God and Glue

To my dearest wonderfuls back home who have been a constant joy...I miss you all.

So much has happened since I last wrote to you all. I will try to give a brief glimpse.

Her Excellency the president of Liberia: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf came on board to give an official thank you speech to Mercy Ships for their service to her country. I suppose it all started with the frantic preparation...both teams scrubbing floors, windows, walls, moving highchairs, and in general touching nooks that seemed untouched for years. The whole place looked brighter. And then we left it up the the amazing hospitality people to transform it. And transform it they did. Sparkling glasses and saucers and rows and rows of handmade desert bars and decorations. It was glorious. Ellen ( my roommate ) and I snuck down via the galley and watched wide eyed as all the escorts and guards milled around in the dining room. We listened to her speech in the International lounge. It was beautiful and heartfelt and I was awed and honored. The entire meeting to just a fraction of the preparation time, but it was well worth it and I'll never forget it.

Saturday Costume Party! Our entire cabin seemed to have been sewing for days and planning for many more. We had snow white and a character from a Jane Austen novel, and we had a rose/cupcake. I was Esmerelda, from Hunch back of Notrodame. Each person came up to say what or who they were. I was so impressed with the creativity...There was A little white lie, Sponge Bob, Laura Ingalls, etc etc etc. And then afterwards we all went up to the Queens Lounge to celebrate Jeneen's Birthday. She was Jane Bennet. We had cake and talked and talked and talked. It was the perfect end to a gold-tinged day.

Last Sunday I went to the Pillar of Holy Fire church for the last time. I had gone there faithfully when I first came to Liberia. I had forgotten how serene and beautiful it was. No loud blaring speakers or keyboard or shouting or pews. The front is open and it has three walls woven of reeds. There is space between the between the walls and the ceiling...supported by wooden polls...that lets the sunlight filter in the whole way around the room. And they have wild flowers tied to the walls. The goodbye service was golden. I cried. The music...voices and drums and shakers. And then we had a lunch of oranges and banana chips and cookies afterwards. And I got to hold the beautiful children, carefully stowing away their faces in my memory.

That Tuesday the vice president of Liberia came to the ship. This time they catered the event. I had been flu-ish sick since Monday so I missed it, but they told me all about it. I'm 99%recovered and did Swimmer's Watch with Ellen yesterday from 12-2am. It was also the first day I worked. Swimmers watch was fun-I called it my firefly job.

Today the day workers left. We had the best Liberian lunch ever and anyone that had ever worked on the ship came. We had a big thank you service in the international lounge. It was beautiful. And sad. Last night I went to the prayer room on deck 2 and prayed the God would grant a graceful closure and blessing on their work here as well as abundant blessings on each one's life. Today we prayed for the day workers in the galley and dining room and there were hugs all around. And then May-Ellen left at 5pm. We are down to 6 in our room and 3 on our dining room team. Too many goodbyes. But God is the glue that holds us together in spirit.

And that is why, my dearest wonderfuls, I am constantly reminded of the blessing you all have been to me. And in all this craziness called life, blessings on you to.

Overwhelmed but loving life

I need some major prayer for the next few days:

Yesterday I baked for a surprise birthday party. However we just found out that the whole time when we had been planning the surprise birthday another group had been...for the same person...at exact same time. What can I say? Great minds think alike. We already gave out invitations, so now we're trying to work something out. Just pray that God would totally infiltrate everything and it would go smoothly and be beautiful.

And then tomorrow the president of Liberia is coming for a Thank You Service. We're not working then, but have offered to help and there's tons of cleaning and preparation to be done since the dining room will be the main welcoming place. No one is allowed through the dining hall and everyone has to pack their lunch. Breakfast will stay open later than usual..and it just seems like a whole bunch of stuff to remember and help with.

And then on the 6th of December there is going to be blackout on the ship because they're cleaning the engines. So we'll to help prep all cold foods for that. We've been working at making reservations to stay at a nearby beach with nice cabins to rent. Please pray that it would go well.


Aka: I'm currently overwhelmed but loving life all the same...and a little bit of me is looking forward to the approaching craziness.

Luv ya!

Bonjeh town Christmas

Let's see..last week: We had off Monday and Tuesday and went to Water Side one of those days. That's the big market with cloth and clothing and carvings and leather stuff sold in actual concrete buildings mostly run by the Lebanese.

We worked last Wednesday. And then switched with the other team so we could go to the Christmas service at Bonjeh town and then we would work their Friday. The Christmas service was cool. Although frankly it wasn't very Christmas-y. We're clebrating it early since the ship leaves early December. It was as humid and warm as ever. We talked and played with the children as usual and there was a precious four month old baby there. And then with much jostling and help from the two Liberian crew guys that Sherry brought along the children were finally all lined up to receive cookies and juice with a little baggy with plastic jewelry and candy. My personal favorite part was after the whole giving out stuff.

The last time I went to Bonjeh town, William, the 15 year old boy that I've become friends with tried to teach me how to play the drums. Of course, I failed miserably, but he and some friends started playing the drums and came up with a fun rhythm. Actually all the little boys know how to play the drums...probably better then some of the American professionals. Anyway, me and the little girls danced.
And this time the girls asked if I would dance with them again. Vaguely embarrassed I consented...and before we knew it everyone was dancing...including the older women who had joined us. It was very fun.

I'm reading this book called RE-entry. It's basically about leaving missions and not leaving bitter or coming home and becoming bitter because people don't understand the full impact it has had on your life. I'm loving it. I know I'm' not actually leaving the ship until January, but I figure since I've made relationships with the Liberian people, and we are leaving Liberia...it would be a good time to read it. So I felt like the Bonjeh town Christmas service was a good time to say goodbye to all the children that remembered my name and drew butterflies in the sand with me and wrote there names on a piece of paper so I wouldn't forget them. And I wont. It was a good kind of closure. I've made a list of all the places I want to visit and the gifts I want to buy before I go. So my next few weekends are going to be full.

And then we went to the Jesus Film. They show it every week more than once a week in different villages. In their own language. People suddenly feel like it's really for them. They all speak English since that's how all the tribes communicate to each other...but it isn't really personal if it's not in their mother tongue. The children came first. I was in the middle of caking myself with bug spray when I felt a timid touch against my arm and there they all were..eager to hold my hand and sit in my lap. Even though we couldn't understand the film. It was good watching their reactions...by the end one little girl had fallen asleep in my lap. We were sitting on the gravel in front of the huge outdoor screen and my legs were numb...but it was worth going.

Wow, sometimes I forget how much I'm writing...sorry. There's another novel.

Luv y'all!

Corina

Bleeding Hearts

"Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong
And men at war with men hear not
The love-song which they bring
O hush the noise ye men of stife
And hear the angels sing"-It came upon a midnight clear (Richard S. Wilis)

Warning: This is a graphic poem...a glimpse of why life here is sometimes painful...I am not trying to traumatize you all..i just think you have the right to know

He had a baseball cap
A young father holds his tiny son
In the midddle of a crowded sidewalk
As cars zoom past
The tiny forehead touches the rim of the baseball cap
And they are almost nose to nose

Images flash through my mind
And some are painful and some are beautiful and
all are so vivid they make me want to cry

I was never there when it happened
I just heard the sounds of a documentary
Trying to shut it out with my book
A heavy base drum in the distance
A rap that makes me want to get low
And they are shooting to the sound of the rap
And I read the same sentence over and over and over

Images flash through my mind like a slide show
vivid
blinding eyes with tears
And bleeding hearts scream in the silence

The children's eyes roll back in their heads
A soldier, A needle, A rush
And suddenly they are immortal
And shoot to the sweet beat of rap
Mindless games

I am not thin enough
Definitition of beauty
The dizzying smell of
Red toenail polish
Three layers
Darker Darker Darker red

Swollen stomachs and outstretched arms
The children greet us
I have a headache
Eyes behind my hands
A stranger lying in the street
Skin and bones
Like the elephant we tiptoe around
In denial of pandora's open box
And in their eyes all I see is dark red

A black general stands before us all
Talking about children sacrifices
Flesh and bones in pieces
Like shattered glass in the dusty road
Like my heart
Children soldiers eating children's hearts

Blinding eyes with tears
Now he is white like snow
Dark red Crossed out by a God and 4 nails

And I sit in the taxi
Feeling the sweet rap beat
And the bleeding hearts growing on the rubble
And feeling helpless because
My heart is bleeding too

A father holds his tiny child
As the world moves around them
And their eyes meet
Innocence reaches to touch the red pain with its tiny hand
And hope is born

Smiles

These are from the last time we went to Bonjeh town. ABout a month ago. It's a very remote village. Mercy ship crew originally provided them with a bridge so that they wouldn't be cut off when it rained to hard. Now Sherry goes there about once every other week. She helps with the Birthing clinic.

We take one of the big white landrovers, through huge puddles and over potholes and accross narrow bridges and through the brush. We pass casava fields and womenn washing clothes in huge puddles and as we near the village I hear a chorus of high pitch voices yelling. And then I see them. Huge smiles and glowing eyes and tiny hands waving and little feet jumping up and down and running after us. "Mercy Ships! Mercy ships!" The old people sitting outside shacks smile. And the mothers selling and preparing food, wave.

We park by their small white washed church building. They are building a chicken hutch in the back and there are benches nearby where the mothers sit holding sleeping babies and chatting. We sing songs with them and play games and draw in the sand. We play football (American: soccer.) They show me the school and show off their spelling skills on the chalk board. And then they take me to the birthing clinic that the Duncans just finished painting. And then we go back to the church. One boy starts the rythm and pretty soon a few more boys join in with shakers and smaller drums and I dance with the little girls.

These people have nothing. They throw their arms open and welcome us. Perhaps they welcome us because they have gotten and still expect support and help from us. But I never fail to be surprised by their vitality. Especially the children. Their enthusiasm and smiles.

15 Minutes

Good Morning! I suppose it's around 6am there. Whether you're just rolling out of bed, or have already begun your day, I just want to remind you to think about it. Think about the warm bed you just rolled out of. Think about the breakfast you just ate. I love that post sleep haze. And you look in the mirror after washing your face, thank God, because it could all be swept away in 15 minutes.


Over breakfast I heard the stoory of a mother who escaped the rebel forces during the war. Escaped 15 minutes before they came. With children they had to keep quiet as their house was plundered. With the clothes on their back. And that was it. Talk about divine protection. How within moments, everything we as humans have worked for can slip away. And yet how much we take for granted.

This morning we all had a group prayer. It was so good...healthy. It's like when we all take time to really pray together and bare our hearts before God, all the little things of this world that we so easily get caught up in, slip away. And I am suddenly aware of how human I am and how God He is and how much He has blessed me. With these amazing people I work with incredible roommates. Roommates that are willing to discuss Bible verses untill 11:00pm. Roommates that are willing to have fun and carry eachother's burdens. I am so awed at the beauty of a God that brings people together in pain or joy for His glory.

We're starting an accountability group. I guess it came out of discussions after a devo about constantly being in prayer. We're making a prayer box. :) Ellen and I have started going to one of the small groups on board. We're reading 1st, 2nd and 3rd John. It's been so cool to see how God uses it to speak to each of us in our own unique situations.

Perfume

I am alive, believe it or not.

I have lately encountered an annoying flaw when it comes to blogging. I cannot cut, paste, or copy to or from or within my blog. I find myself increasingly antagonized, because, perfectionist as I am, I like to spill everything out on paper and then organize it adding flavor and color and humor as I go...using cut and paste.

Inspiration is a beautiful thing. And this morning I was inspired. This morning Sherry talked to us about the many names of God. And one of them is "a bundle of myrh." The scripture was about how God is like a refreshing aroma to a weary and lost child..I forget the exact words. But it was beautiful. Like the smell after the rain. I always thought of a legacy like a kind of perfume...you can still smell the sweetness even after that person has left the room. That's what I want my legacy to be like. And it made sense. Because if Jesus is like myrh than he will refresh my spirit and cover me with His sweet, refreshing spirit.

Maybe this Jesus Myrh is different for everyone.

For me this Jesus myrh is all the laughs and encouragement at work.
And music.
And African spicey.
And the sparkling eyes of the children here.
And the sky at sunset as one blue fading end hides behind purple clouds that deepen in color towards the edges and the other end is splashed with blinding gold and blue and then in hardly any time at all it deepens as strands of tangerine scream My Creator.