How to move a BIG rock…

At the end of January, I (Rick) went on a 3 week trip to Africa. My goal was to do as much as possible to prepare for a return to Liberia in 2013, when I hope to get involved in training Family Physicians for Liberia. I spent the first 12 days or so in Nigeria, learning about the Family Medicine Residency Training programs there—how they structure their curriculum; how they do their testing; and how they evaluate their trainees. The training in West Africa is quite different than the training here in the U.S. Another SIM doc, Dr. Laura Smelter, was there preparing to begin work at Egbe Hospital and she needed to learn a lot of the same things I did—so it was great to get to know her and to have a fellow learner along to compare notes with. Dr. Musa Dankyau was our main teacher and guide—he was very generous with his time and has a wonderful and Godly perspective on his work as a physician. Here is Dr. Dankyau with his two trainees…

I then spent a week in Liberia. I had some wonderful visits with family friends; Ben and Natalie Colby graciously hosted me. One day, I had an appointment get cancelled, but instead got to observe at an important meeting on post-graduate education in Liberia, which is exactly what I am most interested in!

Finally, I was to leave on Wednesday February 8^th, but my flight was cancelled due to a dust storm blowing off the Sahara. The pilots could not see well enough to land the plane. My departure was delayed by 3 days. When God clears my schedule like that and gives me a free day—after all, no one knew I was even still in Liberia—I figure it is an opportunity to spend some time with Him. Thursday morning I went on a long walk on the beach, and before long the Lord gave me a picture to inspire me. ELWA (the ministry umbrella which operates ELWA Hospital, ELWA Academy, and ELWA Radio) has about 300 staff. Right now there are many challenges—ministry challenges, financial challenges. As I looked at one of the huge rocks along the beach, I got to thinking—if we have 300 people, and we want to move the rock, what is the best way to do it? Should we choose the strongest individual from among us, and give them the task of moving the rock, as our "champion"? Or should we choose the 10 most intelligent, most dedicated members of the staff to move the rock? Should we just pray and ask Jesus to move the rock? In my devotions that morning, I had been reading (Ephesians 3:10) how God wants to use the Church "to make known the manifold wisdom of God" to the Angels! I came to the inescapable conclusion that the only way to move that big rock would be to get a big rope around it and have ALL 300 of us pull with all our might as we prayed. God wants to use the body of Christ to overcome obstacles—when every member of the body is fully functioning and working in unity, then we will see results. I shared these thoughts with the Hospital Staff on Friday morning, and I continue to pray for more unity and fellowship to draw us all together in the task God has called us to. Thanks to all who prayed for my trip—I saw God's hand at work in so many ways! Yours, Rick

The Seal of Liberia

This is the seal of Liberia, and some friends bought this beautiful version of it to take home with us to remember this nation by! I really do think it's a beautiful seal and motto--and while there have been those in Liberia's history who oppressed others and did not live up to this motto, there have been many over the history of the nation who have indeed loved one another and sought only freedom and growth for their fellow creatures. As we are getting ready to leave for a while, this seal is one of the things that will be a catalyst to bring to mind all that I love about Liberia!

On Call at ELWA....

This past weekend, I (Rick) was on call at the hospital... my last weekend before we leave for the US. And tomorrow I'm on again, just for 24 hours. But last weekend was really over the top. I had a c-section on Friday night, another on Saturday morning, and one on Saturday night. Then they called me on Sunday morning a little after 6:00 to go see a patient who had been in labor all night. She was having her 2nd baby--the first had been born by cesarean at ELWA in 2005 because she couldn't progress in labor. The lady had come a remarkable way toward delivery--she was fully dilated, but feeling exhausted and said she was unable to push. When I got there she was telling me that she couldn't deliver and that we should just take her straight to the operating room. This patient was a relative to one of our midwives, who was there coaching her. This midwife had gotten discouraged too and decided it was time to operate--she'd already placed a catheter and started the pre-op IV fluids. I asked them to let us try the vacuum extracter (a rubber suction cup) to see if it could help her. We got her over to the delivery room, and then I took a moment to pray with her, just asking for God's wisdom (for us) and strength (for the patient). With some encouragement, she was able to get some good pushing going, and after more coaching, she really got the hang of it, and within a short time she had a beautiful baby! That was terrific, and really made my entire weekend. (She said to me later that she really didn't feel there was any hope until we had our little prayer together... amazing how bringing God into the situation can change things!) Then to top it off I had one more C-section sunday evening... all that OB on top of the normal routine rounds on 35 to 45 patients each day, emergency room consults and a few emergency ultrasounds. Wow! I was really worn out when that weekend was over! Thank God that only happens once a month.... phew!

Meanwhile, back at home, Deb is working hard to get things sold or given out, so our house can be empty when we go. And I've been trying to get my work situation wrapped up. Just 2 weeks to go.... With love, from Rick (for all of us)

A trip to the Du-Port,Liberia's first port

Hi everybody... as our time in Liberia is looking shorter and shorter (leaving in just over a month), we've enjoyed getting to know this rich country and culture better and better even in recent weeks. We took our second trip to Kpatawee waterfall a few weeks ago; we posted our first visit there a couple years ago. And yesterday we visited the Du-Port--known as "Liberia's first Port". This is a canoe-only creekside drop-off point for firewood, charcoal, other goods, and passengers wanting to get to Margibi county or Marshall. It was used for more serious cargo back in the years before Monrovia's Freeport was opened up. When you drive down to the end of Duport Rd. there's a paved circular road that gets you within a few yards of the creek, which feeds into the "Du" river (thus the name Duport). This was unfortunately also an area where many innocent people were killed during the 1990 war, and in fact there is a marker there in the traffic circle indicating that it is the site of a mass grave in which victims from some of the killings and atrocities in the 1990 war are buried. We were told by Mr. Kpahn, one of the community elders, that a durable memorial marker is being planned for the site:

Over the last few years a Liberian who has been living in the US has been working to develop an area that is about 25 minutes (when going with the current... more like 50 minutes when fighting the current) away by canoe... So we decided to take the canoe ride over to "Mangrove Paradise" as it is being called. After a few minutes of tough negotiations (I started at $10 US, he started at $35) we wound up at $20. I suspect on a different day you maybe could get the ride for $15... Here we are in the canoe (Caleb was with us, but he was hiding behind his brother!).

It's a terrific ride--very quiet. We saw some beautiful birds--a couple of tiny malachite kingfishers, some type of cormorant, and a couple beautiful little waterfowl. We're told the birds are more numerous late in the afternoon. And the trees are absolutely amazing--terrific intertwined mangrove root systems all along the river. Sometimes I felt I'd been transported to one of Tolkien's swampy forests! And in fact, we spotted some lovely round trees that we have tentatively identified as the lost entwives!

Great Roots, huh???

When we finally reached the "island" where Mangrove Paradise is to be built, it was a beautiful area, but not much had been realized yet.... just a few half-constructed huts and shelters. So it has great potential. Highly recommended for the lovely canoe ride!

Surprise Meeting with Rick

This evening something quite amazing happened. I was working late at the doctors' office at the hospital, and around 6 pm, our receptionist, Rilley, told me that Dr. Befus' brother had stopped in, and when he saw I was busy he said he'd be around and would check back later. I expressed my disbelief to Rilley, and all she said was "He resembles Dr. Befus!" Dr. Steve Befus served here with SIM for many years, taught me much of what I know, and was the one person most responsible (besides the Lord) for ELWA Hospital's survival through the war years. Steve passed away in 2003 due to cancer. I was kind of trying to figure out what Steve's brother would be doing here, and if it really was true. A bit later I stepped outside of the front door to take a call and saw him across the parking area! He was tall and walked a bit like Steve--the resemblance was unmistakable. His name is Rick Befus, and he's part of a team here from a church called "Harvest Chapel" in the Chicago area (correct me if I got the name wrong). He's been teaching at a church just a couple miles from here this week, and returns to the U.S. tomorrow. We talked briefly. It was great to connect with him, and great to be reminded of Steve B. and his faithfulness for 20 years of service to His Lord. Thanks God for arranging that! --Rick

Newsletter from Sacras

Here is a link to download our latest Newsletter--it's kind of a family update with some prayer needs and praise items. Thanks for listening!
http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BxmrBCeqHyiLNzU0ODFjZGQtNWVlOC00NWU3LTkwYTItMGFjN2NjZmQyODli&hl=en

Mt Coffee, Liberia

Hey... Mt Coffee... sounds like someplace you dream about with Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts at the summit! But it's actually the location in Liberia where the big hydroelectric plant used to be... and may be again some day. The team that has been out doing work on the ELWA power system, headed up by Steve Kejr, wanted to visit the old hydro-power plant on a Sunday and so the Sacras and the Lairds joined them on a little "field trip"--we started out with church in Kollieman Town, Todee District, which was quite nice... and then the Pastor, James Richards guided us on our way to Mount Coffee where he'd arranged several locally knowledgeable folks to give us a guided tour around the old hydro plant, and then on a hike about 1.8 miles up the old riverbed to the site of the major dam that diverted water to the hydro plant. It was about the hottest day of the year so far, so that was a little challenge for us, but we had a great time! Enjoy a few pictures and comments from the trip:


Here it is from the outside, and then, below, from the inside. It had 4 huge turbines inside, and during the wet season,provided a big part of Monrovia's electricity.

The insiders' view of the turbine's "home".

Then on the hike up to the main dam, the boys enjoyed themselves along the way--caves and cliffs, streams and rocks!

And a little drama for mom's sake (she was enjoying a lady's retreat in Ghana)... Please don't worry, Jared had his feet on a nice little ledge, perfect for standing on... honest!

Finally we made it to the big dam, built in the 60s, and with lots of evidence of partnership... parts from Wisconsin, parts with "Bethlehem Steel" stamped on them. The costs of restoring this project would be great, but imagine the rewards! With 200 plus inches of rain per year, Liberia's hydropower potential is awesome!

And for me, the view of the wide St. Paul River from the dam made it all worth it! Praise God!