Gbarnga Mission | Liberia – West Africa

Randell and I arrived at the school mid morning and unloaded the pickup with her driver and one of the security guards, Wilmot. It was a relief to finally be home with everything stacked in one bedroom. I walked her around the campus for the ” highlights tour”. It was too bad school wasn’t in session because it lacked the usual energy. We drove over to the Charles Taylor mansion then into Deanville. She had a blast meeting the village children who loved being in her selfies. While she played, I was able to visit Samukai’s new sleeping baby all bundled up in their new mud block home. You’d think it was cold with all that swaddling but it’s at least 80 degrees out.

Since Randell hadn’t been to Gbarnga in years, we did a quick drive through with a stop at Silla’s woodworking shop to show her the beds being crafted. Then over to St. Mark’s where I bumped into the Danish women who’s looking into support for Dusu and Kou under the OSV (Orphaned and Vulnerable Children) program….finally got her name this time (Nanna). She said there was some progress being made. She called me later on to tell me the counselor would like to speak with me about the case, so I’m expecting a call Monday.

Back to Deanville. Randell’s mom is sponsoring a boy named Rueben and wanted a photo with her. We had to track him down because he was out on the farm. He met her up at Chief Dean’s house where they talked briefly and had a choppy moment of FaceTime back to the States together. Meanwhile, Chief wanted me to review his family’s letter back to their child’s sponsor. As it was a typed “adult letter”, I encouraged him to have his child hand write their name or draw a picture to please the sponsor with a personal connection. He seemed proud of their family letter and pleased with the input.

Randell departed and I caught a ride back to the guesthouse. I immediately took a shower, ate a little lunch, and took a snooze. About 2 hours later the siren call of those 16 boxes lured me into unpacking. I separated books for the new library from tools and Bibles from pencils. I shipped cases of the floor epoxy I used earlier on the guesthouse floor so I could finish the last bedroom and use it in the school building. I felt compelled to at least prep the final bedroom so I could epoxy tomorrow or Monday since it takes a day of drying the floor before application. I mopped then scrubbed with the mild acid etch (non-toxic citrus-based in case you’re worried), then mopped again. Time for dinner and another shower in this sweaty environ.

I’ve checked in with John 2 throughout the day. As of 9pm he was still en route home after a day of repairs in 15 Gate. Sorry for his long day.