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My Bible reading this morning was Isaiah 40:9-11. The pictures bellow are from the church we visited Sunday in the hills of Free Town. 9 You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem,[c] lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. (NIV)

Sunday morning Ananda, Montez and I drove to a church in the hills of Free Town here in Sierra Leone. The rain was coming down with intensity only seem in the days of Noah, so I thought. It rained every day since I arrived here last week. I wish the rain were in Texas, which is in a drought. Ananda asked me to preach, but in the morning I told him that I felt that I was not supposed to preach and Montez, who is from Liberia was going to bring the main message and I was to give a testimony. Pastor Nathaniel was waiting in the main road at the bottom of the hill. From there we drove the land rover through a narrow road up the hill with the rain continuously. We parked the car when we could go no more and walked the rest of the way to the small house where the church meets. The rain did not stop the people that arrived and took their sit on the wooden bench at the main room. A door led to a side room where the drums were located. By the time, the service started there were more th

The next day I woke up at nine in the morning, quite unusual for my normal routine of being out of bed at six, had breakfast and went back to my room for more rest. The last months have been quite intense for me. Projects and deadlines have not allowed much time for brain and body recovery. Two weeks ago, I arranged to go to my friends’ place, the Menefee, south of Van for two days of rest. However, I could not find the keys for the gate and ended up staying at home mowing the lawn and doing other chores. I can remember a time when I had two full days of rest. Therefore, I took fully advantage of the opportunity. Following the repair to the damage caused by a stone strike to the airplane engine Brussels airlines schedule a new flight, SN1226, was set to Wednesday, August 24 at 23:30 from Banjul to Free Town. We left the Ocean View Hotel at 22:00 and left to our destination. We arrived in Free Town two o’clock in the morning. The Lungi airport is located in an island and Free Town

SN Brussels arranged fly into Lungi (Freetown) at 23h00 what would get us there 12h30 Wednesday morning. A Mercy Ships representative, Pr Mark, arranged for seven passengers arriving on that flight to stay in the guest accommodation overnight near the airport before going to the ship in the morning. We had diner around seven in the evening. The bus to the airport was to leave at nine. I went to my room, close my bags and lay dawn in bed waiting to go to the hotel lob quarter to nine. At eight thirty, somebody banged at my door. The bus is here and the first group is getting ready to go. I got my suitcase that was waiting at the door and headed to the hotel lobby. Only to find out that the flight was canceled, the technicians who were working to fix the problem caused by the bird were not ready. The disappointment in everyone’s face was evident. I was luck enough not to have my luggage in side the bus. Some passengers took their frustration on the staff that did not have any thin

Although it is not always easy to travel, I enjoy it. Some time, just the planning and organization of the trip is enough to get me excited. It was not different for this trip to Sierra Leone. I knew it would be a long trip, Tyler, Dallas, Chicago, Brussels, a quick stop in Banjul (Gambia) and finally Free Town, Sierra Leone. The flight went well until the last leg of the trip, Banjul to Free Town. As the airplane accelerated to take off a bird, I am not sure what kind, decided to flight in front of the plane and hit, the turbine maybe sucked. I felt an engine noise, acceleration immediately reduced, and few minutes lather the breaks stopped the airplane just before the end of the runway. The plane returned and we were sent to the Ocean View Hotel. So far, I enjoy the amenities. We received a message around lunchtime that we depart 11pm this evening. In a way, it is nice to have a day of rest before all the activities waiting for me on board the Africa Mercy.