Dear Family and Friends,
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
Greetings of hope, joy, and peace to you.
THANK YOU so much for your generous gifts, prayers, care packages, and emails. I am humbled and grateful for your support. THANK YOU for being patient and gracious as I continue to struggle with communication problems here in Freetown. THANK YOU for giving me the opportunity to be your ambassador of hope and grace in Freetown.
Since communication has been irregular at best, with many lost emails and letters, this letter will attempt to briefly summarize what’s been happening in Freetown this year. Hopefully it will fill in some gaps, bring you up to date, and greatly encourage you.
The Word Made Flesh Sierra Leone Field has changed dramatically with the addition of new staff. Keith and Laura Padgett, who interned in Sierra Leone July 2004, returned as staff members in January 2005. Keith has been researching different refugee camps in the area, developing encouraging relationships with Sierra Leonean pastors, as well as handling the bulk of administrative tasks for the Lighthouse youth sponsorship program. Laura has been teaching at Lighthouse, gently befriending some market women, and developing our new child sponsorship program. Please read the attached letter for an overview of this exciting opportunity.
Faye Yu arrived in February to begin preparations for our first Servant Team, which arrived mid-August. She is facilitating this spunky group of five women with wisdom and grace.
In late April Faye, Noah (the wonderful Sierra Leonean we partner with in the Kroo Bay slum area), and I traveled to Romania for a Word Made Flesh regional retreat and community visit. We enjoyed a great time of refreshment during a weeklong contemplative retreat in the foothills. Then we reveled in the compassionate beautiful ministries God has created among the poor through the Word Made Flesh community there, visiting their drop-in center and boys’ home, spending time with the children, teens, and Romanian staff. I left feeling more nourished and energized than I have in over 18 months. Now, we are trying to implement all the deeply powerful insights we gleaned from the dynamic community there, namely, honoring one another by celebrating each individual’s talents and self-sacrifices, abandoning ourselves to God through contemplation, and setting high standards and appropriate boundaries with the youth we serve.
As I was preparing to leave Romania I received word that my beloved grandmother was dying, so I briefly returned to the U.S. to spend some time with her. I will cherish those moments with her for the rest of my life. She passed away after I returned to Africa. I mourn deeply for her. I also thankfully celebrate a life well lived, and hope to emulate her beautiful ways.
I returned to Sierra Leone in June with Joe and Mindy Eichorn, who had interned here during the spring of 2004. They have volunteered to be our Community Care facilitators as well as being responsible for first aid and medical needs in our ministries. Taking the Bible seriously, the Eichorns have been challenging us all by befriending a destitute family. Sacrificing much time and personal resources, they have begun to find creative generous ways to assist the family towards economic self-sufficiency.
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 1 John 3:17
So, now Word Made Flesh has six staff and five Servant Team members here in Freetown. That’s a huge change: 1 to 11 in eight months! I am so thankful and relieved. All the loose ends that kept slipping through my hands while here alone are now being braided into a strong, beautiful cord, with brilliant new strands being added by various members. Because of everyone’s willingness to shares responsibilities I am finally able to realize one of my dreams: for the past three weeks I have been blissfully teaching some of the teens how to read.
We are all diligently working to create an open, challenging, dynamic, safe community as we work, worship, and play together. I have been chosen as the Acting Field Director for the time being, and would greatly appreciate your prayers as I move into this role. Reluctant I am to assume this position, but after counsel and prayer feel that it is in the best interest of the field.
The Lighthouse youth are thriving with all the newfound attention. All the teens enrolled in traditional school passed. One even ranked at the top of his class and is skipping a grade! The boys learning tailoring and carpentry are also doing well, working faster, more accurately, and adding creative flourishes now and then. Literally everyone I know, who has known the Lighthouse kids over a period of time, has commented with astonishment on the maturity and positive changes these boys have made. God must be answering your prayers! Keep it up!
The Lighthouse teens and Grafton Girls also enjoyed two retreats recently. The first was three day outing focusing on inner healing which we facilitated along with Sierra Leonean pastors. The youth enjoyed the preaching, community-building games, art therapy activities, and fellowship times. Overall it was an overwhelming success for our first retreat, our biggest problem being children fighting over cleaning supplies! The second camp, run by Youth for Christ, dealt with abstinence, and was also received positively, creating natural opportunities to talk candidly about sex, choices, and purity.
I could go on and on about the good things we are experiencing here in Sierra Leone, but perhaps I should close for now.
I would love to hear how you are doing and what you are up to these days. My contact information is below.
Love,
Cami Sigler
“When we trust profoundly that today is the day of the Lord and that tomorrow is safely hidden in God’s love, our faces can relax and we can smile back at the one who smiles at us. ”
Henri Nouwen
Cami Sigler
Box 545
Freetown, Sierra Leone