Reflections from Liberia.

This is from my friend Allen. He just spent eleven days in Liberia helping to run a Young Life camp. I think his words and thoughts just speak for themselves. Just another glimpse into some people's lives in Africa...


How do you put into words the moments and people that mold your heart? My last day in Liberia i sat and had breakfast with Marvyn, a 21 year old 11th grader. See in Liberia you must pay to go to high school.... so you go when it is possible to do so. He shared with me about the time he heard his first gun shot..... which was the time his mother and father were taken from him by the Rebels during the war.... his attempt to run away and escape that night was a failed one and Marvyn was forced into being a child soldier at the age of 15. For 3 years he was treated terribly, under nourished and forced to be a soldier or lose his life. He has seen things i can not fathom. he has done things that may never leave his mind. All of which helps to build up the amazing faith he has. As a student leader for Young Life in Monrovia, Liberia.... Marvyn shares that faith and the amazing story he carries with other students daily. He has a deep love for God and said "if it were not for God, i would be dead". Chilling truth and said so matter of factly. Marvyn is one of the brightest 21 year olds i have ever met, and has a future with no ceiling, i can not wait to see how God uses this incredible young man. "I want to be a Doctor" Marvyn told me, "Or a Pastor"..... He isn't sure yet. But, one thing for sure, how blessed i feel to have encountered this man of God.

I wish i could sit here and tell you all the stories i have. To let you for a few moments enter my brain and pick out the ones that i know would melt your hearts. I am so thankful, so humbled, so filled with faith that there must be a God who can create such loving people in the face of such seemingly unlivable conditions and periods of time.

As i sit here and stare at my computer, thinking back on my 9 days in Africa, it seems so much longer, it seems like a month or so, feels like i learned more in that brief period of time than i have in my 26 years prior. Grace takes on new meaning after living with people that have hurt so deeply. Love takes on new vehicles.... when eating camp meals with kids that may not be garaunteed meals outside of camp. Smiles seem to mean more to me now, after sharing them with a war torn country. Camp was tough, no sugar coating. But camp was incredible. As Dave and i stood infront of the kids for the first time staring into blank faces after we attempted to crack jokes, we difficulty blow in to camp like a warm breeze grazes your face on a hot summer day. A simple week later we had learned how to speak their language....(broken english as it were).... not even really sure of the things we wwere saying at times but seeing them revel at the chance to laugh at us, at the chance to teach us, and for once in their lives be served..... be treated truely like Kings and Queens.

Things taken for granted by me...... Bible, running water, food, electricity, parents.... things that are not a sure thing for most in Liberia.
Allen