BBC World Report

While I realize this may not be on the front page of the news in the U.S., it is here in Liberia....

Liberia at best over the last 3 months has been "stable" under the leadership of it's most recent inaugerated president Ellen Johnson-Sierlief, but once again it's finding itself in a position of possibly becoming a fragile nation all over again. Here is glimpse from an article found on the BBC's website.

Charles Taylor - preacher, warlord and president
Former Liberian leader and war crimes suspect Charles Taylor has DISAPPEARED from the villa in Nigeria, where he was living in exile.
Nigeria had said he could be handed over to face trial at a UN-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone.

For the full article about Charles Taylor history here is a link from the BBC. I would strongly encourage you to read this article to get a brief history of the negative impact Charles Taylor has had on Liberia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2963086.stm

Quick education into what his dissapperance can possibly mean for Liberians....
Charles Taylor is a former warlord and president of Liberia largely (if not completely) responsible for the 14 years of war and suffering in Liberia and a major contribuitor to the conflicts in Sierra Leone. This man continues to have strong influence and followers in Liberia, and his unwanted return could mean tension and fighting in a recovering nation.

I am asking that you pray for his capture and pray for continued peace in this wonderful nation.


There is also a great movie out there called the "Uncivil War" it gives a very accurate picture of the civil war in Liberia
Disclaimer: NOT meant for children or people with weak stomachs, it's a tough one to watch.

Thanks for taking this journey with me....
Seren

Extra Extra Read all about it......

Yes, it's official I have become a Liberian or at least I sound like one if you read their local newspaper. Below is a link to an article found in the Analyst paper on March 8th. I have started to collect a few things for a scrap book and a hard copy of this article for sure will be included, along with a picture of the team, and yesterday I convinced (by that I mean I just asked) the coach to give me my official player card when I am finished. I am really pumped about that one! I mean when I am seventy I will actually be able to show my grandchildren that I played professional soccer in Liberia. That's just kind of fun in general!

Here is a link to the newspaper article http://allafrica.com/stories/200603100570.html
This is one of "my" quotes apparently according to me...
According to her playing for a team in a local female league was not only a boost for her but a challenge in her quest to play professional football

Sadly enough I only have 10 more days left in my professional career before I have to leave for Ghana. With 3 practices and 2 games left I am really starting to get sad about leaving. It has been an amazing experience to cross cultural barriers with soccer and I am going to miss hanging out with the girls and being apart of their lives. While you think you come to Africa to possibly make a difference in the lives of the poor, the people here end up changing your life forever. The human spirit is just amazing to me.

I have to admit Liberia is an awesome place!!!

Seren #8

George Sumo

Below is the life story of an amazing man of strength, courage, and love. While there is much need all over Liberia, this paticular person and his family have grabbed a hold of my heart. This man came to me about 3 weeks ago as a patient with Low Back Pain and when I began taking the history of his low back pain I found myself in the history of his life. His Low Back pain is a result of a war torn country, but more devastating so is his LIFE.

Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

George Sumo

George is forty six years old from the Kpetty tribe in Liberia. His mother died when he was two. He was raised by his father and step-mother in the upcountry village of Yeakai. He moved in with his aunt after 6th grade and finished high school with her. He did not have the money to continue his education from a school. The education he got instead will change your life.

Be dressed and ready for service and keep the lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. Luke 12:35-36

The war broke out in 1992 and George’s father raised cattle and pigs. The rebels came to his village in the middle of the night with flashlights and big sticks. They were looking for provisions and wanted to slaughter the animals to feed themselves. Four of the animals were pregnant and George pleaded with the rebels not to kill them so he could continue to provide for the family even with the loss of all the other livestock. For three hours the rebels mercilessly tied up George and beat him with sticks and the blunt side of machetes like he was nothing. When he finally fell they stomped on him. Beaten and bloodied he watched as they killed all the animals. They put the bloody carcasses into a bag and forced him to carry it on his head for one and a half days down a dusty road in the steaming equatorial jungle. Already beaten nearly to death he somehow mustered the strength for the march. He still stumbled and when he did the rebels would start beating him again and mocking him. They had completely dehumanized him. The rebels dragged him from the camp and left him at the side of the road weeping and bleeding. He could barely stand when a man passed him on the side of the road. The man, like a ‘Good Samaritan’, carried George on his back toward home for some time until he had some strength. George ended up crawling the rest of the way home through the jungle on his hands. The thick smoke permeated the forest and the fires left a smouldering pile where George’s village had been just two days before. His wife and children had fled into the jungle and escaped harm through the ordeal. Six of the other villagers were killed by the rebels. The next day the Government burned the village because they claim the village was helping to supply the rebels. They had nothing left except each other. George and his wife decided that the only way to preserve the family was to walk ten days to the Ivory Coast to flee the fighting. There was no food and no good water during the trek and they barely reached the Ivory Coast. Hungry and alone in a foreign country George could not work for the first month or so because of the beatings he had received. George eventually found work making charcoal and they lived in Ivory Coast for eight years until war broke out there in 2000.

The Sumo Family

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes, and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Matthew 25:35-36

George, his wife, and children, George Jr., Patient, Layda, and Joy returned to Liberia in 2000 and lived in a camp for internally displaced people (IDP). In the IDP camp conditions were horrifying. There were 11,000 refugees living in extremely tight quarters. The entire family was given a 12x10 tent to live in. Each person was rationed miniscule amounts of food and the men had to go into the bush to forage for food. Disease abounded and living conditions were becoming worse by the day as more and more refugees arrived in the camp.

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:7-8

When George Jr. was fourteen years old they were still living in the camp and he started to have severe pain in his eye. There was swelling and no money for doctors. George heard about Mercy Ships and begged a man from another NGO to carry his family to Monrovia. The man said he and George Jr were the only ones he could transport. George couldn’t stand to see his family separated so he appealed to the man again. Upon seeing George Jr’s condition the man agreed to take them. George’s son only had sight in one eye at this point because the cancer had pushed it out of the socket and they waited in line for four days before the screening. A lady from the ship saw his son and made sure he was registered immediately. George was told that his son had malignant cancer on his brain stem and that he did not have long to live. He was crushed. They kept George Jr. on the ward and gave him food and pain medication for two months until he died on April 25, 2005. Mercy Ships paid for the funeral and gave George a job on the ship as a day worker in the Galley. When the ship left last June, George worked in Monrovia to try and raise funds to put his children through school.

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship in the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being one in the spirit and purpose. Philippians 2:1-2

George Jr.'s Modest Grave

George’s wife’s parents died this year and left the Sumos some land just outside of Monrovia. He has not been able to build and finally have a home for his family. Their current living conditions are better than the IDP camp but are still deplorable by our standards. His small “house” is a one room brick structure lent to him by a distant relative. The inside is cramped and uncomfortable. The family all sleep in the room on the floor. There is no electricity and no potable water nearby. The Sumos have to go to the market just to buy clean water to drink. A small shower area is next to the house hidden behind rusty roofing. George’s relative is returning soon and they must vacate the current living area by the end of March. George has carried a heavy burden on his back for the last twelve years and while his back has been broken, his spirit is still faithful. If you ask George about the prospect of having his own house he beams. A smile so wide comes across his face you can’t help but smile with him. He will tell you that a house to him means freedom and a blessing from God.

George's Current House

We have been doing fundraisers on the ship to secure the meagre $1,800 that it will take to build George’s home. A modest brick structure with five hundred square feet of floor space will finally give George some security and a place to raise his family. This home will be built by local liberians and project managed by our Mercy Ships renovations staff.

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Proverbs 3:27

Joy & Me

Hat-trick!!!

Final Score: Pro-Anchor Sisters 16 (that's us) Shooters 0

Let's start at the very beginning a very good place to start....

First of all up until the morning before my game, I wasn't sure if I could even play. Basically my old body cannot keep up with these young kids. Once again for the second time in 4 weeks I had injured myself, this time I strained my right calf in practice on Thursday. But of course like a good athletic trainer I went against every piece of advice that I would give all of you and decided to play. I figured if I could run with a moderate amount of pain of course I should play, so I did. As you can see from the picture this game we had a much better pitch to play on compared to the sand trap of the last game. It was approx. 90 degrees and in the heat of the day, but don't be fooled that is not real grass that is astro-terf (aka carpet here in Liberia) which absorbs the heat so it was about 10-15 degrees hotter on the field, but no worries when it's hot 10 degrees doesn't really matter when there is a futbol match to be played.
Ok moving on...

During warm-up we always do these leg tap, heel touch, finger snap, hand clap things that I clearly can't even describe let alone perform. So of course I amused a few Liberians with my lack of coordination, but I have to say after humbling myself from 15 failed attempts I successfully could perform the sequence one time, and then of course I was doomed all over again.

I only played the first half and about 5 minutes of the second half until I basically couldn't run up the field anymore. I am not sure if that is because my leg was killing me or if my lungs were killing me ummm for my own peace of mind I will say my leg. I scored 3 goals (hat-trick) which is kind of fun, as you can see from the picture above (compliments of my friend Kevin's photography skills you guys should check out his website www.kevininliberia.blogspot.com) for some reason they had me take the Penalty Kick for a handball in the box. Seriously it was a really boring game to watch not much to see, but a bunch of my friends on Mercy Ships were great fans that day, and thoroughly enjoyed our goal-keeper getting a yellow card for sitting down during the game.

Of couse it wouldn't be a normal end to a futbol game in Liberia if I didn't have to change my clothes in front of about 30 people! AHHHH what a great day in Liberia, seriously some of you should consider moving here.

Seren #8

Would You Notice????

I was listening to a sermon by Dr. Andrew Clark during our church service last thursday and he posed a very simple question at the beginning of the sermon. He asked....

If God was to remove His presence from your life for one week would you notice?

This question has really challenged me for the last few days, and made me think about the time that I am spending or sometimes not spending with God. I began thinking about how often I remove my presence from God and try to do life without Him. Anyways just something to ponder while you are driving to work or riding the "L". If this question sparks anything for you I would love to hear your thoughts.

I Miss you guys!

Seren

Gooooooaaaaal!!!!!

My very first Professional Liberian Soccer Game. The women of the Pro-Anchor professional team are officially undefeated in the league with a record of 1-0. We won 5-0 and here is a bit of my experience.....

First of all we met in a room near where we practice and they began handing out uniforms for the game. So the girls just begin changing like we would normally do in a locker room before a game, except this locker room contained about 10 other men, lots of windows and no corners or other closed off areas to change in. The funny part is that myself and Lani(which is another girl from the ship that also started playing with us about 2 weeks ago) seemed to be the only ones that were uncomfortable with the situation. Well let's just say I played in the game today, so I got over the changing into the uniform in front of people problem.

Uniforms:
So the jerseys are pretty cool in looks, but yes in Liberia apparently it's not hot enough so we play in long sleeves! You should have seen the look on my face as I quickly remembered my passing out incident from the first week and imagined it happening all over again. But the thing about the jersey's that just made my day, seriously, I knew it was going to be a great game when yes oh yes they handed me the jersey with the number 8 on it. For those of you who don't know since the age of ten I have been wearing the number 8 on my jersey when I play soccer. Club, high school, college, you name it I was wearing number 8. Now I had never told anyone this in Liberia, and today they handed me jersey number 8 I was like a little kid at Christmas. My face lite up, my whole world just made sense, and I knew soccer was going to be played today.

Oh yes you are going to get the play by play of this 3 hour event because everybody needs to enjoy this experience with me...So keep on reading.

Next all 18 of us piled into a bus plus any extra people that we literally picked up on the way to the game which was only about 5 miles away. The cool part is that we sang the whole way to the game praising God. We were singing "In God we trust, we will overcome, because in God we trust" no worries they didn't repeat these words for 10 minutes, but that was all I could understand so that's what I repeated for 10 minutes, oh yeah and I did some clapping as well. Lani and I decided that when Africans are born, God gave them rhythm, but when Lani and I were born well, let's just say God did not poor that same blessing on us.

Game time:
We line up for the referee to do a shoe and shinguard inspection, but nope not here, we still line up but we have to raise our arms like we are being searched by the police (except nobody is patting you down) and then they check the length of our fingernails. I am still confused and slightly concerned about that one.

The field:
The left side of the field consists of sand like the loose sand on a beach, the middle part consists of concrete that has been brushed over by sand, and the right side is then the beach all over again. NO GRASS!! Maybe a weed occasionally if we were lucky. You know when you are standing on the beach and the sand is really hot, let's just say I thought my fight were on fire because your soccer shoes absorb that heat, yeah think about that one briefly. The field is lined with chalk similar to what we would use in baseball, but not all the lines are straight.

Playing:
So the first 5 minutes of the game seemed very odd, especially when a random child crossed the field completely in the middle of the game and briefly ducks also seemed to be a bit of an obstacle. I played the second half of the game, which was great with me, because 35 min. Of soccer was more than enough for my out of shape 26 year old body. It was really an awesome game, I can honestly say I don't think I have every enjoyed playing soccer as much as I did today. Today was not the greatest looking game of soccer that I have ever seen or played, in fact, the caliber of play here is about equivalent to a really good high school team. I simply enjoyed playing, playing for the greater purpose of serving God, playing to cross cultural barriers, playing to be apart of the lives of women in Liberia, playing for the simple passion of the sport, and playing to be apart of something so much greater than winning and losing. To be honest, unfortunately in college I know I didn't always play with a greater purpose in mind, and today it just felt different, I can't really explain it, but I definitely found a new passion for the sport.

Ok back on game track, I scored my first professional goal and I proceeded to run around like an idiot after I scored jumping on people. After a grueling 35 minutes, I scored a goal, and pulled my left quad muscle, but it was nice to feel that total exhaustion you get after you have played a hard game of soccer.

Post Game:
NO stretching, no cooling down, just changing out of your uniform, but this time we had to change in front of a crowd of about 100 people, once again seemed normal to everyone else in Liberia so I guess when in Rome (shout out to Anchorman), so I changed as discretely as possible and road the bus home.... Thus ending the day of my first professional Liberian soccer match.

Seren #8