We Are Here!

We are sitting on our veranda in our new home in Liberia. It’s 29°C and we are enjoying a cooling sea breeze. We are watching a pair of multi-coloured lizards flirting with each other on the branches of the pine tree in front of us. We arrived in Liberia on the 23rd November at 5.00 in the morning having visited Casablanca and Freetown airports on the way. The second evening meal on the plane was served at 1.00am in the morning and was probably extra to our needs… We sat beside the team from The Times newspaper who were coming out here with Hugh Bonneville, an actor from Downton Abbey fame. They are here to prepare a piece for their Christmas charity appeal.


We have met a lot of people in the short time we have been here and remembering names and putting them to faces is already proving a challenge. We went to a traditional Thanksgiving supper with some of our new American friends, also with SIM. No Turkey but great chicken and of course pumpkin pie.

Our home is lovely; it has great potential but has been empty for a little while and is need of a little tlc. Work is calling and meetings are waiting but we need to sort a few essentials in the house first, like buying a fridge and a bed etc. We ate our porridge this morning to the sound of rousing African choruses wafting over from the next door compound, a sound so familiar from our time in Swaziland. It’s great to have a sense of being in a place where we believe God wants us to be.

Thinking of all our friends and relatives in the UK … has it stopped snowing yet?

Excitement twinged with nerves...

We have got to that stage where people are saying to us, “Are you still here?” We do apologise for still being here and yes we are here until the 23rd November when we fly to Liberia. The other comment we hear a lot is “You must be really excited!” Well, yes we are, but the excitement is tinged with nervousness... Have we packed the right things? Have we got the right documents? Will our old and decrepit bodies adapt to the heat and humidity? Is it possible to sweat in a ladylike way? (Jenny’s problem!) Can we do the job? (both of our problems!) But we always come back to the fact that this is God’s work we are embarking on, and all things are possible in His strength.


It has been really good to spend time with our family over the past few weeks, putting the world to rights, chilling over a good meal and saying our farewells. Six months ago we did not realise how difficult it would be to say goodbye to close friends, and we hope to stay closely in touch with you all

If you want to know a bit more about the background of Liberia, Jenny has just finished reading an excellent book called “The House at Sugar Beach” by Helene Cooper. It gives a fascinating insight into the lives of Liberians and some of the recent history. Well worth a read…

Finally… Anybody know how to get six suitcases and two adults down to Heathrow for 2 pm on 23rd November? Any suggestions/offers of help welcome.