Dear Friends and Family,
Greetings from a beautiful, sometimes hot, often sunny Sierra Leone. We are quickly approaching our one month mark! We are getting into the swing of things and are excited to share a bit more about what we will be specifically involved with here in Sierra Leone. We're grateful for all of your thoughts and prayers through this transition. It has gone smoothly and we've been blessed with good health along the way. After four weeks we find ourselves settling more into our lives here.
We've been taking Krio language tutoring three times a week with a local Krio teacher. This time has been good and important for our transition into relationships here with Sierra Leoneans. Our Krio is coming along. After studying different languages over the past years, it is a little sad to have to start over again, but thinking about our longer-term commitment here makes studying a little easier.
Erin has begun investigating voluntary involvement with a local clinic in Kroo Bay, doing physical therapy one day a week. Kroo Bay is the slum where we help host a children's church each Saturday. There is small concrete and metal clinic located in the middle of this slum. They have some nutrition and immunization programs for infants and mothers. They also have mothers come there to give birth and they facilitate some basic public health education programs. Erin went with Noah to discuss using the clinic as a base of operations for some physical therapy work in the slum. She will begin doing one day a week and we'll see how the screening process goes with finding cases she can work with. We really have no idea how it will turn out. I guess they will be commissioning someone with a bullhorn to walk through the slum on Friday, Monday, and Tuesday morning, telling them about the physical therapy now available one day a week at the clinic. The director of the clinic assures us "they will come." It may just be a matter of sorting out which cases we can work with.
I (Chris) have been shadowing George with his group of seven young men. George will be going to Togo for three months of training in August. The hope is that I will be proficient enough in the language that I will be able to lead this small group by August. Please pray that I will pick up the language quickly. I have also been encouraged by connecting with Noah and George who are Sierra Leonean staff here. I'm even picking up a bit on English Premier League Soccer as its pretty much a requirement to be a man here. "Which team do you support?" "Uh…..I don't know, which one should I support?" Watching football/soccer matches at the small tin cinemas or bars is a favorite male activity. There is usually a generator rambling in the background and perhaps a fan to cool off the passionate spectators. There may be plastic chairs, but more often simple wooden benches. But it's only thirty-three cents. Sixty-six for you and a friend. It's good. 🙂
Dealing with the ups and downs of young men and women, who come from being raised by the streets, is continually challenging. Many of the youth are making good decisions and growing from the opportunities of education and apprenticeships they have. They are growing personally and in their relationship with Jesus. Others seem to make a wrong turn at every fresh opportunity given to them. As a community we are wrestling with the issues of balancing grace and second and third chances with tough love and allowing these youth we've journeyed with for several years now to feel the real consequences when they want to skip school or not go to their jobs. It is sad to think of letting them go, but it is tiring to go on behind them trying to cover for their bad decisions as well. Please pray for us as a community as we wrestle with restructuring our community principles and expectations for the youth. We long to demonstrate grace and love to those who have missed that in some of their formative years, but we also need to have consequences for ongoing bad choices.
Our community is going through a workbook about heart transformation. Last night at Lighthouse our small group discussion included a reflection on Solomon. In I Kings 3:5 God tells Solomon, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." Have you ever thought about this? I must confess, I don't think I'd ever really thought about what I'd say in response to God if he asked me this question. What is our heart's desire? Pray that God would continue to transform all of our hearts to reflect more passion for Him and for the things that he is passionate about in this world.
Serving Him in Community Together,
Chris and Erin Harrell