Happy New Year! It is
a little late, but I started off running as soon as I got back in January. I am thankful that I did not have any flight
delays as several of my coworkers were delayed from the storms and extreme
cold. Right after getting back I jumped
into two big tasks – budget revisions and hiring our nine community based care
group promoters. I flew to Fish Town the
morning after arriving in Liberia to meet with my staff about the hiring – I
left them to do the interview process and they did a great job! Before I left that same day, we prayed that
God would give us wisdom in the process and put the right team together.
A week later I returned and I made it to the last round of
interviews, then we had some deliberations.
Overall, in each district there were some clear candidates who were at
the top, well above the others, but for other districts we had to make some
tough decisions. All the new staff were
here in Fish Town last week for orientation.
I am so excited for the new year and to really get moving in this
project. It took some time for the new
staff to really understand some of the key concepts, but I think they are
learning – small-small:) They were all at least very willing to learn
new ways and new ideas. I think God did
give us wisdom and help us put a great team together. Here are some pictures from the week.
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| New staff at orientation |
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| The three health supervisors |
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| One of the new care group promoters |
At the end of the training, we asked the staff to come up
with a local name for the project. After
some brainstorming, voting, discussions and refining, they chose a Grebo name
that translates to New Life: Saving mothers and children together. I like the name, it really reflects what we
want to do on multiple levels – it is new life in the sense that it is a new
way of life we are teaching, a focus on changing behaviors and lifestyles; it
is also new life as our focus is on pregnant women and women with young
children – so the focus is also new lives.
And, as Christians, our ultimate goal is new life in Christ. I pray that this name will be embraced by the
community and help move our program forward here.
While the staff were conducting interviews in River Gee, I
was in Monrovia working on budget revisions and getting some things in order
for the new year. It was a good decision
to stay in town to get things done more easily, but it was also really good to
reconnect with coworkers returning from home leave. This time with co-workers was
especially important as we lost one of our co-workers on Christmas Eve. David passed away unexpectedly while climbing
Mt. Kenya and it was a shock to all of us.
When one of my co-workers told me the news, she ended the conversation
reminding me that David gets to celebrate this Christmas with his savior. At
the Christmas Eve service and the days after, when I was sad, I remembered
that. It made the celebration of
Christmas especially meaningful; because God sent his only son into the world,
we have the hope that one day when our earthly life passes away, we will be
rejoicing with our Lord in heaven. What
can be better than that?
The first week we were all back, we had a memorial service;
it was great to remember, mourn, and celebrate together. Though I did not have a lot of deep
conversations with David, he really impacted me by who he was. He clearly loved
God and cared deeply for others, and because of that, he impacted a lot of
people in his short time here in Liberia.
It has challenged me to be intentional in my actions; I pray that I can
leave that kind of legacy!
One of my embarrassing dancing moments at the end of 2013
was during a good bye and Christmas party at the office in Monrovia my last day
in Liberia. David and I had to dance in front of all the staff. I didn’t want to see the video at the time,
but when I got back in January, I tracked it down. That was one of my last
times with David and it reminds me to not be so worried about how I look or to
be embarrassed about minor things like that, but to embrace the moment.
At the beginning of a new year, I often like to spend some
of my quiet time reflecting on the previous year and the year to come. I thank God for where he brought my in 2013 –
my prayer in January 2013 was that I would desire God more and he was faithful
and answered (and is still answering) that prayer. He revealed some things in my life that were
getting in the way of that desire and helped me to work through them. This year, I want to go deeper. While having our own church today, my
co-worker brought up how Liberian churches have a slogan for each year. For myself, this year is the year of going
deeper and the year of being intentional.
I am excited to see what God does this year and I am excited
to continue moving forward in the New Life project. Now that we have our core staff, the next
step is to form groups of neighbor women, elect the care group volunteers, and
form care groups with the volunteers.
This past week we moved into our new base, it is exciting to have so
much more space, and especially to have a separate guest house. I am looking forward to getting to know my
project staff more as well as the other staff here in Fish Town. Please pray for our projects and our base as
we continue to set up everything and get everything going in this new
year. Happy 2014!
