Pam Parish

Well, not literally, but I’m sure He dislikes what many Christians have turned it into - their only time during the day that they think about Him, or talk to Him. Don’t get me wrong, I think having a devoted time that’s set aside to spend one-on-one with God is awesome. Honestly, I wish I were more consistent in that area.

I see so many people who set this standard for themselves of “I have to spend XXX minutes/hours with God in the morning to be *really* holy” and then they fail to meet it and beat themselves up because their “relationship with God isn’t where it should be.” I’m sure God appreciates their effort and would love to have a daily morning date, but I just really feel like He’d much rather be on a lifetime date - inseparable.

While I do believe that setting aside a disciplined time in the morning for prayer can be a great thing and really go a long way in developing us as Christ-followers, I don’t think it should be the “ubber-goal” of a Christian’s life. The reason is when we set “morning prayer” as our only goal in an “ultimate” relationship with Christ we fail to pursue an ongoing conversation.

It’s like this, I love my husband with all my heart and, after 17 years of marriage, I’m just as in love with him today as I was 20 years ago when we met. I can’t imagine that our relationship would have ever gotten off the ground, much less lasted through 17 years of marriage and three daughters, if we only talked once a day for an hour. And, I think I would have fired our marriage counselor had his advice to us been to schedule a morning meeting of 30 minutes to an hour (or longer, if needed) to discuss life, our relationships, the kids, finances, things that are bothering us, relationships with others, work, traffic, ….. you get the point. It simply wouldn’t have worked.

If it won’t work in marriage, why do we think it will work in our most important relationship - our relationship with God? Simply put, it won’t. It can’t. If “morning prayer” is the ubber-goal in our relationship with God, we’re set up for failure from the start. Instead, we should be taught that, just like marriage, relationship and intimacy with God is a result of an ongoing conversation. Sure, there can - and should - be times of dedicated one-on-one time (dates, if you will) but more often than that should be the quick converstations, updates and concerns of our day.

…. oh wow, thank you for helping me get to work on time.

…. I need you to give me some wisdom on how to talk to my friend about her marriage. What should I say?

…. that conversation I just had with my daughter didn’t go so well, what did I do wrong? How can I make it better?

…. my long-distance family is going through something right now, I can’t be there, but you are.. can you protect them and provide?

…. my husband has a doctors appointment and I’m really concerned.. here’s what worries me….

For me, this is where real intimacy happens for both my marriage and in my relationship with God - through the mundane aspects of my life that I take the time - throughout my day - to stop and communicate.

Yes, if 30 minutes in the morning is the only time God hears from us, I think He probably does hate morning prayer…

… but He loves having an ongoing conversation.

Walking through Kroo Bay, I was completely surprised by the number of children hanging around. It was the middle of the day and hundreds of children roamed around, most with baskets or bowls of items on their heads for sell. Those that weren’t selling were too young and just roamed around, seemingly unattended by any adult. I had never understood child labor until I saw it in Sierra Leone first-hand. The shear number of children, as young as 6, selling things to make money for their families was unsettling.  Most of these children were war-orphans who have settled in Kroo Bay with adults who took them in – in a lot of cases, the reason for taking them in was to put them to work to help provide for the household.

In what seemed like the very heart of Kroo Bay is another part of the trash-filled river with a bridge walkway to cross. It is upon this river, filled with trash & pigs, that the brightest beam of hope in Kroo Bay sits - the Sandra Hairston Literacy Center. As we began to cross the bridge the sounds of children singing could be heard coming from a small building sitting right at the water’s edge.  It was one of the most surreal moments of my life. Crossing this bridge in the heart of poverty and squalor the likes of which I’d never before experienced, only to hear the sweetest sound of a chorus of African children’s voices singing praises to God. I’ll never forget the feeling of hope and true awe that I felt at that moment.

We stepped off of the walkway back onto the muddy ground and made our way onto the small porch area of the school. Awaiting us on the porch were several of the Kroo Bay council members, dressed in formal African attire, beautiful robes and hats and the school’s headmaster. The porch was divided into two sections with one whole side sectioned off by a piece of cloth to make an additional classroom.

The building that houses the school is very small, in whole about the size of our family’s two-car garage. The inside was divided into four separate classrooms based on the ages of the students with two classrooms operating on the front and back covered porch areas of the building. In all, about 200 students attend the Literacy school.
That morning, as we had loaded up the jeeps to travel to Kroo Bay, Joan had handed me a handwritten paper by the school’s headmaster, intended to give me the background of the school.

I can find no better words than those he wrote, I will re-type it for you here:

Documentary Sandra Hairston Literacy Center, Kroo Bay, Freetown, Short History, Present Status and Its Impact

Sandra Hairston Literacy Center is located within the Kroo Bay community. Kroo Bay is one of the well-known slums within the Freetown Municipality with little or no infrastructural development such as pipeborne water, educational facilities, electricity, improved housing system, road network and a general poor surrounding. The general outlook of the slum is tantamount to a village setting. Poverty of the people is a matter of great concern.

Kroo Bay holds approximately ten thousand residents mostly muslims that hailed from different parts of Sierra Lone. The Kroo ethnic group of Sierra Leone were the first to settle or inhabit and as fishermen, built sheds to continue their fishing activities. Later, other ethnic groups joined in, more so during the rebel incursion with little or no hopes of returning to their places of origin.

Sandra School was established in 2006 with twenty-six registered kids under the supervision of Madam Rogers, the voluntary teacher then. The establishment of the school can be traced far back following the Joshua International Ministries’ Campaigns to train children in the gospel as commanded by God in Proverbs 22:6. During this era, the desire was expressed to introduce a non-formal school system for the less fortunate kids residing in the slum. The school became Sandra Hairston Literacy Center for the Underprivileged Children – children whose parents do not have the opportunity to send them to the normal school system. Majority of these kids do not live with their biological parents and engaged in some form of child labour. No government aid is directed towards the education of the acclaimed children.

As an integral part of Joshua International Ministries, Sandra School is based on Christian principals, providing both educational and spiritual reliefs. An hours Bible teachings followed by basic building blocks of learning to read and write including numerical skills form the basis of the programme. These skills are interwoven that children can do to build a formidable foundation upon which future learning will be well meaning. Although still grappling with the problem of accommodation, therefore shifting from one place to another, Sandra School is fast gaining popularity.

Over the years, the school has incurred remarkable improvement. The population of children and teachers have increased – over two hundred children and six teaching staff. The school functions on a daily basis like any school in the country between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. with the normal school syllabus considered.

It is shared concern that education in a slum like Kroo Bay is often a strange phenomenon and therefore cannot succeed because the people are poor and not enlightened. However, the school is confirming this beyond all reasonable doubt that the school will stand firm to help the children acquire their God-given rights (education) to better their lives and to know God. It is therefore interesting to note that the school is progressing and therefore make lee-way in the slum. The school has become to be viewed as a golden opportunity by those in the slum as a golden opportunity they can seize to make progress, a situation others still view as negative and pulled back.
Sandra School is free for all in the slum and the burden of the expenditure rests squarely on management, ranging from the acquisition of space, furniture, stationary to the payment of the staff year round. The children now realize this gesture and in appreciation always recite their thank you with opened hearts and joy for all God has done. For His divine direction and protection. “We embrace and say, Thank You, Jesus, thank you Miss Sandra and thank you Auntie Joan.”  Since its inception, the school has made notable impact in the lives of the children – a situation the parents admire by their visit to the school to appreciate by simply thank you to me and the teachers. The impacts of Sandra School in Kroo Bay are:
1.    Free Education. A lot of children who did not attend school before now find themselves in school. The burden of schooling which prevented most of these parents from sending their children to school has been removed.
2.    Joy & Hope. The school has given the parents joy, hope and confidence to see their children go to school like other children do in the normal school system. They are confident that their children will be well educated.
3.    Awareness & Change of Bad Attitudes. Before the establishment of the school, the children had it that the best life to live was fighting, gambling and abusing each other everyday. The school witnessed this behavior when initially opened. The school has molded their characters by prayers and constant watch.
4.    Material Benefit (Shoes). The children and the parents are grateful to the president for their receipt of shoes before the school closed for the vacation. A lot of these kids who had no foot wears now have them.
5.    Good Health Habits. Washing hands before and after food can be observed during school hours. The soap supplied to the school is used for this purpose.
6.    Motivation to Be in School. With constant work done both class and homework and making sure the teachers see and mark (attendance) always motivate the kids to come to school. The only obstacle to this is heavy rains.
7.    The Longing to Worship God. Singing, prayers and recitation of scriptures are becoming habits. Singing praise and worship songs have replaced the children’s own community songs that do not praise God. The recitation of scriptures help them t know God’s word and improve their English Skills (poetry).
8.    The Cultures of Obedience, Love for Each Other and Honesty. The children now developed the cultures of honesty, obedience and love for each other. This is seen through the joy of learning together in class, reporting missing pencils and books to teachers and complaining offenders and ready to wait for an authority’s decision.
9.    Respect for Each Other and Authority. The children show respect for each other and authority. This was not possible because the children could do or behave to people rudely. The school has taught them the benefit of respecting others – you can be respected in turn and this can allow your stay with others.
10.    Exposure. The children are exposed to out door programmes like match pass and conference. By meeting with different people, they make new friends and realize that they are not the only children in Sierra Leone. Also, the children realize that there are other good things to see and do rather tan ‘bondo dance’ and ‘bubu dance’
In future, Sandra School is seen as a great school with structures put in place, such as better housing and improved salary structures, a lot of graduates will be attracted to the school and the children will be well motivated. In the space of two years to come, the first batch of pupils will be exposed to the National Primary School Examination (N.P.S.E) to get to Junior Secondary School.
The parents are clinged on this hope. The school should be registered with the Ministry of Education in the country to ensure confidence in the parents and the community as a whole.
Children’s Stories:
Focoh Banqura
I am Focoh Banqura in Class 4. I am 14 years old. Before coming to Sandra School, I attended the FAWE School where, due to school fees was driven from school. We used to pay a fee of twenty-five thousand Leones ($0.83 U.S.), which my mother could not afford. I used to sell cold water and mosquito coil for my mother to make a living. My father no longer lives with my mother and life is difficult for us.
Hajaratu Kamara
My name is Hajaratu Kamara in Class 4. I am 12 years old. I attended at a certain school at Kissi, the East-end of Freetown. Our house at Kissi was burnt down and later we transferred to Kroo Bay to live with my Grandmother. I longed to attend FAWE but no money to pay school fees. I used to sell cold water and foofoo to make a living. With Sandra School, the worry of fees is banished. I now love God and attend Bible School every Saturday.

Fatmata Banqura:
I am Fatmata Banqura aged 12. I am in Class 4. I used to attend at an Islamic Primary School in Kono, Eastern Sierra Leone. After the death of my father, my mother and I transferred or moved to Freetown where I attended FAWE. However, because of school fee of twenty-five thousand Leones ($0.83 U.S.), I was asked out from school and then later I registered with Sandra School. I now have the joy of not paying school fees and my mother too is happy about the school. I find the school interesting everyday.

Faithfully Submitted,
F.M. Lamin
Head Teacher

As we approached the school building, many of the words from Mr. Lamin’s letter rang in my head, most especially the words of the children themselves.

Transformed by the journey,

Pam Parish

Read my journey from the beginning:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4 - Part 1

Day 4 - Part 2

Day 5 - Part 1

I must first admit that Day 5 has been the day that I’ve dreaded writing about from the beginning. Not because anything extremely terrible happened to me personally on this particular Wednesday in Sierra Leone; but rather because something terrible is happening everyday to the people that I encountered this day. I’ve never felt so powerless or heartbroken in my entire life as I did on this Wednesday whose images will sadden me the rest of my life. Never have I witnessed such great, great sadness accompanied by such shining examples of hopefulness and perseverance. The wide range of emotions, sights, sounds and smells have not left me and I’m still not sure, as I write, how I will be able to articulate it all in this meager blog entry. All trepidation aside, here I go…

The morning dawned as all others – early! As we all gathered for our morning devotions, I remember thinking that I would probably never be the same after today. After worship, Craig led our devotions with an admonition to allow God to shape us and not to put him in a box. Looking back on this now, I can see how that would hold true for me over the coming hours. As my experience unfolded in the next few hours I was left with no other recourse than to take God out of my carefully constructed American box and see Him for who He is - a God of hope in the midst of sorrow, a God of comfort in the midst of pain and a God who is faithful even when all hope seems lost.

After breakfast, we loaded up into the vehicles, our documentary team riding separately from the rest of the team who were headed back into Grafton for another day at the Medical Clinic & Children’s outreach. Our team loaded into the back of a military jeep and began our journey through Freetown toward Kroo Bay, the poorest slum area in all of Sierra Leone.

The Kroo Bay community is home to approximately 10,000 people – men, women and children living in small shanties or huts made of corroded zinc, corrugated sheet, cardboard or tarps salvaged from the local town dump, Burmi, which sits adjacent to Kroo Bay. This overcrowded, pig-infested slum area borders the ocean and was originally settled by the Kroo ethnic group, fishermen, building sheds to live in as they fished along the ocean. The community has little-to-no infrastructure such as pipe-borne water, education, available medical, a road network or improved housing.

The population of Kroo Bay swelled rapidly during the civil war as rural Sierra Leoneans fled their homes to escape the brutality and terror of the war. Arriving in Freetown, without jobs, money or relatives to take them in, they settled in Kroo Bay. The rapid overcrowding of the area combined with it’s location near the ocean would combine to create one of our world’s poorest communities and most dangerous living environments. The land that Kroo Bay sits on is a natural flood zone for the rising waters of the ocean as well as the water draining from Freetown’s mountainous area during heavy rains – a recipe for heartbreak and disaster for it’s 10,000+ residents. Each year thousands of people are left without homes, children die and education ceases as heavy rains bring flooding to Kroo Bay. Less than two months prior to our visit, heavy rains destroyed a large portion of Kroo Bay and washed away two of its children in their torrents.

As our jeep drove through the crowded streets of Freetown toward Kroo Bay, I couldn’t help but to notice how the state of poverty seemed to become progressively worse. The closer we came to Kroo Bay the more densely populated the streets seemed; men, women and children gathered in small make-shift homes/storefronts eating their morning meals and watching us pass with curious stares.

The rain water that washes down from Freetown into the Kroo Bay area not only floods the area, it also brings with it tons and tons of trash. Without an adequate sewage system or infrastructure, the residents of Kroo Bay are left to use the trash-filled water to drink, bathe, wash clothes, dispose of dead animals, serve as a toilet and much more. Throughout this day, I would witness each and every one of these taking place in this disease infested water. In addition to its human population, Kroo Bay is also home to hundreds and hundreds of pigs who also use the water for food, toilet, and more.

We arrived on a very crowded street that cut its way through hundreds upon hundreds of tin roofed shanties. I had heard the phrase “shanty town” before, and if I’d ever thought that I had seen one before, I was very wrong. As I stepped out of the jeep I saw tin roofs as far as my eye could see and knew, at once, that we’d arrived in the heart of Kroo Bay. The street was filled with people selling their wares, a shanty town marketplace. We were greeted by a man that I would later learn was a member of the Kroo Bay council; he led us off the street to a narrow passage way through the shanties.

As we began to navigate the mud paths, I looked around to see children running through the mud, many of them in only underwear or completely naked, most of them without shoes. Women, young girls walking with trays of dirty laundry, food, items for sale and other items on their head  - many of them without shoes as well.

The alleyways we were navigating were barely wide enough for one person so we formed a single-file line making our way through Kroo Bay to Joan’s school, Sandra Hairston Literacy Center. We arrived at a wooden platform that is built up over the mud streets and winds its way through the shanties toward the river much like a sidewalk, and wide enough for one person. We were continuously turning to walk sideways so that others could pass in the opposite direction.

One of the first things I experienced as we entered Kroo Bay was the smell; and, I soon discovered its source - due to the lack of basic sewage infrastructure, the ‘mud’ covering Kroo Bay is a mixture of wet dirt and raw sewage, an unpleasant odor that penetrates deep into your senses.  The smell was far more disturbing than just the discomfort I experienced in my senses; my entire being experienced heartache at the realization that while this was merely momentary in my life, it was daily in the precious people’s lives that surrounded me.

I can honestly say that for the first time in my life, I understood what it means for your soul to grieve; the very core of my being was shaken in a way that I’ve never experienced before. No one should live in conditions like this; I simply couldn’t wrap my brain around the idea of not just 1, not just 2, but 10,000+ men, women and children call this place home. As I walked through Kroo Bay on this day and met the people, had the humbling experience of being invited into their homes and became the benefeciary of too many children’s smiles to count, I was overwhelmed with gratitude to God for having allowed me to be here… finding hope in misery and happiness amid poverty like I had never before witnessed. The tears I shed as I write this are, even now, fresh with heart-break and hope.

Thank you, my readers, for bearing with me as I find the words to tell you the story of this incredible day, more to come in Part 2….

Transformed by the journey,

Pam Parish

Read my journey from the beginning:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4 - Part 1

Day 4 - Part 2

I recently returned from a trip to Sierra Leone where, for the first time in my life, I came face to face with true poverty. My experience in Sierra Leone changed me forever; in ways that I may not fully know this side of eternity. One major way that my experience changed me was by teaching me that the tragedies happening around the globe that I read about in newspapers or see on television are happening to real people - just like me. To see their faces up close, to touch their hands and to be the beneficiary of their smiles was a humbling experience.

After returning from Sierra Leone, I had the privilege of beginning a new project for our church’s upcoming Christmas Gift to the World offering. This year we had decided to focus on the issue of modern day slavery and child sexual exploitation in our city, Atlanta. This was one of those problems that I had heard about, but hadn’t really sat down to research for myself. As I sat at the table with Not for Sale, Innocence Atlanta, Wellspring Living and several of our Pastoral team, I was completely blown away by the reality of the situation. Being so fresh from Sierra Leone, the problem hit me really hard because I was walking in a fresh realization that these are real people effected by this tragedy.

The statistics are staggering - 27 million people globally are held in some form of bondage; 14,000 - 17,500 people per year are trafficked into the United States which builds up a statistic of 200,000 to 400,000 people enslaved in the U.S. at any given time, 80% of those are women / 50% are children - many are girls ages 14 -18, over 250 children each month are trafficked in the metro Atlanta area.

We must do something. Watch the video below and visit the Victory World Church website if you’d like to help.

Check out the rest of my thankfulness journey here.

#29: Vendors who not only provide a service but are a true extension of the team. Our team just received a beautiful holiday wreath made of real greenery which smells wonderful and looks fantastic. The beautiful gift was courtesy of our printer Accent Graphics. Over the years of working with them, Roy and his team have never failed to deliver what we needed, when we needed it, no matter how late we ask for it (I’m serious). Roy, thank you very much for the kind gift and for always going above and beyond for VWC. We love and appreciate you and your entire team tremendously.

Appreciating Great Relationships!
~Pam