Sierra Leone Day 7 

I am writing this at 9am on our last day here in Sierra Leone. We are heading off at 1.30pm to catch the boat back to the airport for our flight home via Dakar and Brussels.

Yesterday finished well. Steph spoke again at the evening meeting at Regent Road Baptist Church and did another great job despite feeling decidedly fragile. Quite a few of us now have tummy issues - it happens every trip and we are pretty convinced by now that it is the malaria tablets and that it won't stop until we stop taking them in a weeks time! Still better a doggy tummy than malaria.

We then all met up with Abs and some new friends Ian and Heather for our last evening meal. It was a lovely time. Ian and Heather are here from the UK working with Abs and doing some great stuff. They have a clear sense that this is where God is calling them to be.

I had a lousy nights sleep (or lack of). I couldn't help but be thinking about Florence and Abdulai (see yesterdays blog) and where they were sleeping. There is so much need here and you see it all around, but there is something about these two children that has just set off something deep within me. That and the ongoing tummy issues led to a pretty sleepless night!

Today Rob has just gone off with Abs to meet the DST lawyer here and then I am off to the national TV broadcaster SLBC at 12pm to be on a one hour talk show called The Podium talking about the projects we are involved with here. Then I will meet the others at the boat to head off for the airport.

Thanks for all your prayers and support...if you will be at EBC on Sunday morning I will look forward to seeing you there.

God bless
Chris

P.S for some light relief here is a record of the conversation that took place when we met the village chief with 17 children (see yesterdays blog)

Pastor Tannie (to Chris): "this is the village chief"

Chris (to village chief): "Hello, how di bodi?" (which in Krio means hello, how are you?)

Village chief "Di bodi fine, tanke" (which means I'm fine thank you)

Pastor Tannie (to Chris): "This man has seventeen children"

Chris (exclaiming increduously): "Seventeen!!!"

Pastor Tannie: "Well there's no electricity here and it gets dark at 7pm so there isn't much else to do in the evening!!!"