Setting aside time to blog about my trip to Liberia has been a challenge of late. The sudden need to search for new employment and get ready for a baby seems to consume any free time I have. So I am setting aside the time now.
As I start these reflection posts I felt the best place to start was the whole reason we went in the first place, the Library. If you are just stumbling across this blog for the first time I'll quickly recap... My wife's grandma, Lois Lindley, passed away last summer. Her grandpa, Verl Lindley, along with the help of family, friends, and all the people Lois impacted throughout her lifetime of ministry, was able to raise the funds to rebuild the ABC University library in her honor. The University itself was destroyed 16 years ago by civil war in Liberia and is currently being rebuilt by close family friends of the Lindleys, Del and Becky Chinchen.
All that being said none of us were quite sure what state the Library was going to be in when we got there. And I was wondering how much a team of six could really do to get a library fully functional in less than two weeks. We were all pleasantly surprised to see the library building itself was very far along when we arrived. Most of the heavy construction was finished, the tile was mostly laid out, and electrical lines were run. We were able to focus more on setting up the furniture and computers, and deciding how the books were to be arranged. Of course that ended up no small task. We had a few unexpected setbacks, like losing 28 computers on campus due to a faulty voltage regulator on the university generator and discovering we didn't have all the necessary equipment to set up the library software. However, it was satisfying to be able to say we finished what we came to do in the 10 days we were on campus.
Beyond the library itself meeting all the people tied to the school was enriching as well. Meeting the students, faculty, and the workers was so great and humbling at the same time. Hearing the stories of what many of them went through during the war and just to get to ABC made me realize how much we, as Americans, take for granted. Many of the students didn't even own a book before they started classes at ABC. Listening to the countless heartbreaking stories was sobering. And yet seeing the gratitude and joy on their faces as the campus, and their country, is progressively being rebuilt was so energizing. Just walking through the campus during the day we would continually have passersby say "Thank You."
Getting past all the technical issues of my job at the school and meeting the locals and students helped put a face to a struggle I had only a passing knowledge of. I have seen countless photos and video of people suffering and in need, but nothing really captures your attention as much as truly seeing what these people go through on a daily basis. I know I had it easy as far as mission trips, I had a nice bed, four walls, and three somewhat substantial meals, but seeing the state of the rest of the country was an eye-opener.
That's all for now. Later I plan to post more on my experiences in Yekepa, the orphanage, and Monrovia.
To see more photos of the Library and the complete trip visit my Flickr page. I have broken them into four sets: my favorite photos, photos of ABC and the library, photos of Yekepa (including the abandoned mine, trainyard), and the orphanage.
