Bridging Culture. Working Together.

As we celebrate Jesus' birth this holiday season, I think about the beauty of our relationship with Jesus.  I have had the pleasure to learn more about the Muslim faith during my time in Sierra Leone. There are some practices that I truly admire, such as their commitment to prayer. But one thing we often take for granted as Christians is the power of Jesus.  Muslims believe in Jesus as a prophet, not as the Savior, not as God's Son who has forgiven our sins, wiped away our mistakes, given us a clean slate. From my own understanding, as a Muslim, you have to earn your salvation.  But as a Christian, there is nothing we could possibly do to earn his love, to earn his forgiveness.  We are not perfect human beings, we have the freedom to love, to make mistakes, and to get back up again, knowing that we are still loved, we are forgiven. For many of us, there is something appealing to the idea that if we check off the "good" things on the list, then we can go to heave

I watched a video posted by Lecrae on facebook.  The tagline was "Say I won't go into this police station and say thank you."  It was a young Black male who entered the police station, and simply said "thank you."  I think we have forgotten to say thank you.  From my own perspective, I am grateful for the law enforcement system that we do have in this country. When you live in a country for some time with a corrupt law enforcement system, it seams quite simple to appreciate what we have here.  It is impossible to promote justice and equality when corruption is so engrained in the system.  Laws are usually broken through bribery.  No one can actually afford to obey the laws, so bribery is what rules the law enforcement.  Many times, the enforcement of law is taken into the people's hands because the actual law enforcement system is unreliable.  For example, if someone is caught stealing, those who caught him will beat or flog that individual.  We need to re

I spent much of my time in Kabala teaching. When I began teaching in the U.S, that is when I began to feel the brunt of culture shock.  When I first walked into the classroom in Kabala, Sierra Leone, that was when I realized that the students always write in pen.  I had assumed they used pencils, because I grew up using pencils in school. You would be surprised how many challenges came up with the use of pens: my students sticking broomsticks into the ink because it was blocked, ink exploding all over their face as they try to blow into the pen, students "stealing" other students pens.  When my students would come in from break time, after eating fried fish, their oily hands often prevented the pen to write on their paper.  Every day, not having a working pen was the popular excuse to not write in the classroom. My first day of substitute teaching was with a lively group of kindergarteners, all telling me they needed to sharpen their pencil.  It's a simple no.  Stop w

Leaving Sierra Leone, on my way to the U.S. The first month of being in the U.S, I had everything planned out.  I was able to talk about my experiences in Sierra Leone and share what I had learned, so in a way, it hadn't really felt like I left.  Yes, there were things that bothered me, like the woman that took two car-seats for her children on the airplane and ended up not using either of them.  A car seat is not going to save your children if the plane crashes.  Unnecessary. But as I began to face the reality that I was going to be in the U.S for longer than expected, I realized that I had to somehow "fit" back into life here in the U.S.  I couldn't live like I was living in Sierra Leone.  As soon as I realized I didn't have a plan, probably the least planned my life has ever been, I began to feel culture shock.  I cried myself to sleep for a week, feeling lost, trying to figure out a way that I could go back.  My heart was somewhere else, and I could not

I had the opportunity to give a speech/toast at my sister's wedding.  I had written down my thoughts a few weeks earlier but then decided to throw it all out the window.  I sat down at midnight, the night before the wedding, thinking of what to say.  I decided that at the end of my speech, I wanted to give her some life advice, since I am her older sister.  This is something I have thought about a lot while transitioning from my year in Sierra Leone to my time in the U.S. When I was in Sierra Leone, it was so simple to do my daily devotions every morning.  It was a habit I developed and found out quickly that I needed that time with God each morning.  I needed it to be filled with peace, comfort, and joy each and every day.  I was living in an extremely uncomfortable situation and had to rely on God to comfort me, to protect me, and to provide for me. However, when I came back to the U.S, I realized my habits of doing my devotions in the morning quickly changed.  Part of that c

As I have spent time these past three weeks sharing about my time in Sierra Leone, many people have asked me questions pertaining to Ebola.  So, I figured I would share some of my thoughts about it.  These are just my own thoughts, so I may be wrong and you may not agree with everything I have to say. I knew nothing about Ebola before it became a threat to Sierra Leone, but I was fortunate enough to learn a lot about it while in Kabala.  I did not learn about it through my own research, but from people in the community educating others.  Along with learning about Ebola, we were given tools to educate others about it.  As teachers, we had many opportunities in the classroom and at parent meetings to educate those about the symptoms of Ebola, what to do if you have symptoms, and how to prevent it. It felt like everywhere I went, there was always talk about Ebola.  It was constantly on the radio, posters and diagrams were plastered around the city, and there were constant discussions

Along with the rainy season, comes sickness.  The rain has brought an increase in the mosquito population, which has also brought a significant increase in the amount of Malaria cases.  My students are constantly complaining of sickness.  We have had a significant increase of absences this third term from school because of students being sick.  Not only has malaria plagued Kabala and all sides of Sierra Leone, but the disease called Ebola has also brought significant worry to the community.  It started in Guinea and Liberia and has now entered into Sierra Leone and is presently in Kailuhan District.  It has infected many people in Kailuhan and it has also killed a significant number.  The schools have closed down and people are not allowed in and out of the district.  I was listening to the radio on my way to Freetown two weekends back and people were complaining because they were even canceling all public gatherings like watching the World Cup to prevent the sp

Growing up, Apples to Apples was one of our family's favorite games. But the best part about Apples to Apples was not actually putting cards that truly matched the green apple cards, but playing cards that contradicted the green apple cards.  The goal was always to make the judge laugh.  The judge would always pick whatever apple card was funniest.  If I can remember correctly, some of our favorite red apple cards were "Barney," "Puff Daddy," "Boyfriends," and many more. I decided to introduce the Apples to Apples Junior to my students in class III.  Before we played, I sorted through the cards to pull out the red apple cards that they would not understand.  They are currently sitting in groups so each group of four students got twenty red apple cards.  I picked a "runner" in each group to come and bring me their red apple card each time I chose a green apple card. The game went relatively smoothly.  At first, I would give the word on the

Something that has driven me crazy since the first day coming to Sierra Leone is this idea of begging.  When people here want something bad, they will often beg the person.  They always say "I beg."  If someone begs me for something, I have no desire to give them anything. If I want to give a person something, I want to give them something because I love that person or because I want to help a person.  I think my students have learned this quickly.  They know that if they beg me for anything, I will not give them anything. For example, if I am eating bread during lunchtime, instead of begging me, they will just stand around me and if they are lucky, maybe I will give them the end of my bread.  But as soon as one of my students begs me for my bread, all desire to give to that person leaves my head. The other day, a student in class 6 was begging me for a lolipop.  I asked my class 3 students who were with me if I will give him if he begs me.  They immediately said "

Today, I was doing my oral exam with my students during the afternoon part of the day.  I asked her what she was going to do over the summer break.  I was expecting a normal answer, like go to Freetown, or study, or play, or a typical answer.  But instead she told me "I am going to eat corn." I said, "you are only going to eat corn for the whole break?"  After asking her more questions to give me a more detailed answer, she could only tell me "I am going to eat corn and pick corn." I guess my student really likes corn and that is all she will fill her time with this summer.  I thought it was so funny I tried hard not to laugh at her.  It has now reached corn season again in Sierra Leone.  I have my corn lady who I always buy corn from!  I can't even tell you her name but she loves me.  Any time I go to her, she will give me a big hug.  Then I will always buy 1,000 Le corn and she will always give me 3,000 Le corn.  I love that woman because she alway

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 it is to stray from this commandment.   Howev

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 how it is because I trust him that is why I am w

Last weekend, I took a day trip to Makeni, about two to three hours from Kabala, to go to the supermarket and to visit a friend.  I left Kabala early in the morning and went to the station where I took a taxi to Makeni.  The first unfortunate part about this trip was that the taxi did not have breaks.  The second part was that I had to sit in the front seat with another man.  Half of my body was hanging off of the seat and anytime the driver wanted to change gear, I had to lift up my whole body.  The third unfortunate part I did not find out until we stopped at a village along the way.   As we stopped at this village, an older woman came out of the car and immediately fell onto the ground and began wailing.   I was so confused at what was going on.   As I listened to her and the members of the village who had gathered around her, I realized that her son was about to die.   I had not noticed until then, but he had been in the back of the taxi the whole time.   Her husband came to p

I had my first run in with the Sierra Leonean police.  A neighbor friend and I went to her village overnight.  My friend offered to drive us on his motorbike to the village of Musaya.  We arrived close to the first police checkpoint and my friend Serah got down from the bike to walk across the checkpoint because you are technically not allowed to ride with three people on a bike.  As the driver and I approached the checkpoint they told us we had to pay 4,000 leones.  I was thinking they just wanted my money so I begged them to not make us pay because they probably just eat the money anyways.  They let us pass without paying and we were on our way. Making pancakes in the village, Musaia My friend and I had a lovely time in Musaya.  I got to meet many of her family members.  We also got to go swimming in the river there which was wonderful because there is no river in Kabala to swim in.  We also make pancakes over a fire the next morning which was quite an accomplishment.  As we we

I came to school on Monday and was herding the students in for assembly that morning when one of my students came to me explaining that the parents of a boy in my class were attacked over the weekend.   Wondering if this was true, I pulled my student aside to ask him what happened over the weekend.   He began to explain to me that some thieves came into his house during the night and cut his father’s head and beat his mother.   I asked him if he saw everything that happened and immediately he started crying.   I too began to cry because you could see the pain and the fear in the child’s face.   My heart ached for him, for his family, for the images that are permanently imprinted in his mind. I took my class to visit and pray for his family during the school day.   His father then explained to us that he had gone out to wet in the evening time and had left the door unlocked.   During this time, a thief came into the house and hid.   The father came back inside, locked the door, and