Grafton posted by andrew

We had a pretty relaxed morning today. Jason and Tina had a meeting in our room at the family kingdom with Quami and Osseh all morning so we were kicked out for about 4 hours. I spent some time in the word praying through Ps. 27. It was a pretty cool time because I walked out to the beautiful beach and sat on a log to do it. I was able to pick up a few souvenirs and meet a young boy named John who I talked with for about 20 minutes. The countryside is gorgeous here and some day this could be a resort destination if anyone decided to start developing it.

After their meeting we headed out to visit Wellington Orphanage. It was a great facility started by a very passionate man named Pastor Mansaray. He took us on a tour and we got to meet some of the kids. They are a lot older than the kids at the Covering. These kids were rescued by Pastor Mansaray right after the war 8 years ago and he does not have room to take in any more kids right now. They are very well taken care of and it was refreshing to see their center.

After Wellington we went to Grafton Refugee Camp. That was exciting, but tough. This is where the children we are sponsoring are from. I was able to see their house and see their old bed. It was terrible thinking that they have spent the whole first part of their lives in those conditions. The house was a mud brick house with a rusted sheet metal roof. Their bed was just an old mattress on the floor that they shared. I was able to see John’s toy. It was an old red plastic truck with no wheels. After seeing where they came from it really makes me want to bless them with our sponsorship. I was talking with Quami and he said a house like that is a hell during the raining season because there are leaks everywhere. He said a lot of times no one sleeps at night because they have to stay up bailing water all night to keep their house standing. He said because of the mud bricks the walls fall down a lot during that season. Unfortunately I was not able to meet their father. He was away looking for work. I did get to meet their older brother who I didn’t know existed. He is 18 years old and they have 3 other siblings that live up country quite a ways from Freetown. What a shock it was to meet them, but also a blessing. I was able to tell him that we were their sponsor. When he found out he lit up with a smile and was thanking us for supporting them.

After Grafton we headed back to the family kingdom and we were able to eat dinner with Quami, his wife, and Osseh. After dinner we went back to the room and Quami shared his testimony. It was incredible and I mean incredible. To see how God literally saved his life over and over again and to see the kind of man he has become is unbelievable. He was literally tied up with 3 other guys during the war awaiting execution and he prayed and shared with us the scripture that God put on his heart. It was 1 John 5:12, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Just after he finished praying another soldier came up to him and released him and his friend. Soon after that the other 2 guys were executed. There are more stories to his testimony that I will share when I get home. I wish that I had a recorder. We are trying to get him to come to the states soon to do a speaking tour. We are completely exhausted and every day we get more and more drained. Please be lifting up our health and energy levels so we can finish strong.