Surprised and Blessed by an Email Report

I was not anticipating an email or text message today, and I normally don't check my email from church. However, today I was there early and I just happened to check my email. I wanted to post this message right away, but had trouble getting it from an email format to the blog format. By now they are on their way to Freetown. They have a late flight out -but about 7:45 our time, they will be on a plane en route for London. Please pray for safety and health for our travelers. Here is the update I received from Dr. O'Brien detailing their past few days in Sierra Leone:

FRIDAY

Our team, minus Peter, went to three locations yesterday. We left about 9:00 for Waterloo where we saw work that some of the TECT students were doing among street kids. We met several of the kids and learned about their activities and their struggle. We also met a 20 yr old young lady who had gotten a micro loan to start her own retail kiosk. She had been abandoned by her parents when she was about 15 and turned to prostitution as a result. She had a baby when she was about 16. The small business has given her a way off the streets and has given people from TECT and the Hope Center an opportunity to share the Gospel with her.

From there we drove to Mile 91 and saw work among orphans. We met a  pastor and his wife who have coordinated the orphan care in this city. Baptist Global Relief has provided food parcels for 1 year for the families who are acting as foster families for the orphans. They also provided rice and groundnut (peanut) seed so that they can begin to grow their own food and can sell food to help supplement incomes. The idea is that they will only have the food parcels for a year and then be self sufficient.

We then traveled to Bo where we saw 2 places caring for orphans. One is an emergency shelter where a local hospital, the city's equivelent of child services and others bring children. There were about 30 kids from infant to 7 or 8 in one house and another 14 or so older kids in a second house. This facility is intended to be transition only. The second place was actually a pastor's home. They provide shelter, food and love for about 20 kids including their own 4 kids. Again, the idea is that this care is  temporary until they can get them into foster care. The foster program at Mile 91, Bo, Freeetown and Grafton are all a part of the same network that GCPN and Restore Hope work with.

While in Bo we met the most amazing American family. They have been in Sierra Leone for 3 months. They felt called to missions and specifically to Sierra Leone to start with. He has a business background, so they are starting small businesses in Bo. The income generated will support orphan and teen pregnancy care. They have started a bakery that is already a big success. They will start a restaurant and an ice business next. They focus on clean, healthy products. They are teaching

people from Bo to work in these businesses so that they can eventually turn them over to the people here. They are also working on a project to build multiple foster homes. They will hire capable women to act as foster mothers, build a community of huts and support the work. There will also be a clinic to help them. The buildings will be made from bricks that they are currently making with a very unique brick maker. It uses much less cement (cheaper with local ingredients), made by hand, and form interlocking bricks so it is much quicker, easier and cheaper to build, but also incredibly strong.

We returned home around 11:00 last (Friday) night, so we were all exhausted.

Saturday (early AM)

I'm happy to report that Peter is feeling better this (Saturday) morning. He rested all day at that Hope Center with the capable care of Christine and others here. Please pray for the entire team, for our health here in the last stretch, and for the ability to process what we have experienced. It truly has been life changing for several of the team members. God is SO gracious!!

Report from Saturday:
When we returned from Bo, Cami was feeling sick. Peter was better, but not yet 100%. Given these conditions, we decided not to go to Banana Island for the day nor to any of the local beaches, but to stay at the Hope Center and rest. I think it was good for the whole team. Last night we had pizza for dinner and invited Christine and the lady who had prepared the meal for us, Augusta, to join us. Afterwards, the team, along with Christine, went down to the hut behind the Center for worship and reflection. The hut is open on all sides, so you have a very nice view and a little breeze. We sang while Peter and Christine took turns leading us with the guitar. Our sharing time was such a rich way to wrap up our time here. God has moved so much this week and it was evident by what was shared.

We returned to the Center's meeting/eating area for a game of Trivial Pursuit, guys against the girls, and had a fun evening. Pastor Kargbo, the pastor of the church we will attend this morning, stopped by for a brief visit. He asked our team to sing in church today, so we quickly determined what we would sing and practiced a bit. You never know what you will be asked to do, but this team has not backed away from any challenge or any invitation.

After lunch today we will begin our trek back to the dock for the water taxi. Our flight does not leave until almost midnight, but the last water taxi leaves at 7:00 so we have to leave the Center by 4:30 or 5:00.

Thank you so much for your prayers throughout our time here. Please continue to pray for health and safety as we begin the trip home.

Blessings,
Ross