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Day Eight

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This morning we woke up in Liberia for the final time on this trip. We spent our remaining hours in country at church with Pastor Emmanuel and his congregation. The church service lasted from 9am to 1:00pm. It was vastly different from the church services that we’re accustomed to in the United States. The Liberians allow the spirit to move freely in their worship. It is so evident that their relationship with Jesus goes way beyond head knowledge. It has infiltrated their hearts. This comes out by singing freely during worship, clapping hands, and dancing before the Lord. We got outside of our comfort zone and participated as best could. It was impactful for us to hear the word from Pastor Emmanuel. His message was titled, “The Power of Ownership” based on 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. The main point was that we were all bought at a high price by the blood of Christ. Our response as his Children should be to offer all of ourselves as sacrifices before the Lord. We are not our own. We must live...
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Day Seven

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Today marked our last full day in Liberia. We split up into two groups with one going to Abundant Life Christian School and one going to One Body One Hope’s main campus.  A lot of the guys that went to Abundant Life earlier in the week wanted to go back so they could see the kids they started to get to know. Since it was Saturday, school wasn’t in session, so the only kids there were the orphans who live at Abundant Life full time. It was a joy to see the smiles on the kids faces as their new American friends came back to see them before they left. Once again, we played a lot of kickball, lapa, and soccer. We also taught them how to play “defender ball.” Defender ball is essentially a kid friendly version of football. We’re not sure if American football will catch on Liberia, but we sure have tried our best.  The rest of the team who went to the main campus continued working on the church project. We kept working hard mixing sand, concrete mix, and rock together to pour more f...
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Day Six

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Day six in Liberia was another good one. We continue to see the Lord’s blessing on our team. Today was the last “normal” day of the trip itinerary. Tomorrow we will send 13 of us back to Abundant Life Christian school and the rest of us will be spending time with the kids at the main school on One Body One Hope’s campus. On Sunday we will worship with Pastor Emmanuel and his congregation then come back and get packed up as we fly out late Sunday evening at 9pm local time. Last night we finally had a few members of the team come down with sickness. It is nothing serious, but still not fun to be feeling under the weather this far from home. Please pray that the three guys feeling under the weather would bounce back quickly. Especially before the flight home in a few days.  Another prayer request from today is for the two coaches wives who joined us, Emily Penner and Alaina Jungling, to have safe travels home. They left this evening so they can get back to teach on Monday morning. It ...
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Day Five

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Today we were back at it here in Liberia traveling many miles to continue our pursuit of relationships, learning, and growing closer to Christ. Two of the three groups went to schools that were outside of Monrovia. It took over an hour and a half to get there by van. Getting outside the city, we were able to see more of rural Liberia. The children and teachers at these schools get less contact from trips like ours, so it was a blessing to be able to spend time with them, bring gifts, and experience community together. Here is a run down of what all three groups did:  Group One went to a Christian school in Totota. This was the longest trip we’ve taken yet. It was a 2.5 hour van ride. We cram as many people in the vans as possible to ensure we maximize our efficiency when traveling. You can imagine 13 college football players in a 12 passenger van with spotty AC for that long of a ride became rather uncomfortable. It was worth it. The kids at Totota were thrilled to have us. It took...
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Day Four

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 Today we took a slight step back from our frenzied pace of the first 2 days in country. All three groups got back to our place around 2-3pm and we enjoyed the ocean together. We had guys playing in the water and learning how to surf in the African waves. It was pretty awesome. Before we had fun, we made sure to get a good day of work in. Here’s what the three groups did today: Group 1 was the last of the team to head out to the farm. They took the tour and learned the processes of palm oil production. Now everyone on our team has been out to the farm. The group today also helped with some harvesting of the palm as we completed the dirt project on the first 2 days. Dordt football was able to help create a more level surface for traffic to and from the storage shed. Praise God!   Group 2 went to another school called Harbel. Again, we were able to play games with the kids. Kickball was a main attraction today. It seems like soccer and kickball are what we get challenged in...
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