Another Day in Liberia

"Hi, I just got off the phone with Mark. I don’t know if I want to laugh or cry. He said Tony is expecting the Fortenbacher’s and the Buller’s to be moving to Liberia! What? Anyway, Mark said they had a very emotional day. This morning they went to an orphanage that had about 40 kids. He said all the kids were so cute. An American woman is in charge of the orphanage. She said most of the kids will be adopted. There are a few groups of kids that are hard to place- handicap children, siblings (as they do not want to split them up), and older boys (7 or 8 year olds). She did say that a need for them is clothes. So I guess we will have to start sending all our out grown clothes to Liberia. Mark asked about kids with clefts, as this is very near and dear to our hearts. She said most babies born with birth defects do not live. This shocked me, as I have seen many adults with clefts that have not been repaired. He went on to say that they are not allowed to live. I was speechless. I see how blessed we are to live here. After this very emotional morning they went to have lunch with Tony’s mother. When Tony became a Christian his family no longer had anything to do with him. His father died not to long ago and since then he has had some contact with his mother. So this was also an emotional time for the team. Tony’s family is very poor. They have about 50 people living in a very small house. While they were having lunch, the mother of Tony’s best friend (when he was younger) came to see Tony. His best friend has died and it was very hard for the mother to see Tony as many memories of her son came back. This must have been a hard day for Tony as well. This evening they were able to have a nice dinner at Robert’s house. Robert works for Tony and has been with the team daily. Robert has 4 boys with the youngest being 2 months. Mark said Robert lives in a very poor area as well. Robert’s mother has been cooking some meals for the team. She made them the dinner and it was very good. After dinner they went back to the complex for the night. Tony and Robert were expressing the need for a laptop for Robert. So, Mark gave him the one he had. There is a small problem though; it has not wanted to turn on since they got there. Robert was so excited about getting the computer that he called a guy to come work on it tonight at 10p.m. This gave Mark great joy to see his excitement. So, please pray that the computer will work. The last thing that Mark said is that they are leading Sunday school tomorrow at Calvary Baptist Church. He asked to please pray that it goes well. They asked Mark to lead the men, but he had to decline. He said he would be happy to lead the children, so that is want he will be doing. Pam will be leading the women and Eric will be leading the men. So, you can see this has been a day filled with ups and downs. I also ask you to pray that they will be able to sleep peacefully tonight. Thank you for your continued prayer, Amy"