Leone Team Return

Dear Friends and Family,

 

First, thank you all for sharing your loved ones with the children and staff of the CRC.  I know that they have all been blessed by the experience.

 

They have begun their long trek home now and will be arriving tomorrow.  I wanted to share some information for their arrival for those who may be meeting them at the airport.  Attached are the different itineraries for their return home.  I have labeled them according to their final destinations.  Please remember that they will have to clear customs and immigration after landing which can take 45 minutes or longer.  For Albert, he will go through customs and immigration in Dallas before changing planes to Tulsa.

 

Virginia Families:

We have three team members from the Richmond area who left a vehicle at Galilee UMC.  We need to take them and their luggage back to collect their vehicle and send them on their way (another two hours after the long plane ride).  If you can help transporting them to Galilee once the team has arrived, please let me know ASAP so I can plan accordingly.

 

Thank you all and a blessed homecoming,

Linda

Update from Sierra Leone

Hello to All from Bo!

 

I'm sorry that this final update will need to be brief: the electricity is quite sporadic this evening (Wednesday) so our Internet connectivity is going off and on.

 

It's been another wonderful week on all counts (though we can tell that fatigue is catching us with us a bit).  The classes continued with each teacher sharing victories and joys as the children "connected" with different areas of the curricula.

 

Many, many songs sung, prayers prayed and smiles shared--we are so blessed and we bless our Lord to have been a part of this.

 

The skys opened up today and we finally got a full sense of "the rainy season"--clean, incessant rains making the dense vegetation in the surrounding area all the more green and gleaming (and muddy).

 

On Thursday evening we will have the send-off celebration with the traditional agenda of talent contributions from the children, comments from the staff, awards from the team and many prayers, hugs and tears.

 

Please continue to pray for the team as we depart very early Friday morning; we hope to enjoy stopping at a couple notable sites in Freetown before taking the ferry across to the airport--we will be taking buses, boats and planes for over 36 hours (separating into two groups in London) to get back home to our family and friends on Saturday afternoon in Virginia and Texas (and beyond, for Albert).

 

I know you are looking forward to having your loved ones back home--they are returning with pictures, stories, full hearts--and a lot of dirty laundry :)

 

Thank you for your support; you can all be proud of this team as, by God's grace, we have navigated through the most critical events this ministry has faced in its 10 year history.  I also know I speak for the entire team in having been honored to interact with and be ministered to by Bishop John Yambasu as he closed the evening Vespers prayer meeting on Tuesday.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Derek Reinhard

UMVIM CRC Team Co-Leader

 

Re: Leone Team Update

Fantastic! Thanks so much for forwarding the Leone news!

And by the way- what about those girls who want to learn guitar??
--
Kate Plummer
President, Katydid, Inc.
703-481-9444 business line
703-402-1311 cell
703-481-5657 fax

---- Linda Reinhard <lreinhard@florisumc.org> wrote:
> Dear All,
>
>
>
> Below is an update received from Derek this afternoon. I am also
> copying in the team members of the Sierra Team that they may share in
> the carry over from their own great work.
>
>
>
> Blessings,
>
> Linda
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Dear Family and Friends of the Leone UMVIM Team and the Child Rescue
> Centre,
>
>
>
> It's incredible that it's been a week; before any more time flies by, I
> wanted to write an update to you all.
>
>
>
> First, the entire team is healthy and happy--our days are filled with
> time spent with the children and the staff, serving one another and
> making friends. In the evening team gathering, there is a devotion and
> a sometimes tearful, always laughter-filled time of each member sharing
> where they saw Christ in their day.
>
>
>
> To me, since I'm not teaching a class and can roam around, the day looks
> like herding cats; with T Butz and Carolyn Prillaman working crafts and
> storytelling for the younger set of children, and the other teachers
> rotating subjects with the middle and older youth, the CRC is a
> controlled buzz in the morning and a happy cacophony in the afternoon
> elective sessions.
>
>
>
> Up until today (Friday, July 31st) the children rotated between the
> various locations on the CRC facility, but with the coming of a rainy
> morning and the Great Hall being used for a local seminar for the CRC
> Foster Program, the children stayed in place and the teachers rotated.
> Heather Flor has been ubiquitous as she not only teaches her own English
> class, but is ever on the move to assist the success of each of the
> other classes.
>
>
>
> Erin Bennet and Jim Summersgill are working magic in the primary English
> block as they bring their contagious enthusiasm for the language arts to
> children who need to learn this second language in order to succeed
> academically.
>
>
>
> Jim is then doing double duty working behind the scenes in the computer
> lab to manage the equipment while John Petrosky and (our other
> ubiquitous helper, and photographer) Albert Johnson work with the
> children on basic computer skills.
>
>
>
> Matt Summersgill, with his youth and guitar skills has been a
> round-the-clock hit with the teenage boys. Besides working with Steve
> Dement to do basic math skills, Matt is carrying on guitar lessons begun
> by the first team, as well as helping to lead the entire UMVIM team in
> our contribution at the "Talent Show" the children put on for us last
> night (Thursday).
>
>
>
> Along with doing primary math with Jason Harris and geography and
> personal finance with Michael Bradstreet, Carol Bronick visited a parcel
> of land on the other side of the city with me which, we hope, will
> become a farm for the CRC--I could tell she was in her element as she
> and Amidu (one of the longest standing employees of the CRC) walked the
> land and took soil samples for her to test back at our base of
> operations, the Missionary Training Center (MTC).
>
>
>
> Both Jason and Michael have brought a high level of humor to the trip,
> both for the team and for the children
>
>
>
> All this activity is being undergirded quietly by Julie Spyres who is
> sharing her professional passion for coaching and life leadership skills
> through three different class sessions teaching the Stephen Covey "7
> Habits of Highly Effective People" material to the CRC staff, the
> secondary school students and the Mercy Hospital senior staff. Not a
> day goes by when both Julie and a staff member independently come to me
> to excitedly describe a powerful lesson/application they learned/saw.
>
>
>
> We will see more of this as the Partnership adopted the 7 Habits model
> to bring a common thread of independent and interdependent living to the
> way the Partnership conducts business, all future UMVIM teams reinforce
> with the staff and children, as well as how the staff at the CRC and
> Mercy Hospital live out this common mission we have before God with
> these children.
>
>
>
> Well, I can hear the next wave of rain starting up--that may it slow
> down but probably not put a damper on this afternoon's soccer match.
>
>
>
> I know I can speak for the entire team when I say we are grateful for
> your covering prayers and support. I also know that, for many, it is a
> sacrifice to have your loved ones so far away from home for so long; it
> is not only the team members who are working hard in their discipleship
> to be in mission. Thank you.
>
>
>
> I will try to keep the team in regular contact via telephone or email.
> I'll send out another update in the middle of next week.
>
>
>
> Blessings,
>
>
>
> Derek Reinhard
>
> Co-Leader, United Methodist Volunteers in Mission
>
> UMVIM "Leone Team"
>
> Bo, Sierra Leone
>
>
>

Leone Team Update

Dear All,

 

Below is an update received from Derek this afternoon.  I am also copying in the team members of the Sierra Team that they may share in the carry over from their own great work.

 

Blessings,

Linda

 

 

 

Dear Family and Friends of the Leone UMVIM Team and the Child Rescue Centre,

 

It's incredible that it's been a week; before any more time flies by, I wanted to write an update to you all.

 

First, the entire team is healthy and happy--our days are filled with time spent with the children and the staff, serving one another and making friends.  In the evening team gathering, there is a devotion and a sometimes tearful, always laughter-filled time of each member sharing where they saw Christ in their day.

 

To me, since I'm not teaching a class and can roam around, the day looks like herding cats; with T Butz and Carolyn Prillaman working crafts and storytelling for the younger set of children, and the other teachers rotating subjects with the middle and older youth, the CRC is a controlled buzz in the morning and a happy cacophony in the afternoon elective sessions.

 

Up until today (Friday, July 31st) the children rotated between the various locations on the CRC facility, but with the coming of a rainy morning and the Great Hall being used for a local seminar for the CRC Foster Program, the children stayed in place and the teachers rotated.  Heather Flor has been ubiquitous as she not only teaches her own English class, but is ever on the move to assist the success of each of the other classes.

 

Erin Bennet and Jim Summersgill are working magic in the primary English block as they bring their contagious enthusiasm for the language arts to children who need to learn this second language in order to succeed academically.

 

Jim is then doing double duty working behind the scenes in the computer lab to manage the equipment while John Petrosky and (our other ubiquitous helper, and photographer) Albert Johnson work with the children on basic computer skills.

 

Matt Summersgill, with his youth and guitar skills has been a round-the-clock hit with the teenage boys.  Besides working with Steve Dement to do basic math skills, Matt is carrying on guitar lessons begun by the first team, as well as helping to lead the entire UMVIM team in our contribution at the "Talent Show" the children put on for us last night (Thursday).

 

Along with doing primary math with Jason Harris and geography and personal finance with Michael Bradstreet, Carol Bronick visited a parcel of land on the other side of the city with me which, we hope, will become a farm for the CRC--I could tell she was in her element as she and Amidu (one of the longest standing employees of the CRC) walked the land and took soil samples for her to test back at our base of operations, the Missionary Training Center (MTC).

 

Both Jason and Michael have brought a high level of humor to the trip, both for the team and for the children

 

All this activity is being undergirded quietly by Julie Spyres who is sharing her professional passion for coaching and life leadership skills through three different class sessions teaching the Stephen Covey "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" material to the CRC staff, the secondary school students and the Mercy Hospital senior staff.  Not a day goes by when both Julie and a staff member independently come to me to excitedly describe a powerful lesson/application they learned/saw.

 

We will see more of this as the Partnership adopted the 7 Habits model to bring a common thread of independent and interdependent living to the way the Partnership conducts business, all future UMVIM teams reinforce with the staff and children, as well as how the staff at the CRC and Mercy Hospital live out this common mission we have before God with these children.

 

Well, I can hear the next wave of rain starting up--that may it slow down but probably not put a damper on this afternoon's soccer match.

 

I know I can speak for the entire team when I say we are grateful for your covering prayers and support.  I also know that, for many, it is a sacrifice to have your loved ones so far away from home for so long; it is not only the team members who are working hard in their discipleship to be in mission.  Thank you.

 

I will try to keep the team in regular contact via telephone or email.  I'll send out another update in the middle of next week.

 

Blessings,

 

Derek Reinhard

Co-Leader, United Methodist Volunteers in Mission

UMVIM "Leone Team"

Bo, Sierra Leone

 

Leone Team Updates

Dear All,

 

I was able to get a little information from the Leone Team yesterday.  The phones were not working well, so it was difficult to get detail, however everyone is fine and excited to begin teaching today.  They all attended church yesterday and had a wonderful time.  It was Thanksgiving Sunday in the Sierra Leone church and service was very joyful.  The team has settled in to the Missionary Training Centre well and spent some time preparing their lessons for the week.

Thank you all again for sharing your loved ones with the children.

 

Linda Reinhard

CRC Partnership Administrator

703-793-0026

 

RE: Leone Team Updates

Dear Friends and Family,

 

I spoke with Derek this evening and the team has arrived in Freetown.  Their flight was delayed in London about 1 1/2 hours so they were late getting in.  They were met by the UMVIM Host, Mr Senesie who helped to gather them all together and get them to the hotel.  All of their luggage arrived except for one team piece, and all are well and in good spirits.  They will be leaving early tomorrow morning to travel to BO and the CRC.  We will be getting another update on Sunday when the team has settled in.

They thank you for your prayers and ask for continued prayers as they begin their time with the staff and children.

 

Blessings,

Linda Reinhard

CRC Partnership Administrator

703-793-0026

 

Leone Team Updates

Friends and Family of the Leone Team,

 

The Leone UMVIM Team has arrived safely at London Heathrow Airport. They had a layover for several hours before they boarded the next plane for Freetown, Sierra Leone.

 

Thank you for your support and for the sacrifices that you have made that have permitted your loved ones to participate in this mission trip to the Child Rescue Centre.

 

Anna Rediger

CRC Partnership Intern