A Month in Liberia

This is a picture of our new home. We live in the right half. We have been here a month now and are adjusting well to the new home, the new culture, and to a new organization. David is the full-time aircraft mechanic for Samaritan's Purse here in Liberia. The week we arrived co-incided with the Liberian Thanksgiving so the first couple of days there was no work for David and no school for Daniel and we got to focus on just settling in. 

David jumped right in at the hangar. He has lots of experience already on Caravans so that is coming in handy. And he is learning about helicopters, both a challenge and a neat opportunity. 

There are lots of different ministries taking place here at various times. This week a Samaritan's Purse medical team is here for the cleft lip project. One of David's first tasks at the hangar was installing a new gear on the Caravan. All of the guys worked together on it in order to have it airworthy in time to fly patients in for surgery. Daniel and I got to be involved in small ways also. He and some classmates have spent time playing with the kids who are waiting for their surgeries and I got to bake cookies for the team lunches. The cleft lip project is an amazing ministry. Please pray for the surgeons and everyone else involved, and that the patients and families will not only be changed physically and socially, but also spiritually. Here is a link to a video that tells more about the project: Just click HERE. 

I've already had an opportunity to use my sewing machine. A group of us got together to sew gift bags. These will be filled and given as gifts to upcoming graduates of Project Ruth. This ministry reaches out to ebola widows and utilizes grief counseling, job skills training, and micro-loans to help them with starting over. It was a neat opportunity for me to learn a little about another ministry I didn't previously know of, and to get to know some of the Samaritan's Purse ladies better while doing something to help out. I have joined a women's Bible study group, which I really enjoy and it has helped me meet people here.

Daniel is one flexible kid. He really liked his old school in Congo. He also really likes his new school here. There are people and things he misses, but he has found and embraced things he likes about being here and has adapted well. He loves living near the coast and getting to go to the beach. He likes that school doesn't start until 8:30 am. He quickly made friends and honestly, we don't see much of him because he is too busy doing things with his new friends and youth group to sit around the house. 

Ebola and MAF in Congo

Preparing to fly supplies to Boende, photo by Nick Frey

In our last prayer letter, we asked readers to pray for a quick end to the ebola outbreak and for all the medical personnel, patients, and officials affected by this virus. The outbreak began last March in a remote area in Guinea, and spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. Since we wrote that plea just a few weeks ago, the virus has gained momentum instead of slowing. Ebola has spread to Senegal and to a new area in Guinea that was previously unaffected. Last week alone nearly 400 people died, bringing the total deaths to more than 1,900. One hundred twenty health care workers have died.

Ebola was first discovered in 1976 in outbreaks that happened concurrently in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and is named for the river near the afflicted village in Congo. Since then, there have been over 20 known ebola outbreaks in Africa, eleven of them in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

More people have died in the current outbreak than in all of the previously known outbreaks combined. 

Another change since our prayer letter was written is that an unrelated ebola outbreak of a different strain is now here in Congo. To date there have been 53 confirmed cases and 31 deaths in the Boende District. DRC has a lot of experience with ebola and the area was quickly quarantined. Boende is in a remote area, 542 kilometers from Kinshasa, and not easily accessible. That makes it more difficult for the virus to spread, but it also makes it more challenging to get needed medical personnel and supplies in. This is where MAF comes in.

MAF has actively helped in past outbreaks and our team here is already making flights to Boende with medical teams and equipment and flying back with samples for the labs in Kinshasa. One very specific way you can pray is for a portable laboratory so that medical personnel can make a diagnosis within hours instead of waiting for days to confirm if someone has ebola or not.

Please pray. Ask God to burden his people to pray and to give us hearts that are broken over the pain, agony and death that people are suffering.

Pray for all affected.

Pray for an end soon. WHO is projecting that up to 20,000 people may become infected before this outbreak can be brought to an end. I am praying that they are WRONG.

Pray for the suffering economies of the affected countries as commerce has been greatly hindered. 

Pray for the governments and people in authority who have to make decisions about how to contain the virus.

Pray for believers to have strong faith and to be instruments of peace and calm when others are feeling afraid and panicky.

Pray for opportunities for people to hear the gospel and find hope and salvation in Christ.

Click here to read an MAF press release about our connection to the current outbreak.

Click here to learn more about the history of ebola, courtesy of the World Health Organization.