Our in between Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you back in America! Obviously, it's not a holiday here, but we had kind of an in between day. Caleb didn't have school, and Jared only did a few lessons (for those who haven't heard, Jared is now homeschooling via the internet). But Rick worked a very full day (and as you can see from the picture, didn't make it home for dinner which we wanted to eat while it was hot). It was kind of an in between meal, too. We had rice and Liberian pumpkin soup (it's like butternut squash), apple crisp and green bean casserole. (I saved megabucks -like seven- on french-fried onion rings by figuring out how to make them myself- it was easy, actually.)

It occurred to me that "in between" must be a bit how our kids feel about American Thanksgiving. Did you know that Caleb has only been in the US for 2 Thanksgiving holidays (1999 and 2004)? He actually does not remember either of those Thanksgivings at all (I asked him). He does, however, know the history of the holiday- go figure. Max has been able to develop some sense of tradition while he's been at D.A. They have a big intramural football tournament on Wednesday before the holiday and then he gets to have Thanksgiving dinner with the other SIM missionaries in Dakar.

Such is the in between life of a missionary kid.

By the way, please pray for Max and his schoolmates this weekend. They will be on an outreach to a rural area in Senegal, sharing the love of God and doing service projects. The school has developed a long term relationship with a group of villages through outreach visits over several years and it is having an impact.

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.

November Prayer update

Here's our prayer update for November in case it didn't come to you by email:

Dear Praying Friends -
It’s a new month again. Is it just me or do the months seems to go by so quickly?

I’m going to focus on Rick’s work this month, since he’s the one who’s kind of on the forefront of ministry right now. As I mentioned last month, Rick is really working full time at the hospital again. He loves that, but he had forgotten that it can be pretty exhausting.

Recently, Rick has been reminded about the many opportunities that his job allows him to speak into people’s lives, sometimes at very critical moments. One day in the clinic, he saw one man who was suffering with several venereal diseases. He agreed to be tested for HIV and the test turned out to be negative, much to his relief. Nonetheless, Rick told him, he was on the road going towards a positive HIV test if he did not turn and go in the opposite direction – God was giving him a second chance at life.

Another woman came for an ultrasound. She was surprised to find out she was pregnant, and told Rick that her fiancé has been out of the country but he will come soon. The baby is not his. Rick could see that she was overwhelmed with sorrow at facing the situation, and he sensed she would be tempted to consider an illegal and dangerous abortion. He printed a picture of the baby in her womb, prayed with her and encouraged her to believe that God would strengthen her if she did what was right.

There have been several cancer patients. Some have been from doctor to doctor and no one has been willing to tell them the truth about their condition. Many doctors will not explain that a cancer is terminal because the next stop is usually the “sand-cutter” or fortuneteller, to see who placed a curse on the victim, and what revenge or remedy can be sought through witchcraft. Accusations fly, families and communities are divided as a result. Rick makes an effort to address that response when he has a difficult diagnosis, encouraging the family to pull together and affirm the life of the cancer patient so that he can live his last days with love and peace.

Because he sees many of these patients in a clinic setting, Rick may never see them again. But women have come to him with their 3-year old child and said, “Here he is, I kept the baby because of what you said.” I remember being present when someone thanked him for his honesty about the terminal condition of their child and how they were able to say goodbye to him in peace and with their family’s support as he went to be with Jesus.

Please continue to PRAY for Rick to minister the word of life through the Holy Spirit in his daily encounters with his patients and their families. We trust in the promise that his Word does not go out “for nothing” as they say here – that it will accomplish God’s purposes.

Thanks always for your prayers and your encouragement through your gifts. We finished our fiscal year at almost 100% support, probably just because a few gifts did not get in by the last day of September. We are praying for all of you, too, in the current economic crisis- that God will provide in every way for your needs.

God bless you. Keep checking our blog as well for more news and especially photos.
http://iscripts.blogspot.com/ We always love hearing from you too!

For the Kingdom, Debbie Sacra for Rick and the boys.

Road trip to Marshall

Hi! What is the best thing to do with a free Saturday??? Take a road trip! So yesterday, the Sacra clan (along with Naomi Olson, our missionary nurse and family friend) drove about an hour down the road to Marshall, on the coast, not far from the airport.... It's a fishing town, populated by Fanti people (originally from Ghana) who are famous for colorful painting on their canoes, and Bassa folk who are Liberian natives... Here is Jared being eaten by one of the big cotton trees in Marshall... we were joking about "where is Tom Bombadil when you need him?"...


Here is Isaac, one of the young fisherman, repairing his nets, and one of the freshly painted dugout canoes.



Imagine my surprise at this one... "No one is perfect No 1" seemed to make sense and was African enough, but to see the Tommy Hilfiger logo (complete with the registered trademark symbol painted there, too small to see in this view!) was a bit surprising... I guess modern culture has reached Africa!

We thought it would be a waste not to buy fish in Marshall... so I went and exchanged some US dollars at a local shop, and when we asked around for fish we got to meet the fish drying family... They have a "factory" with two large smokers for drying "bony", the small shad that is the staple protein for many Liberians. Deb bought about 15 of the small dry fish for about $2.50. We enjoyed seeing this rather professional outfit with their fish on the dryers in layer upon layer carefully laid out. The drying process takes 24 - 48 hours. Drying the fish allows your typical Liberian, who doesn't have an icebox, to buy their fish in advance and keep it a few days without going bad.

In all, we enjoyed Marshall, and will think about taking you there when you come to visit! Love, Rick for all of us.

Some of the New SIM Liberia team - more to come

Les Unruh is the new SIM-Liberia Associate Director. Les and Verla and their family were the first up-country church planting missionaries in Liberia from 1978 into the 80s. They have agreed to serve in the position for a year. Two of their daughters are also missionaries in W. Africa, so being here is a nice opportunity to squeeze in visits with them.

Matt and Brenda Carr are also "returnees". They served as church planters in Liberia before the 1990 civil war and then in Ivory Coast in the 90s. Having "launched" their kids, they felt God was calling them back to the mission field. Matt is getting to know the ECUL church leaders in his position as Church Relations Coordinator and Brenda has taken over Debbie's work as Personnel Director and helping at the Academy in staff development.

Keith and Kristen Chapman are with the SIM team through Mercy Ships. Keith is a dentist and dental surgeon who teamed up with Frieda Schmidt on our SIM team to expand the dental services that will be offered through ELWA Hospital. Their clinic is called Trinity Dental Clinic and you can read more about it their website: http://www.trinitydental.org . They also have a vision for training dental health providers and bringing dental services into remote areas with teams. The clinic is still under construction, but I'm sure that as soon as Frieda is back in November, they will be working to get it up and running. Kristen has her hands full, as you can see - she is homeschooling their kids, Taylor (in glasses), Lauren, and Samuel.

You may recognize Do Young and Kyung Ok Choi if you have been in contact with us over the years. They first came to Liberia in 2003, only to evacuate with us 6 weeks later. After an extended home assignment in S. Korea (due to the arrival of their third daughter, Hay Young) they returned in June. Do Young loves to train and encourage pastors and will work closely with Matt and ECUL. Kyung Ok is homeschooling their middle daughter, Yeju and Minju attends school with our boys.

Here's our monthly prayer update.

Dear Praying friends -

Since we’ve been back in Liberia a month, it’s time for an update. It’s been a pretty quick month. It’s still raining a lot, so we didn’t manage to escape the season entirely. But it has been nice to make the transition back while it is still cooler. We’re still cleaning up musty-smelling books, clothes, and linens.

Rick is pretty much full time at the hospital, since the current medical staff includes only him and one other full-time doctor. PLEASE PRAY for them to be able to find another local doctor (or 2) to hire. Or go for the big one and pray for more missionary doctors!

Debbie is getting a kind of slow start, held up by her temporary position as general contractor for a home improvement project: tiling the house. It’ll be done by the end of next week and it’s a nice change. Once it’s done we can really unpack and get settled into life.

Jared and Caleb are back at the American School, where the enrollment in the upper grades has just about doubled. They are enjoying having more classmates, but we’re feeling sorry for the teacher who is still juggling four grade levels in one room. In light of this, Debbie has offered her services to the school to teach part-time if it would help. It seems to be a more complicated decision than just whether a qualified teacher is available for hire, so we are still waiting to hear.

If Deb isn’t needed at the American School, she’ll jump into things at the ELWA Academy in the next couple of weeks. Much to our surprise, the school year opened the week after we arrived (it usually starts mid-September) by government decree. There are quite a few new teachers who were not fully oriented before classes began. And then Deb’s main goal is to get the curriculum written up. PRAY for the re-connecting process for Debbie – she is feeling very out of the loop with regards to the Academy.

Debbie may be applying her general contracting skills (this is a joke) to the Academy building project. The new kindergarten building is up to roof level, waiting for the rain to stop and for some paperwork to be processed before moving on. Unfortunately, building materials have really increased in cost, so we are not sure how far the funds we raised are going to go as we continue the construction. PRAY especially for trustworthy construction workers who feel accountable before the Lord for the way they do business.

Not to forget Sacra #5 – Max – at Dakar Academy in Senegal. He reports that he is busy with his social life and homework. And having a good time- always his top priority. Others also report that they enjoy having him around. We miss him. PRAY for his school to find a replacement for the Chemistry teacher who suddenly resigned. Yes, Max is taking Chemistry.

This email probably sounds a LOT DIFFERENT from our last term- nothing here about administrative duties and short termers. We’re very thankful that those responsibilities have been taken up by others with support from us. It is a little strange to not be central to what is happening in SIM-Liberia anymore, but a relief. Sometimes Rick looks at how many people are sharing the responsibilities we used to carry and he just shakes his head: what was he thinking? No wonder it wasn’t working. THANK GOD for Les Unruh, the Liberia Associate Director (and his wife, Verla, who is going to be his administrative assistant); Matt Carr, the new church relations coordinator and Brenda Carr, who is replacing Debbie as Personnel Director. Pray for them as they fully take on these roles. They arrived about the same time we did.

Thanks for your friendship, concern, support and especially for your prayers. We really had a restful home assignment in your midst. PRAISE GOD for His answers to your prayers for us: administrative help, financing for the Academy building and our personal restoration from a tough term. We’re happy to be back to our ministries.

For the Kingdom – Rick and Debbie Sacra

Losing a dear friend and patient...

Healthcare in Liberia is a setting where often care is fragmented and it is hard to develop the same kind of long-term doctor-patient relationships that make family practice satisfying. But this week I lost one of my special patients—this gentleman was a pastor from up-country in Liberia and a friend who had been through an awful lot.

I first met him several years ago when he was hospitalized for about 2 months with severe congestive heart failure and poor kidney function. He required such high doses of medication that the treatment threw off the balance of chemicals in his blood (like sodium and potassium). And so keeping him “tuned up” was a constant challenge of trying this and adjusting that and testing this and modifying that. He had a missionary friend who helped pay for his treatment, so that was a blessing as well. Joseph was a “stick-with-it” kind of guy—if your treatment wasn’t working for him, he’d complain and try some more and give you the feedback until you got things right. This kind of willingness to stick with one medical provider and one hospital even when things were not always perfect or going his way was the key to success—and is not the rule in Liberia. This guy would have died on several occasions if we had not built a successful doctor-patient relationship, built on trust and our common commitment to God. Joseph was a young man—I believe only in his 40s—with a dear wife and young children. Several times during the last few years we were able to get him “tuned up” enough so that he could return to Nimba county, where his church was, to be with his family and his church and to do the work of pastoring that he was called to do. He would stay up there, taking his medication, sometimes for 4 or even 6 months, until something would get “out of whack” again and he’d start swelling up or getting short of breath. Then he’d return to Monrovia for a long course of treatment and retuning.

When I returned from the US a few weeks ago, I met Joseph in the hospital, looking worse than usual. He had a lot of shortness of breath, and looked very uncomfortable. Usually removing fluid from the chest (where it had gathered around his lung) helped him feel a lot better—but this time, the fluid in his chest had become infected. We had to insert chest tubes on both sides to drain the fluid. In addition, his electrolyte levels (sodium and potassium) were very hard to balance. After several weeks of inserting drains and treating with antibiotics and doing x-rays and other tests, pastor Joseph was continuing to get weaker. Monday morning I sensed that he was doing worse, ,and that he might not recover from this episode. We talked for a while and prayed together. Joseph told me he wasn’t afraid to die—he knew where he was going. He was just concerned for his wife and children.

Monday evening about 8:00 pm Joseph breathed his last. He fought a good fight, and finished the race. I was grateful to have had such a good relationship with this dear brother over several years. It is these kinds of connections that make medical work fulfilling for me. I will miss him, but I know he is enjoying being with his Lord.