Christmas Eve at ELWA Hospital

All is peace all is quiet.... Singing Christmas carols by candlelight at ELWA Hospital..

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

Happy Christmas!

ELWA Radio Update

ELWA Radio was burnt down on the 8th November 2011, but the day after we were able to restart the radio in a small satellite studio in another building. The "studio" is basically just a room at the moment but we have the CDs that were rescued from the fire already stored on shelves and Rose, in the picture, has been helping to clean the soot off them. We now have air conditioning in the studio which fills the hole you can see at  the top right of the photo below.



The "satellite" studio at ELWA Radio is up and running
but still needs some work done.

Below are some of the charred CDs that were rescued from the fire. Still usable but need cleaning.

 We were fortunate in being able to rescue the sound board from the studio but as you can see (below) it is a bit the worse for ware and the sliders don't work very well. We have also been able to replace some of the computers that were destroyed. But as you can see there is a lot still to do.... but praise God we are on the air and still broadcasting the gospel!

The rather charred soundboard that was rescued from the
studio that was burnt down

Below is a video that gives you a bit of history about ELWA Radio and its importance to Liberians... There are also some photos of the recent fire. Please pray for the complete restoration and renewal of the radio station and that we can continue to remain on air while doing so.



ELWA: Radio ELWA Restoration Intl from SIM USA on Vimeo.

Radio ELWA burned down

I left to go to Senegal on Tuesday for some SIM meetings and will return on Saturday. Sadly, the evening after I left, ELWA Radio station was burnt down and much of our equipment destroyed. This was the day after the elections in Liberia and there has been some tension around Monrovia. There will of course be an inquiry into how this happened. No one was hurt, Praise God.

As soon as the emergency call went out we were quickly supported by teams of soldiers from the UN peacekeeping forces, and 3 branches of the police. The Fire service attended and we were able to save some of the tapes and CDs and the mixing console. Please pray that God’s name is honoured throughout this and that we can find the finance, energy, and spiritual strength to rebuild.

The radio’s managers have continued to broadcast from a small satellite room. They are determined that God’s word will not be made silent. Please pray for safety and for Liberia.

The Vice President of Liberia Joseph N. Boakai, has toured the site and expressed his sympathy. http://allafrica.com/stories/201111100766.html

If you would like to contribute towards the rebuilding and restoration of ELWA Radio you can contribute via the SIM website www.sim.org/index.php/content/donate and specify your donation to go to Project Number 95107 ELWA Radio Restoration.

Alternative Christmas...

How many day's till Christmas? Sorry to bring the subject up so early BUT if you are thinking of "Alternative Gifts" for friends and family, can I suggest Jenny's school project here in Liberia; buying books for needy school kids. Teaching a child to read opens up so many doors here in Liberia. Happy shopping!
The web address is www.sim.co.uk/gifts/alternative_christmas_gift_projects/booksforschools

Seaweed... and other news

We should be coming to the tail end of the rainy season soon but we are experiencing fantastic storms regularly still in the evenings and at night. Our beaches all along Liberia are suffering a plague of rather smelly seaweed.



A plague of seaweed along ELWA beach



The Liberians say they have never seen anything like it and we believe that it may be the result of exploration for offshore oil! Hope it will improve as it has made swimming in the sea impossible. We hope they find oil too as Liberia could certainly do with the income. Liberia is the third poorest country in the world.



The best news is that Samaritan’s Purse has agreed formally and in writing now to the funding for the new 80 bed hospital! The staff at ELWA are delighted as the old hospital is now on its last legs.  We are looking forward to new opportunities with this new building to develop our staff further.

Site of the ELWA Hospital from the present one.

The presidential elections on take place on the 11th October and everyyone is campaigning around Monrovia. Everyone is hoping and and praying  for peaceful elections. Schools have closed for this period of time to keep the children safe. Monrovia Bible College, where Jenny is about to start teaching the degree students who are training to be teachers, has postponed the start of term until the beginning of November.

Liberian rivers and forests from the air

I was invited to go up country in the Samaritan's Purse helicopter, to a graduation ceremony for a discipleship programme at a village called Palakolleh. I helped give out the certificates to a group of 120 people who had been through the three month course.

Dan, the helicopter pilot, and his family live next door to us at ELWA. This is a short video of the ride over rivers and forests. Enjoy the view....

Time for a Festival...

 

Children from our local church
enjoying the Festival

Wow that man’s good! We really enjoyed our evening with Franklin Graham (son of Billy Graham ) along with thousands of other Liberians during the “All Liberia Festival”. Many enjoyed his teaching and thousands around the country took the opportunity to make a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. Now the work has really begun as the churches here begin the follow up. Our own local church is involved in this too. The Children’s Festival was a similar success and we transported 150 children in a Landcruiser shuttle service to the stadium. Jenny’s British health and safety radar was on high alert as we piled the children in until we saw the thousands of other children arrive crammed into open top trucks. Seat belts optional! The morning was filled with songs, games, dancing clowns, trick cycle riding, and topped off with an excellent Gospel message. We even managed to arrive home with all the right children - a miracle!

Will showing Franklin Graham
round ELWA Hospital

Early Sunday morning found us recovering in bed only to receive a phone call to say that Franklin Graham wanted to visit ELWA Hospital. All systems go then! It was great to be able to show him around and explain the hospital’s needs. Samaritan’s Purse (the organisation Franklin heads up) has requested an outline proposal about the needs of the hospital. This is a great opportunity!

 

What a priviledge! Giving out books to
a rural school in Bomi,donated
by schools in England.



Jenny has finally completed her evaluations of ELWA Academy and the report is in draft. It was a great to spend time in the classes meeting the children and staff. There is a really strong Christian ethos in the school and we have now begun to outline training opportunities. Along with two of the ECUL Church leaders, Rev. Samuel Johnson and Rev. Boaki Hayleson, we have visited 6 of the 7 ECUL schools. We have arranged our first network and training session in April and have a number of needs, such as training materials, food and transport costs (some of the teachers will be arriving the night before from their schools which are a distance away, up country). If you would like to give towards this project you can donate through the SIM website at www.sim.co.uk/donate if you are from the UK or www.sim.org/donate if you are from elsewhere e.g. USA. Mention project number 95402.

We intend to take our first day of holiday on Tuesday this week. We plan to lounge around beside the pool in a local hotel! Ah Bliss!!