Today is a national holiday - the Independence day of Sierra Leone! What makes it really special is that it is the 50th anniversary of the Sierra Leonean Independence from being a British Colony. It is really neat. When we were in Freetown last week, the whole town was cleaning up and making things neat for the celebration. The trunks of trees and fences and roundabouts were all being painted in the colors of the Sierra Leone flag, which are green, white, and blue. Banners and flags were being flown everywhere. Here in Kabala, the same sorts of things are being done and I guess there is a big parade today. It makes me think of all the things that the kids and I are learning in homeschool. We are covering American History and have just finished studying the Revolutionary War. It is interesting to me to look at how much Sierra Leone has struggled through in it's first 50 years of Independence. America gained it's independence in 1782 and had a much longer amount of time before it's own civil war. How many other countries had a civil war on the heels of obtaining their independence? It would be an interesting thing to study- is this a pattern of learning to stand on one's own two feet? I am sure someone somewhere has already done a dissertation on it, but it is interesting to contemplate the big picture.
In terms of the small picture, I made an apple pie using mangos yesterday. I used the wrong type of mangoes, so it wasn't all that great, but everybody still liked it. Since I had the coals heated up for the oven, I also made pretzels ( never did that before) and mango sauce ( like applesauce - again, the wrong kind of mangoes.) I made the pretzels because Dad and Clare are both really sick with what I suspect is bronchitis, and the salt is always a good thing on your throat when it is sore. Anyway, we are all doing well, just waiting to arrange some sort of transport to go up into the interior of the country to see the places and people of my childhood. So, I will give you an update on that soon, I hope. Have a great day and smile - and turn on a light switch for me! :)

Hey all! We went to Freetown and I was able to meet with the woman in charge of nursing registration. I turned in all of my forms, but it turns out there is also an interview - about what I am not sure (should I study???) So, I am waiting for them to call me to tell me when to come back to Freetown for the interview. In the meantime, we also applied for our alien registration, which was expensive, but necessary - and Dad has gone back down today to pick them up. This is difficult because it costs a great deal to go to Freetown. When we were on our way back up from our trip, we had car trouble and the engine kept overheating, then we lost our ability to shift into first or second gear. It made for a long trip. The kids did a really good job being patient, since what would be a five or six hour trip on a good day extended into a ten hour trip with no lunch and no supper except some peanuts. Needless to say, we were all glad to get home safely. Little 11-year old Kumba is sick today with fever and stomach pain. It turns out she has been sick for a week now. I am trying to talk them into going to the hospital. Hopefully they will, since this has gone on a long time and she is dehydrated. I have her taking ORS, but am trying to impress on them that it is a temporary fix, not a solution. The cost of health treatment can put a big strain on a family, so it is hard all the way around. Keep her in your prayers.

I have the best news!!!! I have been waiting these five months for a chance to get my medical license so as to be able to practice here. It has been so hard to see so many problems that I know that I could help with and yet I have my hands tied. Well, I finally was able, through the help of Rev. Samson (the school principal) to make contact with the government hospital several miles away. They were very encouraging and anxious for me to begin practicing. Through them I was able to get the information about who to contact in order to be registered. The gentleman who helped us meet with those in charge of the hospital, just happens to be best friends with someone who works in the nursing registration office. He has volunteered to go down to Freetown with us and to accompany us to the office there. This type of things goes a long way in facilitation of licensing. Praise God! The sister in charge of clinics in the area is going to come out to the Bible School on Wednesday and see the room that we have allotted and make her recommendations as they want me to also be an administrator of the immunizations for the underfives program. The country is trying very hard to meet the 90% goal for immunizations. I got home from that meeting and found out that one of the missionaries with another organization had networked with a friend who used to work with Mercy Ships. Mercy Ships had contacted her for recommendations of contacts inland with which they could connect to do so land based clinics. This other woman recommended me, so I will be contacting them here as soon as possible. Boy, when God is ready to move, you better hang on for the ride. I am excited and scared as there is no safety net and I am in uncharted waters. Pray and praise God for what he is doing. Missing you all and hope you are well.

To those of you who are praying - THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! This morning was quite and adventure,but for you to understand it all, I need to lay some groundwork. A few days ago, we had a rainstorm - the second one that strangely occurred in the middle of dry season. As a result all of the area mice are seeking a less waterlogged area in which to live. I do need to clarify something though. You know those bumper stickers that say “My kid can beat up your honor student”? Well, the same can be said of our mice. If mice from the U.S. saw one of our mice, they would probably feel that they were in one of those movies where people run screaming through the streets as something large either climbs a skyscraper or smashes buildings with its feet. These monsters don’t do the normal thing and eat your crackers or chew a hole in the cereal box. They have a strong liking for electrical cords. In fact, they chewed completely through one. So, we set really big traps with peanut butter and hoped for the best. Well, they got the best – they really enjoyed the peanut butter and we did not catch a single one – but they also ate another electrical cord. So last night, we set traps AND put out rat poison. During the night the rats kept Dad and Clare up for the third night in a row. Dad got up and tried to scare them away from the electric cords. Unfortunately, one of them apparently ran behind the kerosene fridge. A kerosene fridge runs by a lamp type wick located on top of a tank full of kerosene. This one happened to made of extremely heavy plastic. The mouse happened to bump the glass protecting the flame and as a result the flame was able to move down into the tank of kerosene. This caused the fire to slowly spread inside of the component, slowly melting the plastic – so that an hour or so later, Dad smelled smoke, came out to check on it and found the fridge in flames. Here is where your prayers come in – had the fire gone on even 15 minutes longer (or less) I would probably not be here writing on this blog. The kerosene was very close to leaking out of the tank and if it had, the entire place would have gone up in flames. PRAISE GOD!!! A student who had wounded his hand and could not sleep for the pain, saw the flames and came over to help. Again, praise the Lord! For those of you who are praying- THANK YOU!!

So, we had planned on leaving a 7 am this morning to head to Freetown, but instead we had to clean up a mess, empty the fridge, and dispose of a dead mouse (which we did catch). We now have no refrigeration at all and will have to try to find something else in Freetown. Praise GOD for his protection. If it had happened the next night while we were gone, the house would have been completely destroyed.

Mr. YY came to see me today with an infection in his finger. The finger had swollen to twice it's normal size, yet had no open area and no center of infection. This is one of things that I have seen so frequently, sometimes with a wound, sometimes without. Two months ago I treated an 11 year old girl with the same thing. Her parents were unable to take her to the hospital, so the finger swelled so big that it split wide open all down the side. I had her come see me twice a day so that I could soak it in warm salt water, express as much pus as I could, pack it with antibiotic ointment, and bandage it up. It did eventually heal up and she has full use of it now. But back to Mr. Y.Y. - I had him also soak his had three times daily so that the infection would eventually reveal it's center. I tried to encourage him to at least go to the hospital and get an injection of antibiotic, but he had a "practitioner" of some sort help him the last time his finger got infected and as a result he has completely lost the use of that digit and cannot even straighten it. Needless to say, he is leery of anyones help. He was willing for me to see him though, and thanks to the healing power of God, with salt water, baking soda, antibiotic ointment, bandaids, and (believe it or not) okra leaves, his hand is fully healed and he is able to continue to work and provide for his family. Continue to pray for him as he has a heart for his people and a positive, happy personality - he will make a wonderful pastor. He and his wife are expecting their first child after many years of being unable to concieve. They are SO excited. Please pray for a healthy baby and a safe delivery. His wife, Kumba, is a remarkable woman, who stayed by his side when he was sick last year. In fact, he almost died and they were told that he would be paralyzed and never walk again. He walks, runs, and jumps - and is totally in love with Jesus.

Hey everyone! Hope your day is going well. We are enjoying the sun and about 105 degrees F. We are starting to get used to it though. I think that we are going to head to Freetown tomorrow so as to get some groceries. Little things like tuna fish and cheese make a big difference. I have been going to train under Binda still and I really have enjoyed getting to know her. She is a very hard worker and yet manages to enjoy every minute of every day. Some of you may remember little Mantene who was so badly burned that she almost died - well Binda is her mother. Mantene is doing very well, praise God - and is one of the most cheerful and pleasant children that you could hope to meet. Binda has been teaching me how to cook the African way. I have finally managed to learn to wash rice, which is much harder than it sounds. Hopefully I can start to cook plasas (sauce) soon. Everyday I am in awe of how hard these women work and how incredibly strong they are. Pray for me as I continue to build relationships. I hope to really listen to the women and their struggles so that I can make my health and bible teaching something that they can really use.

Hey everyone! Sorry to have been so long again. The internet is an intermittent blessing here. Things have been going well. We have now added a Genet to our family. This is something halfway between a ferret and a meerkat (sp?). He is very young and has to be fed reconstituted powdered milk with a syringe and had a broken paw, but is now on the mend and is a whole lot of fun. He is a tree climber, so we have moved a large branch into our living room. We also just got a Plaintain Eater, which is a bird, but I am not sure how long he is going to last. :( Everyone is healthy and happy. Roy is very busy teaching his classes and I am enjoying teaching mine. It is fun to see those lightbulb moments when you are teaching something biblical or health related and they just GET it. Praise GOD! We went into a village on Friday and held a service, spent the night, then drove home the next morning. The chief gave us a paper with 15 names listing those who had decided to follow Christ. If possible we are going to go in twice a month and hold services. It is about 20 miles away, but takes about 2.5 hours to drive there. Please pray for this village that they will continue to be receptive to the gospel. I am continuing to treat little things like cuts and infected wounds. Some of the students here have knowledge of the medicinal plants that are in the area, so I am trying to learn as much from them as possible and then make a garden of these plants. This will hopefully help in treating more illnesses in a cheaper way. Thinking of you all and missing you so much.