ReedNews Update: Sometimes God Says No

The rainy season is still upon us in force, with rain nearly every day and some days (like today) seeing rain all day. We are getting used to it, but we miss the sun. We got over six inches yesterday. Here is the rest of the news:

Item- We buried our dear friend Deacon Reeves Saturday. The service was sad but good. The Reeds were asked to offer a brief tribute, but the highlight was the message given by his son Rev Samuel Reeves of Providence Baptist Church. The message was titled “When God Says ‘No’,” and it was a wise reminder that for the faithful, He always answers prayers—but He answers according His agenda, not ours. Sometimes the word is no. So we need to stop resisting, which goes against much of what we are taught. You know:“Never take 'no' for an answer.” The thing is, His “no” ends up strengthening us and glorifying Him. Even today’s “no” is ultimately and forever transformed into YES.

Item- Obviously, we have returned from Mali. The country and society is noticeably more stable and feels safer than Liberia; it was nice to actually be able to walk at night. We had four days of meetings with the CRWRC West Africa Ministry Team and enjoyed reconnecting with our friends from Senegal, Mali, Niger and Nigeria. I enjoyed another bout of amebic dysentery and Renita and Hannah are still waiting for their intestinal adventures to pass. Er, my grandma Cain used to call it the “trots.”

Item- Back here, work responsibilities are loomin’ large. I am mostly involved in two activities for Mother Patern College—teaching a 3 credit course on human behavior for the social work students and working with the staff of the college and the folks at Calvin and Kuyper Colleges on the exciting but daunting task of developing this nations first professional social work program.

Item- Renita is about to begin her third LEAD class—already about 45 folks have graduated and some are receiving loans to enhance their businesses and employ more Liberians. She is also about to begin her second year of home schooling. Hannah and Noah are getting the best education in their lives.

Item- Around home, the 14 chicks that hatched a month ago are doing fine, although the two roosters are driving us crazy in the morning with their constant crowing. I’d like to eat one of them, but the kids won’t have it so we’ll likely give him away—to another family who will eat him.

Item: Regarding electricity, some of you have asked how we are doing. We still have some solar power during daylight hours, even with the rain. The solar panels are great and always supply enough amperes to run our refrigerator, two dc lights, our dc fans, and on good days, both of our laptops via our small 80watt inverter. We never were able get the big inverter fixed, so our bigger power needs wait until 7:00pm, when we fire up the generator for three hours.

A few photos of the funeral and the last part of our trip to Mali follow.

Sam Reeves preaches his father's funeral. The casket is covered in flowers behind him.

The mourners approach the oceanside grave site.

Sam Reeves says goodbye to his father, as the Deacon's casket slides into its crypt.

On to a few images of Mali. We were there for meetings with WAMT. Here is photographic evidence that we actually met.

The Selingue River from atop the Selingue Dam. Renita and Noah investigating cows, with fishermen in the background.

A close up of a fisherman and fisherboy casting their nets.

Another shot of a fisherman, this looking down from the top of the Selingue Dam.

The Passing of a Friend

Deacon Reeves has died.

We are currently still in Mali, and have been away from internet access for five days. Upon returning to Bamako, we received an email from Pastor Sam Reeves that his father, our next door neighbor, our oldest and dearest friend in Liberia, died from complications related to his diabetes on Tuesday, August 29. His funeral will be next week Saturday.

Deacon Reeves had been quite sick for several months, and even though he was receiving good medical care, the diabetes was very aggressive and because of his small frame he experienced wild fluctuations in blood sugar levels. He continually battled serious infections, another diabetes-related complication. Apparently the infections spread to internal organs, causing his death. Although in a good deal of pain these past few weeks, he remained dignified, polite and warm.

Our lives here will not be the same without him, but we trust we will see him again.

The Reeds in Mali: Getting a Lay of the Land

Ok, thirty-six hours after leaving our house, we arrive in Bamako, Mali. Our main purpose for being here is to attend a week of meetings with the CRWRC West Africa Ministry Team. Renita and I are both working as volunteers with the CRWRC Service link program, thanks to the support of so many of you. Because we both need to be here, and because flights are infrequent out of Monrovia, we get to bring along Hannah and Noah and we will be here almost two weeks. So there will be some vacation-like days here.

We arrived Friday the 25th of august-- the meetings begin Monday the 28th. So our hosts, the Crickmores and the Bosches, decided to take us on a day trip to some of the sites a few miles out of Bamako. It was a day we will not forget. Here are just a few images.

Our Saturday trip begins. The road was good, and the views got better with every mile.

The rainy season creates temporary waterfalls along the sandstone cliffs. The rest of the year, this is brown and dry.

Heading into the bush. Here, negotiating around young gent with a cart and donkey.

Peace n' love from Yers Trooly, somewhere in Mali.

Very beautiful a natural sandstone bridge. Nice to look and take pict... Wha?? We are climbing that?!?

Just one of the inspiring formations in the area.

Time for some upward treading.

Under the natural bridge. We made it-- or so we thought. We have a bit more climbing to do. There is a slightly better view...

Mali from the top of the natural bridge. This is the easy side of His promise of "abundant life." We'll take it.