friends ask the best questions

Recently, a friend asked me " well how will this change the way you act at TNU?" This is the first time I had been asked this question and it really hit me because I didn't have a clue.

My first answer to him was "I don't really know". Soon I replied with a general answer of, " well it will make me more patient with everything and everybody". What a lame answer. haha. Since then, I've been thinking about this question and what my real response should be.

This trip has made me a different person. I have grown up and matured. It's been hard coming back and dealing with old issues because I go back into the old Devon mode, but have realized I can't do that anymore because it's not who I am. So there is part one of my change when I go back to Trevecca. I am not going to be the same grudge holding girl that I use to be, but one who can forgive and forget and move on. I am not saying it'll be easy by any means, but its something that needs to happen.

I also feel more prepared for the tough situations I will go in to. I realize I no longer have to get mom or dad to fight my battles, but that I can do it on my own. The three of us girls have been through a lot the past two months and we had nobody but ourselves to stand up for what we knew was right. I now see how capable I am of being an adult and getting things taken care of that are my own to worry about.

People need to also be aware of what happened this summer. As we were at training camp talking, we decided the best way to get people involved was by telling our stories. My story is by far nothing I would want to send anybody else into, but its also something people need to realize about missions. "It's not always a success story"- Joel. And ours was a success, we grew and we did great things, but we were not always happy. People need to see missions is not always this happy fairy tale kind of adventure. I didn't realize the good we did until we got back and I am still realizing more and more every day. Telling my story is something that must be done and even the stories of the people I met. I'd like to see a change in the campus and see more people wanting to help.

I hope this answers your question Parker. I thank you for asking me because it's something I needed to look it to before I got back.

the last ten days of adventure...

News Flash: We are now back in America! :D nothing could be better...but there is a lot yall need to here before we talk about home...

the sunday before we left, the new hampshire work and witness team returned to Monrovia to prepare for their departure. Thank Goodness! We got to hear Pastor Jeff speak and then spend some time with all of them before they left. Not exactly what we thought it would be though. We were taken to Mamba Point, a popular upscale hotel more commonly used by the NGOs and government officials. We first walked in an immediately were FREEZING!! we were all like what is a/c?? haha and the restaurant was ten times more amazing than anything we had seen. It also had a hefty price of 15$ per chinese buffet. WOW. way too much to take in all at once. it was even harder having two of our Liberian friends with us. They had no clue where to start on the menu. and then the other team was treating them like they knew nothing. one of the precious ladies set there and explained a digital camera and koolaid to janet. they are not completely oblivious to things. they are people. so it was a hard day, especially to see them leave.

The next few days held VBS and moving. After I killed a mouse in Sadie's toilet, we were moved to a new guest house in a totally new place. It had ac and tv and was quite amazing. It was a great way for us to get more use to going back home. We had a little issue with the people around us because one such figure was not one we completely appreciated, but other then that it was great. The people who ran it were amazing especially the sweet security guard who was older and loved to buy us bread and take picture with us. Peasly was great!

Sadie ended up getting a really bad cold, so Jen and I did our last VBS and the GOL 2010 project on the beach. That was a lot of fun. We just got to spend time with the people and people more our age.

Our farewell service at outreach was really good. The youth gave us dresses and bracelets to remember our trip by and everyone said goodbye. It was hard to leave my sweet babies behind and not even really get to say goodbye because of some mess ups. Poor alex cried because his decontee(me) was leaving. What a sweet boy. We then moved to the mother and father day service at central church. This was really interesting to see. The fathers that were chosen were the ones giving the most money to the church. Not really great ethics but if it works for them. Funny thing is, we hadnt eaten all day. So Evangeline, the wonderful, made us fried chicken, sandwiches, and french fries. It was the best last meal in Liberia.

The next few days were filled with getting travel things finalized and packing up. And then hitting the road to the airport. The airport was quite annoying because you have to be there like exactly 3 hours before and not earlier. So we had to get food and thank goodness we did because there was little to nothing in the two gate one room waiting room. haha here we waited for a whole lot longer than expected because the plane was late. But what a relief to get on a plane and take off.

Belgium was just as confusing because all the flights were delayed so we almost missed all of our flights back but luckily it all worked okay as every plane was delayed.

El Paso was great. All summer we though it would be dumb and we just wanted to go home, but it was such a big help. It really helped me realize that it was not a awful trip. A lot of good came from it. We reached a lot of children and even started two churches. We made relationships with the people in liberia and grew up. What a great trip it was minus the few flaws. none the less God is an awesome God.

purple hair, mice, and rain

well a lot has happened since june. we spent a couple of days just getting adjusted and resting before we started ministy. are first day back was a good one. the church was called city view and its because it was on the top of a mountain like thing and you could look over this valley which was absolutely gorgeous. we also played volleyball which was loads of fun for myself. the ministy went very well that day as well. the children were really responsive to our lesson and games. we met a boy who they called pastor because he prays for everyone. it was so precious when he prayed. sunday we had our new african outfits and went to the central church in monrovia. it was a lot of fun because they let us sing with the choir and there was another little pastor named JJ who is now my little bf though i never see him. haha but being that it was july 4th we went to the beach which was loads of fun! we roasted hot dogs and made smores with some of the african youth. they absolutely loved it! monday sadie was under the weather so jen and I took on 200 plus kids that were very wild. thats to say it was not an easy VBS. all they were after was what we had to give. and the children didnt listen to anyone...tuesday it was much better and the children loved being around us and the song father abraham. :D wednesday i was ready for a break and not feeling good so i stayed back and jen and sadie went. they visited the church that the pastor died at most recently and said it was great. he had done so much with the kids they even knew more verses to father abraham. im so happy it was a good day. the next day was suppose to be rest but we had to move guest house because of reservations. our new house is not so fantastic. we are paying for running water and only one of us gets a shower before its gone. and the current aka electricity is awful. haha but while we were at the other guest house we got to go to an american store and get great food. we got chicken wraps that are called shawarmas and they are amazing. plus it had ac...AMAZING!!! but now we are away from that and back to cooking our own food and all. we have a mouse eating our food which is a problem now too. but we have had to rest because the past two days it has just poured rain. so no beach or gol football camp. so we got our hair braided and got purple extensions! oh and mexican fiesta after one car broke down and we made it back to the american grocery store. haha. soo no too bad! hopefully tomorrow we will meet up with the team getting ready to leave and spend some time with them. only 10 more days till we leave...cant wait to be back in america!

ant bears

long time no talk huh? lol its been a crazy and hectic past two weeks...since then... we have been in zwedru which is about ten hours from where we started. there we did 5 VBS and 2 Jesus Film Showings. As we went we were given real African names in Crahn. Mine is Decontee which means everything has time. Supposedly its because I was there at the right time. The Other Girls were Poyea and Komona which are forms of blessings. We really enjoyed our time there because of the people. We stayed in a little old ladies house with her grandkids and great grand kids. we loved it there. we called her mama because she officially is our African Grandmother. She helped us wash and cook. Even showed me how to open cans with a large knife and rock. Who needs can openers? haha we loved her though and the crying kids. lol when we left we gave her a bowl of many great items for her to use and she just cried. saddest goodbye yet. oh and witch child lived across the street we are pretty sure. she was really scary. haha. but the spiders stayed away for the most part. the worst thing was a snake got in the house. thank goodness for men being there because we were all freaking out! lol we also got to see monkies while we were there and an ant bear which is kind of like an ant eater. way cool! lol AND TIM came to see us. what a great thing to have a family member visit nd just give us all a bear hug! amazing! our trip back to monrovia was great too. we got to stop in ganta and see little monica and got in at a great hour. plus we discovered an amazing grocery store that is air conditioned and totally american! haha and having pizza tonight was great! but we must go welcome the in coming work and witness team. love to all!

oh liberia

why hello world! a lot has happened since i was last able to post. im going to try and keep it as simple as possible...we left ganta the day after i last wrote. it was very sad because i had to say goodbye to monica and she called me momma as she ran towards me. what a precious little girl. we then stayed the night in a small town called sanniquelle and each had our own room. i was in the honeymoon suite i believe as i continued to find things everywhere!we were not able to show the jesus film because it rained! but we did a radio interview which was cool. literall, they had air conditioning!! haha the next day we did vbs in the town which probably brought over 300 kids! never dealt with so many. it got quite frustrating but possible to handle. and they fed us rice with chicken foot soup on top! ewww...lol then off to karnplay another town. here we stayed with a wonderful family but their babies were terrified of us.lol here we did two vbs and one night of the jesus film. other nights were rained out and our leader left us at one point(please pray about that situation). sunday was travis and my 7 month anniversary! haha im sure you all love to hear that,but im excited!we taught sunday school that day which was fun but not many were there because it had rained pretty hard all morning! we then left for the ds home in Vayanglay. this is probably the most remote place in africa. crazy to think huh. his family is amazing. especially his 5 year old michael! he snuggled with me and jen our last night and told his dad he was going with us to america! precious.but we did a vbs and two nights of jesus film here. it got harder as we went in the bush because most everybody speaks guil. so we often had to be translated. the last morning jen killed a chicken(gross) and they did a farewell service where they gave us wraps for our mothers and material for us to make a dress for us and a shirt for our dads. these people were very wonderful. we then had a ten hour drive to the southeast.you may ask why ten hours...there are no roads. like no pavement...so it was very bumpy and with little food it was very annoying! we were all very car sick by the time we made it to zwedru. we are currently staying in a family home...with thousands of large spiders. they say they wont hurt us...but when they are smart enough to get into your tucked in mosquito net...there are issues to be had. so we will see what happens. the schedule keeps changing but there should be another update soon! thank you for all of your prayers!!!

INTERNET FINALLY!!!

HEY EVERYBODY! I am here safe and sound. it only took about 20 hours in the air and 30 hours total travel! it was very exhausting! we had no trouble finding Rev. Johnson but then it was another hour drive to the place we were staying. once we got there we got peanut butter and bread to eat and fanta! what a great first meal! lol we had to get up the next day at 7 to eat breakfast! very hard and we went back to sleep after to be awoken 2 hours later by Big D our leader I guess you would say! we heard news of a pastor dying in Monrovia so our schedule was changed as to not disturb the mourning. We soon headed to Ganta, a 6 hour taxi drive! very long and we were very squished! lol once we got here we met Reverend Bayou and his wife and they took us to our home. WAY LIBERIAN! we have no running water, we have to pour water in the toilet to make it flush(at least we have one of those, already I had to use a liberian toilet, crazy experience), we bathe with a cup and bucket of water, only have electricity certain hours, and we cook on a coal stove. haha. i came with too many expectations! it has been vvery hard for me to be here but I am trying to make it through. The next day we did a VBS for the first time. It went over very well! and all the children are just precious. :D I already have a little girl who follows me around. Her name is monica and she is 3. I found out just today that as soon as her mother graduated high school she died leaving Monica and her brother. My heart is now broken for my sweet girl who falls asleep in my lap everytime I hold her! The next day we got to go to church! the children sunday school teacher had a motorbike accident(which we rode) so we taught! There were soo many children we were flowing out of the room! but it was great! and we showedt the passion for the first time klast night! it was so harsh for the children but we had not time for response that night. we have also gotten our hair platted(cornrowed) so we are much cooler now. our food is HOTTTT and has fish and rice mainly. thats too say I havent eaten a whole lot, but enough for me to live! Please continue to pray as we leave tomorrow for Karnplay for a week! I love you all!!!

-Dev

cultural experiences!

today was incredible! it started with the bus system. crazy confusing...i give props to people who take those crazy things every single day! once we figured it out...we made it all the way to La Iglesia Del Senor which was right next to the border, very sketch, and the time was different on the building then the website. So we began to search for a new church (thank goodness to blackberrys!). we then found the Immaculate Conception (catholic) church and there just happened to be a spanish service at 10. So we stayed for mass and didnt have a clue what was going on. But catholics get the job done! it was such a fast service! we then wanted lunch even though it was like 1030...so we tried to ask a beggar to lunch but she knew no english...so we used a translator but foun her to already be taken care of. so we asked the lady who translated, nelly, where we could get good mexican food. she told us she was going to a place and that we could go with her. Best food ever. and to just hear nellys story. she lived in the city acrosss from us in mexico but had lived in el paso a long time.` she joked about taking us over there but knew it was too dangerous for us. she then led us to shopping along with the young boy who worked at the restaurant. after shopping we went to the holocaust musuem which was really cool. and then back here. we got our iteneraries. we fly from elpaso to houston to brussels belgium to liberiaand the same thing back! im so ready for some chocolate! TONIGHT we did a prayer walk. i normally feel very good after these, but i had a very heavy heart and i couldnt figure out why. i knew it had to do with me not being able to cry but nothing had touched me that deep until joel got down on his knees and washed his fathers feet and then they switched places. it made me realize i need to loove as our father loves, especially with my own father. I love my daddy but i am not sure i always show it to the best of my ability. but now the world knows. What an incredible day. everybody leaves tomorrow...luckily we get to do laundry since we will be here do long! yay... but i miss my bf so i am going to talk to him :D