The Joint Conference of Restoration Branches produced a Global Internet Broadcast on June 5th, 2011 that featured the Seventy. If you were unable to watch live, the recording is now up at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/15196662
It is technically well done and, more importantly, focuses on the work of Jesus Christ and His gospel. Please share as the Spirit leads that we all might bring glory to the Lord of the Vineyard through our joint labors unto Him.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Two New Seventy Ordained
Gary Metzger and Hugh Caldwell accepted their call to Seventy and were ordained at the April 2011 JCRB International Conference. Go to http://restorationseventy.org/ and click About Us to select these names from the dropdown list to read more about these men. The Seventy welcome these new brothers to their ranks, and are happy to have more laborers in the vineyard for the Lord of the harvest.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Work Opens in Chile & Argentina - Seventy Gary Metzger & Nathan Sherer
For 10 days, Seventy Nathan Sherer and Elder Gary Metzger provided ministry to open up the work for the restoration in Chile and Argentina. We visited three elders who were former members of the Community of Christ in Santiago, Chile. We found our contact there, Reinaldo Hernández, through Facebook, pointed out to us by our new contact in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On Saturday evening, March 12th, we met with these 3 men and answered their questions and testified of the work of the Holy Spirit and the organization of the conference. Reinaldo had already baptized his mother and sister, and the other two elders were busily engaged in ministry as well. We stayed in Reinaldo's home and he provided for our needs as the gospel indicates. We left them with great hopes. Two of the Elders have written us since and let us know that they and their groups will be joining us. That gives us Two Elders and Six members in Chile.
On Sunday we ministered to many in Reinaldo's family and shared in class and testimony. Reinaldo's mom, who is a member, invited her entire family to hear a class by us. We discussed the Kingdom of God and what it was. We were talking about how to become a citizen and read What Peter had to say on the day of Pentecost to the people that were gathered there. Nathan read Acts 2:38 where it says that Baptism is for the remission of sins. Reinaldo's aunt, Nancy, shared how terrible it was for a church to baptize innocent children, implying that they are sinful at birth. It was a great opportunity to share the Book of Mormon witness. The Spirit of God ministered to many of his family. Every house we went into they wanted us to bless it. We blessed three different houses.
Monday the 14th we traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina to visit with Pablo Salvato, a contact we have had for over 5 years. He had a spiritual dream in which he saw himself in a tall building, looking down and seeing a man standing on the waters of a river motioning for him to come. Pablo knew that this man was sent of God to lead him to the other side and escape destruction. In March of last year, he recognized Gary Metzger's face on Facebook and immediately asked for baptism in response to God's revelation from years earlier.
Pablo's wife, Elena, has been studying with Pablo at home for many years now, but never expressed a desire in being part of the work. During Tuesday afternoon, we felt led that we should sing. Elena shared that she had received ministry from an angel about two weeks prior to our visit and that he sang her a hymn and told her to receive a blessing three times. Later that evening, Elena shared with us that she has been sick with a problem in her blood for about 11 years. At the end of our sharing, it was 1:00am and there is a campfire-like song that speaks of seeking the Lord at 1:00am for him to resolve our problems. That song was sung and we prayed. We also agreed administer to her for a blessing later.
On Wednesday we continued classes and spoke to some personal issues that were bothering Pablo. That night Pablo had a dream. He saw himself naked before the Lord, and then the Lord gave him white clothes. He understood that his dream meant that in his present condition that he was naked and ashamed, but would receive robes of righteousness with his baptism.
The next day, we performed the laying on of hands for Elena's healing and then had Pablo's baptism. To our joy afterwards, Elena told us that she also desired to be baptized! She had asked for years for people to come to her house and pray for her, and no one had done so. She had promised the Lord when someone would, that she would unite with them in the work. She also knew that when the angel had come to her two weeks before and told her to receive the blessing that he meant more than just a physical blessing, but also meant that receiving us and the gospel were part of that as well. So both were baptized that day, and after classes in the afternoon about members' duties, they were confirmed as the first two members of the church in Argentina!
Seventy Frank Frye had also made contact with a man in northern Argentina over a year ago. This person heard we were coming and was able to join us for classes on Saturday and Sunday and to ask us questions to clear up his understanding of the differences between the Mormon Church and the Restoration. The truth was difficult for him, but he left with much to consider and great desires to join us.
We finished our stay in Argentina with a communion service with our new members and prayed for God's blessings on His work.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Randy Vick West Africa Winter 2011 - BACK IN THIS TROPICAL PARADOX
Taxiing toward the terminal, all I see are UN aircraft and I'm thinking Africa Sky is probably the only commercial airline using Spriggs-Payne. The sight of those UN aircraft reminds me of all the flights I made out of this airport, as UN Regional Police Commander, when I had to visit my international and Liberian police officers in Zwedru, the capital of Grand Gedeh, Fishtown, the capital of River Gee, Harper, the capital of Maryland, Bartlesville, the capital of Grand Kru and sometimes Greenville, the capital of Sinoe, although I usually made that trip by road. My headquarters was located in Buchanan, the capital of Grand Bassa, and I always went by road to visit Cestos City, the capital of River Cess. When I needed to fly I would have to drive from Buchanan north, 155 km, to Monrovia to catch a flight south, sometimes on the same type of aircraft I'm flying today, although reconfigured for transporting troops and cargo. Most often though I would fly on Ukrainian helicopters. While not as reliable, the helicopters always flew much lower, affording a better view of the scenery below.
I am in the first seat in economy and there are no business class passengers, so I am the first to disembark on the tarmac and walk to the terminal, where I'm directed to a Customs Officer. He thumbs through my passport and with a look of disdain, tells me to follow him into a back office. There I'm confronted by a very large and very stern looking woman seated at a desk who orders me to sit, and I sit. She thumbs through my passport and then thumbs through it again, finally asking me what we're going to do about the problem of me not having a visa. I am polite, but not friendly as I direct her attention to the three year Liberian visa that takes up one whole page of my passport. She stamps and signs my passport and hands it to me without saying a word or even looking at me. (I learn later from a Lebanese man who has lived in Liberia for 40 years, that I only got away with that because I am an American and because I stood up to her. He told me he always has to slip $20.00 US into his passport to get through customs.)
I always wear my documents pouch around my neck when arriving in Liberia, with a US flag and an old UN Police ID card prominently displayed. No one ever notices that the ID card is expired. As I claim my luggage, a Customs Officer directs me to place it on the counter and open it for inspection, and I have no problem with that. As I'm unlocking it, a Liberian police officer standing nearby, speaks rather harshly to the Customs Officer, pointing out my "police" ID and the Customs Officer apologizes and immediately sends me on my way.
Making my way out the front door of the terminal I am prepared to repel the onslaught of taxi drivers and find a place in the shade to wait for Bro. Stephen, since my flight arrived so early. As the taxi drivers rush me, I hear Bro. Stephen calling out to me. It is always a joy to see his smiling face when arriving back in Liberia, but especially so today when I assumed I would have a long wait. Turns out he has been waiting for some time as he wanted to be sure he would not be late. He has borrowed a friend's car and has one of his "sons" Joshua with him. I've known Bro. Stephen for several years now, but I had never met his son Joshua. Then I realize, like Bro. Eric and Sr. Pam in Kenya, Bro. Stephen and Sr. Sarah take in young men as their sons, to help guide and mentor them. Bro. Stephen tells me my Liberian son, Milton, is coming from Buchanan to greet me at the airport and he calls him and learns that he is only blocks away. We make arrangments to rendezvous with him on Monrovia's main arterial street, UN Drive, and its another joyous reunion.
The movement of the car, with the windows down, brings a breeze which is a welcome relief from the heat, until we reach the crush of humanity that is Red Light in Paynesville, Monrovia's largest suburb. I realize there may be a market somewhere in the world that is more crowded, although I've never seen it, but I'm willing to bet there are none more chaotic. Its an amazing obstacle course as Bro. Stephen maneuvers through the mass of human foot traffic, as well as motorized and non-motorized vehicles of every size and description, including trucks, cars, motorbikes, bicycles, wheelbarrows, push carts, etc. He manages and soon we turn on the winding, dirt streets of Kabah Town, a suburb of Paynesville, and finally to Soul Clinic, the community within Kabah Town where Bro. Stephen lives. Arriving at his home, I am greeted warmly by Sis Sarah and two of their children, Ophelia and Garpaulyondeh. Wooden chairs are brought to a shady spot and even though I'm sweating profusely, it's good to sit in the shade in this calm and quiet atmosphere away from all the hustle and bustle.
All too soon its time for Milton to go to his cousin's where he'll stay the night and Bro. Stephen has to take the car back to his friend. We've decided that I'll travel to Buchanan tomorrow with Milton as he has to be back at his UN post at 1 PM. Bro. Stephen will also accompany us and go to his rubber farm in Compound 3 in Grand Bassa County. Most Liberians have a difficult time thinking of, or planning for the future, but not so Bro. Stephen. He has planted a rubber tree farm on his family's property in Gardee Town in east central Grand Bassa County. Rubber farming is a big source of income in Liberia and if his farm does well, when it starts producing in 8 to 10 more years, his children will be provided for, but in the meantime it requires a lot of maintenance. So we'll be traveling together in a taxi, and it will be good to have traveling companions that are friends and not strangers.
When it is just Sis Sarah, the kids and I, she serves a delicious meal of tuna fish sandwiches. I always appreciate whatever is provided as I know it's a sacrifice for them and they always make the extra sacrifice of including meat in the meal. Following dinner I have a rare opportunity to observe a slice of everyday life in the Gardee family, and separated from Sis Sarah and her children by the darkness, it's almost as if I'm not here. In the darkness, Sis Sarah is sitting in the dirt on the ground next to the bench we used for our dinner table. She turns on the tiny flashlight feature of her cell phone, puts on an old pair of glasses with twisted frames and seriously scratched lenses, and begins to grade the papers of her 1st and 2nd grade students from that day's school session. She uses this opportunity to teach her own children who are gathered around her in the darkness. I sit there in silence appreciating the scene before me, so far removed from my own life of leisure and comfort and every modern convenience.
When Bro. Stephen returns I have an opportunity for a cold bucket bath and after all my previous experiences with bucket baths, I am still amazed at how shockingly cold the water can be and how quickly I break a sweat after completing my bath. But this will be the norm for the next three weeks, so I have to get used to it.
Bro. Stephen and I will share a mosquito net tonight and it will be good to have a defense against those little critters who have already scored several hits just since my bath.
We behave like we're at a slumber party as we talk late into the night sharing things of the gospel and of the work in Liberia. Bro. Stephen is such a dedicated man of the gospel it's a pleasure to visit with him about the work. Even after dozing off for awhile and being awakened by the heat, we begin a whole new conversation, and finally it cools down just enough to allow a little sleep before dawn.
We get an early start for Buchanan, and before the heat of the day arrives, the breeze through the open windows of the moving taxi is refreshing. When we get to Smell No Taste Town*, just before Roberts International Airport, we stop at the Liberia National Police depot, where Bro. Stephen's wrecked car is parked. He was hit nearly head on a few months ago and could very well have been killed, but walked away with cuts and bruises, even though they had to use an axe to chop him out of the car. Sadly, he had new tires on his car at the time of the accident and strangely, parked right in front of the police station, the tires have disappeared. Even after stealing his tires, or allowing them to be stolen, the Substation Commander starts giving him a hard time for not introducing me, as I have walked over to the car and started taking pictures. Bro. Stephen confronts the police officers, five or six of them are sitting there in front of the depot, mentioning his missing tires and they won't even look at him, but stare at the ground. Milton and I continue our inspection and photographing of the car and Bro. Stephen learns the police are worried, thinking I'm an American lawyer who's going to take his case. Sadly, their temporary stress is the only satisfaction Bro. Stephen will get in this case. They already took bribes to find in the other driver's favor, even though the first police officer Bro. Stephen encountered, told him not to worry, that the other guy was at fault and they would have to buy him another car. That was before the owner of the other car bribed the people in the system and Bro. Stephen is not only out a car, but is in the process of paying a large restitution. The owner of the other car fired his driver knowing he was at fault. Milton finally encourages Bro. Stephen to leave the conversation with the police and we are on our way.
We stop at the supermarket in Harbel, on the giant Firestone Rubber Plantation, where you can buy American brand products if you don't mind paying $3.00 US for a can of Pringles, and I don't. A can of Pringles will last me for a week, as I will munch just a little now and then to remind me of home. I also have a small bag of Cheetos, given to me by a friend in America and I'll make them last even longer. I'm able to buy an assortment of little nic-nac toys for the kids at Hope. There are little plastic cars, little carousel noise toys and little saxophones that are whistles, all filled with a very small amount of candy. Something most of our kids wouldn't take a second look at, but I know the children at Hope will be thrilled.
We travel through villages, such as Eye To Eye, that I have been through dozens of times over the years and I still enjoy the sights and scenery and these villages haven't changed a bit. Mud and bamboo huts with thatch roofs and people sitting in their open air kitchens watching the world go by. The best part of this drive is always the fresh fruit vendors along the way. I finally ask the driver to stop in St. John River Town where I buy fresh bananas, 3 for $10.00. The sweetest, best tasting bananas in the world and worth more than $3.00 a piece don't you think? That's $3.00 LD, (Liberian Dollar), which comes to less than 5 cents, US.
The Chinese are doing well, rebuilding the Monrovia to Buchanan highway, although they've not made as much progress in the early days of this year's dry season as I had hoped. The drive is so much easier now than in those early days of 2004. The trip that took us 3 ½ bone jarring hours in a good 4 wheel drive SUV, now takes us about 2 ½ hours in a taxi and when the highway is complete, I'm sure the trip can be made in an 1 ½ hours. That will certainly lead to more development of the tourist business in Buchanan.
As I've always done, I note the three major landmarks along the way, to judge our progress on the drive to Hope. There's the Farmington River, the Mecklin River and the St. John River. Finally, we are approaching Hope Restoration Youth Home and my excitement is building.
*Smell No Taste Town was given its name during World War II, when a U.S. Army Camp was built near the airport. The locals could smell the food being cooked in the camp, but never had the opportunity to eat it.
Randy Vick West Africa Winter 2011 - BOUND FOR HOPE
BOUND FOR HOPE 2011
When you travel missionary style, you take the cheapest airfare possible and though you save a considerable amount of money you pay the price in other ways.
I am traveling to Monrovia, Liberia from Kansas City, USA, via Atlanta, USA, New York City, USA and Accra, Ghana. KC to Atlanta is a couple of hours with a couple of hours layover, then a couple of hours to NYC with a couple of hours layover. A very nice gesture by a lady, business class passenger, on my flight from KC. Just prior to take off she approaches the gentleman sitting next to me, a Staff Sgt in the U.S. Army, and offers to let him have her business class seat. In an equally nice gesture he asks her to give her seat to one of two younger servicemen on the flight, one in the Air Force and one in the Army. I'm not sure how she makes her choice, but the young soldier makes his way forward to business class.
My flight is 40 minutes late leaving Atlanta, because as we are taxiing for takeoff, a passenger who they say has a history of heart trouble, is having trouble, and we return to our gate where paramedics are waiting. A lady leaves the plane under her own power and I pray she is ok. My layover in NYC is shortened by half, but I will make up for it in Accra with a 7 ½ hour layover. The 10 1/2 hour transatlantic flight is uneventful, although I am freezing and exhausted as I step out of the airplane into the open air of Kotoka International Airport. Even at 8 AM the heat is quite a shock. Breathing in the moist tropical air is like inhaling nectar after the Midwest winter we've had.
One never knows what to expect when traveling in underdeveloped countries, but you take it as it comes. I'm assuming this airport must be better organized than the airport at Monrovia, as Ghana has been stable for many years now and with its Atlantic coastline, it is becoming a tourist destination for Europeans.
Boarding a bus on the tarmac we are driven to the arrivals hall, and a bit of air conditioning. Just a bit, but it makes quite a difference. I see a small man standing beneath a sign that reads TRANSIT and figure I'd better take a shot. A pleasant young man, he assures me that if I wait with him for a few more expected passengers, he will guide us all through the process. The next passenger I meet is a gentleman who is also going on to Monrovia, I hear him say, so I strike up a conversation. An African-American who works for the State Department, we have something in common as he will be working for State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, or INL and I worked for INL in Afghanistan. He is on his way to Monrovia to begin a one year assignment and I have to admit I'm a bit envious. I am surprised to learn that we will not be flying on to Monrovia together however, as he has a morning connection on Nigerian Atlantic, on a real jet and I'm traveling the missionary way. I will be on an Ethiopian Airlines, propellor driven Dash 8 late this afternoon, actually operated by Africa Sky Airlines. When our young guide gathers his band of merry followers we begin our airport journey at customs. The customs officer wants assurance from me that I will not leave the airport, as I do not have a Ghanaian visa. Then its off to collect our baggage, and I'm very thankful to see my suitcase on the conveyor belt as I was not sure it had made the switch in New York due to our late arrival. As our little baggage train convoy winds through the airport, we are waved through numerous official checkpoints, with help from our guide, and we are finally out the door, across the parking lot, around the corner and up a very long ramp. The heat and humidity are taking their toll now and I am thankful for the person who thought of putting wheels on luggage. Finally we reach the summit and are back inside the semi-air conditioned airport at the Departures hall, where my luggage is inspected and stamped by customs and now I wait.
My ticket counter will not open for several hours so I find a somewhat quiet corner and park myself on a steel airport bench. The Delta flight from New York had the worst seats I've ever sat on in a commercial airliner. Vinyl and no cushion and this steel bench is no relief for my pained backside.
Then out of nowhere a lady appears pushing a ticket counter on wheels. She finds a spot in the middle of the terminal and its check in time for Africa Sky Airlines. Once I've checked my luggage I locate an internet café and drop a line to my family letting them know I've made it this far. Not sure when I'll next see the internet.
Time to board and 20 of us walk down a flight of stairs to the tarmac where we board a bus for our plane. When our two male flight attendants give our preflight safety briefing it's a little different. The flight attendant standing directly in front of me, notices the lady across the aisle from me is not paying attention and he reprimands her and she dutifully watches him closely for the rest of the briefing. Give Africa Sky Airlines credit, this is a very small plane, but the flight attendants serve a rather tasty meal, although two days of nothing but airplane food might have reduced my expectations.
We're west bound, flying almost the same airspace over Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia we flew when eastbound into Accra. Thankfully the flight is uneventful and we land at Spriggs-Payne Airport in downtown Monrovia, rather than Roberts International Airport, which is 40 km outside the city. Not sure how they managed it but we've arrived an hour ahead of our scheduled arrival time.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Liberia Mission Trip, Nov 2010, Doug Patterson
Mission Trip to Liberia
November 2-23, 2010
The main purpose and objective of this mission is to contact several former branches of the RLDS church in Sinoe County. There are nine known groups that are still active in Sinoe but at one time there were as many as eighteen or nineteen in Sinoe County alone. These Branches were established between the years of 1986 - 1989. Our plans were to respond to their request to meet. They have an interest in joining with the Restoration movement. They refused to continue with the RLDS after they learned about changes, including the name. Their own statements were, “We will continue to worship independent of the Church.”
They continued to worship, even through the fourteen years of tribal and civil war; some having to hide in the bush for weeks, months and even years, just to survive; living off the land. For some the only source of food was palm cabbage, which is the inner pulp wood of a certain palm tree; eating nothing but that for months at a time; never spending more than a week in one place, for fear of being hunted down. Through all of this, their faith and reliance upon the Lord, gave them strength to endure.
Upon arriving in Liberia, I am greeted with the aftermath of the rainy season. It has destroyed nearly all the roads that are not paved and that’s most of the roads here. The rain continues to pour each day, for weeks after it normally would have stopped. It is hard to believe that these roads, which were easily passable in May of this year, were nearly impassable for a four-wheel-drive truck in good working condition. The roads in Monrovia are the worst the locals have seen in years and I wonder what adventure we will find on our journey to Sinoe.
I arrive in Liberia on Wednesday and Elder Stephen Gardee and I are to travel on Thursday to Sinoe County. Thursday, the 4th of Nov, is a national holiday, equal to our Thanksgiving so there is nowhere to exchange money, nor are there any trucks going to Sinoe, so our plans have changed. We visit some of the church members from the Pipeline Branch.
Friday our journey begins, as we leave Stephen’s home in Soul Clinic, a community in Paynesville, a suburb of Monrovia, about 8:00 AM. It takes us nearly two hours to reach the area where the trucks load goods and passengers for the East. By 10:00 AM we buy our tickets and our driver tells us when we are loaded we can leave and he assures us it will not be a long wait. Then we learn that no truck will leave until all are loaded so they can travel in a caravan, to be of assistance to each other, if needed.
By 4:00 PM we are on the road and our driver states we need to stop for fuel. I wonder why that hasn’t been taken care of earlier today. However, we don’t stop at a gas station, we stop at a mechanics garage. He says we have a small problem to take care of before we leave and it will take only a few minutes, but our small problem is a very serious one. They pull out the front axle as the four- wheel-drive is not working. Considering the road conditions, a working four-wheel-drive is a necessity.
By 8:30 PM they finish working on the truck, fill it with fuel and as we pull onto the road, a loud grinding noise is coming from the axle they have just repaired. Instead of returning to the garage, which is only 50 feet behind us, we continue on for 5 miles before our driver finally decides to stop and fix it. We spend 2 hours alongside the road fixing the problem, with almost no tools. By midnight we find ourselves in Buchanan. Because of all the problems and many difficulties we have, it takes us twenty hours for a two hour trip. Some passengers unload, while others replace them and by 1:00 AM we continue towards Sinoe.
The trip from Buchanan to Teah Town, in Sinoe, is about a 5 hour trip, on good road, something I have never been privileged to see in Sinoe. I have only heard about how good the road was before. As we travel through Grand Bassa County, the road is very rough but passable. The more tropical area of the trip begins at River Cess County. As we find more rivers and mud holes, we realize that all their work on the 4 wheel drive didn’t help. We struggle through every mud hole with our two-wheel-drive. At the deepest and longest mud holes, all the passengers get out and walk.
By 5: 30 AM our driver needs some sleep. We stop at a village where he lays on the ground and sleeps for one hour, before we continue toward our destination. Each mud hole brings the concern, ‘will this one claim our truck?’ Ruts in the road can be as deep as 7 feet and the mud holes as long as three football fields. Finally, at 8:30 PM, we arrive at Teah Town, in Sinoe County; a trip expected to take five hours actually takes nineteen and a half hours.
As we approach Teah Town, we see Elder Gabriel Toby. Each time he heard a truck, he would go to the road to see if it was us. Our truck was easily heard from quite a distance, as a mud hole in River Cess County had claimed ownership of our muffler. It was good to see the saints of Teah Town again. I had seen some of them during the National Conference, but it had been nearly five years since I last visited Teah Town. After some visiting, we were provided a hot meal, a bath to wash off the pounds of Sinoe dirt from our tired bodies, and finally a bed.
Today is Sunday and we make preparations for worship. I find they are not partaking of sacrament regularly. They don’t feel they should partake of sacrament if they don’t have bread and grape juice or a proper communion tray. I speak to them of the importance and meaning of Sacrament. I ask if they have something we can use for the bread and wine. Today the sacrament emblems are roasted cassava and coconut water. The communion tray is a willow, which is a hand woven tray. I was asked to teach the class and to bring the spoken word. The rest of the day is spent in visiting, learning new songs in their Kru language and teaching them new hymns.
The rest of the week has been planned out by Elder Toby and we have several places to visit. Touldee Town will be our first place to visit. Priest Morris Peal, of Teah Town has been visiting this place for several weeks. From Teah Town it is a four and a half hour motorbike ride; which is not an option for the saints in this area as the cost for travel there is much too expensive.
Morris takes the bush road; a hunting road that winds through the jungle. It is called a road, but it’s really a trail that men use to hunt animals; over rivers, climbing over and under fallen trees and this trail takes about three hours on foot. I was willing to take this path, however the rain was still pouring down off and on all day and it was decided to take the bikes.
Several times the rain comes so hard; we have to find shelter at houses along the road. The road is so treacherous, completely impassable by truck. Twice we almost lose the bike because of the rain, mud and the ruts. To save money we travel three men on one bike; including our overnight bags and scriptures.
By the time we arrive at Touldee Town it is nearly dark. The people had been told we were coming and had gathered earlier in the day. Towards the evening they begin returning to their homes as they have given up on us coming today. Upon our arrival they send out boys to all the people, to tell them we have come. They tell us it will be awhile before all will return. They prepare a bath and a meal for us and by the time our meal is finished, everyone has returned.
There are many questions asked about our church; such as, our doctrine, baptism, priesthood, etc. We have several questions ourselves. How many people in their group? How long have they been meeting together and how many wish to be baptized? There are 21 who want to join. We have several classes and during the classes each of our questions are answered.
Elder Toby shares with them about polygamy. I speak on the marriage covenant; speaking also about fornication, adultery and polygamy as well as comparing the baptismal covenant to a marriage covenant. The hour is late; Brother Gabriel states that those who want to be baptized should come early in the morning to be interviewed. They understand their marital status will be questioned. By morning only a dozen return for baptism and after the priesthood speaks to each one, there are only five who are ready for baptism.
Elder Gardee is in charge of the baptismal service, while I bring the spoken word. Elder Gabriel Toby and Priest Morris Peal perform the baptisms. Afterwards, we confirm them members of the body of Christ, giving them the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Discussion after the service is about the formation of a branch and they conduct a business meeting, where Priest Morris Peal is chosen as their Pastor. They decide to hold another business meeting later to elect other officers for their branch, to give them time to pray for direction for leadership. Since several of their people were unable to join, they have to rethink who would hold various positions in the branch.
We leave after the meeting and as we begin our journey to Teah Town, we experience the same difficulties as the day before; rain, mud and ruts. One particular place on the main road is now impassable even for motorbikes. Our driver decides to drive up the embankment, without giving us the opportunity to get off the bike. Near the top, about ten feet above the road, he loses control of the bike and the bike falls over and slides down the side of the hill. Two of us are injured, but not seriously, as several people come to our assistance. With their help we are able to retrieve the motorbike and continue our trip back to Teah Town. We spend the rest of the afternoon sharing testimonies and teaching classes or new hymns.
The next morning we travel to Swens Town. There are four groups of members in this area; Swens Town, Tweh Town, Sargbeh Town and Pratt Farm. Each of these groups are former branches of the RLDS Church. They were established between the years of 1986 through 1989.
We have classes and discussions about the Church, answering their questions about why we left the RLDS; questions about the COC and the JCRB. After our questions are answered, we realize each of these groups are connected. Their priesthood were all baptized and ordained by the same men. We look for any internal problems that might prohibit them joining with the JCRB. The subjects of women in the priesthood, polygamy and marriage are discussed and we find nothing that would prevent them from joining with the JCRB.
They hold a business meeting and out of that meeting comes several questions about the authority of the JCRB, such as; Why do we feel we have the authority and the COC no longer has it? After their questions are answered to their satisfaction, they continue their meeting and their final decision is to join. From these four groups, one hundred and one new members join the Restoration. Our meetings go late into the evening, so we spend the night at Swens Town.
The next morning we begin our journey back to Teah Town, stopping at Greenville where we are able to exchange money for our trip back to Buchanan. Brother Gabriel Toby has a radio ministry as well as church announcements broadcast in several dialects. We stop at the radio station for him to take care of this responsibility. While in Greenville, we hear that Elder Samuel Swen’s daughter has passed away and we stop to visit with his family, offering comfort for their loss.
From Greenville we head to Koons Town. Elder Andrew Smith serves as the Pastor of the Koons Town Restoration Branch, but for the last several months he has not been able to fulfill his duties. His wife has been sick off and on for several months; hospitalized several times. Not only has this affected his family financially, but as a farmer, getting his crops planted and harvested has been difficult. To find Andrew’s home we must travel one and a half miles off the main road on a side road, then walk down a path through the bush, and over several rivers for another one and a half miles.
Andrew and his family are the only occupants in this village in the bush. There is no road to his village and there never has been. Everyone left the village during one of the tribal wars. Andrew and his family were the only ones who returned after the war and with the village being so remote and with no road for access, it is unlikely others will return. We find Bro. Andrew working in his cassava field. We had hoped to find his wife there too, but she is back in the hospital in Greenville. We have a good visit with Andrew and two of his sons.
We have run out of drinking water, which can be a critical situation in this heat. We have a mile and one half walk ahead of us. Brother Andrew sends his boys to cut down some coconuts for us and the unripe coconuts provide us with much needed water. After our visit, we head out of the bush to the side road, where our bike drivers are to be waiting for us. We get to our meeting point on time, but there are no motorcycles. We start to walk towards the main road, hoping our drivers will arrive soon, but unfortunately they never show up. We walk one and a half miles in the bush, two miles on the side road, and one mile on the main road to a village where we catch a bike.
Brother Gabriel and I return to Teah Town, while Brother Stephen walks back to Greenville to find transportation for us back to Buchanan. The rest of the evening we spend time sharing testimonies, teaching classes and learning Kru songs. Late into the evening Brother Stephen arrives to report he was unable to secure a ride, but he will return to Greenville in the morning and try again.
It’s Friday morning and Bros. Stephen and Gabriel go to Greenville, more than 30 km. Bro. Stephen will try to arrange our transportation while Bro. Gabriel will attend the funeral of Samuel Swen’s daughter. While waiting, I visit with the Saints of Teah Town; visiting each home, taking pictures and telling them goodbye. Three of the young men have been working in the bush and they return with an eight foot Cobra snake. Two days earlier I had nearly stepped on one while going into the bush and while I couldn’t see its head, I realize now the body was the same as this one.
Stephen arrives back at Teah Town about mid morning, with transportation, but when the driver sees I am a white man, he refuses to carry us and refuses to explain. Stephen speculates he is not legally authorized to carry passengers and while he would make exceptions for native brothers he is not willing to take a chance transporting a white man, (international). This was not a regular transport truck, but an NGO {Non Governmental Organization} truck.
Poor Bro. Stephen again begins the long walk back to Greenville and I carry our luggage back to the house. By noon, Stephen returns with a Land Cruiser, already loaded with passengers and our bags are loaded and tied on top of the truck. The passengers make room for two more people to squeeze in and we’re on the road by 1:30 PM. We hope to arrive in Buchanan by 6 or 7 PM as it should be a 5 to 6 hour trip.
This leg of our trip however, is short lived. In less than two hours we find the road is blocked by a large truck, loaded with goods for Sinoe, stuck on the opposite side of the bridge we need to cross. The mud on both sides of the bridge is so deep it is impossible to get to the bridge. This truck has been stuck since 6 PM the night before. Several men are working on getting the truck unstuck, while others are working on the bridge, which is nothing more than half dozen logs laid across the stream. The logs have not survived their usefulness, some having rotted away while others are broken, leaving huge gaps between the other logs.
We wait all day, hoping they will get everything fixed, but by late afternoon it is obvious we will not pass this bridge tonight. Stephen and I walk to a village about a mile and a half away. At the first house we ask if there is a place we can spend the night and they invite us to stay there. We leave money for them to buy rice to feed us and their family and return to the bridge to watch the progress, or lack thereof.
As evening comes, we take our bags and walk back to the village where we are served rice with cassava greens and some kind of meat. They heat water for our bath and the bathing “room” is nothing more than the yard between 2 homes with the darkness our only shower curtain and its not doing a real good job. After bathing, we are led to a room with a bed complete with mosquito net. Though the bed is not comfortable, it certainly is better than sleeping on the ground by the truck, and becoming victims of mosquitoes, spiders and snakes.
Saturday morning arrives and we thank our hosts and walk back to the bridge where two dozen vehicles now litter the area. Hour after hour men labor, covered in mud and sweat and finally the time comes to try to get the first truck across. The first is the one that has been there the longest, but he fails. Not only does he get stuck again but the truck nearly tips over. It isn’t until another large truck arrives, equipped with a winch, that we have success.
By 12:30 PM we find ourselves traveling down the road, but still have a very long road ahead of us. We’re not far from Teah Town, but our hope is to arrive in Buchanan before services start at the Buchanan Restoration Branch on Sunday. We continue to struggle through each mud hole and we discover that our truck’s four-wheel-drive is not operating. Each time we come to a deep mud hole, all the passengers must disembark and we walk. Many times there are several bad places close together requiring us to to walk one to two miles. We easily walk this distance before the truck can catch up with us.
By early evening we arrive at Jarpa Town in River Cess County. We had stopped several times so the driver could add brake fluid and now we stop so he can fix the brakes. The front wheel is removed so they can get better access to the brake line. The brake line is removed and replaced with one that looks as bad as the one they removed and it doesn’t even fit correctly. After one and a half hours, we reload and head up the steep hill out of town.
Our truck has not been running very well and every hill is a difficult climb. As we near the top of this hill, the truck loses most of its power. Suddenly, a huge amount of smoke is coming out from under the truck. The driver stomps the brakes and there are none. The truck rolls to a stop, then begins rolling backwards down the hill. The two conductors jump off the top of the truck where they have been riding, to look for a rock or stick to put under the tire. The driver can’t turn off the motor as the keys have fallen out of the ignition and he cannot find them. The smoke is so thick in the truck it is difficult to see my hand in front of my face. In the back of the truck, the passengers are all enclosed in a smoke filled death trap and we can only wonder when it will burst into flames.
Panic ensues with women screaming and people climbing over each other to get out. I am in the middle and several people are climbing over me. I try to calm them, but they’re not listening to me. My greatest fear for them is that they are jumping out the rear door while the truck is still rolling backwards. By now I need air desperately and I am able to stick my head out the window only to breathe in a huge amount of smoke. The smoke has not only filled the truck but it has settled around the truck like a cloud. There was a crippled woman and her granddaughter sitting across from me but I have no idea if they have gotten out, but I know the woman has no way of getting out by herself. I have remained behind to help her, but now I realize if I don’t get air soon, I won’t be any help to anyone. The truck has now stopped and I climb out the back door, but have to run 20 feet before finding fresh air.
I take one quick breath and run back to the truck where I find one of the conductors is helping the crippled woman get out and she and her granddaughter are soon safe. They lay on the road for about half hour and I know they suffered smoke inhalation so I watch them to make sure they recover.
Finally the truck engine dies and when they are able to open the hood to look for the source of the smoke someone says it is the engine oil that is burning. They check the oil and find nothing on the dipstick. The driver says there is nothing left in the motor and one of the conductors crawls under the truck and removes the drain plug. He comes out from under the truck covered in hot oil, leaving the rest of it running out on the ground. I guess he sees no need to replace the plug. He states there is still oil in the motor, but by the time we realize what he has done, all the oil has drained out.
Brother Stephen and I also look for the source of the problem and find it was not the oil, but rather diesel fuel leaking out on the exhaust pipe. For some unknown reason, other than the grace of God, it did not ignite and catch the truck on fire. They send someone back to the town we have just left, to buy oil.
Stephen decides we don’t need to ride on this truck any longer and we collect our bags and walk up the hill towards some houses. A young man named Nathaniel recognizes Stephen as he is a distant relative of Stephen’s wife, Sarah, and he lives close by. He takes us to a house nearby where we can set in the shade. He and Stephen go to look for a motor bike. Stephen wants to arrange for us to leave early in the morning as he says it is too dangerous to ride on a motor bike on this road after dark.
His friend arranges for us to spend the night at the house beside the road and we put our luggage in the room designated for us. Stephen hears a motor bike coming and they go out to talk to them. At the same time there is a truck passing that is also going towards Buchanan. Stephen stops him and asks for ride and the driver agrees to take us. We load up and two hours later we are setting in front of Sister Ettas’ Super Market in Buchanan. We call her and she picks us up at 10:45 PM.
Etta awakens Jannet, one of the children from Hope Restoration Youth Home, who is staying with her and she prepares supper for us as we visit past midnight before going to bed.
Sunday morning we are surprised by twenty of the children from Hope who have walked more than five miles to Buchanan to go to church. After joyous greetings, we walk a mile to church. Priest Artus teaches class and then Pastor Wilfred Myers presides over the worship service, with Elder Prince Gohlanda, from Gardours Town RB, and President of District A, bringing a very inspiring message to the saints. Afterwards, we visit some of the Buchanan Saints before returning to Etta’s home. Throughout the afternoon we spend time with the youth from Hope.
The next few days are spent in assessing the needs at HRYH. We have sixty-four children living on campus, with some of the staff. The children attend school daily and are taught not only academics, but a bible based religion class by one of our teachers, with Elder Wilfred Myers visiting the home on a regular basis to teach the Restored Gospel. The children are very gifted in singing as well as scripture memorization. Over forty of these children are baptized members of our Church and are a mission of Buchanan Restoration Branch.
While in Buchanan I see a member of the Zoewulum Restoration Branch, Elder Isaac Lorblah. We visit about his branch and their needs and arrangements are made to send two priesthood to Zoewulum to visit them and begin preparations for the National Conference scheduled to be held there sometime in January. Brother Stephen suggests sending Buchanan priesthood because of our time constraints as we have lost precious time traveling from Sinoe County. The road to Zoewulum is impassable by car so our only option this time of year is a twelve hour motor bike ride, one way.
Saturday Stephen and I make preparations to return to Monrovia. Monrovia has two branches; Pipeline Branch, which has moved from the Pipeline community and now meets in Wayne's Town, a new community in the Monrovia suburb of Paynesville, under the leadership of Elder Darlington Beh and Soul Clinic Branch, located in the Soul Clinic community also in Paynesville.
On Sunday we visit the Pipeline Branch where I am asked to teach the adult class. Several people attending are non-members and are in pre baptismal class. I teach a class on the twelve steps of establishing a Covenant. Brother Darlington asks if I will bring the message for the day and I speak about the Mysteries of the Kingdom, and why Christ used parables to create these mysteries. After visiting with the Pipeline Branch, we find some non-active members, bringing some encouragement to them, sharing testimonies and classes.
Sunday night several members gather at Stephen and Sarah Gardee’s home where I share several classes. Many ask about what is happening within the Church and I have the opportunity to share about the General Conference. Questions are asked about the Church being set in order. What does the future hold for the Church? Someone asks about the growth of the Church in America and other parts of the world. There is a great desire among these people to feel connected to others within the Church and to feel they are a part of Gods great plan in this Latter Day.
Monday morning I am surprised with a visit from Semion Kaiyea; a young man who has endured many struggles in life. He has suffered with two hip surgeries and is able to move about, but not without difficulty, walking with the assistance of a cane. He is attending school and has a small business to help support himself. He has certainly changed from the weak boy who came to America on a medical visa--who had nearly given up, because of his disease and pain--to a vibrant young man full of life.
By noon I say my good-byes with mixed emotions, leaving my brothers and sisters behind, as opposed to the anticipation of seeing my family again. We load into the car and head for the airport 40 km away.
Seventy Doug Patterson
November 2-23, 2010
The main purpose and objective of this mission is to contact several former branches of the RLDS church in Sinoe County. There are nine known groups that are still active in Sinoe but at one time there were as many as eighteen or nineteen in Sinoe County alone. These Branches were established between the years of 1986 - 1989. Our plans were to respond to their request to meet. They have an interest in joining with the Restoration movement. They refused to continue with the RLDS after they learned about changes, including the name. Their own statements were, “We will continue to worship independent of the Church.”
They continued to worship, even through the fourteen years of tribal and civil war; some having to hide in the bush for weeks, months and even years, just to survive; living off the land. For some the only source of food was palm cabbage, which is the inner pulp wood of a certain palm tree; eating nothing but that for months at a time; never spending more than a week in one place, for fear of being hunted down. Through all of this, their faith and reliance upon the Lord, gave them strength to endure.
Upon arriving in Liberia, I am greeted with the aftermath of the rainy season. It has destroyed nearly all the roads that are not paved and that’s most of the roads here. The rain continues to pour each day, for weeks after it normally would have stopped. It is hard to believe that these roads, which were easily passable in May of this year, were nearly impassable for a four-wheel-drive truck in good working condition. The roads in Monrovia are the worst the locals have seen in years and I wonder what adventure we will find on our journey to Sinoe.
I arrive in Liberia on Wednesday and Elder Stephen Gardee and I are to travel on Thursday to Sinoe County. Thursday, the 4th of Nov, is a national holiday, equal to our Thanksgiving so there is nowhere to exchange money, nor are there any trucks going to Sinoe, so our plans have changed. We visit some of the church members from the Pipeline Branch.
Friday our journey begins, as we leave Stephen’s home in Soul Clinic, a community in Paynesville, a suburb of Monrovia, about 8:00 AM. It takes us nearly two hours to reach the area where the trucks load goods and passengers for the East. By 10:00 AM we buy our tickets and our driver tells us when we are loaded we can leave and he assures us it will not be a long wait. Then we learn that no truck will leave until all are loaded so they can travel in a caravan, to be of assistance to each other, if needed.
By 4:00 PM we are on the road and our driver states we need to stop for fuel. I wonder why that hasn’t been taken care of earlier today. However, we don’t stop at a gas station, we stop at a mechanics garage. He says we have a small problem to take care of before we leave and it will take only a few minutes, but our small problem is a very serious one. They pull out the front axle as the four- wheel-drive is not working. Considering the road conditions, a working four-wheel-drive is a necessity.
By 8:30 PM they finish working on the truck, fill it with fuel and as we pull onto the road, a loud grinding noise is coming from the axle they have just repaired. Instead of returning to the garage, which is only 50 feet behind us, we continue on for 5 miles before our driver finally decides to stop and fix it. We spend 2 hours alongside the road fixing the problem, with almost no tools. By midnight we find ourselves in Buchanan. Because of all the problems and many difficulties we have, it takes us twenty hours for a two hour trip. Some passengers unload, while others replace them and by 1:00 AM we continue towards Sinoe.
The trip from Buchanan to Teah Town, in Sinoe, is about a 5 hour trip, on good road, something I have never been privileged to see in Sinoe. I have only heard about how good the road was before. As we travel through Grand Bassa County, the road is very rough but passable. The more tropical area of the trip begins at River Cess County. As we find more rivers and mud holes, we realize that all their work on the 4 wheel drive didn’t help. We struggle through every mud hole with our two-wheel-drive. At the deepest and longest mud holes, all the passengers get out and walk.
By 5: 30 AM our driver needs some sleep. We stop at a village where he lays on the ground and sleeps for one hour, before we continue toward our destination. Each mud hole brings the concern, ‘will this one claim our truck?’ Ruts in the road can be as deep as 7 feet and the mud holes as long as three football fields. Finally, at 8:30 PM, we arrive at Teah Town, in Sinoe County; a trip expected to take five hours actually takes nineteen and a half hours.
As we approach Teah Town, we see Elder Gabriel Toby. Each time he heard a truck, he would go to the road to see if it was us. Our truck was easily heard from quite a distance, as a mud hole in River Cess County had claimed ownership of our muffler. It was good to see the saints of Teah Town again. I had seen some of them during the National Conference, but it had been nearly five years since I last visited Teah Town. After some visiting, we were provided a hot meal, a bath to wash off the pounds of Sinoe dirt from our tired bodies, and finally a bed.
Today is Sunday and we make preparations for worship. I find they are not partaking of sacrament regularly. They don’t feel they should partake of sacrament if they don’t have bread and grape juice or a proper communion tray. I speak to them of the importance and meaning of Sacrament. I ask if they have something we can use for the bread and wine. Today the sacrament emblems are roasted cassava and coconut water. The communion tray is a willow, which is a hand woven tray. I was asked to teach the class and to bring the spoken word. The rest of the day is spent in visiting, learning new songs in their Kru language and teaching them new hymns.
The rest of the week has been planned out by Elder Toby and we have several places to visit. Touldee Town will be our first place to visit. Priest Morris Peal, of Teah Town has been visiting this place for several weeks. From Teah Town it is a four and a half hour motorbike ride; which is not an option for the saints in this area as the cost for travel there is much too expensive.
Morris takes the bush road; a hunting road that winds through the jungle. It is called a road, but it’s really a trail that men use to hunt animals; over rivers, climbing over and under fallen trees and this trail takes about three hours on foot. I was willing to take this path, however the rain was still pouring down off and on all day and it was decided to take the bikes.
Several times the rain comes so hard; we have to find shelter at houses along the road. The road is so treacherous, completely impassable by truck. Twice we almost lose the bike because of the rain, mud and the ruts. To save money we travel three men on one bike; including our overnight bags and scriptures.
By the time we arrive at Touldee Town it is nearly dark. The people had been told we were coming and had gathered earlier in the day. Towards the evening they begin returning to their homes as they have given up on us coming today. Upon our arrival they send out boys to all the people, to tell them we have come. They tell us it will be awhile before all will return. They prepare a bath and a meal for us and by the time our meal is finished, everyone has returned.
There are many questions asked about our church; such as, our doctrine, baptism, priesthood, etc. We have several questions ourselves. How many people in their group? How long have they been meeting together and how many wish to be baptized? There are 21 who want to join. We have several classes and during the classes each of our questions are answered.
Elder Toby shares with them about polygamy. I speak on the marriage covenant; speaking also about fornication, adultery and polygamy as well as comparing the baptismal covenant to a marriage covenant. The hour is late; Brother Gabriel states that those who want to be baptized should come early in the morning to be interviewed. They understand their marital status will be questioned. By morning only a dozen return for baptism and after the priesthood speaks to each one, there are only five who are ready for baptism.
Elder Gardee is in charge of the baptismal service, while I bring the spoken word. Elder Gabriel Toby and Priest Morris Peal perform the baptisms. Afterwards, we confirm them members of the body of Christ, giving them the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Discussion after the service is about the formation of a branch and they conduct a business meeting, where Priest Morris Peal is chosen as their Pastor. They decide to hold another business meeting later to elect other officers for their branch, to give them time to pray for direction for leadership. Since several of their people were unable to join, they have to rethink who would hold various positions in the branch.
We leave after the meeting and as we begin our journey to Teah Town, we experience the same difficulties as the day before; rain, mud and ruts. One particular place on the main road is now impassable even for motorbikes. Our driver decides to drive up the embankment, without giving us the opportunity to get off the bike. Near the top, about ten feet above the road, he loses control of the bike and the bike falls over and slides down the side of the hill. Two of us are injured, but not seriously, as several people come to our assistance. With their help we are able to retrieve the motorbike and continue our trip back to Teah Town. We spend the rest of the afternoon sharing testimonies and teaching classes or new hymns.
The next morning we travel to Swens Town. There are four groups of members in this area; Swens Town, Tweh Town, Sargbeh Town and Pratt Farm. Each of these groups are former branches of the RLDS Church. They were established between the years of 1986 through 1989.
We have classes and discussions about the Church, answering their questions about why we left the RLDS; questions about the COC and the JCRB. After our questions are answered, we realize each of these groups are connected. Their priesthood were all baptized and ordained by the same men. We look for any internal problems that might prohibit them joining with the JCRB. The subjects of women in the priesthood, polygamy and marriage are discussed and we find nothing that would prevent them from joining with the JCRB.
They hold a business meeting and out of that meeting comes several questions about the authority of the JCRB, such as; Why do we feel we have the authority and the COC no longer has it? After their questions are answered to their satisfaction, they continue their meeting and their final decision is to join. From these four groups, one hundred and one new members join the Restoration. Our meetings go late into the evening, so we spend the night at Swens Town.
The next morning we begin our journey back to Teah Town, stopping at Greenville where we are able to exchange money for our trip back to Buchanan. Brother Gabriel Toby has a radio ministry as well as church announcements broadcast in several dialects. We stop at the radio station for him to take care of this responsibility. While in Greenville, we hear that Elder Samuel Swen’s daughter has passed away and we stop to visit with his family, offering comfort for their loss.
From Greenville we head to Koons Town. Elder Andrew Smith serves as the Pastor of the Koons Town Restoration Branch, but for the last several months he has not been able to fulfill his duties. His wife has been sick off and on for several months; hospitalized several times. Not only has this affected his family financially, but as a farmer, getting his crops planted and harvested has been difficult. To find Andrew’s home we must travel one and a half miles off the main road on a side road, then walk down a path through the bush, and over several rivers for another one and a half miles.
Andrew and his family are the only occupants in this village in the bush. There is no road to his village and there never has been. Everyone left the village during one of the tribal wars. Andrew and his family were the only ones who returned after the war and with the village being so remote and with no road for access, it is unlikely others will return. We find Bro. Andrew working in his cassava field. We had hoped to find his wife there too, but she is back in the hospital in Greenville. We have a good visit with Andrew and two of his sons.
We have run out of drinking water, which can be a critical situation in this heat. We have a mile and one half walk ahead of us. Brother Andrew sends his boys to cut down some coconuts for us and the unripe coconuts provide us with much needed water. After our visit, we head out of the bush to the side road, where our bike drivers are to be waiting for us. We get to our meeting point on time, but there are no motorcycles. We start to walk towards the main road, hoping our drivers will arrive soon, but unfortunately they never show up. We walk one and a half miles in the bush, two miles on the side road, and one mile on the main road to a village where we catch a bike.
Brother Gabriel and I return to Teah Town, while Brother Stephen walks back to Greenville to find transportation for us back to Buchanan. The rest of the evening we spend time sharing testimonies, teaching classes and learning Kru songs. Late into the evening Brother Stephen arrives to report he was unable to secure a ride, but he will return to Greenville in the morning and try again.
It’s Friday morning and Bros. Stephen and Gabriel go to Greenville, more than 30 km. Bro. Stephen will try to arrange our transportation while Bro. Gabriel will attend the funeral of Samuel Swen’s daughter. While waiting, I visit with the Saints of Teah Town; visiting each home, taking pictures and telling them goodbye. Three of the young men have been working in the bush and they return with an eight foot Cobra snake. Two days earlier I had nearly stepped on one while going into the bush and while I couldn’t see its head, I realize now the body was the same as this one.
Stephen arrives back at Teah Town about mid morning, with transportation, but when the driver sees I am a white man, he refuses to carry us and refuses to explain. Stephen speculates he is not legally authorized to carry passengers and while he would make exceptions for native brothers he is not willing to take a chance transporting a white man, (international). This was not a regular transport truck, but an NGO {Non Governmental Organization} truck.
Poor Bro. Stephen again begins the long walk back to Greenville and I carry our luggage back to the house. By noon, Stephen returns with a Land Cruiser, already loaded with passengers and our bags are loaded and tied on top of the truck. The passengers make room for two more people to squeeze in and we’re on the road by 1:30 PM. We hope to arrive in Buchanan by 6 or 7 PM as it should be a 5 to 6 hour trip.
This leg of our trip however, is short lived. In less than two hours we find the road is blocked by a large truck, loaded with goods for Sinoe, stuck on the opposite side of the bridge we need to cross. The mud on both sides of the bridge is so deep it is impossible to get to the bridge. This truck has been stuck since 6 PM the night before. Several men are working on getting the truck unstuck, while others are working on the bridge, which is nothing more than half dozen logs laid across the stream. The logs have not survived their usefulness, some having rotted away while others are broken, leaving huge gaps between the other logs.
We wait all day, hoping they will get everything fixed, but by late afternoon it is obvious we will not pass this bridge tonight. Stephen and I walk to a village about a mile and a half away. At the first house we ask if there is a place we can spend the night and they invite us to stay there. We leave money for them to buy rice to feed us and their family and return to the bridge to watch the progress, or lack thereof.
As evening comes, we take our bags and walk back to the village where we are served rice with cassava greens and some kind of meat. They heat water for our bath and the bathing “room” is nothing more than the yard between 2 homes with the darkness our only shower curtain and its not doing a real good job. After bathing, we are led to a room with a bed complete with mosquito net. Though the bed is not comfortable, it certainly is better than sleeping on the ground by the truck, and becoming victims of mosquitoes, spiders and snakes.
Saturday morning arrives and we thank our hosts and walk back to the bridge where two dozen vehicles now litter the area. Hour after hour men labor, covered in mud and sweat and finally the time comes to try to get the first truck across. The first is the one that has been there the longest, but he fails. Not only does he get stuck again but the truck nearly tips over. It isn’t until another large truck arrives, equipped with a winch, that we have success.
By 12:30 PM we find ourselves traveling down the road, but still have a very long road ahead of us. We’re not far from Teah Town, but our hope is to arrive in Buchanan before services start at the Buchanan Restoration Branch on Sunday. We continue to struggle through each mud hole and we discover that our truck’s four-wheel-drive is not operating. Each time we come to a deep mud hole, all the passengers must disembark and we walk. Many times there are several bad places close together requiring us to to walk one to two miles. We easily walk this distance before the truck can catch up with us.
By early evening we arrive at Jarpa Town in River Cess County. We had stopped several times so the driver could add brake fluid and now we stop so he can fix the brakes. The front wheel is removed so they can get better access to the brake line. The brake line is removed and replaced with one that looks as bad as the one they removed and it doesn’t even fit correctly. After one and a half hours, we reload and head up the steep hill out of town.
Our truck has not been running very well and every hill is a difficult climb. As we near the top of this hill, the truck loses most of its power. Suddenly, a huge amount of smoke is coming out from under the truck. The driver stomps the brakes and there are none. The truck rolls to a stop, then begins rolling backwards down the hill. The two conductors jump off the top of the truck where they have been riding, to look for a rock or stick to put under the tire. The driver can’t turn off the motor as the keys have fallen out of the ignition and he cannot find them. The smoke is so thick in the truck it is difficult to see my hand in front of my face. In the back of the truck, the passengers are all enclosed in a smoke filled death trap and we can only wonder when it will burst into flames.
Panic ensues with women screaming and people climbing over each other to get out. I am in the middle and several people are climbing over me. I try to calm them, but they’re not listening to me. My greatest fear for them is that they are jumping out the rear door while the truck is still rolling backwards. By now I need air desperately and I am able to stick my head out the window only to breathe in a huge amount of smoke. The smoke has not only filled the truck but it has settled around the truck like a cloud. There was a crippled woman and her granddaughter sitting across from me but I have no idea if they have gotten out, but I know the woman has no way of getting out by herself. I have remained behind to help her, but now I realize if I don’t get air soon, I won’t be any help to anyone. The truck has now stopped and I climb out the back door, but have to run 20 feet before finding fresh air.
I take one quick breath and run back to the truck where I find one of the conductors is helping the crippled woman get out and she and her granddaughter are soon safe. They lay on the road for about half hour and I know they suffered smoke inhalation so I watch them to make sure they recover.
Finally the truck engine dies and when they are able to open the hood to look for the source of the smoke someone says it is the engine oil that is burning. They check the oil and find nothing on the dipstick. The driver says there is nothing left in the motor and one of the conductors crawls under the truck and removes the drain plug. He comes out from under the truck covered in hot oil, leaving the rest of it running out on the ground. I guess he sees no need to replace the plug. He states there is still oil in the motor, but by the time we realize what he has done, all the oil has drained out.
Brother Stephen and I also look for the source of the problem and find it was not the oil, but rather diesel fuel leaking out on the exhaust pipe. For some unknown reason, other than the grace of God, it did not ignite and catch the truck on fire. They send someone back to the town we have just left, to buy oil.
Stephen decides we don’t need to ride on this truck any longer and we collect our bags and walk up the hill towards some houses. A young man named Nathaniel recognizes Stephen as he is a distant relative of Stephen’s wife, Sarah, and he lives close by. He takes us to a house nearby where we can set in the shade. He and Stephen go to look for a motor bike. Stephen wants to arrange for us to leave early in the morning as he says it is too dangerous to ride on a motor bike on this road after dark.
His friend arranges for us to spend the night at the house beside the road and we put our luggage in the room designated for us. Stephen hears a motor bike coming and they go out to talk to them. At the same time there is a truck passing that is also going towards Buchanan. Stephen stops him and asks for ride and the driver agrees to take us. We load up and two hours later we are setting in front of Sister Ettas’ Super Market in Buchanan. We call her and she picks us up at 10:45 PM.
Etta awakens Jannet, one of the children from Hope Restoration Youth Home, who is staying with her and she prepares supper for us as we visit past midnight before going to bed.
Sunday morning we are surprised by twenty of the children from Hope who have walked more than five miles to Buchanan to go to church. After joyous greetings, we walk a mile to church. Priest Artus teaches class and then Pastor Wilfred Myers presides over the worship service, with Elder Prince Gohlanda, from Gardours Town RB, and President of District A, bringing a very inspiring message to the saints. Afterwards, we visit some of the Buchanan Saints before returning to Etta’s home. Throughout the afternoon we spend time with the youth from Hope.
The next few days are spent in assessing the needs at HRYH. We have sixty-four children living on campus, with some of the staff. The children attend school daily and are taught not only academics, but a bible based religion class by one of our teachers, with Elder Wilfred Myers visiting the home on a regular basis to teach the Restored Gospel. The children are very gifted in singing as well as scripture memorization. Over forty of these children are baptized members of our Church and are a mission of Buchanan Restoration Branch.
While in Buchanan I see a member of the Zoewulum Restoration Branch, Elder Isaac Lorblah. We visit about his branch and their needs and arrangements are made to send two priesthood to Zoewulum to visit them and begin preparations for the National Conference scheduled to be held there sometime in January. Brother Stephen suggests sending Buchanan priesthood because of our time constraints as we have lost precious time traveling from Sinoe County. The road to Zoewulum is impassable by car so our only option this time of year is a twelve hour motor bike ride, one way.
Saturday Stephen and I make preparations to return to Monrovia. Monrovia has two branches; Pipeline Branch, which has moved from the Pipeline community and now meets in Wayne's Town, a new community in the Monrovia suburb of Paynesville, under the leadership of Elder Darlington Beh and Soul Clinic Branch, located in the Soul Clinic community also in Paynesville.
On Sunday we visit the Pipeline Branch where I am asked to teach the adult class. Several people attending are non-members and are in pre baptismal class. I teach a class on the twelve steps of establishing a Covenant. Brother Darlington asks if I will bring the message for the day and I speak about the Mysteries of the Kingdom, and why Christ used parables to create these mysteries. After visiting with the Pipeline Branch, we find some non-active members, bringing some encouragement to them, sharing testimonies and classes.
Sunday night several members gather at Stephen and Sarah Gardee’s home where I share several classes. Many ask about what is happening within the Church and I have the opportunity to share about the General Conference. Questions are asked about the Church being set in order. What does the future hold for the Church? Someone asks about the growth of the Church in America and other parts of the world. There is a great desire among these people to feel connected to others within the Church and to feel they are a part of Gods great plan in this Latter Day.
Monday morning I am surprised with a visit from Semion Kaiyea; a young man who has endured many struggles in life. He has suffered with two hip surgeries and is able to move about, but not without difficulty, walking with the assistance of a cane. He is attending school and has a small business to help support himself. He has certainly changed from the weak boy who came to America on a medical visa--who had nearly given up, because of his disease and pain--to a vibrant young man full of life.
By noon I say my good-byes with mixed emotions, leaving my brothers and sisters behind, as opposed to the anticipation of seeing my family again. We load into the car and head for the airport 40 km away.
Seventy Doug Patterson
Friday, January 14, 2011
Book of Mormon Classes
The Warrensburg Restoration Study Group will launch its activities for 2011 with a series of Book of Mormon classes,"The Eight Pillars of Evidence of the Book of Mormon" taught by Seventy Frank Frye. The classes begin at 6 PM on Sunday, January 16th and continue each Sunday evening thereafter for the next several weeks. The classes will be held in the ABC Building (Warrensburg Parks and Recreation facility), in Grover Park, Warrensburg, MO. The building is located just south of the intersection of E North Street and Commander Wilkes Dr. (Driving directions: US Highway 50 to Warrensburg. South on MO. Highway 13, to North Street. East on North Street to Commander Wilkes Dr. South on Commander Wilkes Dr. to the second building on the right.) Everyone is welcome! If you know someone in the Warrensburg, Holden or Knob Noster areas, including members of various Restoration churches, inactive members or interested non-members please let them know about these classes.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Four Seventies meet in Belize
Four Seventy, Gary Whiting, Ron Smith, Arturo Gomez, and Avilio Herrera met in Corozal, Belize, this last week to talk about the future of the work in Latin America. Gary Whiting preached on Saturday night, and Ron Smith preached on Sunday morning, with Abinadi Gomez interpreting. Abinadi was wearing a Book of Mormon foundation neon green t-shirt emblazoned with "I agree with Abinadi." Gary and Ron hated to come back from 85 degree weather to the winter storms raging in Kansas and Iowa, but it is nice to be home.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Christmas retreat in Tanzania
Seventy Ron Smith, along with his wife Di and niece Cara Smith, are going to help with a Christmas retreat in Mwanza, Tanzania. Di and Cara leave on Tuesday, December 14, and Ron leaves on Thursday, December 16. They will meet in Nairobi, Kenya, where they will join up with Eric Odida, and proceed to Mwanza, Tanzania there. The retreat is scheduled to begin on December 18. After the retreat, they plan to go to Kisumu, Kenya, for Christmas. Ron will be conducting a wedding in Nakuru prior to their return on December 30.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Frank Frye's Jun-Aug 2010 East Africa Diary -- Ch 2
Sat Jun 19
Last night there was one kamikaze mosquito that managed to get inside my mosquito netting and kept dive bombing my ears. There could have been more—but they all sound alike. I went to bed late after having written several letters and working on catching up with the earlier days of this diary. The pesky mosquito then kept me awake for a couple of hours more. However, I still woke up quite refreshed and feel great.
We had a very good omelet this morning for breakfast. Tom came about noon and we went to downtown Kisumu to look for a Swahili dictionary and several other things including a few groceries. We went down to the lake (Victoria) where we had a tilapia lunch, since the cooks back at the house were not preparing lunch for us. While there we met Caroline Miruka, a cousin of Paul Makawiti and had a nice visit with her. She is a Seventh Day Adventist, but attends our services frequently. She will be coming over to visit us at the guest house Sunday evening, and I may have a chance to have a cottage meeting with her. She is 27 years old and seems quite intelligent. Picked up some post cards and stamps for my grandson Zachary.
Came back to the guest house and worked on translations until close to 9:00 p.m. Paul continued to work on my laptop on the translation while I went to my room to consider what to present at the church service in the morning, as I've been asked to be the speaker. At about 10:30 p.m. I came back out to check my Email and found a letter from Tom Nunn and Sherrie Wages which had a forwarded letter from Tom's daughter-in-law, Susana Prange. The letter had an attachment of the Portuguese translation of one of my tracts that I'd left with Tom when in New York with Brother Sherrie last month. I took the translation and formatted it into both a tract layout and into a three column comparison and sent it back to her for her inspection and permission to send it on to our men in Brazil for finalization with accents and diacritical marks. I plan to use it in England in August with Bob Moore's new contact who speaks Portuguese.
Sun Jun 20
Preached in the Branch that Brother Austin and Sister Jane attend. Tom Okeyo translated. I spoke about our belief in a God of miracles and related a number of testimonies within the Restored Church and used appropriate scripture references. Had lunch with half a dozen other men at Brother Austin's home, fixed by his wife, Jane.
Later that afternoon, when we finally got home, Caroline (Paul's cousin), came over for a class. We studied about the three different kinds of churches and about Authority. Gave her several tracts.
After going to bed, a mouse in my room kept me awake until about 5:00 a.m. I got up several times and moved my luggage to figure out where he was.
Mon Jun 21
Went to town with Tom to exchange some money, mail post cards to Zachary and buy some groceries. Paul had spent the night with some family members and a young child died, so he had to stay and hold the funeral service and the burial. He was not with us all day.
Worked with Tom the rest of the day.
Tues Jun 22
Brother Austin arrived in the morning and I began teaching him about how to do the translation. Worked with him most of the day. Later Tom and Paul arrived and we worked together.
Today I began working separately on a short Keynote class which could be used to teach the translation process so that I can leave it with the men for review after I'm gone. We have developed a plan about how to finish the project. The Book of Mormon will be divided into equal parts and given to teams of translators that I will train—one in Kisumu (western Kenya), one in Tanzania and one in Nairobi (eastern Kenya)—with at least two men on each team. After each book is finished, it will be printed in English and Swahili, copied and given out to key members who know Swahili very well in addition to being students of the Book of Mormon and the Bible. These documents will be designed with three columns, English, Swahili and a 3rd for comments and corrections. These documents will then be returned to the committees for incorporation into the final text.
Just before supper time, I was looking inside my small projector case for one of my flannel-graph classes, when I found the mouse that had been keeping me awake for three nights! Somehow he had gotten zipped in. He had chewed up one of the plastic bags that contained the flannel-graph pieces for one of the classes, a small nibble on my good leather bound Doctrine and Covenants, and had chewed a little bit near one corner of the case, but thankfully nothing serious. We took the case outside and I carefully opened it with Tom helping, in an attempt to capture it or stomp on it. Tom said that they are quick and that we would not catch it. He was right—it deftly jumped out and zipped away. I'm sure that we looked pretty silly out on the back patio jumping around and banging slippers everywhere, but all to no avail. About an hour later, I saw a mouse enter the kitchen from the living room side during supper. Probably the same critter. He must know the house pretty well and would have had to go around it to the other side to get in that open door. So unfortunately he's back. My door will remain shut, but he can most likely squeeze under it. We have put poison out. I should have carried the case across the road before opening it. You know what they say about hind sight.
During supper, Sandra Osiro, Tom's business partner came to see me. She is the same one that had come earlier in the week that Tom asked me to teach a class to. I was rather surprised that she would come to see me again after the previous visit. I greeted her and she said that she wanted to visit with me when we finished supper. After supper, she asked me to teach her a class about the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church, because she was thinking about investigating it as she had been questioning the Roman Catholic church, and apparently the earlier class had pushed her over the edge. I told her that we could visit briefly about the SDA, but that I would much prefer to teach her about the "Fullness of the Gospel". She agreed.
Since I had just found all the parts to the Come Unto Christ Missionary Flannel-graph (when I found the mouse), I went in my bedroom and got them and we began the class. I explained to her, that since I probably would not see her again on this trip, I would like to give her a brief overview of the six classes without reading a lot of scriptures. She said that she would like that even though it might take longer than a normal class. Tom, Paul and Austin sat in and watched the class, parts of which some of them had never seen. Amazingly, and for the first time, I went over all of the classes in one extended class and Tom said that he was amazed at how smoothly it all integrated together. When we finished I gave her four tracts to study and we took her home, because it was late (11:00 p.m.). She was very pleased and promised to study. I told her that she needed to get with Tom to study the complete classes properly with their corresponding scripture verses. Her response was very positive.
Wed Jun 23
Had a very poor day. Had sinus drainage all day with no relief. Felt feverish. Hot day also. Laid down for about 1 1/2 hours in late afternoon to rest. That helped. Paul and Austin continued to work. I went to bed about 1:00 a.m., but they stayed up until 2:00 a.m. working on the translation.
Thu Jun 24
Took some Ocillococcinium, a remedy that I'd brought from a health food store in Missouri. I took it and had immediate results from the cold this morning. Had a much better day.
Tom was out most of today in other activities. After all, he has his own business and has to make a living while I'm over here. Paul & Austin worked all day. They are learning how to work together quite well. I worked on marking my copy of the LDS Book of Mormon.
Found out today that Eric wants Joab to go with Paul & me to Nairobi and then on to Tanzania to get maximum training. Joab is living in Eric's home in Nairobi and rooms with Patrick Akello. Eric wants Joab to be able to train Patrick after I leave. We will have only two weekends in Nairobi to train the men there, but if Joab learns it well in Tanzania and later in Kisumu, then he will be able to fill in the gaps with Patrick and even others.
Fri Jun 25
We traveled from Kisumu to Nairobi. During the night I monitored the elevation with my small altimeter as we drove back across the highlands and down into the Rift Valley and back up to Nairobi. From Kisumu which was about 3600 ft, we climbed up to 6000 ft, then down into the Rift Valley at about 4000 ft and from there up to over 8000 ft and back down to Nairobi at about 7000 to 7500 ft depending on where you are in the city.
Sat Jun 26
Arrived at the bus station in Nairobi at 4:00 a.m. and waited until 6:00 as arranged when Eric picked us up to take us to his house. It was just dawning when we arrived and Eric showed us our beds where we crashed and I slept for about 5 hours, because we got no sleep on the bus or at the bus station.
When I woke up, they provided a small breakfast and I began teaching Ben, Patrick and several others (who had arrived a little earlier) about the translation process that we would be doing. Taught several classes and then worked on the translation with the men for most of the rest of the day.
While sharing a video about the "Miracle at Entebbe" and the struggle for Modern day Israel's survival, I suddenly realized that I was near where that took place. Idi Amin of Uganda had ruled at that time on the other side of Lake Victoria. The video detailed how several of the rescue planes had circled over Lake Victoria while the advance plane landed with look-alike cars from Idi Amin's entourage to make the first strike. Later Eric told me that Kenya had cooperated with Israel in the rescue of the hostages from Air France flight #139. It was fascinating to be so close to where that historical and miraculous rescue took place nearly 34 years ago on July 4, 1976.
Spent the night at Eric and Pam's home. We had a worship service just before going to bed and instead of a BoM study, they asked me to share some testimonies which I did.
Sun Jun 27
Up at 7:00 a.m. so that we could leave the house by 8:00 to be at the meeting place before 9:00. Eric had asked me to teach the class using the laptop & projector. He had asked me to teach the class on the Eight Pillars of Evidence about the Book of Mormon. It had to be greatly shortened because of the need for an interpreter. We met in a restaurant that was closed on Sundays and rearranged the tables and chairs.
He had also asked me to preach after the class, which I did and had good liberty. Eric said that there were about 50 adults plus children. There were several new people and non-members present. One of them sent Eric a text message after we left saying that she really enjoyed the sermon. I spoke about a God of miracles and tied in the Restoration and the BoM using Isaiah 29, John 10:16, etc. Shared several testimonies including Patti's vision of Christ when she was a teenager, and of a healing in Oaxaca. Ended with Moroni chapter 10:4 and then the last 3 verses of the same chapter.
After church I shot a few group photos of the members outside of the building and then we took Pam and two others back to the house. After that Eric took Paul and me to a supermarket to get a few groceries for lunch.
That evening Eric took me from his house at 8:00 p.m. to go to the bus station where we met Paul and Joab and we left on a bus for Tanzania. When we travel on buses, I've been alternately loaning Paul and Joab my iPod and the headphones that my son David had loaned me for this trip, so that they can listen to testimonies and sermons. The moon was full and Eric had told me that we would be traveling through the Serengeti wildlife area of Kenya. As we rode west and then southward in the darkened bus I could see the beautiful trees that are characteristic of the Serengeti—the ones that go up so far and then spread out and form kind of a flat canopy of branches and leaves. I believe that some of them are Acacia trees. On my left I could see a range of low lying hills or mountains that the road seemed to be following. There was a lot of vegetation, but I couldn't tell what kind it was. In the daylight I've seen eucalyptus trees that apparently the British brought here from Australia several centuries ago. I've seen cactus and agave type plants that are very similar to what grows in Oaxaca, that perhaps were brought from Mexico. I've been monitoring the altitude since leaving Nairobi and we climbed out of the city to 8000 feet and then have gone up to close to 10,000 feet and are back down now to about 9000 feet. The air outside is quite chilly, in fact if I didn't have my jacket on in the bus I would be down right cold. The window seat would be uncomfortable tonight. Thank goodness the bus is not full and I can carry my laptop case in the seat next to the window and can sit in an aisle seat.
Part of the road has been good, but we just turned off onto a really bad bumpy road. Makes for hard typing. I've had little time to work on my journal in the day time since I'm either teaching a class on the laptop or the men are using it to do the work together on the translation. Don't think I'll be able to write much more tonight.
Mon Jun 28
We arrived at the Tanzania border at about 5:30 a.m. We had to get out of the bus and walk to the Kenyan office where I had to fill out a card and get an exit stamp put in my passport. Of course Paul didn't need to do anything because he is from Tanzania and the countries of East Africa have travel agreements for their citizens. The office was not open yet. There was a stiff breeze and the temperature must have been 50° F. or below. If I hadn't had the jacket on ... well it was really cold. When the office did open and I got a form, it was difficult to write because my hands were shaking so much. That made me thankful that it was not a permanent nervous condition! Then we had to walk further and cross into Tanzania so that I could get a visa stamped in my passport for that country. It cost $100.00 USD. They assured me that it would be good for one full year. (Wow—think of all that will save us!) I began to walk back to the bus to get on it, but it was already moving to the border check point. After getting on it, we waited for the other passengers to finish up their paperwork and finally left the border at about 7:00 a.m. The altitude at the border registered at about 6300 feet.
We continued on in the bus in Tanzania through more of the Serengeti. Did see some wildebeest off in the distance once. Arrived in Mwanza at a little after 11:00 a.m. It was about a 14 hour trip through the night. Part of the time, I had to hold my laptop/projector case on my lap because the bus filled up after the border. When it finally became light, I was able to shoot a number of photos out of the dirty window, but think that I did get some interesting shots. We arrived at Paul's home and I finally got to lay down for a short rest. Paul and Joab had slept quite a bit on the bus, but I don't think that I slept more than five minutes a couple of times, so I was pretty tired.
When I woke up after a couple hours of rest, Paul was gone but Joab was here. He fixed me a small basin of water that I could use to bathe with and took it outside to the one hole outhouse near the entrance to the house, but then couldn't find a towel. So I had to wait until Paul returned several hours later before I could get cleaned up and shaved. Soon Paul's family members began to arrive. We visited and then began a class that Paul suggested, but then his sister and two other girls started bringing some food in for us. We stopped for supper and then started the class over again for all to see. At Paul's request, the class was about the Body of Christ—the Church of Jesus Christ. The class went well in the very dim light of his home.
Everyone has gone home now and it is about 11:00 p.m. Tomorrow we plan to start training men here in this area about the translation of the Book of Mormon into Swahili. The government of Tanzania intentionally chose to reject the English language of the former British colonists and for about a generation now has only taught Swahili in the schools. Consequently few people speak English. Paul and I shared the one bed in his home which has a nice mosquito net over it.
Tue Jun 29
Paul and I did some studying together early in the morning, and then he had to go downtown to exchange some Dollars into Tanzania Shillings so that we could buy some food. (He got an exchange rate of 1410 TSh / USD.) I stayed at the house with Joab. The house consists of two rooms, each about 9 x 10 feet—a living room and a bedroom. The living room has two small couches one matching chair, a large coffee table and a television set in the corner. We do have electricity which keeps us running for working on the translation materials. Paul is a tailor by profession, but has taken time off to spend full time working with me and the others that need training. Later I met others of his family and discovered that the whole family consists of tailors.
Gershom Jeremiah ODaks came at about 3:00 p.m. at Paul's invitation to receive some training. Gershom is a teacher in Tanzania. He teaches English & Math, for the Third Grade level. He is a member of the church, but not a priesthood member. Paul says that he has been helping on the Book of Mormon SDA manuscript. We had three classes and a lot of discussion—one on the translation of the Book of Mormon, another on Bible translations (versions) and the third and longest one was the DVD on the Eight Pillars of Evidence of the Book of Mormon. Paul wanted me to show it to him on the laptop. Paul had to translate for it, so I had to stop it after every sentence. It was long, and we paused at about 7:30 p.m. because it was taking so long for the translation (into Luo), but Gershom did not want to stop. He wanted to see all of it. We finally finished at 10:00 p.m. Both Gershom and Paul's brother-in-law Nicolas Ojijo (who is an SDA) were very attentive. Gershom later said that he liked the archaeology part best.
Worked late after Paul went to bed. I finally got to bed at about 2:00 a.m.
Wed Jun 30
This morning I worked on the dictionary for the Book of Mormon. Before leaving Kenya for Tanzania, I had written back to the States asking several people for an electronic copy of a Book of Mormon dictionary thinking that it would expedite the selection of proper nouns for translation, but none had arrived yet, so I am marking them in one of my Books of Mormon. Later, Joab read them off to me as I typed them into the database which I had designed for this purpose. A database is best suited for this kind of task because of its versatility. When finished, it could be exported from the data base and reformatted and printed for distribution among the translators.
I had also written to Sharon Warner asking for some specifics about the number of translations of the Book of Mormon that had been published without verses and just when the verses were finally added to the LDS Book of Mormon and our edition also. Sharon passed the request on to Pamela Price who found the information and got it to me in time for me to finish up the training class before my twelve days in Tanzania ended.
Later in the day, we went down town to look for a good Bible. We still haven't found one. They are more expensive in Tanzania than in Kenya. I finally found a small booklet to jot down expenses in at a book store. We then came home and I continued to work on the words and Hebraisms for the Book of Mormon dictionary, while the others worked on the translation with this laptop. Later I worked on my LDS Book of Mormon in remarking it with our chapter and verse numbers. There is no real table to work at here, so it makes this kind of work rather difficult.
When the day ends, the light is very dim inside the house. There is one three foot fluorescent tube that is about an inch in diameter that goes through a hole in the wall between the living room and the bedroom that serves as the only light in the house, so it is difficult to do anything else except work on the laptop after the sun goes down. The three men stopped working on it during supper. After supper, I taught another class about the Apostasy and a little about the Restoration. After the class, Paul and I stayed up and talked for about another hour and we finally got to bed just before 1:00 a.m.
Frank Frye's Jun-Aug 2010 East Africa Diary -- Ch 1
Introduction
A number of people have asked me to share the diary from my eleven week stay in East Africa with the Saints in a similar manner as Brother Randy Vick has done. I've agreed to do so with the understanding that Randy and I are two very different people and the purpose of my trip was very different than the ones that Randy has written about. It should also be kept in mind that this was my diary and is not intended to even use complete sentences at times. At times, brevity was very important.
We have both had some wonderful experiences with the people of Africa, but my diary may be a bit more hum drum than his because my task was to focus mostly on just one thing—the preparation of the Swahili text of the Book of Mormon for publication. As you will discover while reading about my stay in Kenya and in Tanzania, it was not as simple as we had first thought.
While in East Africa, I was privileged to share in teaching and preaching ministry on many occasions and had many wonderful experiences with both members of the Church and those who came seeking more truth. I hope that you are edified from what has been written. It certainly was a valuable and memorable experience for me and I made many new friends among the Saints there, as well as others outside of the fellowship of the Church. I found the Saints there to be just as dedicated to the "cause of Zion" (the Church), the Lord and the spreading of the Gospel as the best of the Saints in America. They share a vibrant faith in the Lord and the Restored Gospel. Their enthusiasm to build up the Church in all the world is strong. Many of them practice family worship in their homes daily.
I pray that the sacrifices that were made to cover the cost of this trip as well as the sacrifices and efforts that were made by the Saints in Africa will be rewarded by a rich harvest of souls who will have opportunity to read the Book of Mormon and the other materials referred to in their own tongue when this project reaches its completion.
Frank Evan Frye
Sun Jun 6
Our daughter Sariah and my wife Patti took me to the airport in Kansas City where I arrived in plenty of time. We were delayed in our departure, but I had sufficient layover time in Detroit that there was no problem. The flight to Detroit lasted only a couple of hours. Actually we were delayed in our departure from Detroit because they couldn't get one of the doors to close and had to replace it. Better to do that on the ground than have it fall off in the air. We left Detroit and flew for seven hours to Amsterdam. It was night during most of the flight, but I couldn't see anything anyway because my seat was in the middle row of four seats. There were three seats on the outside rows. Probably because of the recent volcanic eruption, we flew south quite a bit on this trip and could not see Greenland which is covered with ice and is a break from staring at the empty ocean. By the time we came to the British Isles it was getting light. We were arriving earlier than Missouri time because we were flying toward the sun and gaining hours. I did get a glimpse of Ireland and England as we flew over them by getting out of my seat and looking out of the windows in other parts of the airplane. We were free to walk around much of the time. They were very green contrasted with what we would see later flying over the great Sahara Desert.
We arrived a little late in Amsterdam because of our delay, but I still had about three hours for a layover. We had gained six hours during the flight. I had no money except US Dollars, so I was at the mercy of the shop keepers in the airport. I was very thirsty by that time and looked for water. A small bottle of water was €1.55 (Euros). One shop keeper, not wanting Dollars, tried to charge me $5.00 USD for 8 ounces of water. I guess that's not highway robbery, but it was airport robbery. Finally I found another shop that sold me a small water for $3.00 USD. I savored it carefully. The plane for Nairobi was a couple of hours late in boarding us. KLM seats are very narrow, so the next seven and one half hours were quite uncomfortable. Sleep was almost out of the question. We flew south, south east over Europe. We flew over French air space and then over part of Italy and near the western coast of Greece. Then over the Mediterranean Sea. After that, we flew over the sands of the Sahara Desert. It was still light enough during the first part of the flight to see the yellowish brown sand dunes 39,000 feet below. We flew through the night gaining more hours as we went eastward and arrived in Nairobi early in the morning.
Mon Jun 7
De-boarding the plane, waiting in line to get a visa at the airport and going through customs took about an hour and a half. I did not know that we had to pay $25.00 USD in cash for the visa. Fortunately I still had a little cash out and could pay it. As I went through the gate leaving customs, the first person that I recognized was Randy Vick and Eric was at his side. Randy saw me and yelled to get my attention, but he was not hard to identify because he was rather tall and was standing in a crowd of Africans. They took me outside to a car where they placed my luggage. Then we went back inside where we waited several hours more for the men coming from Liberia who were flying in that morning. When they finally arrived, they did not have the money to pay for their visas and were detained in some office. They were able to call Eric on his cell phone. Eric was on his way to the airport when he stopped to put diesel in his car, but they put gasoline in it by mistake. When he realized what had happened, they had to drain the tank which took quite some time. Because of that, he was about an hour and a half late getting to the airport. As a result of that, we missed the bus ride that we had planned to go to Kisumu. However, Raymond James from Cameroon had been able to obtain a visa to Kenya at the last minute and flew in later that morning. We had already given up on his obtaining a visa and were planning on going to the retreat without him as we had not heard otherwise from him. He called Eric when he arrived at the airport while Eric was still trying to get the gasoline out of his car. Eric later realized that if he had not had the unfortunate accident with the diesel, we would have gone off and left Raymond stranded at the airport in Nairobi. We all realized that God had intervened by allowing the accident at the service station so that Raymond could travel with us and not miss any of the conference. When Eric finally arrived at the airport, he had to jump through a bunch of diplomatic hoops just to get the men from Liberia out of their detention at the airport. It was late in the day when we finally got to the home where Randy and I were going to stay with Brother Auggrey Anditi and his good wife Sylvia. Randy hooked up his computer and called home using his Skype account. Then he let me make a phone call home. David answered. I just told him that all was well and that I had arrived in Kenya. Our host family fed us supper after which we visited for a while and finally Randy and I went to bed. We shared a double bed with a mosquito net over it. Neither of us slept well, but it was much better than the airplane seat.
On the last leg of the trip into Nairobi, there were about six seats in the middle of the plane and the usual two or three on each side. I had been awarded one of the middle seats in the center seats. A very large Kenyan lady was seated to my right. After we took off, she went to sleep and spilled over into about 1/3 of my seat. That gave me the dubious privilege of sitting at about 20 degrees to my left for most of the trip. As we were arriving I tried to speak with her, but she did not understand much English. I gave her a tract and smiled and said that it was about Jesus. She smiled back. As we deplaned, she had to wait for a wheel chair because of problems with her legs.
Tue Jun 8
In the morning our host family served us breakfast and later Eric arrived and took us to his home where I saw his wife Pamela and some others who were to travel with us that day. We waited for several hours while Eric was calling around to find a van that would take us to Kisumu for a reasonable price. We finally left and wound our way through the streets of Nairobi to get out of town. During the five hour trip I took out my iPod and the headphones and passed them around sharing recordings that I had made of different testimonies over the years and that I've used on our tours in Mexico. I was able to share five testimonies with four different men during the trip. We drove down into the great rift valley as we drove across Kenya toward Lake Victoria. Then we drove up the other side of the rift valley. I'm guessing that it is about a thousand feet deep and maybe twenty to thirty miles wide. A couple of the men saw a zebra during the drive, but all that I saw were a few antelope at a great distance. They said that the zebra was right next to the road. By this time it had been three days since I'd had a good night's sleep, so my attention may have drifted.
During the last half of the trip to Kisumu, we drove through vast plantations of tea plants that were trimmed like the bushes in an English park. They went on for miles and miles. The plants were trimmed about two to three feet tall and as flat and perfect as a putting green. There were walk ways every so often where the workers could get around to harvest and care for the plants. In several places we saw huge housing compounds where I presume the workers lived, and also large buildings where the harvested leaves were either stored or processed. By that time in the afternoon, it was almost too dark to get any photos of the area, but I managed to get a couple. Hope to get some photos on another trip on that road. The area where the tea was growing was at a high elevation, probably between 6000 and 8000 feet, because it was quite chilly through that area.
Wed Jun 9
Pan African Elders Conference began.
Randy Vick's report gives the details of these days. Brother Eric Odida asked me to teach classes on nearly each day and on some days more than one. There were men who attended from Kenya, Nigeria, Liberia, Tanzania, the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. We stayed at a camp ground to the east of Kisumu. The accommodations were very adequate for the needs of the conference. Brother Randy taught the men a class on stewardship that had been approved by the Seventy and the Bishopric. That same class was taught several other times during the time that I was there on this trip and copies of it were left with the men in Africa for them to use in the future. I gave each of the men at the Conference about a dozen new tracts that I had written while in Mexico and several DVDs about the Book of Mormon. These had been prepared for this purpose by Brother Harry Williams and were donated by MMSG (Mexican Ministries Support Group).
Thu-Sat Jun 10-12
Pan African Elders Conference
Sun Jun 13
After the Conference ended, Brother Tom Okeyo took me to the village of Lisana where Eric Odida's grandmother lives. There I preached for their Branch in the open air under a tree, and later blessed a baby boy (Emanuel). I was impressed that a number of the people had handwritten copies of hymns in small notebooks from which they sang. They were our Latter Day Saints hymns. Paul Makawiti (from Tanzania) accompanied us. He will be helping with Swahili project. Ate lunch in the home of Joshua Okaylu (teacher). He has seven sons and seven daughters. Met Michael Onyiego (priest). Gave out several tracts about the testimony of the light that came down from heaven in 1875 during a baptismal service at night where J.J. Cornish was performing the baptism in Canada. I had mentioned that in my sermon. Paul asked me to speak with a friend of his by phone and I promised to send her some written materials about the Restoration (Restoration in Prophecy & History) Two adult men were invited by Tom and I gave them some reading materials. Gave out two tracts about the "Wines of the Bible" there also.
Then Tom brought me to the home of Brother Austin and Jane Odicoh where I was to spend the night. I'm afraid that I was a rather bad guest at that point, because I was so totally exhausted that I just kind of passed out on their couch for several hours in spite of the fact that several guests came to greet me. Austin's wife, Jane is a wonderful hostess and has taken very good care of me. She is a very well educated person and has studied and taught a great deal of important information about nutrition in her area of Kenya. Jane and Austin were not members of the Restoration when they were married. Jane was a member of different church than Austin's when they were married and eventually joined his church. When he found the Restoration, she was reluctant to make another change, but after much prayer and study, she joined with her husband in the greater light. Both she and her husband have won my respect as dedicated and faithful members of the Lord's Church. Brother Austin will be helping with the translation of the Book of Mormon into Swahili.
Mon Jun 14
Finally, got some rest last night. Used some Melatonin drops that I had purchased for the trip and they helped me fall asleep promptly and I slept for ten hours and awoke very refreshed. They had a basin of hot water for me in the bathing room where I bathed "jicarazo" style. A jícaro [hee-kah-row] is the Spanish name for a gourd that can be used to either carry water in or if cut in half, as a kind of a natural cup with which to bathe or drink. Then we had breakfast and soon Tom Okeyo arrived to take me to the Kisumu guest house where they keep visitors. We went back to the village of Lisana and picked up Paul Makawiti and then traveled around the south side of Lake Victoria to the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) institute, which had contracted to translate the Book of Mormon into Swahili many years ago, in hopes that we would be able to obtain the first half of the book in digital form.
Just prior to coming to Africa I was given a CD that only had the last half of the BoM on it, but not the first half. No one seemed to be able to locate those documents in electronic form. The SDA director was not there and the only person we could talk to, was new and knew nothing about the project. We finally convinced the new man to look for the files on the computer because the director was out of town and would not be returning until next Monday. After a lot of searching, he found copies of the missing files and I was able to install them on my laptop—thank goodness! The new person began to ask us questions about the Book of Mormon and we had a good discussion with him, so I left him with several tracts to read.
We drove from the SDA institute back around Lake Victoria and to Kisumu where Tom stopped to purchase a couple of items and then we looked for a place to eat. It was already too late to exchange any money as the exchange houses all close at 4:30 p.m. sharp. We had missed lunch because of the trip to the SDA institute, so supper was welcome. From there we went to the guest house arriving after dark.
My room is comfortable with a double bed and a mosquito net over it. The bathroom consists of three parts: an entry (dressing) room that has a small sink, a "water closet" (for the toilet) and a shower room. The shower room has a cement floor and two faucets—one each for cold and hot water. If you want hot water, you must switch on the water heater about an hour before you want to bathe. It works quite efficiently—if you remember to turn on the water heater in time.
Tue Jun 15
I began explaining the translation process to Tom and Paul after breakfast. It is a rather complicated sounding method at first, but we began to learn how to work together and to see what our strengths and weaknesses were. Both Tom and Paul know Swahili fairly well. Tom is from Kenya and Paul is from Tanzania. Paul has done more studying on this manuscript than Tom, but Tom knows English better and can type. Paul's English is limited to some extent and he can only hunt and peck on the keyboard. Both have a fairly decent understanding of the Book of Mormon, but neither understood the importance of preserving the language of scripture.
One of the fundamental problems is that the people who hired the SDA to do the translation work on the Book of Mormon did not understand the need to use some basic protocols on vocabulary, names of people and places. The man who the SDA had hired for the translation work was given information many years ago about how it was to be done, but after working on the project for a while, he disappeared with the money and left the SDA institute holding the bag. They knew nothing of Hebraisms and did not have a good method of translating (in English and Swahili in parallel columns verse by verse). As a result, they couldn't even keep their own work in order.
The SDA institute is apparently not a real translation production outfit and just did what they thought might work, and since no one was here to monitor what was going on, a lot of time and effort has gone into a manuscript that may have very little use for our publication purposes. We will however, be able to use it to show that we paid to have a completely different translation made in case the LDS church or anyone else challenges us for the work that we have done for a new translation.
We worked until about 11:00 p.m. with a short break before lunch and another one before supper (something that they call "tea").
Wed Jun 16
Today while we were working on the translation, Tom blurted out "Now I see! I don't know how the Seventh Day Adventists were able to keep track of anything that they did! Without the method we're using [multiple columns], they got all kinds of things mixed up! No wonder their work was so shoddy!" He realized what had happened and began to understand the process and saw the importance of doing the work in a more orderly fashion than what the SDA institute had done.
A good part of the time during these first couple of days was spent in adjusting the English text into parallel columns with the Swahili text from the SDA institute (which was poorly put together) and in many places there were no verse numbers as well as gaps of text from one or two verses missing to a number of pages missing! These guys did a very unprofessional job, and it is just now becoming apparent. There is however a legal contract for the job, and it may still provide us with some leverage.
To simplify the process and for security purposes, each book of the Book of Mormon is being placed in its own separate document. That way there is less chance of losing any significant portion of the book if any document is either lost or a computer crashes. All documents are to be backed up each day also on some memory sticks which will be provided for that purpose.
Thu Jun 17
Worked from about 8:30 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. with the customary lunch and supper breaks. The learning curve has been high for the two men, but we are beginning to work faster.
Sandra Osiro, a business partner of Tom's came to visit in the evening and Tom asked me to teach her a short class. I had never done this before, but I started with her for some reason on a class about "The Inquisition" which is one of my very graphic classes about the Apostasy. She was very attentive, and after the class was over, she told me that she had been a Catholic since infancy. When I heard that, I felt that I had possibly made a mistake because that class is very strong evidence of the historical problems with the Roman Catholic church. But she seemed to be very interested. We'll have to wait to see what happened with her after she has time to digest the class.
Each time that I turn on the laptop here at the guest house, or even wake it up from its sleeping mode, it checks for an Internet connection. There are several in the neighborhood, but I've not been able to connect with any of them. This time one connected and I could at least check my Email account. I'm afraid to turn it off now because I may lose the connection. (The connection only lasted several days. When it was lost, I was never able to reconnect again. After that, we had to go to an Internet cafe some place down town to check for Email.)
Fri Jun 18
Three days ago we saw a large rat run into the house from the patio, so the day before yesterday we went down town and bought two rat traps for him. I placed them out with bait, but in the morning the bait was gone—no rat. We reset them with different bait with the same results the next morning. Last night I did not sleep well because I was awakened by a tiny mouse twice in the night. It was nibbling on some plastic bags that I left on the headboard of the bed. I turned on my small flashlight and finally saw the little critter. Of course it was outside of my mosquito netting, so I had to get out of that in order to rearrange things. That interrupted my sleep and I did not feel as good today as yesterday. Today I figured out that these tiny mice can eat the bait from the large rat traps without setting the things off. So it looks like I'll have to buy some poison for them because the critter I saw was too small even for a mouse trap. I don't want them gnawing into my suitcases. I have always kept them zipped up at night and nearly all other times. I only open them when I need to get something out.
Tom finally obtained the printed manuscript of the first 400 pages of the Swahili Book of Mormon that was done by the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) institute and brought it to us around noon. Somehow rain water had leaked in around it and the bottom cardboard cover and about an inch of the pages were damp and severely mildewed. Paul Makawiti has reviewed much of the manuscript and has made some corrections on it between the lines in pencil. The manuscript is about five inches thick and is very fragile. [We finally got it dried out and it is in much better shape now.]
Today we passed the 100th verse of the first chapter of First Nephi.
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