Bridging Culture. Working Together.

The greatest commandment that God gave us is to love God with our whole life.   He said love Him first before we try to care for the orphans, help the sick, and serve others.   Through God’s love, through our relationship with him, the other commandments that God has given us will be fulfilled.   In Jeremiah 29: 12, it says that if we seek God first, than all things shall be added unto you.   If we seek God first, then God will continue to work in your life and in the lives of others through you.   Before coming here to Sierra Leone, I went to the International House of Prayer Conference with a few good friends.   One woman began talking about how she had served overseas for some time.   During her time, she had not committed her life to her relationship with God; rather she had committed her life to serving him.   She quickly got burnt out and had to leave the country she was serving in.   Since this story, I have learned how easy i...

My parents had given me a beautiful ring as I was entering my freshman year at Calvin but, unfortunately I lost the ring.  When I first came to Sierra Leone, they had given me some money to buy a ring here, seeing as I lost my last one.  Up until this past weekend, I had done nothing with the money. I was telling a friend here that I wanted to make a ring so he offered to go and buy the gold for me.  Because I trust this friend here, I agreed and gave him the money.  I was explaining to him the different between here and the U.S when it comes to friendships.  In the U.S, we build our friendships off of trust.  If you cannot trust the person, then it will create a barrier in your relationship.  If you can trust the person, you will build a strong relationship.  Here, relationships come first.  If it means you must lie to your best friend then you will do that to hold onto that relationship.  As I asked him to do this for me, I explained...