Day 5 in Liberia

               Our fifth and final day allowed us to get some rest in the morning before church. Most of us took good advantage of that by catching up on sleep, while a few of us got up an hour before breakfast to enjoy a morning swim in the ocean. We ate breakfast and left for church by 10:20. For the guys that have never gone before, church was an experience unlike any other. The Liberian’s worship incredibly freely. They truly make a joyful noise for the Lord and pour themselves out in praise to our God. It was an extremely special experience to worship with them, even for those of us who have been there before.

               There were many unique things that we were not accustomed to. One of these was the greeting. Instead of turning in a circle and quickly shaking hands with only the people sitting by you, you greet the whole church. They allow time for everyone to walk around the church and greet each other. It was very fun to greet so many people in the church that were excited to see us. Their joy was contagious! Another unique thing was the offering. Instead of ushers passing plates, they have multiple boxes at the front for the offering. We went row by row walking up to give. We watched as every person walked up and gave something. The amounts varied but it was special to see how they all desired to give back to the church and their mission, even if they were struggling to provide for themselves or their family. This was convicting to many of us since we are often too protective over our money since we think we do not have much.

               Pastor Emmanuel preached from the book of Jonah. He read to us only chapter 1 of the book. Chapter 1 ends when Jonah is thrown overboard and swallowed by the fish. Pastor Emmanuel warned us to not be like Jonah. Jonah disobeyed God’s call for his life. We are to find God’s calling for our lives and be obedient, even if it costs us. Pastor Emmanuel made sure to mention many times that no man can get in the way of the Lord’s plans. We may try, but when God has a plan, there is nothing that can stop Him. Pastor Emmanuel delivers his sermons with a passion and conviction; it is hard not to feel the Spirit moving throughout the sermon.

               In the middle of the service, Pastor Emmanuel called up Coach Penner to introduce the team. Each person got passed the mic and introduced themselves to the church. After we were introduced, we got the opportunity to perform a song for the church. We chose “This Little Light of Mine”. We tried our best to match the energy of the Liberians and came pretty close. This forced many of us to get outside our comfort zones, but the guys went all in and made a joyful noise praising the Lord!

               To end the service, the Liberians wanted to bless us with a gift before we left. They made and gifted us each traditional Liberian shirts. These people highly value hospitality and loving their neighbor. It was a blessing to be welcomed as brothers and sisters, not just as guests. Each of our 4 coaches also received a new shirt and hat. As Pastor Emmanuel gifted these to us, he called us to gift them to someone in America. we saw this as another opportunity to allow this trip to make a lasting impact when we get home. After we received all our gifts, we wanted to give some gifts back to the people at the church. We gave Pastor Emmanuel a Dordt football, #3 jersey. Coach Penner asked him if he knew why we gave him #3. Pastor Emmanuel quickly answered, “of course, the Trinity!”. We also gave a jersey to Samuel. Samuel worked for the worship team at the church and was our leader throughout the construction projects. As was said in an earlier blog post, we learned what it meant to live out Colossians 3:23 while working construction with the Liberians. Samuel played a huge role in both this trip and the last one.

               We spent the rest of our day relaxing at the resort before heading to the airport at 5pm. Again, we had some trouble getting all of our tickets. 20/24 of us all checked in, got our tickets and got through security easily. 4 of us did not have a ticket when we arrived. There was a lot of uncertainty whether or not all of us would be able to get on the fight home. There was concern that some of us would have to stay back another day and take a different path home. 15 of us that went up to the gate gathered to pray over the situation. We asked God boldly once again to open doors for us. We asked that God allow us to not be like Jonah but rather, be obedient to what He has for us. Finally, after over an hour, all of the guys got their tickets, and we were all set to leave for Brussels at 10:30pm local time. We are thanking God that a door opened for us to all be with each other for this long journey home.

               Our flight from Monrovia to Brussels went smoothly and we arrived in Brussels around 6 am local time. We had a 3 and a half hour layover there that went very quickly as many of us slept the whole time. We took off from Brussels at 10:30 for one of our longer flights of the trip at 9 hours. This flight too went smoothly and many of us got to enjoy very cool views of Iceland, Greenland, Canada, and the Great Lakes. In the Chicago airport, we got through customs and security smoothly. We are not sitting waiting for our 7^th and final flight of the trip back to Sioux Falls.

               Please keep us in your prayers as we finish the travel home and thank you so much for all of you that have supported us through prayer and resources!