thanksgiving and things

Rumor has it that the only place to find turkey on Thanksgiving in Sierra Leone is at the US Embassy. However, I did not go there. So my Thanksgiving meal consisted of a chicken wrap thing and chips. It was good-it wasn't rice, but it wasn't turkey. I must say, though, that it was by far the most thank-ful Thanksgiving I've ever had. We (Eric, Jeremy, Katie, Camie, Faye, and myself) decided to go out to eat by the beach and then hang out at the beach. For dinner we went to one of the restaurants at Family Kingdom. Family Kingdom is a big resort where wealthy people (mostly white) stay when they are in Sierra Leone. After dinner we wanted to talk about what we're thankful for with eachother on the beach. On the beach we saw Joseph and asked him to join us. Joseph strolls the beach almost every day selling culture (bracelets, necklaces, rings, etc.). He uses crutches because his right leg is crippled. Joseph has one of my favorite smiles in Sierra Leone. I don't know why but I swear God gave all the best smiles to Sierra Leoneans.

As we sat on the beach talking with Joseph, Jesus showed up and to sit with us. His presence was amazing. I cannot think of a time when I have felt so at peace. We went around the circle and each shared what we were thankful for in Krio so Joseph could understand. It was beautiful-it was the first time in a long time that I felt like everyone felt comfortable enough to let their gaurd down and speak freely. If it were up to me, I'd have the rest of my Thanksgivings on a beach. The beach is such a great place to reflect because even though there were loud cars passing on the road, the sound of the waves crashing on the beach makes it all so peacful. I can't explain the joy and the peace that were present that evening.
Today I'm going to a friends wedding. I'm really excited to get to see a Sierra Leonean wedding. Her name is Annie. She and her sister and mom live very close to our house and I pass her every morning on my way to town. They have been such a blessing and I can't wait to see her smiling face today. Two days ago I came to greet Annie and she was obviously upset. Her mom explained to me that someone had borrowed money from them and had disappeared. So they were 400,000 leones short of the final payment on her wedding dress and the fees for church and reception place. Just another reminder that if you want to keep your friends, you should never loan them money (a Sierra Leonean saying). Although, most Sierra Leoneans gladly loan money to their friends and aquaintances. They understand what it means to hold their money in an open hand-something we Americans need to practice more often.

I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings. I am praying for you and I look forward to seeing you again in three weeks. Please continue to pray that I will be obedient to God's call for me here and for those that I am working with. I can't wait til I can show you pictures and tell you stories about all my amazing friends! Love you!
Haley

Thursday-part 2

Thursdays are now officially my sabbath. During our time up country I learned how important a time of rest really is. So today I spent my time hanging out at the staff house reading, writing, praying but mostly journaling. So I thought I'd share with you some of what I wrote today:

I am here in Sierra Leone, on a Servant Team, trying to serve the poorest of the poor. I am doing what God has called me to do. I knew this was where God wanted me when he called me to it last semester. Today my mind is racing with thoughts of anxiety. It is my sabbath day of rest, and yet my mind seems unable to find it. As I think about my time here my mind seems able only to think of my failures as Satan remindme of them. As I cry out to God in my prayers, he reminds me of the times when I have felt most at home. they ahve been times when I've been in Freetown or Murray Town with no agenda. Just to be with people. As I stop along my walk home to talk with different people, I am so blessed by the smiles on their faces and the friendly conversation we have. Or the times when the neighborhood kids invite me to play football or just hang out with them. When these times have lead to talking about Jesus have been the best times. Talking about how much He loves them and how blessed I am to be here, seeing him in them. Being for the poor-is that not what it is to Know God? (yes, Jer. 22:16)
Just reflecting on those times settles my mind and brings me peace. If it is in these times that I have felt most at home what does that mean for me as I go back to Carmel, IN? It is a city that is only getting richer and richer and is pushing the poor farther and farther away as it bulldoses their homes to put in bigger homes and stores that only the rich can afford. the kingdom of this world has such a stronghold there. How will I work to usher in the kingdom of God? My dream for Carmel is see it as a city of the upside down kingdom--God's kingdom. One in which on any given day one could see people loving their neighbors. Where, through the reconciled church, the millions spent eahc day on the fleeting treasures of this world would be spent instead in service to their millions of poor neighbors.

In the States I often see commercials where a well-fed, well-dressed white person iw walking through a slum, holding a hungry child and talking about all the hunger and suffering there and asking us for help. It is a sad picture and yet I can make it go away with the push of a button and sadly, I do. How many times have I done that? More than I'd like to admit; just one time is embarrassing to confess. But here the poor are not nameless to me and there is no button to make it all go away. I purposefully walk into it every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday afternoon and past it every day. What is amazing to me is that it is with my friends there that I am happiest in Sierra Leone. The first few times, I could bearily control my emotions as I walked the tiny alleys between the shreds of tin they call thier homes. Praise God that now I cannot walk through there and leave without a smile. the poverty is not gone and the suffering has not dramatically lessened but I am able to be at peace. It has been in getting to know my neighbors, the poorest of the poor, that God ahs shown me more of his heart and met me in such intamate ways that I feel words fail to proclaim God's glory. The injustice and oppression are still there and because I know the poor, I will fight for them!

I thank God everytime I remember those times and the people that simply by loving me, have blessed me far beyond what I can explain. I have been really restling with all of this because I struggle to see where in Carmel I can serve like this. I have dreams of being somewhere like this again and simply loving the poor but I feel like I am turning my back on these dreams b/c I have at least 2 1/2 years at school. As I've worried about this, God has told me, "not yet". All that I have learned and experienced has not been in vein. God is going to use it all for his glory in his own time.

So, I shall carry on in anticipation of what is to come and sharing that hope with those that are with out hope. I look forward to how God is going to use all of this as I go home but for now I am here. I want to be as present as I can here. So I would like to kindly ask you that as you all send me e-mails to not include a count down. I can't wait to be home with all of you but if I spend all my time thinking of home, I will not be able to hear what the Holy Spirit is leading me to do for these last 4 weeks. I ask you to pray with me for this-let me not have my eyes on going home but on being here. I REALLY want to serve and I know God is going to faithfully lead me to do that. Thank you all SO much for your prayers and support. I truly appriciate you so much.

Love you,
Haley Kate

what we did up country

My trip up country was great! We stayed at Outamba Kilimi National Park. It was absolutely beautiful. We did a lot of hiking through the african bush (SO COOL!), praying, journaling, meditating (so refreshing), and spending time together. It was so much fun. God really met with each of us in an intamate way. All of us had such a good time. Everyday I'd wake up and spend some time just being quiet and praying. Then Jeremy would start a fire and we'd eat breakfast. During breakfast Cami would read us a reflective piece from the Benadictine priests. After, I'd normally head off to go hike ,sometimes we'd go with a local guide sometimes we'd just go where ever we wanted. It was really fun to explore the area and walk through the local's properties and meet them and see how they lived. Life is so simple, yet full of hard work. The atmosphere is so much slower and calmer than the craziness of Freetown. It was so quiet-no horns, dogs barking, chickens squaking, people yelling at eachother...just the birds, the river, and our own conversations. The staff of the park treated us so well, they came to help us whenever we needed. However, I think we might have been a bit loud. One night after dinner, we'd got to sit and talk by the fire without cleaning our dirty dishes. As we walked back to our huts (which we had eaten dinner by) we walked into hundreds, maybe 1000's of biting ants. They quickly climbed all over us and chaos followed! We were yelling, cursing, and running all over the place trying to get the ants off us. Cami ran into our hut and took off her pants to try and get rid of the ants taht had cralled up them. Once we calmed down, and Cami dressed herself, we started divising a plan of how to get rid of the ants. Faye started spraying mosquito reppelant on them-didn't work. So I ran into my hut and grabbed a bandana, tied it to a stick, and lit it on fire. Then I went to the ant-infested area and started burning them and leaving bits of smoking bandana around the place to chase them off. It worked really well. Minus when I threw the burning stick onto the table (Eric ran to recover it and prevent the table from burning down). By that time, the staff showed up because they had heard us yelling. We told them what the problem was and they brought back ant killer and cleared out the rest of the ants. I'm sure they think we were some crazy white people but thank God for them!

I love to hike and we got to do a ton of it. One day we hiked to go see hippos, it was sweet! Another day, Jeremy and I went with Pa Goodman to try to find Elephants. He lead us on a path for quite a while then turned off and started hacking through the bush in a seemingly random spot. However, after about 10 minutes of that, we came across a "path" made by elephants. We then found dung that had just been left the day before-we were on the right path! It was so cool walking where elephants had been the day before and seeing the trees and plants they knocked down and touching the plants they had eaten. Finally we came to the area they had rested the night before, at that point Pa Goodman said they had gone off into the jungle and wouldn't come back til night (it was about noon at the time). So we headed back-bummed we didn't see any elephants but it was still so cool to be tracking them through the African bush on foot. Not many people can say they've done that. that evening we took everybody else back in hopes of seeing the Elephants come back that night. It too was a not a success but God still blessed us in our time together.

The best hike I went on was on the Thursday we headed back to Kamakwie. At 6:30am jeremy, Cami, and I left camp on foot and procceeded to hike 16 miles all the way to Kamakwie. It was AMAZING! Walking through the park in the morning was beautiful. We saw amazing birds and the views were breathtaking as the mist kissed the tops of the mountains and hills. As the day went on we walked through several villages. The villagers were quite surprised to see three white people passing on foot in the mid-day heat. We made it to the 1/2 way point and took a break for lunch at about 11am. Canned meat and biscuts...mmm. If I can help it, I will never eat canned meat again. I've had enough for the rest of my life! After lunch we fell asleep under a a little hut for about a 1/2 hour. Once we woke up we headed out for the last 8 miles. At one village, we were greeted by a huge group of kids that had just gotten out of school. We talked with them and then pulled out the camera-again, chaos followed. It was so worth it though and it was such a joy to be with them. Were about 2 hours from Kamakwie when we ran out of water. So at the next village we stopped and had about 3 oranges each and took a bunch with us to keep us hydrated. I loved just stopping and talking with the people as we ate our oranges together. We saw so much of the beauty that is Sierra Leonean. It was by far one of the coolest things I've ever done. We finally reached Kamakwie, exhausted but it was SO worth it!!

Our time together as a team and as WMF as a whole was something I'd been longing for. I loved just being with eachother in a setting other than Freetown b/c we were all able to slow down and just enjoy ourselves. We cooked together, played speed scrabble, swam in the river, washing ourselves and our clothes in the river, prayed together, did bible studies together, worshiped through music, and worshiped through enjoying God's creation together. I absolutely love my team and Camie and Faye. I will be sad when our time together here is over but I thank God that he has put each one of them in my life. They are each truly a blessing to me and I am so greatful for them.
Over all it was a really refreshing trip and I am really thankful for it. I really learned the importance of a time of rest and have been trying to put that into practice back here in Freetown. I am refocused and ready to put all of me into these last 4 weeks. Please pray with me to wake up ready each day to do just that. I do not want to leave feeling like I did not do that.
God bless!
Haley Kate

rain check

Ok, so I didn't manage my time very well today so I am going to have to give you all a rain check on hearing about what I did while I was up country. It was stinkin amazing though. I promise to write about it this coming week but I have to go home and "bruk" (wash my clothes in the tub) b/c all the sweat from hiking and smoke from the fires at night have left my clothes straight up reeking!!! It's just amazing how horrible they smell. So, every one have a great weekend and I'll tell more about this past week soon!
Haley Kate