Surprise Birthday party in Liberia

It started with many blessings and happy b-days from the REAP staff,
also Robert planned with the help of Christine, her husband Laurence
and the LOGOS Hope team.
He found a restaurant in Monrovia where he was trying to cater from,
but the place was closed for vacations. After few attempts he e-mailed
Christine and Laurence asking for help. Christine by Robert’s request,
baked carrot cake (one of my favorites), and I knew that she was
making Yellof Rice (yes, with F at the end), which is cooked here for
special occasions.
I thought we were having dinner here at home, but didn't know when
because we also were going to the LOGOS ship to meet with the team
who is going to work at the REAP camp.
We left late to meet the team, when we got there I saw the rice pot
and something I thought was the cake, was until then that I knew dinner
was on the ship. What I didn’t know was that the whole Latino group
and few others from LOGOS team were having dinner with us; they
separated few tables at the dinning room for the celebration. One of
the girls brought her laptop to play Mexican music.
They sang the “Happy B-day” in Spanish and the Liberian version in
English; that day the menu for dinner was Mexican food, so was
perfect.
We ate, danced and sang some. It was very special day and thank
God for it because otherwise it would be harder to be far from home.

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Logos Hope Ship

This weekend we were invited to the reception of LOGOS HOPE ship,
which is one of the Operation Mobilization ships.
http://www.omships.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=61&Itemid=278
It was so much fun meeting so many people from different countries;
the team is formed by 400 people from 50 nations.
I went with Christine and her husband Lawrence and Maresha. The
Vice-president was present in the opening of the book store. The have
over 7,500 books on board and they travel around the world bringing
knowledge, help and hope.
They will be in Liberia till August 25th. I meet a couple from
Argentina who are missionaries in Liberia and also from the LOGOS team
a nice groups Latinos, who were very friendly and kind making sure we
had a good time and saw different areas of the ship.
We will be going later in the next two weeks to different events, one
of their teams will be working in a REAP’s camp for youth, doing
counseling, sharing their testimonies and also pouring the floor of
the administrative office.
Next Sunday Maresha and I will go to their Church Service on board and
will also stay till dinner to prepare some good Mexican food.

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Full and Fun Weekend

Saturday two weeks ago I was invited to church to teach in a workshop
about leadership. It was for the worship team leaders. I thought, Wow,
I have never spoken anywhere about leadership, but God was good to me
bringing to my memory some good examples from my own experience as
well as some public figures in sports who are good and bad examples of
leadership. The group was engaged and seemed to understand the
importance of using basic biblical principles in their leadership
roles.

After the workshop while waiting for my ride, I started playing with
few kids of the community around the church (of course my little
Robert was there). I didn’t have much to organize games with, so I
asked for a broom stick or something similar. Since the worship band
was practicing we had music, so with the stick and the music we were
doing the limbo dance; all of the sudden kids multiplied. Later on
older kids came and we had to change the game, so we did a one leg
hopping race. I got some exercise, some sun and a lot of fun.

Later in the early evening Christine invited to the beach the orphan
kids who were staying at her house. She prepared a lot of food,
brought a soccer ball and 10 of us got in one car (Liberian style).
For some of the kids was the firs time at the beach. We had a great
time and I got to enjoy a beautiful sunset.

Sunday was a day of adventures. After service Pastors and church
leaders had a meeting, so I just hanged out with the kids. After the
meeting they invited me to have lunch with them, it was quite an
experience. It was Fufu, which is like a round unbaked bread made of
cassava (looks like beige playdough) and some fish immersed in a soupy
gravy. They showed me how to each it; you take a piece of Fufu, make
it like a ball and dip it in the gravy. Since I was a guest I went
first, but everyone eats from the same plate, everyone dip their
fingers in the gravy. They were kind enough and separated some fish
for me.

After lunch we went to the pig’s farm that the church is considering
to buy to start a business to support the church and provide jobs for
the congregation. All the leaders, pastors and me got in 2 cars and 1
motor bike to the farm. The road was bad and the cars were too low, so
few times we had to get out of the car, either to push or just to be
able to go over some big bumps.
Once in the farm, the owner of the pigs explained that he started it
thinking that was a good business; he sold few pigs but later on he
didn’t have the heart to kill the pigs that he saw rising. He wants
the church to keep this business because he knows that their goal is
to help their people and that will be successful because they are
responsible and are doing it for the right reasons.
I love the people of this church, it was a fun Sunday !!.

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From top left corner clockwise, 1) the porch outside my room. 2) REAP's office and missionaries' house. 3) Little house where the generator caught fire. 4) View from my bedroom's porch

Cultural experience in Center Monrovia and more.....

These last days I have had more Liberian culture experiences.

On Wednesday, I went with Christine to the Samaritan’s Purse office for a morning meeting 10 am with
the steering committee for the All Liberian Life Festival. I went just as an observer, to take notes if needed
and to meet the people involved in the planning of the Festival.

After this long meeting went to a bank in the Center of

Monrovia; now I know why I wouldn’t live in big cities; just like México City it is crowded, bad traffic, no parking, busy, and with noise and fumes pollution.

After the bank we stopped in few other places and got home till almost 6pm.

Rainy season here is from April through October, and I have experienced some serious thunders, like the ones made tremble not long ago. (I guess I have grown up some, they don’t scare me anymore). Rain has not stopped since Thursday evening and I really like rain, but
let’s see how much I can handle. : ) 

Today Friday one of the pastors from the CCM (Community Church Ministries) came to have breakfast and talk about how to help REAP in
the WRT YEE center and how REAP can help the church with Freedom in Christ seminars.
We also had a short exciting time in the early evening. The Disel
generator started smoking; when I went out, there was a small fire coming from out of it, the gate keeper, house keeper (Big Esther) and Christine were trying to put the fire off. Esther pushed it out of the covered area to avoid the fire spreading to other things. We threw dirt inside of the generator to put the fire out. For a little while we didn’t have electricity, so I came to my room to read using a flashlight. The other generator was connected just in time for dinner time when a new guest came from Chicago; Shemilis an Ethiopian Lawyer assigned to work here for 3 weeks with the UNICEF The world is so small, he is from Addis Ababa a city in the north of Ethiopia where one of the HOM missionaries has gone many times to transfer patients from Sudan to the Fistula hospital.
Well I have been here for 5 days and I am still trying to establish a routine (Don’t know if I will be able, I am not usually a routine person). Don’t have plans for Saturday, but Sunday I will go to one of the CCM churches and see how I can get involved there.
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Departure from California and Arrival to Liberia

Leaving California was a bitter-sweet time. I had a great time the last days before my trip, with my roommate and fiancé getting ready to leave, but at the same time I had moments of sadness because I would miss them, and because I didn't get to spend much time with other friends. Also a gathering with friends to pray for me and my time in Liberia was special.

We spent a good time trying to pack books, tools, battery fan, flashlights, battery charger, seeds, plus clothes and 4 months supply of shampoo, tooth paste and other toiletries.

I could only take three 50 pounds suitcases and two carry ons; it was difficult but we did it. We didn't have to leave anything behind and I had no problem checking in luggage. 1st of many praises.

You never realize how tired you are, until you can sleep all the way from California to Liberia and from the airport to home. The total time between departure and arrival was 27 hours.

Today I took it easy, Christine brought me breakfast to my room (I guess a welcome home treat), worked a little bit on plans for the week, and after dinner we went to the beach. We didn’t get to spend much time there since it was already dark; we only went to pick up a laptop donated to REAP.

Getting ready for departure

I have 5 days left before I go to Liberia. Time is short to pack, wrap up things in the office, say good byes, raise the remaining of my support, and in top of everything try to plan a wedding.Pray for energy and emotional strength.

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The beginning

Last December during a house build  trip in México, someone told me that there was a need in Liberia for a person to help in the REAP office.  That person also said “Laura you told me you wanted a challenge.”  At that point I didn’t consider it AT ALL. I told my bible study group about this opportunity but I told them “don’t pray, I don’t want to go.”


In January I attended a Missions Conference with all the HOM staff. On the way to the conference I was asked if I thought about going to Liberia, my first reaction was NO WAY! I can’t leave now, my mom’s health wasn’t good at that moment and didn’t want to leave Robert for a whole year. Those 4 days in that conference were very hard. I had a feeling of guilt because of my unwillingness to GO, because all you hear in a missions conference is, GOD SEND ME, WHEREVER YOU SEND ME I WILL GO.  I struggled with a selfish and unwilling heart, feeling the pressure of what is the right thing to do vs. what do I want to do. I didn’t want to go for the wrong reasons.


My prayer during the conference was “God if you want me to go, please change my heart  and give me peace about it”.   This prayer was more emotional when I heard the song “Still my soul be still”, which was sang few times while there.
At the end of the conference GOD ANSWERED MY PRAYER, I was willing to hear more about Liberia.HOM had already plans to visit Liberia in February and after prayer and talks to some people who have been there before, I decided to see if it was where God was calling me to go.


I went to Liberia with an open heart and met amazing people, who live every day in dependency of the Grace and Mercy of God. Their lives were so hard during the war that ONLY  GOD could help them daily to forget the horrors of the war and move on to serve HIM.  I never thought my experience in the manufacturing industry could help ministry in Liberia. However, as REAP staff and I worked together, we thought of ways we could use to empower those working with REAP and to minister to those who we would want to reach out to.  It was in meeting people with the desire to help Liberia, to rebuild it, to help the youth and young adults who have lost their parents or are indigent as a result of the civil war, that I realized what was God asking me to do. 

Even with this desire, I sought God’s confirmation. He heard my prayer and gave John 15:16 “you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name”.  This verse made me realize I was not going, I was being sent.  So I will be going to Liberia from July 10th through November 23rd.


Thank you for being part of this Journey with me.

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