This is a hard country. Life here is not easy for the Liberians. Access to healthcare is often limited, and any infection has the potential to be life-threatening. Malaria always is a concern, as is safe drinking water, clean produce, and fresh meat.
We have been in Africa four months now. In that time, four of the national staff here at the Village have experienced the death of a close relative. Two workers lost their brothers. One brother was 42 years old, and the other one was 45 years old. Our laundry girl's sister passed away and left four little children, the youngest being only 6 months old. Two weeks ago, a groundskeeper's daughter fell and died. She was just over a year old. No ambulance, no medi-flight, no trauma center available to those out in the bush.
We have had the privilege to hear several of these people pray during morning devotions, and usually they begin their prayers by thanking God for "waking up this morning." If you ask someone how their night was, they will respond by saying, "I have life, thank God." These sayings are not trite phrases, but come from a realization that life is tenuous. Only by the grace of God are they alive today.
A thankful heart in the midst of hard times...that must make God smile.
Wishing all who read this a day full of thanking God for life.
Dave & Babs Veneman
