As I have mentioned before, myself and a few other Mercy Shippers are involved in running a Bible Study out at an orphanage in New Matadi, a district of Monrovia.
This past Wednesday we went out to New Matadi, as we do every Wednesday. And it was one of the first times where I really felt a tangible connection with the guys. It was great. A large part of the reason was that beforehand I had heard their names and been introduced, but with me a name often goes in one ear and out the other. And I've really struggled with their names.
But this week we had all (as leaders) made a conscious decision to learn their names again. It was great! And by doing this God really opened things up on such a deeper level.
We are now having a competition where they have to learn a memory verse each week and if they know it they get points. By the time we leave the person with the most points will get a prize. So we went round the circle seeing if they knew the verse and then allocating points. It was a lot of fun.
I also took my camera and so we had a group photo taken and I also took some shots of the church in which we meet. The photos here are all from New Matadi.
We've also all been invited to the graduation of Daniel, one of our guys in the Bible Study. That's happening next Saturday and should be a wonderful experience. I'm sure not many people from South Africa have been to be a graduation ceremony in Liberia!
It's just amazing how God works when you're just willing to focus on the simple things. Such as learning a name. It is then that barriers come crashing down.