Classic Liberian food and a Sweet School

This morning after breakfast I hit the books for a couple of hours – so thankful for Kindle books! I’m continuing the series on Colossians at GraceLife church and teaching a class next week for the Bible College. I love my parchments/books.

I took a break and ventured outside. A group of ladies were visiting and pounding. A long thick pole, pestle-like, was driven into a container, mortar-like, over and over again. I’m not sure of the exact Liberian designation, but “pestle and mortar” work. I scampered down and asked if I could take some pictures and have a go at pounding.

I discovered they were making “kanyan” a Liberian snack food. They slice cassava root and dry it out. Then they add peanuts and dried milk, put it all together into the container, and pound and pound and pound. They got a kick out of watching me. I tired quickly. The women in Liberia are hard workers and are quick to laugh, especially at an American!

On Monday we I visited the church-based school where I preached the last two Sundays. GraceLife sponsors three schools, I’ll post some pictures of school three soon. This is school number two.

There were fifty-one children in a 1000 square foot unfinished home. They were ordered and polite, attentive and all smiles. We were greeted, see below, and impressed! We traveled up the road a bit and took pictures of the new site for the only school in the community, sponsored by GraceLife Church. The footings have been poured and they are saving up for the next phase of construction. The children in this school would be spending the day idle in the village if not for GraceLife.

A little side note: a Christian book company saw my posts about the schools, and will be delivering a pallet of books for the students soon. Yeh!

Please pray for the students and the teachers. They make huge sacrifices and work diligently to transform a community starved for help and the gospel.

Can you spot the subtle difference in these two photos – same house, time lapse of two years. In the top right corner of the one on the right you can see electric poles and lines.This home is near the church and close to where I am staying. Which means there’s a good possibility that we will have real-time electricity soon. We use generators now; the reliability and ease of being able to turn on the switch will be wonderful.

I am constantly amazed at the work being done here. With scant resources, careful ingenuity, and sacrifice the gospel is being proclaimed faithfully at GraceLife Churches and schools.

Makes me smile. A Lot.

Thanks to everyone who made it possible for me to come. I wouldn’t trade this for the world.