The Rest of the SIM Liberia team

Last month, I posted some pics of some of the SIM-Liberia team. Now that I have gathered a few more pictures, here are the rest of the group.

This is Gary and Tammy Dunseath, with their kids (from l. to r.) Jedidiah, Micah, Mateo and Hadassah. Gary works along with the ECUL churches, and teaches at the ETSEL Seminary in pastoral ministry. Tammy homeschools this crew, certainly a full time job. They are from the USA, but Gary is originally from N. Ireland. They've been with us in Liberia since April 2007.

Frieda Schmidt just returned from her short home assignment in Canada - she joined us off Mercy Ship back in 2005 to open a dental clinic at the ELWA Hospital with some donated equipment. In 2006 she joined SIM and came back to the field in 2007. She and Keith Chapman (see the other post about the new team) are anxious to get their newly renovated and equipped clinic opened up in the coming weeks! This is a really exciting expansion for our ministry here!
Tim Hart arrived in September from New Zealand to be here for a year - a big sacrifice considering he had just gotten engaged before he left! He is working to build relationships with young adults and the leaders of youth ministries in some ECUL churches. He just moved into the apartment next door to us so we are getting to know him. His ministry is a tough one because it really requires initiative and discovering how God can use him in a pretty unstructured area.


Kreig and Karen Ecklund, with Kaitlyn and Kaleb, are also on loan to us from Mercy Ships, in a way. They are trying to adopt this adorable little Liberian girl, Kiara, and are having trouble with the paperwork, so they have moved onto land and will be in Liberia until it can be processed. Kreig is helping ELWA in their newly opened central business office, getting the financial record keeping and procedures in place. He is a real Godsend, though we know that his time with us may be limited. (makes it hard to pray with an unbiased heart, but the uncertainty of their situation is a trial really) Karen is another one of our full-time homeschooling moms.

Last but by no means least, this is Naomi Olson. She is the only one of our team not based in Monrovia. She lives in Greenville, where she is the Nursing Director for the ELWA Hospital/EU project to help re-open the government hospital there. She carries a lot of responsibility in a difficult situation but her presence is greatly appreciated in Greenville. She comes into town about once a month to rest and visit.

So that technically puts us up to 16 people on the team. But wait, there's more... Steve and Carol Kejr arrived this weekend to be with us for 6 months while the new generator gets installed and to help navigate some changes at ELWA Services, making us 18! There are more, but it's getting tedious. I'll let you know as people arrive: teams, short-termers and a few other long term folks. Is this not an amazing change???? We're blown away.