Christmas

Christmas is difficult when you miss your family and friends.
But hanging with the Straw family helped to ease the pain.
I did get to talk to my family over Christmas... which was GREAT!  The skype connection on Christmas day was fantastic - no delay!!



I like giving gifts when I know that it is going to make that person smile.

Megan is a gift giver... she loves to give.  I loved watching her give... she's showing her dad the backpack she gave him.

Hannah and I gave Joe a wallet with our picture in it!  We had the picture taken down the street and the guy took a toilet paper roll and took our picture through that to give it an effect... the effect it had on us was laughter!

Sam got a tattoo sleeve!

What our weeks have looked like lately...
More pictures...

Ok so you will hardly ever see pictures of us busy at a medical clinic... cause when I'm busy working I don't have time to take pictures!  We did a couple eye clinics at two schools the past two weeks.  

We (mostly Hannah) helped Alace hang her Christmas decorations!

I know this is a fuzzy picture, but the lighting is more realistic...  her tree (albeit fake) is beautiful!

Hannah is learning to drive stick!  And she was actually driving around Libreville until we were stopped by the military the other night and he told her that she needed a Gabonese license.  

We were driving home from the Straws the other night, when we got stopped at a military checkpoint.  He asked to see our papers and Hannah's driving license.  The fire extinguisher had expired about a year ago, the vehicle inspection had expired that day!!, and he claimed that after being in the country for six months you needed a Gabonese driver's license (though she had just started learning standard shift a couple weeks before!).  So he told us it would be 36,000cfa (~$72).  He left and we sat there waiting.  I don't remember how many times he came back to the car, only one or two times, but the last time he asked for the money.  I told him that we needed a receipt, so he said we would have to go to the police station back across town.  We asked for directions, he explained, we sort of understood.  But then when we asked if he would be coming with us... because he had the papers and we couldn't go to the police station without them... he offered us 10,000cfa.  [For those of you unfamiliar with how things sometimes work here - that would be known as a bribe.]  We acknowledged that that was a better deal, but insisted that we needed paperwork.  Hannah got into the back seat, I got in to drive (after showing my Gabonese driver's license), and we motioned for him to get in the front seat.  He gave us our papers and told us to get them corrected.  

Moral of the story... wait them out!!

Thank you Father for the motivation, courage, and freedom to do what is right.  

Praying before a building committee meeting

Building committee meeting... great minds!  I am very thankful for this group of people... Pastor Hippolyte (on right),  Pastor Pilot Steve (middle), and Hannah (left).  They are awesome!  

So Hannah suggested we better document our lives...

Me doing an ear candle... have you ever done one?  It is amazing how much stuff is in your ear!!

For you bird lovers out there... this guy was eating the termites on our mango tree... he actually went into the hole that is right behind his bright red head.

Living here you see knock offs of almost every brand there is... but of trucks, that's taking it a bit far... and they didn't even spell it right!

An urchin (i think) on a reef.

We went out close to a beach called Santa Clara the other day and I walked aways out on a reef.
Mom, aren't you proud of me wearing my sunproof shirt?
Jeanne... does this look familiar?  My beach attire hasn't changed much!

Hannah and I both love pumpkin pie... so we made some for her English class and made the extra into this cute little heart shaped pies... with made from scratch whipped cream!  Yummy!!

I’ve never been a type A personality… never had any trouble leaving my work at work… until now.

I live at my office... at any time of the day there are emails to answer and work that is waiting for me.  

Where do you draw lines?  Where are the boundaries?  

At a loss for words...

Just thought I would post a few pictures...

Walter and me "debrussing" (weed eating with a machete).  We took 4 boys from the Hope House  out to PK 27 which is the land that they will building a permanent house for the Hope House.  They loved it and Wilson asked Saturday when we would be going again!  

OSPAC truck... they recently put a lot of money into revamping their truck!  It really needed it... there were steel bars sticking out of the front seat - so it was dangerous for the passengers in the back!!  

Papy Joe posing next to his "new" vehicle!

This is Rich's third time in Gabon.  He is a Physician's Assistant from NY.  Here he is at a mobile medical clinic in Mitzic (northern part of the country).  We were in the Mitzic area for about 5 days!  Most of the time we spent on dirt road.  Rich was my 4x4 driving instructor!  

Candles

From my favorite artist Gerhard Richter
http://www.gerhard-richter.com/art/

Things you discover when the power goes off...
You are so thankful that you have a gas stove and can still cook!
You are thankful for the stash of candles that is around!
Everyone usually congregates in one room... where most of the candles are.
People actually talk to each other... there is no tv, no computer, and even books are a little hard to read.
You actually go to bed a little earlier, and sometimes even sleep better.

That's why we've decided to do a power outage on a more regular basis.

6th sense?

2009 birthday... no I did not wear that shirt with the skirt

 My fashion sense is not my strongest sense… probably more like taste or touch.  I would describe myself as more of a lands end, ll bean fashion type.  When I lived in Whiteville I had people that would help me with my wardrobe choices.  One night before I was heading to a wedding in California Meg, Alice, and Kate did a “what not to wear” for me in my living room!

2011 birthday... new shoes and new haircut too!

They will be happy to know that I now have people that help me with my wardrobe here in Gabon.  Hannah has the most influence since she lives with me and can always say… “is that what you are wearing?”.  But Mama Jeanine will also make her opinion known… usually by saying how nice I look – whenever I wear a nice outfit or skirt!

The other ladies that help me with my wardrobe choices are Alace and her daughter Megan.  Hannah, Alace, and Megan all have that design/creative/artistic sense that I greatly appreciate! 

So this year Alace and Megan gave me a skirt and a matching clutch… (which was actually perfect because the zipper had just busted a few days before on the clutch I used to use!)

But looking through some pictures I realized that in 2009 when I was here they also gave me a skirt and purse for my birthday! 

Thank you guys for my gifts and thanks to Joanna for my new haircut!

Eat your vegetables

Did your parents ever tell you... "You better eat those vegetables!  There are starving kids in Africa who would gladly eat them?".  Well they were wrong.  See the story on Alace's blog... A life less comfortable

Mitzic

We went to Mitzic a few weeks ago for a mobile clinic with OSPAC.  We did a medical clinic for two days.  Found this heard of cows walking down the street with their shepherd.

 This is rubber coming out of the tree!!  Just like maple syrup!

 Here is Hannah amazed at the rubber plantation she is standing at the edge of... they cut the tree at an angle and the rubber flows out of it... cool huh?

We passed through this town... "more late"

Fruits

We've got 5 of these little guys

 Just thought I would share some pictures of the things growing in our yard!!!  And some recent thoughts...

For those of you, like me, who have never seen a pineapple plant!

Our mango tree is full of mangoes!  They'll be hitting the metal roof soon... and making it sound like someone just got shot!

Lately I've had a bad attitude... just a bit stressed out with all the things that need to be accomplished.  Will talk more about that later when we get the ball rolling (suspense is killing you isn't it?).
Anyway... I've been wishing for more fruits of the Spirit (kindness, gentleness, patience, etc.).  But they are not fruits of Leanne... things that I can work up and make happen... they are fruits of the Spirit living within me.
Please pray that I would let the Spirit grow inside me... water it with the Word, sit before the Son, etc.

Pictures

Heard that my link to my safari pictures didn't work... so I'm trying it again.


http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150290737668704.356525.520513703&l=f2ac8ecf1e&type=1

Notes

It's been a long time and I just wanted to give you some idea of things going on here...
I am still alive.
We went down to the jungle last week (Bongolo) to attend a child safety seminar down there.  While I was down there I had my teeth cleaned by Nennie at Bongolo Hospital!  I did zoomba for the first time - what a workout!!  And I had my hair cut... will post pictures when I remember to!  Also took a canoe ride down the river - fun!

Week before that we went to a medical clinic with OSPAC in Mitzic... which is about 6/7 hours northeast of Libreville.  There was one lady at the clinic who I couldn't get a blood pressure on... she was very thin.  Last week when I was headed to the dental clinic at Bongolo I saw the same lady.  As I passed her I turned around and did a double take... was that the same lady???  So I went back and asked if she was in Mitzic... she said yes and I told her I was glad she had come to the hospital to get additional help!  Mitzic is in the north of Gabon and Bongolo is in the south so she travelled quite a ways!

Will write more when I think of it or when I look through the pictures that remind me of what I have actually done!

Mail

So recently received two letters from people that came to Gabon…


One glowing with all the things that God has blessed him with… relationships with people on the team that he came with, a calling to be more involved with God’s ministry, experiencing a love and kindness that he wants to give to others… amazing things that he has learned and experienced during and since his time here.

One expressing frustration as she struggles to hear from God; dealing with the regret of feeling like she didn’t fully experience her time here in Gabon.

To be honest I was encouraged by both letters…

The second writer did learn that missions is hard (I second that!) and that she needed God – two huge lessons for those who want to serve Him.

But I think the thing I like about both letters is that they were both learning and growing from their experience here. Sometimes that growth can be a struggle or something that we have to wrestle with.

Have you ever sat back and watched your child struggle through something? A math problem, a puzzle, a video game… you know that the child can do it so instead of helping them you just stand back and watch?

How much wisdom, character, strength, and perseverance are gained through just having to struggle?

Traveling Chucks

Want to know more... Hannah and Alace wrote wonderful tales of our trip!  Times like these I wish I was a writer... but I'm glad that I went on vacation with two women who are writers!  Next year we should probably take a photographer along and I won't have to do anything!! 

http://alacecatherine.blogspot.com/

http://iheartgabon.wordpress.com/

Safari 2011

Wanna see pictures from our traveling chucks adventure? 

 

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150290737668704.356525.520513703&l=f2ac8ecf1e&type=1

Field Forum

Field Forum is where the missionaries in Gabon get together, we…


Get to worship in English!

Hear the word of God (again in English!); Pastor Blaine was awesome! Had really great messages on being great in the sight of the LORD

Share what has gone on in the past year – each missionary gives a 10/15 minute report

Talk about our goals as a field for the next year

Play volleyball (personally my favorite!) and swim!

I consider it a retreat with a little bit of preaching and field business thrown in.

It is really great to hang out with and get to know the other missionaries on the field! You can learn so much from them… for example I learned how to fill a bathtub when you don’t have a stopper! One of the perks to this hotel was bathtubs (very rare in Gabon), but ours didn’t have a stopper. Our Field Director told us to use a plastic bag – a thin one… thick ones don’t work well.

Third from the left standing

Busy season

Do you always feel like I'm always apologizing for not having written in a long time... or is that just me??
Well my excuse is going to be the amount of people we have in Gabon right now... when everyone returns back to the Envision center here in Libreville this Tuesday it will be 42 people in one house!!  But only for one night.  Right now those 42 are split up between here, Bongolo, and a village called Abel Abanga (sp?). 
As you can imagine things are kind of crazy right now... but please continue to pray for our sanity! 

Parts of the body

Romans 12
³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. ⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your^[a] faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,^[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

I'm reading through Romans right now, and I came across this verse today.  I am continually being challenged to grow in my role here.  I'm learning to let go of the control that I think I have!  To let the other parts of the body do what they are good at!!!  This week I am down in Bongolo with a small team while Hannah and Eric are in Libreville with a team of 12.  It is actually a great way for us to start out the summer, me having to trust and let go and them having to take charge!  I'm really excited by what God will do in and through each of us! 

Please continue to pray for our team...
Dan and Alicia, Hannah, Jean Romain, Eric, Vicki, and me. (Eric & Vicki came out for the summer to lead teams)

Butterflies on my ankle

news update...

Olivia left me... ok us, and she was scheduled to go, but she did spend three months with us... so we were a little attached to her!  I have added her blog on my list to the right.

Rose... a friend from Whiteville is moving to Uganda for a year!!  So excited for her... I added her blog on my list as well. 

We received a care package!  From our first team... do you remember me telling you about that group of guys?  Well they sent us a package with muffin mixes, a drill!!, a digital photo frame!! w/ a 16GB card!!, and a bunch of other things... can you say Christmas??  They also sent a devotional book with their picture taped to the inside covers!  Great idea!  We love it - Thank you FAC!!!

Other's blogs

So I opened my blog this morning... not so much to write on it, sorry.  But to look at the blogs that I follow (see list on the right, scroll down a bit).  I found that everybody, or almost everybody - but I'm not mentioning any names... Jeanne, has updated their blog!
I am very proud of all of them... but I am especially proud of Alace because she has started writing again, and she is a fabulous writer!  I keep encouraging her to write a book... I'm waiting.  Anyway, on her blog she writes about dancing, but she didn't include any pictures - what was she thinking??!!!  So I decided to post a picture of her (on the right) dancing with the birthday girl - Hannah!  You can thank me later Alace!!

Relationships

Have I mentioned that one of the big things here is relationships?

With Christ – challenging people to grow in their understanding, knowledge, and relationship with Him.

With the people in the house – learning to live with people in community.

With the Gabonese – to develop relationships with people from a different culture.

Well let me just tell you that you can only lead a horse to water – encourage him to drink, tell him how healthy it is, have him read a book on water, etc… but that does not mean that he will drink!

So when we have people that “drink” in the relationships here it is neat to sit back and watch.

This past weekend we had two new interns come in.

Hannah and I were quietly working upstairs when we hear this commotion in the yard last night. I sneak out onto the terrace to spy on them and I found Cirque de Soleil performing in our yard. I don’t know if they were doing trust exercises or what, but they seemed to be having fun!

And then the other night we had Hannah’s third and last birthday party for this year. It was with our ministry partners… I should have known it was going to get wild when Joseph came early and left a case of CDs and a good size amplifier! The fun really started when Mama Jeanine pulled out church flags and everyone stuck them to their head!! Congo line anyone? Is it really a Congo line – as in the country next to us?

 Ok, I got a comment on a post that just reminded me of all the other things I wanted to share about the Men’s team…


For my first year in Gabon I attended a church. Every Sunday they give the statistics of how many men, women, youth, and children were present. “Men” were always the lowest number.

So when a group of twelve men come on a missions trip to Gabon it was a huge encouragement to me. Yes! There are still men of God who want to serve Him and grow in their relationship with Him! And to top that - two of the men were 72 years young! Proof that you never stop growing in your relationship with Christ!

So the team of twelve was split into two different teams: a medical team and a construction team.

The medical team was highly praised by the people that worked with them and those who had the benefit of their consultation (including me – sinus problem). But more than just being good at their job, they were also teachers. They were fantastic at training our medical ministry partners in medical stuff* (*- highly technical term). Sorry for my lack of knowledge as to what they taught, but the more important thing to me was that they were taught! Even if we don’t have a formal continuing education system, we need to continue in educating!

The construction team actually had some guys who were in the construction business! It was impressive to see how well they operated as a team during their work on the guesthouse at CFTAC (Bible School). I was very proud that these guys understood that it is not all about the task here but more about the relationships they build – they took a minute to play some football with a youngster that showed up.

The entire team also went to the Hope House (abandoned children’s home) and gave each kid a comprehensive physical exam… eyes, teeth, ears, height, weight, range of motion, checked for scoliosis, etc. They also played football with them and did those cool balloons that you can make into shapes! They made us a bouquet of balloon flowers!

We also trekked into the jungle as a team to put up four concrete posts at the PK27 property.

I'm going to become a sailor

Since I was a kid we've always had a boat... 22ft Catalina - it had a small cabin; but we only spent the night in it once. The next boat was a 19ft Flying Scott, which my dad still has. So I have some experience sailing… I know what a jib is, and I know how to yell “coming about! hardalee” (although I’m not sure how to spell it). I think I’m ready!


About now you are thinking... "Where is Leanne going with this?"

I have a decision to make... my boss has asked Hannah and me if we wanted to apply for the position that we now occupy. Apparently our status cannot remain "temporary" forever. Now please understand that it is an application process and just because we apply does not mean we will get the job. Nevertheless we are approaching it as if we would and how that affects our futures.

I tell you this to let you know what is going on in my heart and to ask for your prayers!

Please pray for guidance in making this difficult decision.

If you've heard this before plug your ears... I love seeing things/people grow! This past team reminded me why I love this ministry so much! To witness how the Holy Spirit works through another culture and people to touch hearts and lives is amazing!
But it is difficult living 6000 miles from dearly loved family and friends.
Torn is the word that comes to mind.

So I'm thinking a happy medium would be to become a sailor and travel from the US to Gabon. Dad, do you mind if I borrow your boat?

It's raining men!!

Last week we had a team of 12 men here from NJ. 

Twelve men who understood that their time here was limited.
Twelve men who were focused on how they could serve the church here - through construction projects and through the medical ministry. 
Twelve men who were focused on how God would move in their hearts and lives to make them more like Christ. 

It was amazing to watch the Holy Spirit guide and use these twelve men! 

One felt the LORD guiding him to reprioritze his life and to really take a look at what matters the most to him!

Two other men who did not know each other before the trip decided to form an accountability partnership!



Our best silly poses!  This was a fun team!




Mixing the dry cement mix on the side of the road... then hauled it into the jungle to mix it with water.





Mark and John (behind the grass) hauling the form into the jungle



We divided up into 4 teams to mark corners of a new plot of land.  Here is the finished post!

We had our ministry partners over for dinner one night!  After this picture the singing and dancing started!

It was a priviledge to serve these men and to be a witness of how the Spirit moved in their hearts during their time here.