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 40:1-3 (TLBP)
Dear Friends and Family,
As I sit down to write you, we are in the middle of an eleven-day visit from my (Chris') parents. They are officially the first of our friends or family to visit us here in Freetown. Having them here has been a wonderful learning experience for all of us. Experiencing day-to-day life in Freetown with my parents here, helps me see things with fresh eyes.
I am realizing again just how much our perspective shapes our thoughts, ideas, and very lives we lead. For a new comer here, many of the sights and sounds of Freetown that we've become semi-accustomed to, are brand new, exhilarating, and dreadful, all at the same time. Walking across the stratified trash in Kroo Bay, surrounded by wallowing pigs and children playing, I realize something about myself. I realize how easy it is to become callous to these tragic surroundings. One thing is sure: this is not what God intended for his creation! As we experience afresh how the majority of the world lives, we cannot help but broaden our life perspective. Often unintentionally, we gravitate toward a subtly selfish world view. We inadvertently think more highly of ourselves, our own families, and our own countrymen than those outside those circles. As we broaden our life perspective, we can better understand God's global perspective because he sees and cares for all of his children, no matter their country or continent, equally. While we cannot fathom the depths of His love for each of the least of these, we can begin moving closer to a love that cares deeply across lines of culture, and continent.
Having my parents here really makes us wish that we could share a week of life here with each of you. Our weeks are filled with small groups, home visits, one-on-one meetings with our youths, tutoring, youth group meetings, staff Bible studies and prayer times, Kroo Bay on Saturdays along with ultimate frisbee and the beach with the boys each week. In the midst of these things, life in Freetown is more challenging than in the States. It just takes more patience and more time and effort to run errands and take care of household chores. At the end of the day, it is the transformation and growth in our youth that make the lives we live worthwhile here.
I love Psalms 40:2, where it talks about Him steadying us as we walk along. On February 18th, we will be celebrating our one-year anniversary on the field. We feel so blessed to be the tangible expression, here in Freetown, of so many who stand behind us. Thank you again for your ongoing prayers and support. The grace we've experienced this past year, and the physical health we've been blessed with in this environment are truly extraordinary. Thank you!
Please do remember the adoption process specifically this month. We anticipate a court date around March 20th. Please pray for our lawyer, the judge, the birth mother, and us. Pray that things flow smoothly and everything is completed in one hearing. Erin and I will both be so thrilled to walk out of court with the official adoption order in hand! After receiving the High Court order, we'll have about a month to begin applying for Keyara's passport and visas to travel to Romania. We trust that these things will also flow smoothly.
As a team, we continue to look forward to sharing an upcoming trip with our Sierra Leonean and American staff to visit Word Made Flesh Romania. This is an important step as we dream about what WMF Sierra Leone could look like. We are still trusting God to provide the balance of about $8000 for the travel costs for our four Sierra Leonean co-workers so our entire staff can share this team-building time.
I trust this is a bite-sized update for everyone for now. We love you guys and so appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
Serving Him in Community Together,
Chris, Erin and Keyara