Rachel Swanson (Liberia) - Joys of Liberia
Hello Friends,
"Wait on the LORD, Be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart, Wait, I say, on the LORD!"
Well, I am happy to say that after the first few nights here being really difficult, the Lord has brought joy. We feel like our hearts have been strengthened and we are excited for what is ahead. We got here last Friday night and were greeted by a giant hairy spider about the size of the palm of Christie's hand in our bathroom. We tried to catch him and missed him and then a few nights later we tried again and missed him again. I like to say this one was Rachel's fault. We will let you decide since Rachel captured
both episodes on the video recorder. We're getting lots of practice in so by the time we are home again North American creatures shouldn't be too much of a problem. According to Sarah, the other American girl who is teaching at the ACFI school and college here in town, there was a rat that she found in the toilet one morning as well... We haven't met him yet but we are feeling pretty tight with our spider friend as she has come out 2 out 5 nights (that we've seen her). We did feel a little bad when we found out the next morning that Mommy Longlegs was a friend of Sarah's. :) Ooops!
Other than that we have been here at ACFI Headquarters in Monrovia since we got here. We will be spending the rest of this week here. During this time we will have the opportunity to visit some of ACFI's other ministries (ie. the Deaf School, Shepherds Village (for older boys)). We kind of feel like we are living the high life as the pests aren't nearly as bad as we've heard they are at the Dixville orphanage. Headquarters is located right on the beach and we've enjoyed amazing walks on the shore (although you have to watch where you step because Liberians have been using the beach for a toilet). Gross! But it's still amazing and we got to see our first brilliant African sunset tonight. We've also met some great people here at Headquarters. We've enjoyed spending some time with Sarah. She has been here five months already and will be here almost until we leave. She's a trooper. We are also
making friends with the Liberian women who are taking care of our basic needs (ie. food, washing, getting water etc). We would love to help with these things but they seem to be pretty adamant about doing it themselves.
We are also going to be getting guitar lessons from a Liberian man who is on staff here at ACFI. He is just another example of how hospitable these people are. He is showing up here tomorrow morning!
On another note, thank you all SO MUCH for your prayers for Rachel's luggage. We got it yesterday (the 29th). Please join us in praising the Lord! Nothing was missing although it looked like it had been tampered with. God is good!
Sunday we got to enjoy a delightful Liberian church service. For those of you who have never been to Liberia we will try to hit some of the high points. The Liberian people are very expressive in their worship. They dance up to the offering plate because giving is supposed to be with joy. They have many choir songs and many people dance. The service is not on a time schedule at all, so it could go anywhere from two hours to three or four. During the greeting time we were approached by many Liberian
people who introduced themselves to us and welcomed us warmly to Liberia (as well as giving us the secret Liberian handshake). :)
We will be heading out to the orphanage in Dixville next week, probably Monday or Tuesday. Please be in prayer about the transition. The United States to Monrovia was a transition and the transition from town out to Dixville will be big as well. Please pray for that. Pray that we would use this time in town to be filled up with the Holy Spirit and ready to just pour out all that He gives. We are excited because it is in our weakness that He is strong but that makes us nervous as well. So pray that He
would receive all the glory that is due HIM and that He would be blessed as we love on the children who are His heart.
Please pray that tomorrow we would be able to get our business done at the US Embassy. We've been there twice already and haven't been able to register there. So pray that tomorrow that will work out.
Thank you for your prayers and emails. They have been encouraging! We are blessed... so blessed! We love you all!
for HIS glory.
rachel and christie
Rachel Swanson (Liberia) - Liberia #1
Friends and Family-
This is the first of I hope many e-mails of my adventure to come. I want to thank again all of you who gave financially to my Liberia
trip, and also for those of you who have dedicated to be prayer warriors. God has blessed in so many ways and thank-you for being a
part of it!
Well, I'm starting to get some butterflies as I am all packed to fly out of Des Moines tomorrow morning. I would appreciate your prayers that my luggage gets through (since I feel like I'm a walking pharmacy) and that I have no problems with security.
I enjoyed seeing those of you who came to the party on Monday night. Thank-you for all the encouragement and prayers.
I love you all, and I look forward to updating you soon on my trip.
His blessings,
Rachel
Faith Lift 2007 - Feb. 23-24
Are you your sister's keeper?
In the midst of the daily hustle and bustle, our lives have formed an alliance with the belief in our individualism. And, that's creating a disconnect among God's instrument for fellowship, caring and growth: the church. Does this sound familiar to you?
Elyse Fitzpatrick, author and speaker, will be challenging us with this topic during Saylorville Baptist Church's annual “Faith Lift” conference. She'll provide practical encouragement on mentoring, forgiveness and accountability to help us become Women Helping Women.
Join us for “Faith Lift 2007”Read more
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