First week in Salone
Well, one week ago today we arrived in Sierra Leone, Africa. It’s been a whirl wind thus far. We have experienced every emotion possible I think. The trip here was blessed. God met us in every situation to help us arrive safely after the threat of terrorism in Belgium. Also, our boys were amazing fliers. They were patient and quiet and just SO good! We were super happy with the whole trip. When the plane landed at Lungi Airport we were so excited! It was such a surreal feeling to be back, but with our boys this time.
When we finally got through the airport chaos, we met Rick Miller (he and his family have started Lifegate in Africa and they’re our missionary teammates) as well as our good friend Pastor Edwin Moses from Liberia. They got us home safely. We arrived at 10pm and went to bed fairly soon after that. The next morning, on Monday, we hit the ground running. We had (and still do) so much work to get done on the house. Moses came over that morning and helped Ty get some plumbing done.
The boys having breakfast with their “uncle” Moses.
From days Monday through Wednesday we spent all day trying to unpack and get settled. I went down to the market outside our gate with Paula (Ricks wife) to buy bread and eggs and such for the day on occasion. Otherwise, we were all here, sweating, working, and more of the like. We all cycled through some big emotions too. Missing home and friends, being overwhelmed by the changes, experiencing culture shock of major proportions, and so on. We would cry sometimes, and feel sad sometimes, and we know that is part of living in a country that’s not your home. However, we are all adjusting really well. We feel more like were home every day and we’re getting to know some people around us. Wednesday we were able to get internet and the ability to talk to loved ones and feel connected is worth gold here. we are so thankful to God for the blessings of technology.
Here are pictures from around the house and yard. We tried to teach Pastor Moses how to play a playstation. It ended with him playing monopoly instead. 🙂
Thursday was Thanksgiving in America. This is not a holiday celebrated in Salone but there are other missionary families scattered around various villages here. One of the families came up with the idea to go to the ocean and play at the beach for the day. We saw it as a perfect opportunity to get away from the clutter of the house and take our boys to the ocean for the very first time. It was the perfect. Having Rick and Paula and their daughters here to help us and love on us has been super amazing too. We are growing into one big family ourselves
At the beach the boys got fries (they were super excited for this) and Sullivan, our son with autism, picked up a stick and wrote his name in the sand. Thank you Jesus!
Friday it was back to work on the house. We put together pieces of furniture and organized things. Its not done (will it ever be?! lol) but its really coming together. We are very thankful. We had a scare Friday as the solar malfunctioned and we were without power. We didn’t know what was wrong. Ty and I prayed diligently and then the Lord showed him how to fix it- a switch got shut off! Only God! So were back to having electricity again. We are always seeing God meet us. We Praise HIM!
Saturday we went to the Lifegate Childrens Home in Brigitte Village, which is the orphanage Lifegate runs. We fell so crazy in love with the kids. They’re wonderful. We loved spending time with them and playing. We played some games, including Duck Duck Goose. So fun! The caretakers over the orphanage, Musa and Jeriatu, just had a baby boy. Please praise God for his health and pray for protection to continue. Also the Lifegate kids are healthy and we thank God for this blessing. They have a dog who just had puppies and the boys wanted one. I said no (mean momma here). These puppies are shockingly healthy though. The dogs in this country are very sick and near death. You don’t want to even think of touching them. The kids in the home take such good care of everything they’re given so naturally these dogs were doing well! The kids were happy and smiling and it made us so delighted to spend time with them. We are continuing to seek God on exactly how we are to be involved with these kids so please pray with us in that.
Pictured here are our boys walking up the hill to the orphanage with Rick and Paula’s girls, and our boys playing with some of the kids. They are really a wonderful bunch of kids. They still need supporters though. Today in church they announced on Saturday the kids would be fasting all day and praying at the church for 8 hours in petition of God sending them sponsors. If you feel led to help please contact Chance Newingham at Lifegateinafrica.org. or via Facebook. A small amount each month can meet their needs. Believe me, these kids are so grateful for everything!
Today, Sunday, we went back to Brigitte Village for church. It was a beautiful service with testimony and worship. They speak in Krio and we are still learning but it was wonderful to be so warmly welcomed. The orphanage kids attend there and they prepared a welcome song to Papa Tyler and our family. We really love this group of kids so much.
The pics here are of church and the boys in front of our house before leaving to go to church.
This evening, we will be resting as a family before a new week. We ask for your prayers on a few matters. Please pray for health over all the boys. Connor is struggling with a weird rash and they all have coughs still. We also met a taxi driver this week who is very kind and we feel like God put him in our path. Please pray for opportunities to minister to him because from what we can tell he doesn’t know Jesus. We ask for prayers as we adjust to this new place and people, and for God to use us in his plan. We also came here lacking about $500 per month in support. We know God will provide so we ask you to pray for people to be moved to help as God allows. You can begin support by clicking the donate tab at the top of our website and following the prompts. Lastly please pray for Rick and Paula and all the work they are doing here. We are here to aid them and we know God has big plans.
Millers In Africa 