train had already left. We stayed the night in Madrid at a nice hotel right across the street from the train station, that gave us a chance to get tickets and check the place out. It turned out to be a good thing, because if we took the train we were suppose to we would have been in the dark most of the way. From Madrid to San Sebastian you pass through some very picturesque country. Not far out of Madrid you pass though a long tunnel then you go through country reminiscent of Eastern Washington, then you pass through some large cities, farm land and villages. You alternate through flat farm land, hilly farm land and wood lots. It was all very interesting. Then you get to the Basque region and it was spectacular. Every where you looked it was like a calendar or post card picture. Some of it looked like what I would expect to see in Switzerland, with chalets in high meadows and cottages in steep valleys by steams. I was glad we got to see it all. It was a beautiful day with clear skies most of the way and about 60 degrees when we got to San Sebastian. We met up with Joel, Kelly, Caden and a sick, coughing, Owen. I felt sorry for him he had a fever and didn't feel well at all. We went for a walk around town, it is really neat, very different from Liberia and home. We are going to have fun exploring it all. We don't have any specific plans, but I'm sure we won't have any problem finding stuff to do. I'm not sure how much more I'll be blogging, you'll just have to wait and see.

Victory, Cockroaches, and Tee shirts

It is our last day in Africa, it has gone very fast. We leave here at 7:00 pm and fly to Brussels, we have a 5 hour layover there, then on to Madrid. From there we take the train to San Sebastian. We should arrive at Joel and Kelly Perrys at about midnight Saturday. I'm not sure when I will post again, but the next time I do we won't be in Africa. At some point I will collect all my thoughts and try to say something profound. When I started this blog I really thought I would run out of things to say, but believe me I haven't told you half of what I saw, did, or thought. Well yesterday was no exception.

First things first, the good guys can win every so often. Rusty and Uriah went to the airport first thing yesterday. When they got there, there were no customs people there. They showed up about 9:30 saying that they had bus trouble. They inspected the papers and decided that they were in order, so all that had to be done was the fee for not having to pay a fee had to be paid, but they couldn't find the cashier. Eventually the cashier showed up, the $55. US was paid and the boxes were loaded into the Land Cruiser. Rusty and Uriah made it back just before lunch with their trophies.

I started the day with a run with Christopher, I didn't try to beat him, there is no way I could do that without help or seriously injuring him. Later I did some more math with him. I did a little snorkeling and D'Linda looked for more treasures on the beach.

A fisherman came by just as Rusty got here for lunch so we bought 7 lobsters from him for $15 US. We boiled them up for lunch.

Rusty took the afternoon off so we could see a few more things before we left. He took us up to the ELWA school to show us the computer room. It has 7 working computers, they looked pretty old to me. The teacher said they have to limit the class. He also said they have server problems and pretty much every other problem you can have.

We went to visit the orphanage that we visited the first day here. We got there just as the bigger kids were getting up with from their nap. They were happy to see us, especially uncle Rusty, he brought out the bubble making stuff and everyone popped bubbles for a while. Then the chalk came out and pictures on the concrete courtyard appeared. Teddy was excited to see Rusty, he always picks him up and puts him in the tree. Teddy loves to sit up in the tree. Of all the people and things I have seen in Africa, Teddy has effected me the most. He is 5 or 6, he has bright beautiful eyes and long eyelashes, he smiles a lot, but his body doesn't work right. He seems quite smart, but can't talk. He walks around on his Knees dragging his feet behind, he has a hard time using his hands, but manages to hold the chalk and draw. I have to believe with a little therapy and work Teddy could function very well. There is a family in New Jersey who loves and wants Teddy, but... If I thought I could get away with it, I would pick Teddy up on the way out and take him to New Jersey. When the younger kids got up from their nap Jamie got Dekaghar, the other little girl that they would like to adopt. They have approval to take her home as a foster child, but Rusty has decided not to until they are sure that the adoptions will open up again. He thinks it would be to hard on her and them if they had to take her back to the orphanage when they leave.

After the orphanage we went to the resort down the road to relax around the pool for a while. Everyone went swimming except me, I just enjoyed the breeze and watching them play. We had decided to take everyone out to dinner and thought about doing it there, but we decided to go to The Palm Springs. It is a nice hotel, office, shops, restaurant, place, I really don't know how to describe it. It is not quite finished but what is is very nice. When we got to the restaurant the manager came out a told us he was very sorry but the restaurant was reserved for a private party. He told us that we could go down stairs to the lounge and he would serve us there. I noticed that there were lots of men in suits around, but didn't think much about it. We all had different things for dinner and everyone was good. It was the nicest place we had been here in Liberia and it wasn't overpriced. We kept noticing more men in suits and they all had earpieces. Rusty asked someone and we found out that the private party up stairs was some foreign dignitaries and the President of Liberia. I was hoping that she would come through and greet the people and we could appeal for her help with Blessing, but no.

We came home and I stayed up watching Transformers 2 with the boys until I was falling asleep. Christopher had bought a bootleg copy of the movie, along with about 20 others for $4 US.

In the middle of the night D'Linda got up and I heard her talking and laughing, I asked her what she was doing and she said she was chasing a cockroach. She chased it into our room and managed to hit it with a shoe. She was quite proud of herself, just three weeks ago she would only scream and run. She also said that she doesn't like the ants in the food, but it doesn't gross her out anymore. I guess three weeks in Africa can change you.

Lastly, I saw the most inappropriate tee shirt yet. I saw it at the orphanage again. This time it was Teddy who was wearing it. It was a couple sizes too big, frayed around the neck, well worn but clean, it said "someone who loves me very much went to Miami and got me this shirt"

Good times

After I finished my blog yesterday I asked if anyone wanted to run on the beach. Colton said he did and we went for a nice run/walk. I love spending time with the boys individually, they each have different perspectives and senses of humor. We saw the fishermen going out and a number of jellyfish. Colton estimated 30 to 40, I say maybe 30. Because we saw so many we decided not to cool down in the ocean.

After breakfast I decided to make the allegedly dead rooster into the actually dead rooster. It's been a while since I butchered chickens, but I guess it's like riding a bike. Kobe wanted to help, in fact he said he wanted to chop the head off, but when it came time he declined. The cutlass (machete) that Poppy had sharpened wasn't that sharp, or the blade was not smooth anyway it took a few whacks to get the job done. Felicia, Rusty and Jamie's house help, she comes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to clean, do laundry and cook, came about then and said "thank you grandpa" for butchering the chicken. She calls D'Linda grandma also. Missionaries are expected to hire some help. Felicia cooks the dinner on the days she works, so they get authentic Liberian food. She put the rooster in the pumpkin soup for dinner, but she said she had to cook it extra long because of how tough he was. After chewing for a while I agreed, but he was organic I'm sure.

Kobe said that he had wanted to go running with me, so I went again. We ran down to the fishermen again. When we were about 200 yds from the finish Kobe said he wanted to race, so I was trying to figure a way that I could beat him, but he was watching me close. Then a miracle happened, he spotted a shell, the kind that grandma likes. We stopped and found quite a few, when we had most of them picked up I pointed one more out to him and when he went to pick it up I took off. Through shouts of "unfair" and "cheater" he tried to catch up, but with my jump and an arm load of shells he couldn't. Treachery triumphs again! We decided to cool down in the ocean, even with the threat of jellyfish, we had to wash the sand off of the shells. When we got back D'Linda was excited about the shells and had to go to see if she could find more. Jamie and Blessing went with her.

Christopher was doing math, I sat next to him and asked some questions. We started doing problems together. The boys are pretty much minimalists when it comes to school work, especially math. Christopher has a workbook that he uses, his practice is to do the problems he has to do, which are the odd numbered ones, and he skips the lesson and the practice problems. He does quite a bit of guessing. We started working through all of the problems and really had a good time, so much so that he did a few lessons ahead. We did some with negative numbers and I had to look at the answer book to remember how.

I had a great morning getting to spend time with each of the boys individually.

Rusty had another fuel day. Kobe and I walked up to the shop while they were delivering the fuel. Steve and Mel were there also, the fuel looked like mud puddle water. Steve took a sample so he could have it tested. As much trouble as they have keeping generators running they don't need dirty fuel, but there is little you can do.

Rusty told us he would be late tonight. He had to go with Kedrick, the director of ELWA, to take an autoclave to another hospital. They had a new autoclave here that they couldn't use because it was a different voltage than what they generate. As it turns out the other hospital got an autoclave that didn't match their voltage but would work here.

Dr Sacra stopped by after dinner, D'Linda asked if he was on call and he said he was and that he was expecting a rough night. He said the OB ward was full when he left. I asked him how many babies are delivered here. He said that it is pretty consistent at 110-120 per month. He said that they do a higher than average number as c-sections. Many women deliver at home so the ones that come here tend to be the problem ones. He said he was at JFK hospital today, teaching a class, when a bunch of new equipment came in from an organization called Hospitals of Hope(HoH). Rusty told me later that HoH was donating over a million dollars worth of equipment there. That is where the autoclave came from.

I asked Rusty about Uriah, he kept saying he hadn't heard anything. I don't know if your familiar with the bible story, it is in 2 Samuel chapter 11. It is a story that could be a great movie. It is about an honorable man and has loyalty, deceit, conspiracy, betrayal, violence and sex involved. It could be a current political story, except for the honorable part. It shows that the good guys don't always win. Back to our Uriah, Rusty finally heard that he was leaving the Ministry of Finance last night at 8:00 after spending another day there. He had the signed documents and was going to try and get the packages today. This is getting to be like those old serials, you'll have to tune in tomorrow to see what befalls our hero...

Loose ends

Edwin stopped by yesterday, he was the vegetable seller who ran down the street jumping for joy about the seeds. He said he had planted the okra, corn and something else and they were already up. Warm soil, rain and sunshine will make seeds jump out of the ground I guess.

Kobe and I would have lost the bet, Jerry, the contractor in the dispute, showed up and worked on Moses' home Saturday. He said he should finish Moses' house this Saturday, and only have a little left on Mamosa's. Even undependability is unpredictable here.

I was up typing the last blog until about 5:00, then I had just gotten to sleep and the dead rooster started announcing rise and shine. Jamie said that Rusty is under orders to do something about it before sunrise.
An old man that they call Poppy, what they call all old men, came by today to sharpen the tools. The same ones that he sharpens every week, that don't get used very much. Jamie and Rusty were gone so we had to find the tools so he could sharpen them. He is nearly blind and this is how he supports himself. I told him I was Rusty's father, he thanked me profusely for Jamie saying she was "all right". He told me that she had paid some medical bills for him. They had told me that while he was in the hospital his neighbors stole all his belongings, I guess they thought he wasn't going to make it, all he had left was his little bench with a sharpening wheel. When I first told him that Jamie was gone he thought I meant she had left the country and he was real disappointed, but when he understood she was just in Monrovia he was relieved and very happy.

A man came by in the morning just after Rusty had left for work, so Jamie went out to talk with him. I saw him take off his cap and talk with Jamie. When she came in she said he had a growth or tumor on one eye. He had come down out of the bush to find help. He had gone to a clinic, but couldn't afford the treatment. He was hoping they could help him, I think she was going to see if she could get him to Dr. Sacra.

Generator #4 is running, that is the one that they were rewinding on the dirt floor in the goat shack. They had a little trouble getting it going, but it seems to be working well now. Wow 3 out of 4 running, and Rusty said they did some work on #1 and are going to try and get it running today!

The mechanic called and thinks the problem with the car is fuel injectors. You can't get new ones here, but he thinks he can clean them and get it running smoother.

There was a potluck dinner last night and I got to spend some time with Dr. Sacra. I had hoped to spend more time with him, but he is always working. He is head of the hospital and they are presently two doctors short so he is filling in all the time. Hopefully in the next few days I'll be able to corner him. He stopped by the other day with a shirt that said Liberia needs blood, so I asked if I could give. He said he would let me know when he had a blood tech available. I might as well give blood here I won't be able to back home for at least 3 years and maybe the rest of my life. He is leaving in May for two years, but plans to come back. When he comes back he is hoping to be able to make ELWA a teaching hospital, and train resident doctors. He said that the University of Liberia is turning out some good medical students. Along with all his other duties he teaches some classes there, just another of those remarkable people that seem to be all over around here.

Rusty and Jamie had to go to the US Embassy to get their fingerprints updated. I didn't know that fingerprints have a shelf life, but they have to keep current ones for the adoption file. They said that they were the only ones there, but it still took over an hour.

The potluck last night was for the electrical team. There are six of them here now, and some more are coming in on the flight we are leaving on Friday. They all are volunteers, and just more of those remarkable people I keep telling you about. Paul, Steve and Mel's cousin, is a lineman from Mississippi, he is the one that shipped the package Fed-Ex. The package has a couple thousand dollars worth of tools and supplies that he plans to leave here. Along with his flight, expenses, and time off of work that makes a pretty substantial contribution.

About the Fed-Ex package, Rusty got the fellow who had been waiting for his Department of Finance release to add our packages to his request. I was wrong, I thought Rusty had said he had been waiting a week, he has been waiting a month. He went and spent 8 hours there yesterday, and was successful in adding our packages to the release. He even got it signed. He has to go back today to pay the fee for the release to not pay duty? His name is Uriah, I asked Rusty if Uriah knew what happened to his name sake when they sent him off to battle on his own. I'll let you know if he actually gets the release today.

Well the allegedly dead rooster must have overheard Jamie, he waited until 7:30 to start crowing.

How to waste a day Liberian style

It is the middle of the night and I can't sleep again.I have been sleeping fairly well, but I will get to the reason I can't sleep later.

First,our trip to town went well. Jamie drove, we went down to meet up with Kevin at 8:00.

He had a pickup belonging to the mechanic because his car was in need of repair and the mechanic had loaned him his truck. We left ELWA and drove to the mechanics house where Kevin's car was. We met up with the mechanics driver who was going to drive the pickup while Kevin drove his car to the mechanics shop. As we were leaving, another man came up to the driver and motioned for him to pull over. The man said the driver had to pick up some barrels to take to the mechanic and that we should go on ahead. Kevin, who is Steve's son, was actually born in ELWA hospital and grew up here, but wasn't sure he could find the mechanics shop. I said I could find it if Jamie could get to the US Embassy and she said she could, so we headed off in the lead. Traffic was slow so our 2 lanes appropriated one from the other side. We were getting a lot of stares, which isn't unusual, just being white gets lots of stares here, but you don't see many women drivers so that is probably why they were staring. Traffic started moving a little faster until we came to an intersection where we turn left. I have been through the intersction before, it is a very busy road, but the left turn seems to have the right of way over the through traffic from the other direction. As we got to the intersection, a policeman stopped us to allow some of the through traffic to go. At this point Kevin was a couple cars behind us. When you make the turn, you are on a road between the Legislature Building and the Presidential Offices. There are signs all over that say, "No photos, no parking, no stopping". We went past there and around the corner and noticed that Kevin wasn't behind us any more. We pulled over and Jamie tried to call him, but her phone was out of minutes. She had another phone card with her and it took her a few minutes to add some time. She called Kevin, but he didn't answer, so we turned around and went back to look for him. We spotted him pulled over in front of the Legislature Building with his hood up, and some men talking to him. The mechanics pickup was beside him but it pulled away as we approached. We couldn't stop so we had to go past, but Kevin didn't see us. We went back out onto the busy road and went down that road until we could find a place to turn around. Our turn around took us through the University of Monrovia Campus and back to the busy road and finally back to where Kevin was. He asked if we had a tow strap, which we did, so we hooked him up and proceeded towards the mechanics. Kevin told us later that that was quite an ordeal because the police and Liberian Secret Service told him that he couldn't park there and that they were going to confiscate his car. Luckily we got there before they towed it. Jamie says that honking is considered polite and not honking is rude. People were very polite to us as we pulled Kevin's car slowly through Monrovia. At one point we had to go up a hill on a narrow street. We came up behind a taxi trying to turn left but everytime he tried to go his engine would die. Then he would get it started, but he wouldn't be able to go because of the traffic. When he got another opening, his engine would die again. Finally he made it and we proceeded to the US Embassy where they have barracades set up on the road and only allow one car at a time to go past. I thought we were going to have trouble, but they let us through. We got to the mechanics without to much more trouble, Jamie managed to keep the car running even though we were towing Kevin. Then the driver gave us all a ride back to ELWA. That only took about 2 hours.

One of the members of the electrical team had shipped some tools and supplies Fed-Ex because he couldn't carry them all with his luggage. He had shipped them in care of Ben, who is in Ghana at a conference, so he asked Rusty to pick it up for him. Rusty checked the tracking number and found out the package was at the airport. He called Fed-Ex to find out how to pick it up. They told him he had to come to their office in Monrovia and pick up some paper work and take it to the airport to get the package. Kobe, Christopher and I went along. It turns out that the Fed-Ex office is just around the corner from Dinah's Restaurant, the place with the big Philadelphia sandwiches. While Rusty went to the Fed-Ex office the boys and I ordered sandwiches for lunch. We headed back through the now heavy traffic to ELWA, where we dumped off the boys and sandwiches for Jamie and D'Linda. We headed for the airport to get the package. Another missionery had arived the night before and when he came through customs he was carrying some boxes of parts for the radio station, they wouldn't allow them through, they had to be inspected by someone who wasn't there, so he asked Rusty to pick those up while we were at the airport. We found the Customs building at the airport, went into the lobby where 5 or 6 men were standing around. We told them we needed a Fed-Ex package and showed them the paper work. One man took the paper work and said he had to find someone with a key to the room where the package was. Rusty also explained about the boxes for the radio station. Our guy said those were probably over in the terminal. After waiting awhile, an official looking guy in a blue shirt came over to take us to the terminal to get the boxes. On the way over he asked us if we had any paper work for the boxes. Rusty said no. When the boxes were confiscated, the missionary asked for a receipt but was told they didn't have any. The man in the blue shirt said "How do I know they are your boxes" and Rusty said "because I told you so". After arguing for a little bit the man decided that the packages probably aren't there anyway, that they are probably in Monovia at the airline office, so we head back to the customs building and continue waiting for the person with the key. The guy that was helping us came by and said something to me that I didn't understand and motioned for me to wait and went to the terminal building. After awhile he came back and told us that the person with the key was busy and she would be here as soon as she was finished. I decided to go for a walk to check out the terminal, but about half way over, the guy in the blue shirt came out of terminal and motioned for me to come with him. We walked back to where Rusty was and I noticed he had a key with him. He unlocked the room and we found the package. After they were certain it was the correct package, they told us that as soon as we got a release from the Ministry of Finance we could take the package. The Ministry of Finance Office is in Monrovia. Rusty said we were just in Monrovia, why didn't some one tell us we needed another document, and they didn't know but thats just the way it was. After more discussion, they took us to their boss who didn't seem to understand the process any better than we did, so he took us to the head of another department. He told us that we needed the Ministry of Finance release so we wouldn't have to pay duty on the package, he also told us that the radio parts were there and we needed a release for those also. Duty here can be very expensive, up to 50% of the value of the item. By then it was about 3:00 and they told us they closed at 4:00 so there was no way we could get to Monrovia and back in time. It is probably a good thing because when we got back to ELWA Rusty called around to try to get some paper work on the radio station boxes and found out that someone from the lab had been trying to get a release from the Ministry of Finance for the last week. Hopefully we can get the package for the electrical team before they leave.

Now, the reason I can't sleep. I am sure you are aware of the California couple that is charged with the death of an adopted child. That child was adopted from Liberia and that is getting a lot of press here. There was a rumor that the President was going to end the moratorium on adoptions because the Legislature was taking to long to revise the laws. Now with the outrage over the abuse of the children, that is unlikely to happen. There is going to be an investigation into the adoption of these children. The problem is, the orphanage that these adoptions went through is the same one that Rusty and Jamie are working with to adopt Blessing. The orphanage doesn't approve adoptive parents, US social workers, the US state Dept. and the Liberian Ministry of Health do that, but the orphanage may end up losing their license. I said that there were many things that could go wrong with Blessing's adoption, well, add one more really big one. This is the same orphanage that Teddy, Gail and those special needs children I introduced you to in my first report from here are at. I can only hope this blows over, but I don't think it will. Even though the only other case of a Liberian orphan dying in the US is back in the 80's and children here are abused, beaten, starved and discarded daily. There seems to be growing sentiment to stop all adoptions. I ask you to pray for these children, especially Blessing. The chance of her getting the surgeries and therapy she needs if she remains here is very remote. The only family she knows is Jamie, Rusty and the boys, and even a casual observer would see that she is loved. At this point I am convinced that without God's intervention she will not be adopted, but with God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. I know that there are some people that read this that don't believe in God, I ask you to pray also to maybe help you believe. I say that knowing that God doesn't always answer our prayers the way we want, Jesus asked to be spared from the cross, but he wasn't, but He does listen and care. And sometimes he does great things.

To be continued, I PRAY.

To be continued, I hope

The plan was to go to another church, but the car was running real rough, so we went here at ELWA. Back home some people show up late for church, here pretty much everyone does. When the service started it was less than half full, there were only 4 choir members there. after about a hour the place was full and the choir was about 10 strong. A couple noticeable differences about worship here, the energy level is higher, and there are more men attending than women. The service lasted about 2 hours. We were early enough to get seats close to a working fan, there are lots of fans, but only about half work. It didn't do me much good anyway, I was soaking wet in no time. One of the electrical team was behind me sweating almost as much as I was. He said that it surprised him, he was from Mississippi and used to hot humid weather.

After church the plan was to visit one of the orphanages, but the car problems changed that. D'Linda and I took a walk on the beach, a dip in the ocean, did some reading and took a nap, a perfect Sunday afternoon.

A few Liberian boys came by and borrowed the soccer ball, some others borrowed the basketball and one came for a boogie board. There were a couple who came by and used the computer.

Patrick, one of Rusty's plumbers, came by to ask if we would consider paying for him to finish high school. He is 21 and currently taking night classes, he has about a year and a half left to complete high school, then he would like to go on to college. Night school takes longer to complete than regular school, Patrick said that often he goes and the teacher doesn't show up. If he does switch to regular school he couldn't work, but it would take him less time to finish.

Rusty just came and asked me if I would drive the car to the mechanic this morning. One of the other missionary was taking a truck in so he said I could follow him. Jamie felt sorry for me so she said she would ride along. Alright, another new experience. If you don't hear from me again it's been exciting.

Lazy Saturday

We had a relaxing day Saturday after our great road trip Friday. Rusty went to the shop to meet with Steve and go over the electrical teams plans. Some of the team is here now, most of the rest will be here this coming week. Steve doesn't know all of them, they are all volenteers from different places. While they are changing things over ELWA will be without power for a few days. D'Linda said that she is real glad that we will be gone when that happens, the thought of trying to sleep without air conditioning is not good.

It rained a little in the morning, for the fourth time since we have been here. That made it nice and cool, mid eighties, but the sun came out later so the net result was hot and more humid. One of the boys told D'Linda that the forecast for the first of the week is in the 100s. She's already worrying.

Rusty came home and had to run some mouse traps up to Steve, apparently where they have him staying has a problem with mice. Rusty said that they haven't caught any lately so he was loaning him their's. I went with him to meet Steve. When we came back as we turned into the driveway the car alarm went off. It stopped after announcing our arrival, but after we got out it went off again and on and off every couple of minutes. Rusty looked through the fuses to see if he could disable the system, but the best he could do was remove the fuse for the horn. Jamie needed some cheese and Rusty had to pick up some hardware so I went with him. He was worried about driving without a horn, I told you it is a big part of driving here. The flashers would go off periodically as we drove, but that isn't unusual around here. Some drivers drive with their flashers on all the time. When we came out of the store the car had unlocked itself. It was running pretty rough also. At the hardware store Rusty left the car unlocked, but when we came out it was locked. When we got back Rusty disconnected the battery, a problem for another day.

When we got back D'Linda was visiting with Tracie, a cute four year old who lives down the road with her grandmother. She is another child Rusty pays tuition so she can go to School. Rusty said that onetime they were visiting with her grandmother and telling her that they wanted to adopt so the grandmother offered Tracie. Rusty said it didn't work that way, the grandmother said no it was alright, she was the grandmother.

The boys spent most of the afternoon at the beach with some friends, by evening they were all sunburnt.

Jamie made lasagne for dinner, she said for only the second time. It was very good even though the oven they have is not very good and the cheeses you get here are a little different than back home. D'Linda was grossed out when the first package of lasagne noodles they opened was full of hundreds of weevels. Luckily Jamie had another package that was okay.

After dinner we went to the Chapman's for the bi-weekly devotional. Some of the electrical team came. It was inside and a little hot, but everyone seems to be used to being sweaty.

I was trying to think what my new experience for the day was, the only thing I could think of was, that this was the first day that I didn't see Rusty give someone money. There were a couple people over using the computer, and Alfonso, a boy Rusty helps with his school tuition, was over washing the windows. Maybe a relaxing, mostly uneventful day was my new experience?

By the way the dead rooster is still alive and living on the back porch.

A Small Distance

Well, If Thursday was uneventful, Friday made up and more. I'll tell you right now I won't be telling you all of what we did and saw I'd be at this all day.

Morris showed up a little late, about 9:00, which was fine we weren't ready at 8:00 anyway. Rusty had run up to the office to give Mel some keys and his guys some instructions. The boys were taking their time getting their chores done and packing up. We finally pulled out around 9:15. Our plan was to head south to visit Morris's village then continue on to Buchanan. It is about 1/2 hour down the road to the airport and just past that we entered the Firestone Plantation. They have about a million acres of rubber trees. D'Linda and I each had a camera, the one I had told me the battery was low before we got through Firestone, I guess I took too many pictures of rubber trees with buckets, collecting stations and other interesting features. I had said that there aren't any traffic signs in Liberia, I was wrong. Firestone has private roads and they do have signs, but posted 25 mph means 50 mph, and stop means slow down if someone is in the intersection. The roads in Firestone are a little rough, but good. When we left Firestone the road to Buchanan varied, a large part of it is under major reconstruction. It Varied from smooth fresh asphalt to very rough dirt roads, with most of it being old pavement with lots of potholes.

We went for a couple of hours dodging potholes, big trucks, motorcycles, pedestrians and construction equipment. We were stopped for a while while they were doing some welding on an old one lane steel bridge we had to cross. While waiting we walked out and looked at the bridge, Rusty said he had heard about it, it was different than any I had ever seen. It didn't look well designed to begin with, and it had definitely seen better days. You could see through to the river below and the old bridge that had collapsed under it. There were cross members that had rusted through completely. The plating for the deck was very thin with large indentations from the very heavy trucks that use the bridge. The welding crew was welding patches over the larger holes. After about 10 minutes they pulled the truck off the bridge and hollered at us to hurry up and cross. D'Linda protested, she thought that we should let other cars go first, and make sure we were the only vehicle on the bridge when we crossed, but we were number one. We came to a large roadside local market and Morris said this is were we turn. Rusty couldn't see the road and went past. We turned around and Morris got out to get a motorcycle and some people to move so we could go down the road to his village. The "road" was right through the market, vendors had to move stuff back so we could pass. There was an old van in the road and we had to drive up over a big pile of garbage to get around. The road was a very rutted trail with lots of people carrying stuff to market. Morris talked to a few people and said that the "road" was in bad shape and we probably couldn't make it. Rusty wasn't convinced of that so we went on. After listening to complaints from the back seat and coming to a particularly steep very rutted downhill section he decided to turn back. I got out and guided as he backed up until we found a spot to turn around. We managed to get turned around despite more protests from the back seat that we were to close to a cliff. We drove back through the market, making them move their stuff again. We decided to look around the market, we were a curiosity because not many white people go out there. In all of our travels that day I can only recall seeing three other whites. But Blessing was the main attraction. She drew a crowd, curious to see why she was with white people and about her face. Rusty and Jamie took turns trying to explain. That is about the point our second camera ran out of battery. I went and got Rusty's camera to take pictures of the crowd. It was pretty amazing, some of the vendors we getting upset because the crowd was pushing into their space. Rusty moved out to the road, where the crowd was blocking traffic. I had Christopher climb up on the car to take some pictures of the whole thing. After leaving there Morris said that instead of going to his village we would go to his sister's because we could drive there. We headed back the way we had come a couple of miles then turned off on a dirt road and went for quite a while, and over some more bridges that drew protests from D'Linda. She would ask Morris if they were safe and he would laugh and say "oh, yes yes". At one point one of the boys had to go to the bathroom so we asked Morris if we were getting close or if we should stop here. He said it is just a small distance, so we should stop. I guess that is like our expression "a little ways". We kept going over this dirt road, sometimes fairly smooth, but mostly rutted and rough, for quit a while. We reached a little village and Morris said we could park here. He said we could walk from there to his sister's village. As we were getting ready to go a man came up and Morris, all excited, said that it was his small brother, Joe. Small meaning younger, because Joe was quite a bit larger than Morris. After walking about 15 minutes Colton asked one of the men that were walking with us how much farther, I was afraid he was going to say "just a small distance", but he said we would be there in five minutes. Fifteen minutes later we came to the village. The village consisted of 10 to 12 mud huts with thatched roofs. Some were square or rectangular and some were round. Some were decorated with hand prints, some with shoe prints and some with other designs. I asked if I could take pictures and Morris said "yes yes". At one point the Chief seemed agitated and was arguing with Morris. I asked Morris what was wrong and he said the Chief was excited to see us, but I think it was that we had come unannounced and he wasn't prepared with a gift for us. They ended up giving us a rooster and some pineapples. While there the whole village was excited to see white people, except for one small boy who was very afraid of us. The rest of the village laughed about it, but he ran and hid and screamed. Morris told us we were the first whites to visit the village. Rusty handed out glow in the dark bracelets that he had brought, I'm not sure if they really understood, but I'm sure last night in the village it was exciting.

When we left there we headed on to Buchanan, another 30 to 45 minutes up the road. Buchanan is an old town with a very different flavor than Monrovia. They had concrete roads with curbs and sidewalks. Everything is pretty run down, but at one time it was very nice. It was a little after 4:00 and everyone was hungry. We found a restaurant, but were told it didn't open till 5, but the man there said he called the owner and he would be right down. It was a pleasant place and it even had air conditioning. The cook/head waiter was an older man who spoke good English and was very appreciative of the tip we left him. He said "God bless you" when we left, and I really felt blessed. It was about 6:00 when we left and the sun goes down about 6:30. No one slept on the long ride home, except for Blessing, who seemed to sleep better the rougher the road was. There seem to be more pedestrians at night, and they do more of their construction work at night. The construction crews don't use traffic cones and light or signs and it is obvious that you are in their way. At one point we had to go down a one lane section, there was what we thought was a big truck waiting at the other end for us. About 3/4 of the way the lights started moving towards us. Rusty moved over as far as he could and stopped, I braced for what I thought was going to be a collision. But some how a very large excavator missed us. We had a flat tire that I think we drove on for a while, but couldn't tell until we hit some smooth road. That is a whole blog in its self. Rusty said they recommend carrying two spares, after our experience and seeing lots of cars with flat tires I could see why. Rusty only had one, as it turned out that was enough.

Two last things, we went through eight or ten police check points, usually you get stopped and papers checked or vehicle inspected or something to extort a bribe. We were waved through everyone, Rusty said that was a first for them. After we came out of the restaurant the boys said the rooster was dead,they each inspected him and confirmed that he was dead. When we stopped to fix the flat we noticed that the rooster was alive. I told the boys that if they ever thought I was dead to call for another opinion before they bury me.

Old, but slow

It's unanimous, I can't keep up with any of the boys. Kobe finally went running with me, he was a ways ahead of me near the end so he was waiting for me. When I got beside him I started sprinting, anyway that's what I'll call it, I got 4 or 5 steps on him and as he was just about up to me I shouted "finish line I win". I'm sure I learned that from one of my grandkids, so if it works for them it should work for me. It doesn't seem that long ago that I could beat them all running backwards.

The single man fishermen were not going out this morning, even though it seemed calmer, but larger 2 and 3 man boats were. They look a little more sea worthy and they had nets on them. We didn't stay and watch though. Rusty informed me I was wrong, Liberia does have a Coast Guard. It consists of 60 men, 9 of which can swim and no boats, I stand by my statement, Liberia has no Coast Guard.

I had a totally uneventful day, no new experiences. I stayed home all day with the boys. D'Linda went shopping for fabric with Jamie and another lady. She bought lots of colorful fabrics. She said it was way to hot though, she felt light headed at one point, Jamie told her she was dehydrated and bought her some water. She drank it all and said she felt better after sitting a bit.

They had a little excitement on the way back, Jamie ran into a young girl pedestrian. Every Thursday and Friday they have football (soccer) games at the fields at ELWA. That draws a pretty large crowd. When Jamie turned into ELWA there was a crowd in the street, she was honking and driving slow, but one girl didn't move and she hit her. Jamie felt terrible and apologized, but a man came up and accused her of doing it deliberately. Jamie talked to the girl and she said she was alright, so I guess everything will be okay.

I guess I did have one new experience, after dinner Rusty couldn't get a hold of Morris, a security guard who had invited us to visit his home village. We drove over to his home to see if he was available to take us there today. He lives in a community just north and across the road from ELWA called Rock Hill. It used to be the site of a rock crushing operation before the war, now it is full of homes. The roads, more like heavily rutted trails, wind all around and it is hard to find places because there are no addresses. The residents there earn extra income by making crushed rock. They dig up big rocks and break them into small rocks with hammers, there are lots of piles of crushed rock in front of the houses. They dig the big rocks up where ever they can, including in or beside the road. You have to be very careful so you don't drive in one of the holes, some where 8' deep. Rusty said it is particularly treacherous in rainy season because the holes fill up with water and you can't tell if they are just mud puddles or caverns. I was surprised at the amount of traffic, with the condition of the roads and the obvious poverty of the community. There was a old dump truck ahead of us and quite a few taxis coming and going, with motorcycles with usually 3 people on them passing us. We hit one hole where I was sure Rusty must have tore off his oil pan, but he must have a skid plate on his Rover. He found Morris's' house, we met his wife, Manny, and she sent one of the children to get him, he was at a neighbors. It was dark then and we sat there while Manny was bathing the children in a small washtub with maybe 2 gallons of water in the front yard. Rusty was asking the children their names, when he asked one boy about 6, Manny said he doesn't talk. Rusty asked if he could hear and she said yes he could hear. They were in the dark except for a small battery powered light just inside the door to the house. Morris came and thanked us for coming to his house, that seemed to please him that we would visit his house. He told us that he had 7 living children, 2 girls and 5 boys. Rusty said he had tried to call him, Morris said he had lost his phone. Rusty asked him if he would take us to his village tomorrow and he was thrilled and said he would. We talked for awhile, he said he liked living there away from the water, because it is to cold down where Rusty lives. He is one of the night time security guards, he said it is very boring, just sitting there trying to stay awake. When he is off he comes home and breaks rock, which he said he liked to do. When we left we drove by the community well and there were about 30 people all with 5 gallon plastic jugs lined up waiting their turn to get water. When you flip your light switch and flush your toilet tonight say a little prayer for Manny and Morris and their seven living children.

Fishers of fish

I finally got Colton to go running with me, I had to coerce him, I told him if he didn't it might reflect in his next Christmas present. He said "what about my birthday, it comes first". I said "it couldn't hurt" so he went, the bad thing is I had a hard time keeping up with him. We ran south along the beach to were some men were putting their boats in the water. There were about 10 of them lined up getting ready to push of into the surf. Their boats were all hollowed out canoes, approximately 18' long and about 2' wide. Some had sails rolled up in them and once they cleared the surf they would put them up. Where they were launching was a sandy point with a reef about 100 yds off shore, waves in the 6'-8' range were breaking on the reef, then there was an area of relative calm water then the waves would reform into 3'-4' waves and break on the beach. As we watched they would try one at a time to get launched. They would wait till it looked like it would be calm then they would push off, run hard and jump in the boat and paddle hard to clear the waves. Only about 30% made it the first time. Usually a wave would build quickly and swamp the boat, or they would get sideways and take on water. Then all their gear in the boat would be floating in the surf, they would pull the boat up on the beach and then gather up their stuff. Most of the time no one would help. After getting the water out and re stowing all their gear they would try again. Once they made it past the first waves into the calm area they would have to bail out their boats because even when they made it they would take in water. Then they would paddle parallel to the beach until they got to a break in the reef and paddle out into the ocean, or put up their sail. They would go out a long way, some out of sight. They didn't have nets, they all had 2 gal buckets and I assumed they must have had some gear and bait in the buckets, most had some rope with a rock tied on one end for an anchor. There were a couple longer boat with two men, they didn't seem to have any better success rate. I never saw a life jacket or any kind of floatation. I didn't see anyone give up, but Colton wanted to head back, so we didn't see if they all got launched. As we left one of the two man boats offered to take me out. I assumed he was joking with me, but I might have done it if I had some water along.

When we got back Edwin was there delivering some fresh lettuce. Edwin comes by once or twice a week with produce and Jamie buys from him. He had come just the day before and Jamie had bought some lettuce, after he had left she remembered that Rusty had us bring out some seeds for him. Rusty came by just after that to pick up me and Christopher and Jamie told him about forgetting to give him the seeds. As we were leaving Rusty saw Edwin and told him to go back by the house and get the seeds. I wasn't there, but D'Linda told me what happened. When Jamie gave him the seeds he was so excited he started dancing around in the front yard. He kept thanking Jamie and jumping up and down. D'Linda said she watched as he ran down the road jumping and shouting whoopee every few yards. Who'd have thought?

In the afternoon Rusty and Jamie had a meeting at the US Embassy to make sure that there would be no problems from there end if they get the approval from the Liberians to adopt Blessing. Please keep this in your prayers there is so much that can go wrong yet. They were assured that if Liberia okays it they won't have any other problems. Rusty lucked out, they had a fuel delivery while he was gone, so Mel agreed to do the arguing.

While they were at the Embassy Christopher went with me to see if the fishermen were back yet. We timed it pretty good, we saw 4 of them come back in. They had a much easier time getting back in, the waves weren't as high and the tide was lower. They all had fish, maybe about 10 to 20 lbs of fish each, most of the fish in the 2 lb range, with one that might have been 15 lbs. They offered to sell them, but I didn't have any money and Christopher didn't want to carry fish down the beach. While there I got another offer to go out with them, I just have to be back in the morning. I told D'Linda when we got back, but she didn't like the idea, especially with no life jackets. She said if I did she would worry and have a migraine before I got back.

Christopher and I shared a grapefruit when we got back. While I was eating my half a small worm jumped out. It was about 3/8" long, Christopher thought it was a maggot, but as we watched it would scrunch up and spring about 6" at a time. D'Linda was screaming, "gross" and "kill it", so we did, then we finished the grapefruit.

When Rusty got back he was able to get power to the whole campus, with more fuel and the new pump working we made it through the night with electricity, the first time in days.

I have been thinking about the fishermen, I didn't ask, I probably wouldn't have understood anyway, but I wondered how many were lost. If a storm came up or they ran into some kind of trouble, I don't see how they could possibly make it back. They didn't have radios, or life vests and there is no Liberian Coast Guard. I thought about better boats, I ruled out motors because of the cost, but a double ended surf boat with a small keel so it could be rowed or sailed, I think would be great. If it was made out of fiberglass it could be larger, more sea worthy and lighter than their dugout canoes. If you could set up a small factory here making them you could employee some people, and make fishing safer. But I can't do that in my last week here, I will pass the idea along and maybe some organization might think it better than just handing out rice. I thought about their existing canoes, If they just put some kind of air bladder in the bow and or stern. All they would need is an inner tube, that would give them more floatation when they were swamped, and it would make it easier to get them bailed out. Also if they had a tarp or even heavy plastic sheet to cover part of the canoe when they launched they would take on less water. They could rig it so they could take it off when they were fishing and replace it if it got stormy or when they came in. I don't know if I can communicate my ideas to them, I suspect I would have to show them. I'm not sure if they would care, I'm sure that they have been fishing this way for years, if not centuries. They are probably doing it like their fathers taught them. As I thought about them I thought, what if a stranger came to me and told me I was doing something wrong, or that there was a better way, would I listen to him? I began thinking in spiritual terms. Am I, are you, living our lives as our parents or culture handed it down to us? If God through his Spirit, or a friend, or a stranger tried to tell me something would I listen? I thought of how many times in the Old Testament the people of God were lead astray by the surrounding cultures, not listening to the messengers He sent. I know not all messages are right or good, but do I ignore them just because they aren't the way I've always done it? Has God been trying to tell you something, through a friend or a stranger, something that could save your life?

Just another day

It was just a nice sunny average day. I ran on the beach, couldn't get one of the boys to go, so I ran alone. Then I walked a ways on the beach with D'Linda. We reflected on how different our world is. It is hard to figure out what is really needed here. There has been loads of money dumped in Liberia, but it doesn't seem to get to the people who really need it. If it does I wonder how much good it is or if it just makes them dependant? I think more free schools would be a good start, or more industry to employee people, or better health care, or help with agriculture, or, you see the dilemma. Many great efforts have been and are being made, but the only thing that seems there is more of is corruption. That may be unfair, there is definite improvement in the roads, there is peace, most people had enough of war. There are some pretty radical candidates getting ready to run for President, if one is elected all the meager gains could be lost. I don't have an answer, but I don't want to sound too pessimistic either. I have met too many good people who love these people, and I know that God loves them. I know that doing nothing is not the answer, God has always expected his people to help the fatherless and oppressed. Just because our efforts may not be the best we still must do something. Think about giving to Rusty and Jamie or Samaritan's Purse or Charity waters or one of hundreds of good causes, the next time your about to buy something frivolous.

One thing that stands out is their love and almost worship of the United States. Almost everyone here wants to go there. So we do have leverage, but how do we use it? How can we export what is good and keep the bad away? or is what they really want the excesses? Just some questions I can't answer, maybe you can. Most importantly pray, ask God to help and guide your efforts.

Rusty was still trying to deal with generator issues. He brought his skill saw by and said that the carpenters said it was sounding funny, so he left it for me to figure out what was wrong. It made a clicking sound, I found the problem pretty quick, It is missing a piece off of the armature. As it comes around one of the brushes falls into the hole and clicks as it is kicked out. I can't figure out why only one brush does it and not the other. If I can keep the one from dropping in, it should work fine, or if I can find the piece that's missing maybe I can glue it back. I'll have to think more on it.

Afternoon Rusty and Mel had to run back to town so Christopher and I road along. Ben, a young missionary here who coordinates housing for people coming here, rode with us to pick up one of the ELWA vehicles that was being repaired. Earlier in the day I had a conversation with Ben. He was preparing the little apartment above Rusty and Jamie's laundry room for a couple of the team members coming to work on the electrical system. Ben grew up in Maine, he married a girl who grew up as a missionary kid or MK as they are called here. He had gone an a couple short mission trips, but now is living here with his wife and young daughter. We discussed some of the frustrations I mentioned at the beginning and the cultural differences he has to deal with, but he was optimistic that good was being accomplished.

We had to drop off some parts that someone had just brought in to the same mechanic that Ben's vehicle was at. Rusty and Mel Had to check on a part for the generator that they had taken to a "technician". Mel had some real concerns that they had left the armature for one generator there in a little wood shack for him to rewind. When we got there I could understand his concern. His shop looked like a small goat shack, there were about 5 guys working there on the dirt floor, the work they were doing has to be pretty precise. After inspecting what they had done Mel was relived to see that they were doing a good job. After that we went back to the store we bought the pump at to exchange it for a smaller one. They had explained the problem they were having with the pump to someone back home and he told them that the pump they got was too large. The store manager, Sam, took the pump in exchange even though it had been installed. He said he trusted Rusty and Mel that it hadn't been damaged. Rusty is on first name basis with most of the merchants at the different stores we go to. One of the reasons is that ELWA is on such a tight budget that Rusty can't buy supplies in large quantities so he has to make frequent trips, costing Rusty more because he pays for the gas in his car.

Most of the merchants are of Lebanese decent and they treat their Liberian employees poorly. They order them around harshly and watch over what they do. They usually have 2 or 3 times as many employees as you would expect, but labor is cheep, and the Lebanese don't do anything, they just tell their employees to do stuff. Even when the transaction is made a manager will watch over the shoulder of the Liberian cashier.

Everything is cash here, Rusty said that there are places that you can use a credit card, but I haven't seen one yet. There are two monetary systems U.S dollar ($US) and Liberian dollar ($LD), the exchange rate varies, it is $71.LD to $1.US now. The local markets and street merchants deal mostly in LD and all the stores and restaurants deal in US. There are money changers seemingly on every block. They are men with a chair and a little table and a sign with their exchange rate on it. Payday at ELWA is every other Friday and they pay in cash, Rusty says that he is asked to help occasionally. He said that it takes over a million dollars to make payroll, and that it is a pretty impressive pile of money until you realize it is $LB. Most of the US bills you get in change are really well worn. Rusty said a missionary went home recently and deposited some cash he had in his pocket. The bank called him and told him the Secret Service would be in touch with him because about half of the money he deposited was counterfeit. I think Rusty told me so we will leave all our change with him.