Rainy Season Fun
Rainy season is quickly approaching here in Liberia. Rainy season is a very difficult time of year--imagine non-stop rain for days at a time. Food becomes scarce and expensive, malaria and other illnesses are prevalent, and everything is flooded. For the children that we work with, that means no school and being stuck inside for days at a time with nothing to do. To combat rainy season boredom, we will continue our Child Development Program and also give the children the opportunity to participate in constructive activities like art and skills training.
This rainy season, I will be focusing on the six oldest girls living at Frances Gaskin. We currently are meeting once a week to study the Bible, talk about life, learn from each other and have fun. The girls are intelligent, engaged, creative and talented. The girls love to sew, and they really love to be creative and work with their hands.
To encourage their creativity, the girls and I went to visit Amazing Grace, Inc. last week. Amazing Grace is a group of Liberian women who make glass beads out of recycled glass bottles. The girls were so excited to learn and can’t wait to go back! What I thought was just going to be a visit turned into an opportunity. Amazing Grace extended an offer for the girls to come twice a week during rainy season to make beads and design jewelry, as well as learn other skills like basket weaving and making country cloth. The girls will also have sewing classes, which will not only benefit them now, but can also be a means of income in their future. While the girls are learning skills and developing character traits, I have the privilege and responsibility to invest in their lives, which directly affects their future. The girls at Frances Gaskin are going to be very busy this rainy season, but we are also going to have a lot of fun!
As our field team members begin to leave the field, and the hardships of rainy season come, please join us in prayer. Pray for those of us who are staying in Liberia for rainy season--that we would stay healthy and that the endless rain wouldn’t discourage us. Pray that rainy season would be a time of deep investment in the lives of the children that we work with. Pray for the girls at Frances Gaskin--Jogma, Patricia, Naomi, Mercy, Kumba and Ruth--that they would feel special and loved this rainy season and that our time spent together would make a lasting impact.
