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Wow! I can hardly believe that it has been nearly 7 months since I last made an entry on this blog! You're right... that was way too long for you to wait for an update on PROJECT BUCHANAN.
However, I am happy to report that building construction on the new school property in Liberia has indeed begun! Over the next few days I hope to "fill you in" with both words and pictures...
Here in Colorado, another year in the classroom has ended for Paula and me. Now at last we can get out the old suitcases and start packing for our summer 2010 trip to Liberia! That's right! Exactly one month from today, we should be en route on a flight from Brussels to Monrovia. We can hardly wait to be on our way "back home" again!
Since January we have been making plans to spend this summer in Liberia (just as we did last year). Now at last we have our tickets and are starting to get really excited! We are scheduled to leave Denver on June 24... and return on August 5.
We want to thank our many friends and supporters across the United States and Canada who are interested in PROJECT BUCHANAN and who have so generously helped to make our 6-week visit to Liberia this summer possible.
NOTE: You can left-click on any picture to enlarge it for better viewing..Yes, we're back! In fact, we got back to Denver the middle of August, just when the school year here in Colorado was starting to "gear up". So I've been busy the last couple of weeks getting my science classes underway at Belleview Christian School (here in Westminster where I teach) and writing up a formal report of our trip for Pillar Missions..
The primary purpose of our five-week trip to Liberia this summer was to move PROJECT BUCHANAN forward by putting together a comprehensive plan for its development over the next few years. On this trip our work was to include a study of the property’s topography, the creation of a possible campus layout, the development of a phase-by-phase building plan, and the structuring of a project management team.
Certainly we were hoping that our extended time in Liberia would also allow us to reconnect with our friends and be an encouragement to them. We wanted to become better acquainted with their needs and try to understand, in particular, the postwar challenges of the Christian school ministry in Buchanan.
As a science teacher, I felt that one way I could help the school in Buchanan was to take over some simple science lab equipment and show the science teachers in Buchanan how it could be used to enhance their classes. Finally ...
I knew that I would likely be asked to be the special speaker at several churches on the Sundays we would be in Liberia. I hoped to be able to use my knowledge of “Liberian English” and the Bassa language to connect with young people who might be wondering how God could use them to help Liberia.
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Our five weeks in Liberia went by so quickly, but a lot was accomplished. In my next few posts to this blog, I want to bring you up to date on PROJECT BUCHANAN and the progress that has been made toward getting building construction started on the new land. Liberia is currently in the heaviest part of the rainy season along the West African coast, but by November the dry season will be returning and outdoor work will need to begin in earnest.
Last Tuesday (as I reported in my last post) Paula and I sent off for the visas we would need for our upcoming trip to Liberia this summer. The website of the Liberian Consulate in New York had indicated that we should allow at least 5 working days for our visas to be processed. However, we were very pleased on Friday (just 3 days later) to receive by express return mail a package containing our returned passports with the visas stamped inside! Our thanks to the Liberian Consulate for such great service... and, of course, to the US Postal Service as well!
Yesterday Paula and I gathered together all the requirements for our visas -- completed application forms, valid passports, up-to-date immunization records, recent photos, and a money order for $281 -- and mailed them off to the Liberian consulate in New York. Hopefully we should have our documents back in a week or two and be ready to travel internationally, come July 7!
Already we've encountered just a little wrinkle in our travel plans! (What did I tell you?)!.Apparently the airline we were hoping to use next month has not yet received full clearance to start its newly-scheduled service to Liberia, and therefore it has been forced to cancel its June flights on this new direct route to West Africa. Since there's a good chance this could happen again in July, our travel agent is attempting this week to arrange for an alternate carrier!.Unfortunately this change in travel plans will necessitate our flying first to Europe and then south to Liberia -- a much longer route which we had been hoping to avoid (29 hours one way, instead of 17)! Also, our trip (going and coming) will be delayed by a day..Our new trip dates will probably be July 7 through August 13... unless, of course, the first carrier gets its clearance before July 6, in which case we might be back to Plan A!.Either way Paula and I are still planning to be in Liberia for 5 full weeks this summer! I'll keep you posted!
Yesterday we reserved tickets with our travel agent! Our travel dates are now "certain"; Paula and I expect to leave Denver for Liberia on July 6, returning 5 weeks later on August 11! But check out the footnote below....*.Allow me to add a footnote to the concept of "definite"...let's just say, our plans (to go to Liberia this summer) are only as "certain" as any of us can make plans to do anything!.I remember when I was very young in Africa, when certain older missionaries would talk about their plans (very definite plans, as far as I could tell), they would often add: "D.V." At the time I wondered: Why the "D.V."? What does that mean? Later I found out. (No, it didn't stand for "Digital Video..." before the "...Disc" was added!) "D.V." is an abbreviation for an old Latin expression, "Deo volente", which means: "God being willing". Well, that's simple enough! But then I would ask myself: Why didn't they just say it in English? Does Latin make it more "spiritual"? And why use the abbreviation? Perhaps they're not sure of the Latin pronunciation or spelling!.But seriously, the old-timers had good reason to add the "Deo volente" condition to the plans they were making. First, they recognized that they weren't in control. Who is? More importantly, they had a few good Bible verses to back them up! Like James 4:14-15: "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow... Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'" Or what about Proverbs 19:21: "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.".As far as those old missionaries knew, their bold plans were also good plans and they were honestly trying to do the right thing for the kingdom of God. But just in case... just in case circumstances would later indicate that "the Lord had other plans" (another expression they would often use), meaning that they would have to modify or give up their own, they were always careful to add those two simple letters: "D.V."
Since January we have been making plans to spend this summer in Liberia (just as we did last year). Now at last we have our tickets and are starting to get really excited! We are scheduled to leave Denver on June 24... and return on August 5.
