After Thanksgiving, Matt along with 14 others, returned to Liberia to answer a call God had put on Matt's heart while we were there in 2011. While we were there preparing to bring Onah and Marie home, our hearts couldn't help but be torn as we saw the house our children knew as 'home' for so long, fall apart. We were so excited to start a new chapter with our children in their forever home, but knew the future of the children we would leave behind was not as bright.
While there, Matt would walk the house and grounds looking at so much that needed to be fixed. Many nights he'd lay awake in our hotel journaling of projects that needed fixing, and wondering what God was brewing.
After many months of wrestling and praying about what was on his heart, he began to plan a construction trip to bring hope to those children still waiting for their forever families.
The plan...plumbing (fix the septic and pipes that were leaking into the yard), electric (correctly wire the house and hook it to the city's now working electricity), playground (build a structure for the children to be able to play on), roof (replace the roof that had several holes and had been leaking on the children's bedrooms), and fixing up the house (paint, replace cabinets, doors, etc...) While there it was made possible for them to also fix the drainage off the house using a gutter system so the rain did not flood the front yard, removing/sealing up the gate entrance in order to make a new entrance so the vehicle could pull into the compound, putting a new roof on the worker's house, putting in ceiling fans for air circulation, and hooking running water into the house. Not to mention, the team took several supplies for the children with CP! A walker which Nanu used alot getting around! She was independently mobile for the first time! A stander which could place the children on and raise them up so they could see the world around them and not just experience it from a crib. Awesome!
Matt as well as several other team members made mention that they went to fix a broken home, but left fixing so much more...lives.
The favorite memory that I think many took away from the trip was seeing the children play on the playground for the first time. "Words could not describe what it was like seeing their faces" I can only imagine!
Matt shared with me a conversation he had with Oretha about trying to get it all done in this trip. I can just hear her sweet voice as she told him, "oh Matthew...you'll be back...you'll be back." Several members from the team are already planning the next mission. Can't wait to see how God uses them to take care of His children! Makes my heart smile!
