I waited patiently for God to help me; then he listened and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out from the bog and the mire, and set my feet on a hard, firm path and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, of praises to our God. Now many will hear of the glorious things he did for me, and stand in awe before the Lord, and put their trust in him.
Psalms 40:1-4 (The Living Bible)
Dear Friends and Family,
Greetings from a cooler, wetter, Freetown. The rains are picking up as we speak and the evenings are cooler than we've seen here previously. We've experienced a new personal low temperature in our room one breezy, rainy night at 74 degrees Fahrenheit! We are enjoying the cooler temperatures. Just like the verse above talks about, we feel that God has set our feet on a hard, firm path, and it is His hand that steadies us as we walk along.
We have had a busy month. Let me try to remember the things we've been involved with here this past month….
Erin has continued with her physical therapy visits each week. She has even added a couple of patients and made a couple of trips to Mother Theresa's home here in Freetown. On a sad note, we learned this past week that one of her patients, a two-year old little girl with Downs Syndrome, fell sick a few days after the beach outing. Her loving parents took her to the hospital and they admitted her with a fever. Five days later she passed away. When Erin went to make her regular home visit, she felt the pain of the family, as the father wept for his daughter. Life can be hard, but it's harder here in Sierra Leone than most places. Please pray for this family in the coming weeks and months as they adjust to life without this precious little one in their midst. She will be missed.
For my own part, I've continued to take more responsibility in leading George and my small group. George will be leaving the first week in August and I will be in charge of leading these seven young men myself. Some days we have great small group discussions. Other days I feel disappointment and discouragement in not being able to communicate effectively what is on my heart to communicate. I've had several encouraging one-on-one conversations with some of the boys in my group over a coke at a cafe. For some it can be challenging to break through the “ice.” Many of them have been through more in their shorter lives than I have.
I continue to be challenged to find the balance between being the one to bring consequences to bad decisions and also being a happy-go-lucky friend. When one of the boys is skipping work and then wants to just hang out as if nothing is going on, it is hard to know how to deal with that. They need the friend, but they also need someone to lovingly reinforce them making right decisions.
We have had some good conversations with some Sierra Leoneans on our team and are encouraged by some of the new relationships we're developing with those inside our team and outside. God is answering our prayers for new friendships and relationships as time goes on here in Sierra Leone.
We were disappointed this week as we went back to the apartment owner we were looking to rent from. We came to find out that he was now asking more than he was when we left off negotiations two months ago. We've been excited about this house and looking forward to living there for the past two months. When I talked to him on the phone a couple of weeks ago he told me that we just needed to revisit the price and we could have the apartment. And so in my mind I thought, “well, he's agreed to come down and perhaps we can meet him half way.” You can imagine my surprise when I went to his office this week and he says now the lowest he'll consider is more than he had stated previously. :-p There is a real “white tax” here. He insisted “you have that money…..” And while we may be able to afford it, we would just be perpetuating this perception that you can overcharge white people because they'll pay it. My sense of justice revolts at paying more than an African would, but we are still really disappointed to miss this house. In the mean time, the house we're staying at has quieted down quite a bit and we're content to stay there for the interim until something else opens up. Thank you for all of your prayers for this through this time.
We're winding up for our Lighthouse camp next week and will have finished it by the time you receive this letter. We're planning camp along the lines of finding our identity in Christ, not in the things we have, the things we do, or the things people say about us. We're excited about the chance to speak into these youth's lives through this week. We'll look forward to reporting on this week in our next letter.
Thank you again for all of your prayers and support. You make our presence here possible through your support. In a sense you as much present here through us as we are. Thank you. We also wanted to let you know that we've decided to support George, one of our Sierra Leonean community members, with $300 to attend a theological studies course in Togo for three and a half months. Please feel free to be in touch if you have any further questions or ideas for us.
In the mean time, let's keep in touch. Thank you for the emails, phone calls, and skype dates. 🙂
Persevering in His Service,
Chris (and Erin) Harrell