By now most of you have heard of the accident that Thomas and Hauwa were involved in. I will try to post the pictures on the web that they sent us in an email. Thomas is still recovering with a serious jaw injury. This could have been much worse. Thanks God it wasn’t. This brought up unpleasant memories for me. I was driving that suv last November when I almost wrecked it. A taxi came strait at me trying to avoid a pothole. I swerved sharply right and Bill said I missed a pedestrian by about three inches! That’s about how much room I had on the left side also. I was stressed out for quite a while over this near miss.

Our friends in Africa live this way. Here in the states we cannot appreciate what our African friends have to live with on a daily basis. Hauwa said in her report to us that an unqualified fellow (doing his best) was using a cell phone light to sew Thomas up. It was so bad that later it had to be redone. Going over there for short visits gives us a good overview of these issues but within a couple of weeks we get back on the plane. Many of our friends over there are highly educated and have traveled extensively. They know the hand they have been dealt. They remember Liberia before the war. It’s not like some of the village folk who have never known any other way because they haven’t seen it. Recently I have been under conviction because I don’t pray enough for our friends over there.

There is still much human suffering for them to contend with. Is the heart of an African believer different than ours? How do you deal daily, with someone genuinely hungry when your own family doesn’t have enough? When I first started visiting Africa I would come home and it would take me a couple of months to recover emotionally. I finally had to learn to “turn my heart off.” There is only so much you can do and then that’s it. Think if you were surrounded with this. They have my greatest admiration and respect.

Remember our sponsored pastors and those in the ministerial association that Frog and Thomas work with. These men of God walk many miles a week in the bush to spread the gospel and take care of congregations. These are unsung heroes. Only God knows what they really sacrifice for His plan. The last time I was there we went to a meeting in Bong Mines with several of them and I heard that some had walked five hours just to reach there.

We just have a couple of things to wrap up in order to ship the container. We had to make a change on the planer we were buying. This will cost us $1000 more but it will be a fully rebuilt one. The Woodmizer needs spare blades and spare parts. This will also be about $1000. This puts us about $2000 short of shipping. Any contributions would be greatly appreciated.

We have the tractor at my place now. One of the military generators is running great and is producing power. The other has a slight problem. We have countless other stuff to put on the container including about 100 pool covers and 70 or so computers. My wife has collected quite a number of shoes also.

We are in the process of working with Thomas in his transition from Samaritans Purse to his own ministry. He and Hauwa will increasingly be working with us. Part of this will be in partnership with a large church they have worked with for some time in Muslim outreach. I will keep everyone informed as to the details as they develop.

Yours in Christ,

Phil Eckart