Welcome family and friends! As you know, Jenna and I now reside in Waco, TX...the home of Dr. Pepper (Jenna's favorite soft drink, or "Coke" as they say in Texas). She is a graduate student at Baylor, and my job for the near term is to make ends meet through substitute teaching and working for the Air Force Reserves (glamorous, I know). After graduating from seminary, you might think I know exactly what I'm supposed to do. Well, not necessarily, but I know who God wants me to be - the kind of person who cares for and champions those who are at best marginalized....at worst completely forgotten. This summer (June 12-21) I have the chance to "be" that kind of person (though, I get that opportunity as a substitute teacher as well:) as I join a team of godly men on a trip to Liberia. I went to seminary with four of the eight men going on the trip, and my great friend Jim Ross (from seminary) is leading it.
Jim works for VisionTrust International, an organization that focuses on developing orphaned and neglected children into mature Christ-follwers who become the next generation leaders in their context and culture. They do this primarily through empowering Christian nationals to meet the needs of these impoverished children.
Allow me to tell you about the children of Liberia: 1 out of 10 die before the age of 1. 1 out 7 die before the age of 5. Most of them die from easily preventable diseases - lack of sufficient nutrition, dehydration, and diarrhea. 1 out of every 7 children is an orphan (lost at least one parent to death). 6 out 10 children do not go to school, and barely over half of the population can read. Almost half (45%) of Liberian children have stunted growth due to malnutrition.
The country ranks 2nd worst in the percentage of people who try and live off of less than $1.25 a day - 84%. 95% are trying to survive on less than $2 per day. Many of the issues in Liberia stem from its 14 years of civil war that ended in 2003. As is the case in all civil wars the people who suffered the most were children, women, and innocent civilians. About 3/4 of the population became refugees or were displaced. Many of the warlords recruited large numbers of "child soldiers" to fight for them, and women and youg girls were used and abused at the discretion of the warring factions.
During our trip, we will meet with several leaders in Liberia, hoping to establish the foundation for long-term, mutually beneficial relationships. We will meet with leaders on both ends of the spectrum. On one end, we will meet with indigenous leaders ministering with the poorest of the poor street kids who literally break rocks to generate income for their families. On the other end, we will meet with the Liberian Vice President. We will also visit existing orphanages, and we hope to connect with the President of the African Bible College (you may check it out at this website: http://africanbiblecolleges.org/abcu_liberia.php) I am extremely excited to see what God has in store for us. We have an exceptional group of men going so it should be incredible!
Please consider joining me/us in one of three ways: 1) Pray for us! Pray for God's favor; pray for God's kingdom to be pressing in during our visit, inviting us to immediate action; pray for God's provision and protection; pray for God's hand to guide us (and for us to listen well); 2) Sponsor a child through Vision Trust International (go here for more details: www.visiontrust.org); 3) Consider providing financial assistance
My goal is to raise $5,000 (and I've only got a short time to pull that off)! Approximately 2/3 of that will cover all of my expenses for my two week trip. The other $1500 will be for food, water, immediate educational and medical needs for hundreds and hopefully thousands of children we are going to serve.
Thanks for taking the time to prayerfully consider joining me on my journey to Liberia!