Praise God for His goodness and mercy. The miracle of Jesus's birth offers a minute glimpse into God's magnificent and mighty character. He reigns over all creation, yet sent His son as a servant King to rescue this fallen world. And as if that's not enough, He also intercedes on our behalf through the power of the Holy Spirit (our "ace in the hole" here on earth).
We headed out to a nearby beach this past Sunday night to have a bonfire. Twenty of us (between the ages of 18 and 30) piled into two Land Rovers and headed 35 minutes away from our beloved refuge. 24 cold bottles of Coke, 35 bananas, a bag of chocolate chips, plenty of marshmallows, and a frisbee--Does it get any better than that? West African beaches are among the most beautiful in the world. The soft sand and warm Atlantic waters of Liberia make for a relaxing holiday any time of year. As the afternoon became dusk, we built a fire on the beach and roasted our banana s'mores. Ocean sounds competed with spirited conversation and guitar music to fill the warm night air around our camp. Around 10 pm, we packed up and started back for the ship. Taking the familiar route back, we had no knowledge of what we would soon encounter.
Liberia has elected Africa's first woman president-- Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of the Unity Party. Peaceful elections were held one month ago, with the help of international election commitees. Ellen defeated Liberian soccer superstar George Weah, of the CDC party. She is more qualified, superiorly educated, and of higher moral character than Mr Weah. Since the election results, the CDC has protested, claiming allegations of fraud and ballot stuffing. Sunday night, George Weah returned from a post-election trip, and spoke to his supporters, encouraging them to "...seek justice, and we will use all means to obtain that." According to CNN online, Weah said, "There is no victor for now, and I say there will be no inauguration in the country until the world gets together and finds a means for a peaceful resolution to the problem," For more on his speech, click this link: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/Africa/12/11/liberia.election.ap/index.html
Later Sunday night, the CDC rally turned violent, and UN rapid strike forces were mobilized to different parts of Monrovia. Angry CDC supporters assaulted, threw rocks, and shot at passing cars-- severely damaging 11 UN vehicles.
As we navigated the dark road that night, our land rover duet encountered a road block, forcing us to take an alternative and unfamiliar route. It was our first indication that something might be wrong. We drove for an hour through noisy crowds and traffic. The roads kept turning, and we had to turn around numerous times. Finally it hit me. We (or at least I) didn't really know where we were, or how to get back to the ship! Amidst the confusion, someone from our party established communication with a UN vehicle in front of us. It was a confusing and frightening time for all of us. One of the girls suggested we pray-- so we did. By the grace of God, the UN truck safely diverted us to the German embassy. After waiting three hours, we were given the green light from our security department to head back to the Anastasis via an alternative route. Our convoy was now four, as two other mercy ship rovers had been diverted to the embassy as well. God protected, and the Holy spirit comforted as we rumbled down Somalia Road (the road we took to get back) at 1 am Monday morning. Our captain was on the gangway as all four of his vehicles pulled onto the dock. His face showed nothing but happiness, but we all knew his heart had been heavy this night.
Maybe I don't understand the severity of the danger here. Maybe I don't understand violence or war at all. I just know that through everything that happened Sunday night, people were doing well. We were all calm and no one was freaking out. Most were laughing and joking through out much of the evening. There was tension, but spiritual confidence is an amazing thing. Paul said it in Romans 8:31--"What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?" And for greater assurance, skip down to verse 39!
Thank you Father for the confidence we can have, not in ourselves, but because you live inside of us! It is only by your strength that my weakness may prevail. Help me to trust and obey you always. Amen.
I love you all. Please order some warm weather for me as I return in 10 days.
We headed out to a nearby beach this past Sunday night to have a bonfire. Twenty of us (between the ages of 18 and 30) piled into two Land Rovers and headed 35 minutes away from our beloved refuge. 24 cold bottles of Coke, 35 bananas, a bag of chocolate chips, plenty of marshmallows, and a frisbee--Does it get any better than that? West African beaches are among the most beautiful in the world. The soft sand and warm Atlantic waters of Liberia make for a relaxing holiday any time of year. As the afternoon became dusk, we built a fire on the beach and roasted our banana s'mores. Ocean sounds competed with spirited conversation and guitar music to fill the warm night air around our camp. Around 10 pm, we packed up and started back for the ship. Taking the familiar route back, we had no knowledge of what we would soon encounter.
Liberia has elected Africa's first woman president-- Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of the Unity Party. Peaceful elections were held one month ago, with the help of international election commitees. Ellen defeated Liberian soccer superstar George Weah, of the CDC party. She is more qualified, superiorly educated, and of higher moral character than Mr Weah. Since the election results, the CDC has protested, claiming allegations of fraud and ballot stuffing. Sunday night, George Weah returned from a post-election trip, and spoke to his supporters, encouraging them to "...seek justice, and we will use all means to obtain that." According to CNN online, Weah said, "There is no victor for now, and I say there will be no inauguration in the country until the world gets together and finds a means for a peaceful resolution to the problem," For more on his speech, click this link: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/Africa/12/11/liberia.election.ap/index.html
Later Sunday night, the CDC rally turned violent, and UN rapid strike forces were mobilized to different parts of Monrovia. Angry CDC supporters assaulted, threw rocks, and shot at passing cars-- severely damaging 11 UN vehicles.
As we navigated the dark road that night, our land rover duet encountered a road block, forcing us to take an alternative and unfamiliar route. It was our first indication that something might be wrong. We drove for an hour through noisy crowds and traffic. The roads kept turning, and we had to turn around numerous times. Finally it hit me. We (or at least I) didn't really know where we were, or how to get back to the ship! Amidst the confusion, someone from our party established communication with a UN vehicle in front of us. It was a confusing and frightening time for all of us. One of the girls suggested we pray-- so we did. By the grace of God, the UN truck safely diverted us to the German embassy. After waiting three hours, we were given the green light from our security department to head back to the Anastasis via an alternative route. Our convoy was now four, as two other mercy ship rovers had been diverted to the embassy as well. God protected, and the Holy spirit comforted as we rumbled down Somalia Road (the road we took to get back) at 1 am Monday morning. Our captain was on the gangway as all four of his vehicles pulled onto the dock. His face showed nothing but happiness, but we all knew his heart had been heavy this night.
Maybe I don't understand the severity of the danger here. Maybe I don't understand violence or war at all. I just know that through everything that happened Sunday night, people were doing well. We were all calm and no one was freaking out. Most were laughing and joking through out much of the evening. There was tension, but spiritual confidence is an amazing thing. Paul said it in Romans 8:31--"What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?" And for greater assurance, skip down to verse 39!
Thank you Father for the confidence we can have, not in ourselves, but because you live inside of us! It is only by your strength that my weakness may prevail. Help me to trust and obey you always. Amen.
I love you all. Please order some warm weather for me as I return in 10 days.
posted by Dan at 8:07 PM
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