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We are fastly approaching the end of February. It's hard to believe and then at the same time it's not.

We are continuing our work here in Banta! The new schools are coming up beautifully and we are so excited to be there when the teachers move in. The teacher continue to work hard and are preparing themselves for this coming academic term when the children's home in Freetown is planning to move to Banta where they will live in a more village like setting. Many changes are taking place at COTN-Sierra Leone! It's is so exciting to be able to see and take part in that. However, I will just missing this big move and hope that someday in the near future I will have to opportunity to return to this place and see how the kids are doing in their new homes! Please be in prayer for COTN as we prepare for these changes. Pray for our children as well, that they would be able to adapt to this change and that Banta would welcome their new members.

Sarah and I continue to have good health. We are just amazed each day that passes, how fast our time is flying by here. In a little over four months we will be back home, trying to figure out life again, as if we really can. We love it here and have adapted to the lifestyle as you can see. Please pray for us as our minds have already begun to think about what life will look like when we come home. We pray that we would not get ahead of ourselves and start planning the rest of our lives but that we would be focused on the task at hand and continue in the focus right till the end. Also pray for patience with ourselves and our families as the transition back can be a very confusing time for both sides. I feel like I am already feeling this "re-entry shock" as they call it and I'm not even home yet, and by the way it's still four months until I will be!

I began this blog not know what to write. To be honest, sometimes it is really hard to know what to say. So in return you got some bits of random information. But I really just wanted to send my greetings from Banta and post some pictures! I pray that this entry finds you all well. My friend Julie sent me these verses as encouragement and I wanted to share them with you:

"As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul - not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strenth God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that He has for us."
Colossians 1, the Message

God Bless

FGM

I wasn’t going to share this with you, but as I thought about it more I decided I should. Not to depress you or to make you think badly of these people, but more to create awareness, to show you that this still goes on and it shouldn’t. We recently read a statistic that said 94% of women in Sierra Leone under go Female Genital Mutualisation. Historically, women in this country went to the Bundo Society to learn how to be a wife basically, to learn how to take care of children, how to cook, clean, and keep a home. However, over the years Satan has taken this good thing and twisted it to where, now these horrific traditions take place and these girls are given no choice but to comply. Below is my journal entry from that day that the girls from Banta came back from their own Bundo Societies.

January 3, 2007
Today was the day that all the girls came back from the bush from their secret societies where the Female Genital Mutualisation occurs. We went to the village and all the girls from class six came out of one home to greet me. They were all dressed in fine cloths with make-up, etc. I feel like my heart is being ripped out, knowing what those precious girls had just gone through. Why, why, why—Satan’s ultimate form of rape. God I pray for these girls, I intercede on their behalf, please be gracious with them, have mercy on your daughters, show them that this is unnecessary, bring to light the lies that they are told, bring truth to this darkness. I pray that you would heal the bodies of these girls, I pray that you would show your daughters their worth, teach them who they are in you, children of the Most High God.

After writing this I opened my bible and read these words from Isaiah 42:1-4

"Look at my servant, whom I strengthen. He is my chosen one, and I am pleased with him. I have put my Spirit upon him. He will reveal justice to the nations. He will be gentle--he will not shout or raise his voice in public. He will not crush those who are weak or quench the smallest hope. He will bring full justice to all who have been wronged. He will not stop until truth and righteousness prevail throughout the earth. Even distant lands beyond the sea will wait for his instruction."

Our Journey to Banta

We wake up while it is still dark because we know we have a long journey ahead of us. So we wash, drink our cup of coffee, and finish packing last minute things. Next we need to pack the vehicle, just one minor problem, where is the vehicle? The driver never brought it back the night before after getting its last maintenance check. So we wait, guess we won’t get such an early start! We walk to the home to say good-bye to the kids. Still the driver and the car are MIA. So we wait, and wait some more (this is so typical, every time we plan something it never goes the way it’s suppose to, the key—don’t plan)!
Finally, around ten, the car shows up. We get everything packed, the back is completely full. Why can’t I be a light packer? After kissing our African mother (Mama Angie) goodbye, we take off!
The journey hasn’t quite begun, we still need to gas up and fix the spare tire (tires have a way of getting punctured on these roads) Finally, we start heading up the mountain away from Freetown. “Goodbye Freetown, see you in two months!”
We drive on a paved road for the first few hours. This is the only chance we have for sleeping once we hit the dirt, its really quite impossible. We drive by farms, women washing cloths in the river, rows of palm trees, and village after village. When will we get to our own little village?
The dry season is now upon us and our vehicle has no air conditioning, not a good combination. As we hit the dirt roads our faces are blasted with red dust each time we pass another car. After four hours we’re still going strong!
As we pass the villages there are still buildings which tell you how hard they were hit during the war. This is an old warehouse that was owned by the mines, but was burnt down during an attack by the rebels.
It’s about our sixth hour of travelling and we finally cross the bridge that is five miles from our little home! Butterflies jump in our stomachs as we anxiously await our arrival. As we pull in we are met by some of our favourite boys, big hugs, and hellos. Covered in dust we greet our family here and breathe a sigh of relief at our safe arrival.

A tribute to Benjamin

(This was written by Sarah, since we write about the same things we decided to just use each others writing!)



Benjamin was a 5 month baby that the home had taken in because his mom had dies at childbirth from what they suspected was a result of AIDS. Benjamin had a rough start to life. He was severely malnourished and spent much of his short life in and out of hospitals. Despite all this he was the happiest baby with the softest head of hair. Everyone at the home adored him, and it was always difficult to be able to get a chance to hold him: he was always in someone else’s arms.
I’ll never forget the moment on Thursday when we were called and told that Benjamin had died. It was such a shock because he seems to be getting so much stronger. He was in the hospital for a chest infection two weeks ago, but as Kristen and I were leaving for Banta he was looking so much better. Wednesday morning he was rushed back to the hospital for this same infection. The doctors think that he had AIDS which caused an infection of tuberculosis that he never was able to recover from. How is it fair that such a small baby could have died? He never even got a chance at life. I still feel numb, not grasping the fact that he really is gone. This country has the highest infant mortality rate, but that statistic didn’t mean anything until an infant that I loved became one of those in the statistic. Pray for everyone as we grieve and try to make sense of this tragedy.

Need a Smile!

Here is the reason I love this place!