Renita decides it will be cheaper (and quieter) to ship him.

Renita with our next door neighbor, Glenda. Glenda has become a part of our family, and made us feel like a part of hers-- almost from the first day we moved in. That was eight years ago now. People thought we were unwise to move here. And now, its tough to leave.

Like a sister.

Three Weeks and Counting

July 1 update: Renita and I are busy every day, packing the few remaining unpacked items in our home, preparing the load of 45 desktop computers we will be shipping along with our items, receiving components of our solar power sytem, talking with friends on the ground in Liberia, and working hard to stay connected to each other. Everyday we have a long to-do list, every day we work through that day's list. Here are a few shots of the kids over the past couple of weeks. So many great people are with us in this venture, it humbles us and reminds us that the world is a much more noble and caring place than we hear through everyday mass media.

Noah and best buds Ben, Matt and Sam goofing off at their place.

Hannah with her friend Abbey at Zoo School, from which Hannah just graduated. Great job girl!

Noah in the garage during our sale. Sitting on a skate board, attacking a Naboo cruiser with a stealth fighter over an aircraft carrier. Note the mouth action.

I Drove All Night To Get To You

It was a long and winding road. After rushed goodbyes, I sped out of the Eastern Mennonite University campus at 3:30pm Tuesday the 21st, about fifteen minutes after my last class ended.

... out of the Shenandoah Valley, into the Virginia Appalachians.

A little deer action somewhere in W. Virginia.

Six hours down, six to go. A quick sunset shot at 75mph.

Hey, get the camera out of my face! I'm driving!

Honey, I'm home!

Heroes

It was like nothing else I have ever experienced. It was a gathering of practical idealists, men and women who every day make tangible the loftiest dreams we hold. Some work in the most horrific places on the planet, where injustice and oppression is merely background noise for worst humans can do to each other. Others work in relative peace, where severe hunger and poverty are the violence makers. There is no question about why it needs to be done, or timing, or whether it makes a difference. It is simply a given that the work must be done. They bring sanity and compassion to a world that has lost its mind and heart.

Below are just a few shots of the greatest heroes I have ever met.

Augustine from Pakistan, with Manohar from Nepal. Manohar (on the right) liked to buy things. Augustine, a community development worker, fed his family on $140.00 a month. Augustine's family cannot afford a chicken to eat but once a month, yet he works tirelessly to make his region more stable. He was here on a scholarship, and wanted to go with me whenever I took others to buy things. He could not afford to buy himself, but he liked the company just the same. So did I.

Jana from Lebanon. Gave the best hugs. A playful, dedicated peacebuilder.

Bill Goldberg on the left, an EMU staffer, Sarah from South Africa via Sierra Leone (working with victims of torture), and Jack from Jordan. Jack may have been everybody's favorite.

Laith, a Muslim from Bagdad, holds Bill Goldberg's son. Laith has been shot, stabbed, and recently in a restaurant that was bombed. Spent three months in the hospital. A professor in a Iraq university. One of my closest friends there, and a man of remarkable courage and resilence.

Gary up front, an American who worked in Bosnia, to his left Mahnaz from Pakistan doing women's right work in Afganistan; Amany, an Egyptian doctor working at the American hospital in Tanta, Egypt; Stan, a therapist who's been all over; Angela, an American who's worked extensively in Liberia and is jealous of me for going there; and Linda and Michele, two Irish ladies who have lost men to the troubles in Belfast. I could write stories about each.

Laith and Kristen. Kristen is from Australia and now works in Colombia. Her smile, which is utterly disarming, leaves one completely unprepared for her indomitable spirit and ferocious tenancity. You want her on your side.