3.13.07

Tuesday 3/13
(12 midnight)

Two weeks ago, today’s date seemed an eternity away. Now looking back, the trip seems to have begun only yesterday. Today was a nice ending to this trip. We enjoyed a leisurely morning until Paulcy, Dr. Allison, Kowah, and I rode downtown (George left for the bookstore early). We nearly broke our remarkable safe driving streak when a man walked right out in front of us as we were coming to a curve. We all screamed, the brakes screeched, and the van halted at his exact location. He would have been killed had he not stepped back just far enough to push off the front side of the bumper to safety.

In Monrovia, we trekked to the main market place and browsed shops peddling everything from jerseys to poached furs to traditional Liberian garb. I found a pair of hand-carved ebony hippos and bought a pair of hand-crafted leather sandals for Linds – they were a whopping $4 US! We thought we had lost Paulcy at one point, but he finally spotted us, having run off to buy a Bayern-Munchen jersey for his son. We proceeded to the SN Brussel’s downtown office and confirmed our flight and seats. We then moseyed around until our van finally found us. I find Monrovia fascinating with its melding of modern architecture with war-torn third-world culture. The war left such a heartbreaking aftermath – a prime example was the 30-year old, friendly man who struck up conversation with Paulcy. His arms ended at his elbows, hacked off during the war for no greater reason than his tribal identity. I will never forget watching him rub those two stumps together, begging us for aid. Such faces and stories confront us every time we turn around. There were times today, as in so many other days, when the sweat running down my face was the only disguise for my silent, helpless tears. I’ve told Linds very little so far of these encounters. I feel inadequate and unworthy to describe them when I can do so little to help.

We escaped the heat of high noon (it finally warmed up enough for Kowah to discard the parka he had worn all morning – 80 degrees was “too cold”) and went back to the EGH for lunch. We had tried to pick up the BCO copies promised us the night before, but they weren’t done yet – printer problems.

We left at 2pm to check out the bookstore’s progress and then picked up Pastor Sackie Mulbah at church so he could navigate us to his church. Having safely traversed some of the most treacherous, cratered, rutted roads I’ve ever had the privilege to rattle over, we arrived at the beautiful, open-walled building of Eternal Love Harvest Ministries. Sackie’s people were waiting for us and we shared some great fellowship with them and a moving service as we all gave thanks to God for our part in building their new roof. After some really funny photo ops with the kids, we piled back in the van and headed back. We took a final look for today at the store, which looks great, and started back home.
On the way, we followed a small pickup loaded down with 10-12 feet of cargo precariously swaying above the cab. On top of the load, Dr. Allison spotted a very playful, leashed monkey. We followed the monkey truck until we reached the soccer fields and noticed the amputee team actually playing. Paulcy and I jumped out and shot video and stills for at least 15 minutes. Our final stop before home was the Internet Café, which was still working on our copies – they promised them by 6:30pm.

We all relaxed for a while at the EGH until Dr. Allison and I chose to go restock a few grocery items and marched to the Café to get the copies. Surprise! – they weren’t done yet, but would “absolutely be all done” by 8:30pm. So we trudged back and thankfully had a nice pita and beef dinner to cheer us up.

After dinner, to which we had invited Mike Miller (new convert from our meetings), Mike, George, Paulcy and I walked back through the dark streets and finally picked up the copies. When we returned, I panicked for about 10 minutes thinking my wallet was stolen (false alarm), and then finished most of my packing. I also got to talk to Linds twice, though briefly – can’t wait to embrace her and my weens. Well, I’ve showered (in my crocs, since one of the glass window panes fell and shattered all over my shower earlier) and am ready to catch some Liberian Z’s for the last time this trip. Goodnight.