Not long into our walk (say a block!) we had some that needed a potty break. So, just a picture of all of us standing around waiting.
Donna's girl, Gracie. Gorgeous as always!
Letting the teens lead us?? Hmm, I jumped in front. Seriously, we had a nice group of teens show up and how cool that we see young people caring about others!
Some walkers taking a break after the long 5 miles. We did not hear ONE complaint all the way there. Awesome.
A few of the teens relaxing after the walk.
Bryan and Ben Kangar probably glad they are done.
Ben is from Liberia. He now lives in the states but knows well what it is like to be educated in Liberia. He spoke for us and did an amazing job! He is currently pastoring a Calvary Chapel church and the church body there is looking forward to what the future holds for supporting Liberia. Ben has been wonderful in helping people "catch the vision". Thanks Ben, for joining us and making the walk successful! Side note* Do you see any resemblance to Bill Cosby here??
Just had to add this picture of Teddy here. Curious George is what I was thinking as I took this picture. He loves his big brother Joe!
Here we are soaking in all that Ben had to say. I can't speak for everybody but I was brought to a new reality of how blessed we were to have an American education. One of the punishments he talked of was that if you showed up late to school you were to put your fingers all together and then the teacher would slap you with something on the tops of them. He also talked about the corruption of having to "buy a grade" or "buy another test". There are so many ways in which Liberia is different than our school systems. One of the great things about theirs is that they have to teach Bible there. I love the fact the children are learning about God's love for them. They are blessed with that freedom still.
Our local public school system donated the school bus to drive everyone back into town. Another great point that Ben brought mention to was that in Liberia the kids don't take a bus, they walk. Thus, the reason for all of us to walk.
another bus shot...
After the walk we opened our home (and firepit) to anyone who just wanted to hang out for awhile. So glad we did as the fellowship among us was a great time.
I am really glad we took this opportunity to reach out in our community and draw attention to Liberia. We know first hand what the children in Liberia (and so many other countries) are enduring because we have been there. I want others to know that if we band together we can and will make a difference for the kids. Even if only on a small scale. If we can touch a handful, how many will that handful touch? I hope one day to take a trip with a person from our community. It could, should and would be life-changing for them.
Through this walk we have 10 children that can attend school for a year!!! That is such great news! I want to thank you all for helping us to reach this goal. Without your help none of these kids could attend. Most have never, ever attended school. It was alot of fun putting this together but the most fun I will have is to see their faces and take their pictures when they get enrolled this year. And to add to that our local Girl Scout club is taking on a school supply fund-raiser so these kids will be ready to go!
If you want to contribute, send a child to school or send supplies for school it is not too late. Please contact me or leave a comment. Can't wait for August!
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