The Container!

Well, the container arrived! It was last night, November 2 at 11:00 p.m. Such a story. It left Monrovia at 4:00 p.m. and took the 7 hours to drive to us. Ended up getting stuck in the mud on the campus. Many people were up until 4:00 a.m. trying to move it to do a drop. Liberians can be hard workers! Amazing. There was much debate about whether we were aloud to do a drop. The drivers of the truck tried to get us to unload it and then drop. Danny was not in favor of that! Anyway, The full moon was helpful. The rain that came in the early morning was not. People woke at 6 a.m. to, again, with daylight begin trying to get unstuck. Someone had the idea of going down the road to BRE a foreign owned development company to see if they could help us with a crane or something. They ended up sending a digging machine with much power. They pulled the container off of the stuck truck! I have it on video and will send it home to Alison for you to see on the blog. After the container came off in the mud and almost on it's side, the digging machine went to the site that our house is going to be built and cleared a few big trees and prepared the spot for us! A huge savings of energy and time. A big blessing! Now we are in town emailing and buying building supplies to begin work tomorrow. It has been a full day. We are tired, overwhelmed, and excited. Thanks for being a part of all of these blessings. We have NOT opened the container yet, that will be for another time and photo opportunity. We feel your prayers and presence with us. Thank you so much.

Life at the Camphor Mission

We are back home at the Camphor Mission. Kathy has been named the new Business Manager and is busy meeting with people to learn more about the financial workings at Camphor. Danny is seeing patients and teaching at the clinic. A Traditional Birth Attendant training is happening at the church for the Camphor community, learning basic life saving skills. We have been busy hosting our first visitors on the Camphor Mission. We have settled into our room at the Director's house that we share with the new Director, Paul Glaydor, Sr. and Principal, Boyd Davies.

We are in the middle of many things. We are working on getting our container out of port in Monrovia and hoping to break ground on UMVIM Missionary Housing this week. We arranged new bank accounts for ourselves and the Friends of Camphor. We are excited and overwhelmed by all that is in store for us here. We could not do this without your prayers and one another.

Students at J.F. Yancy School.

Visitors from Colorado, Trinity UMC in the Rocky Mountain Annual Conference, providing TBA training to community. Cheryl Townson and Bob Gibb.
A line of patients at the clinic.

Support Camphor Mission with your Christmas Cards

Do you want to support the Camphor Mission this Christmas?

Go to www.Jordanswishingwell.com to get your Christmas cards this year. Designs made by actual children at the Camphor Mission Station here in Liberia where Danny and Kathy Dickriede are working.

A set of 16 cards- 4 of each design for $12.00; includes envelopes; $2.15 shipping cost

Get these while supplies last! (Card designs above and below)

What are the hopes and prayers for Camphor Mission in Liberia?

Goals for 2009-2010

Building of Judy Olin UMVIM Missionary Housing

Begin Community based health outreach

2 new water wells drilled in the Camphor area

Sanitation built for the school

Teacher Training

Organize finances and salaries

What can you do for us as missionaries and the folks at Camphor Mission in Libeia?

• Participate in the Year of 100 Gatherings
• Prayers for leaders, patience, our family's continued good health and comfort, pray for the babies in the Camphor region, prayers for their parents choosing clean water access, vaccinations, and health care in a timely manner.
• Invite friends to be a part of what your church is doing in Liberia.
• Pray about being a part of a UMVIM Mission Trip to Liberia

Emergency Trip Home

Danny and Kathy returned home on Tuesday, September 29th to attend to Danny's mom Rose's health. After two weeks in the hospital with pneumonia and not eating and the return of her four boys, Rose woke up and announced, "I feel too good to die." Rose began eating the next day and being very cute. With her boys, Ed, Jim, Pat, and Danny by her side, Rose became strong and healthy. She returned to her nursing home on Monday, October 5th where she continues to win at Bingo, watch TV, and be one of the favorite residents. Danny and Kathy will return to work in Liberia on Sunday, October 18th. It was good and right for us to come home to be with family. It is good to know that the world is small and that we can be home in a day. Thanks for your prayers! It is truly why Rose is still with us!

Welcoming

Here is a video of the students singing for us as they welcome us to the Camphor Mission!

Our return to the Camphor Mission Station

After a whirled wind weekend in Monrovia with shopping and meetings, we traveled four hours on washed out rainy seasoned roads. There were pot holes and rushing creeks deeper than the floor boards of any car. Kathy spent most of the time trying not to throw up while Danny visited with the Methodist staff that road along to introduce us. We had a great welcome ceremony with all of the students, staff, community, district superintendent, and conference leaders present. There is a video of the children singing and welcoming us home.

We spent our first days visiting with people, moving into a repainted, comfortable, dry house that we will share with the new director and principal. We will begin building the missionary housing when the rains stop next month. Wish us luck. We need your prayers. We are also awaiting the container that Firestone is shipping and should arrive mid-October.

We were excited to see many improvements on the mission station. Mosquito nets in the hospital and girls and boys dorms, new ceiling and screens on windows in the boy's dorm, generators in girls and boys dorms, which means light bulbs for a couple of hours in the evenings for studying. Their generator is better than ours, they have lights tonight and we don't.

Danny has been spending his time at the clinic with the staff and patients. Kathy has been getting herself invited to the girl's dorm for devotions and sitting in classes at the school observing students and teachers. We are trying to keep our mouths shut and our ears open. That is hard for Danny! We look forward to working with the new administration who move in next week. People are excited about the possibilities that all of this newness might bring. As they say here, "Take time, take time, changes will come slow slow. In Jesus name."

We hope to come into Buchanan (about 12 miles from the Camphor Mission) and update the blog each week. Keep in touch with us through email, kathyd@camphormission.org We would love to hear from you!


Clinic ward with mosquito nets.


Girls dorm with mosquito nets.


Girls in the dorm.
Students at the welcome ceremony.