Hi everybody!
Long time no blog.. but I’m finally blogging about my trip to Liberia! I know, I know.. it has taken forever to post this! Since we’ve been back, I’ve been very busy working on the project here at the eMi UK office. Between a few late nights at the office, Picasa Web Album problems, weekend trips, Skype dates with friends and family back home, and the Four Adventures of Richard Hannay (amazing book btw).. I haven’t had a whole lot of time to blog. Well, to be fair, I could have blogged if I really wanted to, but the reality of it all was that I was in a blogging funk. Yes, a blogging funk. I just couldn’t force myself to blog.. and believe me, I tried on multiple occasions. But the good news is that I’m finally in a blogging mood! Let’s see how this goes..
(for those of you that just want a quick recap.. watch the videos below, but make sure it’s HD and full screen!)
LIBERIA = EPIC!
Just for clarification: I believe that the word epic is used far too often and without just reasons. In this case, it isn’t. Liberia was an adventure! It was a life-changing journey of huge proportions. Needless to say, going on this trip was one of the better things I’ve done in my life. Let me expound.
Prior to the trip.. I didn’t have much time to prepare myself for what I was about to see/do. I left Arizona almost right after school ended, and since I’ve left I have been crazy busy over here! It wasn’t until about the night before we left that it finally started to hit me. It was like that sensation you get when you’re a little kid waiting in line for a super intense roller coaster that you’ve never been on.. ok, yeah, I still get that feeling. Anyways. I was beyond excited going into the trip.
While I was expecting great things from this trip, I really didn’t have any other expectations. I just wanted to go where God had called me and to see Him work through this trip. On the plane flight to Liberia, I had some time to mentally prepare for what I was about to experience. It was not enough.
We landed in Monrovia (the capitol of Liberia) at the sketchiest airport ever. It was extremely late, very dark, and raining hard.. oh boy! Somehow, through the chaos, we made it through customs, found our bags and discovered Sam Enders waiting to take us to the place we were going to stay. I had no idea who exactly this man Sam Enders was, or just how poor Liberia was. Both exceeded my expectations by far.
Liberia just went through one of the deadliest civil wars in the history of Africa. It lasted for about 20 years and ended less than 10 years ago. It has left its mark on the country and only now is hope beginning to emerge in this place. I’ve heard many people refer to Liberia during the trip as a Fourth World Country, because, It has the poverty of a third world country but also just had a devastating war that completely crippled it. The economy is shot (yes my friends, worse than Phoenix). There is no main power grid or running water throughout the country. Everyone has to rely on themselves, and this usually isn’t the best thing.
It is in this rubbish heap (as the English would say) that a dream is rising out of. This dream is called the African Dream Academy and it was started by Samuel Enders. Sam grew up in Liberia and his days trying to make money for his large family or by going through the rubbish heaps for food. He was completely ignorant of the importance of education. One day he was going through the rubbish and found a picture of a happy child wearing a backpack.. it was this picture that started Sam dreaming. He dreamt of a better world.. and thought that it might be possible if he could only get an education.
With his dream and determination, he put himself into school. He flew through the classes, and before long he had graduated high school. This wasn’t enough for Sam. He pursued a bible school in the states. He wrote them letters frequently asking them to accept him and pay his way to the states. They finally responded and he sent them a video of him leading worship at his church (he was very involved with his church.. started a choir group, taught sermons, etc.).. they were sold. He got his chance! Since then, he’s received an MBA and a masters of divinity.. He has seen his dream of education become a reality.. but what about the others?
Sam’s dream changed from a dream about himself, and became a dream for the children of Liberia. He believes (and so do I) that the key of Liberia is found in the children. If he can only find a way to give them education and lead them to Jesus, the nation might be saved. This is where the African Dream Academy started. Its motto is “to feed an African child is good, but to educate an African child is better”. I love it! They see that a quick meal is only temporary. They need to meet the need at its source – education.. or in Liberia’s case – lack of education.
That is where we come in. ADA contacted us to design the African Dream Academy – classrooms for 2000 children, housing for 300 orphans, staff housing, multi-purpose hall, admin buildings, dining hall, sports fields, swimming pool, etc. This was quite a dream, and we were the ones that got to design it! What a privilege!
I was part of an amazing design team full of wonderful people. These people all are using their unique gifts and talents that God has given them to do this great work in Liberia. As I got to know them, I realized that God had chosen the perfect people for this trip. All of them combined to inspired me to pursue God with my gifts, talents, time, and, ultimately, my life. What an honor to be working with these great men and women of God. I was extremely blessed.
The trip was definitely a rollercoaster ride! There were many complications with the site, but in the end God ultimately showed us that His plan for ADA was way better than anything we ever could have dreamt up. Instead of describing this in full detail (to save you a few hours of reading), I will just direct your attention to the following YouTube video that we just made that does a great job of summarizing our trip into 4 minutes.*
This next video is one that I made with photos that I had taken while in Liberia. If you follow the captions, I basically narrate the project as we go along chronologically. All of these photos are up on my Picasa page - http://picasaweb.google.com/bruce.aka.the.man! I will also be continually uploading more photos of my adventure of this summer.. so keep checking that for more photos! Anyways, here is my video (again, watch it in hd full screen for full effect!).
Hopefully from these videos you can get a feel for the trip and know that the trip was truly epic! God worked in so many ways throughout our time there so that we were constantly reminded that He was in control.
As you can see in the videos, the site was a complete jungle and almost impenetrable. This, along with the hot, humid, rainy days made the surveying very difficult for the engineers. Not only that, but the site was completely surrounded by a river.. we discovered that it would cost at least $5mil to build a bridge that big! Oh, and the site that was supposed to be at least 80 acres turned out to be only 30-40 acres of solid ground with the rest being a swamp! Sam wasn’t prepared for all of this information and was really feeling like this trip would be a major disappointment. He had invested so much money into this property, and it appeared that the dream was beginning to fade into nothing.. but luckily for him and ADA, God had bigger plans.
On a last stitch effort to find another way to access the site, Sam and Joshua went searching for a road just to the north of the area the site was at. To do this, they had to go on a long drive around the river (there weren’t any bridges across it except in Monrovia) and go into an extremely rural area where the road was supposedly located. Upon entering this hidden area, they discovered many villages that were in desperate need for help. They had no schools, no hospitals, no water supply, nothing. Not only that, but when they saw Sam and Joshua, they ran out to them asking them to help! Sam told them about ADA and they were practically giving him land to get him to build it out there Like I said, God had bigger plans.
God immediately placed a desire in Sam’s heart to build ADA here. He returned with Joshua with a new strength. He saw God at work through our trip, even if we wouldn’t be able to design on the site that he had paid for. While he was excited, he thought that for sure our trip had been in vain and that we wouldn’t be able to help him any more. Boy was he wrong! We informed him that we could still carry through with our designs and design based on an illustrative site. Basically, we made up a site with similar conditions to the surrounding area that we could design flexible buildings on. These buildings would then have the ability to adapt to another site of similar characteristics. This news completely blew Sam’s mind! Being there to witness his reaction to this was probably the highlight of the trip for me. :)
This next YouTube video is a fly-through of our design for the African Dream Academy. The main purpose of this video is to help ADA fundraise the money that they need to build it! I did most of the 3d modeling and fly-through design, and Carissa (eMi long term volunteer) did the video effects/text/photos. Enjoy!* :)
In the end, we were able to bless Sam and the African Dream Academy with a great design that will last for generations to come. We presented our designs at the end of the trip to the ADA board and afterwards we were overwhelmed by their immense gratitude to us for coming to help them! They still have a long road to go before it is built, but with our help they are one step closer to seeing their dream become a reality!
Support the African Dream Academy!
The last of the trip we got to spend at a resort to reflect on our trip. It was a bit odd to be in a place of luxury when I had thought that no such places existed in Liberia. However, the time spent with the team was so great! We had an amazing time of reflection and encouragement! I already really miss the team and the people in Liberia that have so greatly impacted my life! Goodbye Liberia!.. for now. :)
Well, I’ve written far more than I had intended to write, but I guess that’s what you get when you spend a couple of weeks writing one blog. :p I hope you all have enjoyed learning about what I experienced in Liberia. I also want to express my deep thanks to all those who have prayed for me while I was over there! The entire team was safe and nobody got Malaria or any other crazy disease (although a huge snake rapped itself around Georges leg on one of the treks through the jungle). Praise God for His loving hands upholding us!
I am now back in the UK at the eMi office continuing to work on this project. We are working on all the official drawings and the massive report. Hopefully, by the end of my time here, we will have issued the report and sent it off to ADA so they can begin building!
PRAYER REQUESTS
- Please pray for our team as we are trying to finish the project report by the time we (us interns) leave for home. It can be a stressful time, but I pray that God will give us peace and the ability to finish it in time!
- Please pray for my heart.. God has been challenging me a lot since I’ve been here and I want to really act on what He has laid on my heart. Pray that I will be invested into what He is doing around me. I want to have an outward focus and not an inward focus.
- Please pray for my best friend, Evan. Over the last 9 months, he has been through some crazy intense chemo, surgery and bone marrow transplant.. and now he will have to have radiation done. Pray for strength for him and his family and that the horrible cancer in his body will be forever gone after this! He is an amazing man of God and has an amazing story.. click here to read more about it!
- Finally, please pray that I will get the rest of my funds that I need. I have not received any donations for a while and I just found out that I still need $1,000 - $2,000 to be fully funded. I am not sure on the exact total and will let you know when I find out. If you have the ability to help sponsor me, please click here to donate (place “Tim Berry-2816” in the designation line)! Thank you all so much!
I have a feeling that now that I’ve broken through and finished this blog that I will be updating more frequently (but with much shorter blogs). Until then.
Cheers!
