Perspire and Inspire

It's crunch time.  It is the last few weeks before I take a second 'stab' at the 26.2 miles that wind their way through the beautiful city of London.  Yes, the London Marathon is in 24 days-19 hours and 14 min.  My runs are long these days. The workouts-intense. I find myself in a constant pool of sweat-gross I know, but at this time of year it is also the hottest and most humid. To get me through the long runs and painful strength training sessions-I have been thinking about what inspires me.  I talked a lot about inspiration last year during my training and the race-but I have some new thoughts that are 'running' through my head as I run and work out-here are some of the things and people that are inspiring me through this crunch time:

• Our staff.  We are finishing our first quarter of activities in our projects-and it hasn't been easy!  But they keep on keeping on-it really is a miracle that we get things done considering all the obstacles-very inspiring!

Taya, Nancy, me and Mercy-The WASH staff (them not really me!)always working hard to bring clean water to our beneficiaries.

• This little girl in the picture below-I can't remember her name (sorry!)-but she is from Pallakwelleh a village we have done kids Bible school and she was part of it.  I don't see her that often because during the day she works on her family farm...hello, inspiring!

Special prayer time with a special guest!

• CMP/HOPE pastors-because I am running to raise funds for this program-I have had the opportunity to see first hand how these pastors and community leaders are caring for their communities.  One person can make a huge difference - sounds cliche-but trust me I have seen first hand the truth in this statement!

• Kids running club:  I know this is a little random but they do inspire me!! They have been working hard to learn how to pace and finish with a kick.  The other week I challenged them to do the 1.6 mile big loop of ELWA between 13:30-14:30.  Anyone who runs knows that to run a specific time is hard to do-but they did the lap in 14:40! So close-and I must admit I was really surprised I didn't think they would even come close to the window of time I had allotted...I know, I know-me of little faith in  my little runners!  Disclaimer: Mother about to brag about  son.  Felix finished 4th on that lap-what you have to understand is that Felix never finishes a lap-he takes the short cut half way around or doesn't go at all-and that's ok I don't want to force him to do a lap (which then leads to a hatred of running) but he doesn't get a Popsicle at the end ( terrible mom!)...However, on this day-I don't know what clicked-as I saw the kids coming I saw Taylor, Nicole and Reed-and there-could my eyes be deceiving me?  Was Felix-he ran his little heart out!  After crossing the finish line he grabbed his side and started to cry-I was so proud of him-in pain he still pushed to the finish-and he got a Popsicle.  Inspiring...

•  I am constantly inspired by God's creation.  Maybe it's because I grew up in some of the most beautiful places in the world-the Yukon and the mountains of British Columbia-but I love nature.  Being able to run beside the ocean inspires me-the power of the waves makes me feel stronger in some weird way.  Maybe it's that the Maker of the ocean-also made me-and even loves me.  If that doesn't get your inspirational juices flowing I am not sure what does or will!

My 'track'-amazing...

• I am inspired by every woman out there-that also finds their sanity in running-being able to get a run in between dinners, laundry, working, and just the constant mom 'stuff' is not easy! 

• I am inspired by the women of Liberia-no one, NO ONE works harder! Getting water in the morning, starting a fire, getting kids ready for school or a day on the farm, working until dark...some going to classes late into the night...

• David (the young boy mentioned in the last blog) who is getting better a little bit each day.  I am hoping to see him next week.

• God's Word has always has inspired me-recently someone shared with me a special verse: "I run the path of your commands, for You have set my heart free"- Psalm 119:32.  When I run I do feel free-I don't feel bound by anything-this verse has made me think of the greatest command-Loving God and your neighbour-when you follow this command your heart IS free to love and serve. 

• I am continually inspired by the people who support me in why I run.  I think of the Pecknold family- I have known for a loooonngggg time :). All the people who have come on a team or visited us- to see and be part of the work we are doing here.  And of course family and friends -who have to listen to me talk about running. all. the. time.

This is not a complete list of course-but these are the inspirational little thoughts that are getting me through a long run or just getting my butt out the door to run!  The Marathon is now 24 days 18 hours and 24 min away. Time to get inspired and get out there and RUN!

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Knowing when to stop...

We have all seen those terrible videos or watched it on the news-someone is being robbed, beat up or is laying in the street hurt-and people are walking by, not stopping or willing to help.  When I watch it on the news I am in disbelief-shocked-and angry...I find myself yelling at the T.V. "What would happen if that was YOU! And people were walking by YOU! How would you feel!"  There are other words I throw in there-but you get my point...But then there are other situations when it is not as clear if you should stop and help someone.  I have heard in some places that thieves will pretend to be hurt on the side of the road and when someone stops to help them a gang of thieves jumps out and attacks/robs the very person that was going to help them!  What a messed up place we live in...

Here in Liberia-we face these situations a lot.  You see a person lying on the side of a busy road, people and cars passing by as if they are not even there.  Should I stop?  Maybe they are just drunk and passed out?  Maybe they are homeless and just sleeping?  Maybe...I try and justify why I shouldn't stop instead of asking for wisdom and discernment from God and then acting on it.  Many of our staff have stopped and helped many people-and on most occasions the people are grateful and thankful that we are true to our name -Samaritan's Purse.

For those of you who are not familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan-I encourage you to read it-it can be found in Luke 10:25-37.  A fellow SP staff member, who has studied this passage, shared with us last fall some new insights into this story that have helped me better understand "when to stop".  For example; The Samaritan man that stopped took a risk in stopping to help-there were thieves in the area and he was travelling on a dangerous passage of road.  The Samaritan got down and got dirty-cleaning the man's wounds and then lifting him onto his donkey.  He wasn't scared that the man might have a disease or that he was from another tribe or an 'untouchable' he got down and cared for him. The Good Samaritan committed to taking care of the injured man.  He took him to an inn-made sure the inn keeper understood that the injured man needed care and then left money to cover the costs-he even returned to pay any additional costs that the inn-keeper might have incurred.

The roads that we stop on...

(Photo: Joni Byker)

Earlier this year I told you the sad story of baby Eveleen who died.  We made the decision to stop and help this little baby, but that doesn't always mean that a person will survive.  Alisa took a risk, got down and got dirty and committed to help this little life-but sometimes that doesn't guarantee that a person will live or not be hurt.  Recenlty, we have been faced with another decision 'should we stop or not'...once again Alisa has brought to our attention a little boy of 12 suffering with seizures, his mother has abandon him, no one to get him to a hospital for treatment.  When Alisa picked him up to bring him to the Foya hospital he weighed 17kg...that is 35lbs...12 years old. 

I was talking to Alisa on the phone about this situation, how God had provided funds to help him through some friends, how it just happened that Alisa was in the village and saw this little boy and now here we were and I asked her "Alisa are we ready to commit to this boy?"  Without hesitation we both agreed that yes, we need to commit and follow through for this little boy.

I could give you numerous other examples of how our staff 'knew when to stop', take a risk, get down and dirty with the suffering, and commit to help in whatever way we could.  There is our CMP staff helping protect a spring for a community, CMP staff helping a family whose house burnt down, recently our Foya staff helped a community who were victims of a fire; or stopping to help a woman who was walking to a clinic-suffering through the pains of pre-mature labour.  The list goes on and on.  Knowing when to stop, taking a risk regardless the situation, getting down and get dirty no matter who it is or what they are suffering from and then commiting to make sure they are not forgotten. That is what our SP staff are doing everyday.

Following through on our commitments...

(photo: Joni Byker)

Knowing when to stop-my hope and prayer is that I, you and everyone would have the love and wisdom to just stop and help.  That we wouldn't, like I do sometimes, try and justify why we shouldn't stop.  Take a risk, get down and get dirty and commit-you never know when it will be you, laying on the road hurt or on the side of the road with a broken down car, hoping and praying that someone would just stop and help (remember we live in a country with no road side service and no 911!).

During my long 20 mile run this past weekend I was faced with "knowing when to stop" in a very different way.  Around mile 17.5 I had some pain on the top of my right foot-the more I ran and walked the more my pain went from a 6/10 to a 7/10 and was increasing.  I was grateful for Kim (SP Staff) who was running those last couple of laps with me who encouraged me to stop and ice my foot.  As I hobbled to the porch of the SP staff house Joni also encouraged me to stop and ice my foot before I did real damage and wouldn't be able to run the marathon.  I did not want to stop.  I wanted to push through the last 1.5 miles and finish the 20 miles that was on my training schedule.  However, I heeded the advice and wisdom of my friends and stopped, iced and rested.  I am so glad I did! Knowing when to stop-whether it is to help someone or to help you from doing further damage is something that I don't do enough-and from watching the news-it's something that this world doesn't do enough!

I am so thankful that I am surrounded by friends and SP staff that DO know when to stop-they are making a huge difference in this country and the lives of everyone they come into contact with.  Including their marathon running co-worker!

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Learning from the past...

Many of us sit around with friends and family telling fun stories about our past.  Or sometimes we talk about tough times in our past and how we got through it-as I get older I find saying "what I have learned over time..."  Really, what I am saying is (I am getting old!) I have learned so much from my past- the tough times, the failures and the successes all of these have impacted who I am today.  But there are times when the past can trap us, make us feel like we can't move forward. Failures from the past can paralyze us in moving forward and stepping out in faith.  Learning from the past and letting the past control us are two very different attitudes.  One liberates us to move forward the other imprisons us in a fear of the future.

The last few weeks my boys, Isaac and Felix finished and presented their very first 'research report'.  Since I was allowed to help them pick their topic and since I LOVE history (history major in Univ.)  I gave them a couple of books on WWII to look through to find something to write on.  Felix picked Pearl Harbour and Isaac to my surprise, picked Adolf Hitler...(I have read Mein Kampf scholarship history Gr.12!).  As I helped them through their reports I was reminded on how the past can impact us.  Even though both Germany and Japan were defeated and suffered great loss under harsh leaders, both of these countries learned from their past and have recovered-moved on and have become strong nations.

Liberia, during the war suffered under poor leadership; leadership that exploited Liberians, full of corruption and sent this beautiful country into years of pain, war, suffering and sent it down to the depths of the human development index-to be rated as one of the poorest and least developed countries in the World. 

A reminder of the destruction of the war

Bullet casings from the war were a common sight when we first arrived in 2005

With the end of the war-the long road of recovery commenced.  I remember when I first arrived in Liberia-hearing our staff talking about how they are 'tired' of fighting-that they had 'learned' from the past and they did not want to go back.  I am very grateful that this attitude has remained constant wherever we go to do projects.  The participants in our HOPE/CMP program have learned from their past and are using those lessons to move forward.  Yes, their communities experienced terrible things in the past 20 years-but they are moving forward. 

They have all learned the war is not the answer.  They have not let the past imprison them into doing nothing. They have not let the atrocities of the past fester into bitterness and revenge.  They have learned that revenge and bitterness was part of Liberia's  past-and they don't want to repeat it. Ever. Again.  Instead they are learning what it means to be a caring citizen of their community, how to help the vulnerable, how to Biblically love each person-no matter who they are or what they have done. How to prevent hunger, oppression and greed from sending Liberia back into war.  This could be some of the most important training that we do.  No matter what happens, the same God that got them through the darkest days of the war-will see them through the challenges of their bright future.

Learning from the past and moving forward: Our CMP/HOPE participants.

I am fighting my past right now in my training. After my first marathon in Dec. 2008, I suffered with an ITB injury that kept me from running for close to 4 months.  In London last year-many of you know that I was struck with a very painful hip injury.  As I head into the heaviest month of training I find myself frozen in fear from past injuries and failures (not breaking a 2 hour half marathon).  The things I have learned from the past races have made me train smarter, stretch more and know when to rest.  However, at times I have let the fears of injury or failure overpower the fact that I finished every race I have entered! I learned that God's strength will get me through.  Him in me-And that made me stronger-that made me confident that no matter what happens the same God that got me through the tough painful moments of running is the same God that will see me through my tough training month-and ultimately 26.2 miles through the streets of London on April 22nd.

Learn from your past-and move forward in confidence-this is what I see happening in our projects here in Liberia.  This is what I am learning from our CMP/HOPE leaders-they inspire me move forward in freedom and anticipation of the future of this country!

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Decisions-from ME to WE..

Decisions have to be made...everyday.  Back in the day when I was ripp'n around on my dirt bike the only decisions I had to make was what trail to take or when I should ask Dad for some more gas for my bike!  But as we get older we are faced with more decision's-what school do I go to? What job should I take?  Should I really date that guy/girl?  Should I save this money or spend it?  Short hair or long hair?  Ok, the last one isn't life changing-but it could be!

Making decisions are not always easy-but usually when we make them we are making them for ourselves.  What should I do in this situation or how will this impact ME?  I think if we are honest with ourselves we rarely make a decision based on others-maybe based on our families-but rarely on other people that are not related to us.  Recently, as I sat in on a CMP/HOPE training-I listened to our awesome facilitator, Cedric, teaching local pastors on how to best help their communities.  They were talking about farming-and the work that goes with it-Cedric asked "why don't we work at our farm to help others?" One of the pastors replied "Because we are lazy!"  I had to snicker a little at his honest and yet sad answer!  How many of us could say the same thing?  Yes, I could replace the toilet roll for the next person-but I am too lazy -so they can do it!  (A point of tension in the Kauffeldt household...:).  After we all had a little chuckle, Cedric continued to teach-empowering these pastors with knowledge on not only how to make a good decision for others but why we want to make good decisions for our communities-to be the hands and feet of Jesus!

These pastors along with community leaders, will decide how best to address their communities water issues or how best to use unused land for agriculture.  They will hopefully make decisions based on what is best for their community not what is best for them as an individual.  The process evolves from "What should I do for me?"  to "What should WE do for all of US?"  I love how as the training goes on the mindset of the trainees starts to shift-taking their eyes of themselves and looking at their communities needs instead.

Facilitator Exekiel-teaching some local pastors and community leaders

Listening closely...

Our Executive Director of SP UK, Simon Barrington, has been visiting us recently-and I got to take him up to Foya where he could see first hand the CMP projects that we are doing. We got to see the cassava farm mentioned last week, latrines and a new protected spring that a community is working on. He also was in this training and had an opportunity to greet and encourage the pastors in the work that they are doing.

Simon greeting and encouraging our group

It has been great having Simon here-his wife and daughter came to Liberia in 2008, and the last time Simon was here was in 2005 (we think:).  So a lot has changed at our office and in Liberia.  The SPUK office has been a vital support to our office-assisting in many of our WASH projects, CLP/literacy and now with our CMP program.  We love the SPUK office, not just because they bring us cadbury's chocolate and treats, but for all the work they do on our behalf (like organizing me being in the marathon!) so we can continue our work here in Liberia.

Last summer I was faced with a decision when I was asked to run the London marathon again.  It took me all of a few seconds and thoughts of why I run to say-"Yes".  Every training day I have to decide whether to run or not-trust me some days this is a painful decision.  Last year in a blog entry I talked about the '3 D's' of exercise-determination, diet and discipline.  I would add to that list decision-in fact I would make it the first 'D'.  Because before anything you have to decide whether or not to start exercising, then you can be determined, and watch your diet and be discipline to put the work in.  The first step is the decision. 

For me, the decision was easy-because it wasn't about me or for me-it was for others. For the amazing people I get to meet, hug, shake hands with and talk with everyday.  When we look past ourselves-it's amazing how much easier making decisions can be.  This is what the CMP program is about-making a decision to move a community from ME to WE!

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Building Up...

When you train for a race, especially a marathon, you don't start your first training day with a 14 mile run.  No, you start with a 2-3 mile run, 3 times a week-and begin to build up your mileage.  I started my training in January and have been building up my mileage every week-this week I have had a 4, 5 and 8 mile run and will cap the week off with a weekend long run of 10miles.  Building up mileage works all the way up to a long run of 22 miles a few weeks before the marathon. Building up in training helps me gain strength, not get injured and gain confidence that I can eventually run 26.2 miles!

I was reminded of this "building up" strategy last week when I was up seeing some of our projects.  Many of us have experienced some set-backs, some of these set-backs have been devastating and some-well, maybe they just de-railed us for a short time.  But we all had to re-build-and I am certain that all of us had help.  It is very difficult to build yourself or something back up if you don't have people or a faith to help you.  I am sure all of us can think of specific friends or family that helped us build up or re-build our lives after a set-back.

Now imagine a whole country, society, people-who have had a HUGE set-back.  Welcome to Liberia.  Many sources say that the war was so devastating to Liberia it set it back over 50 years...this doesn't even cover the personal set-backs of loss, pain and emotional scaring that may never be fully measured.  But, Liberia is building back up-one small step at a time-just like training for a marathon!

I see the projects that we are doing as part of the building up of this nation.  Our community/church mobilization program (or HOPE) is a perfect example of this.  We don't jump in with a lot of "stuff" and demands-instead we build up the community and church leaders so that they can be the catalyst for re-building.  Here are some examples:

Anyone who has travelled on the bad roads here -especially in Foya-can appreciate this first example.  On the way to Foya Teinga-one of our CMP training communities, the road is horrific...the hills are steep and laden with rocks jutting out and deep ravines that have been cut by run-off during the heavy rainy season.  It takes about 80 min to go 30km...There is one specific hill that EVERYONE knows about-it was the worst of the worst to drive on.  After conducting our community envisioning training the community decided to take matters into their own hands (literally) and fix the hill...they dug out drainage side ditches, they filled in the pot holes, they cut into the side of the road to make it wider...they built up this road to be better-all by hand.  As a result another NGO saw their commitment and helped them actually cement the worst section so that it was easier to travel on. 

I wish I had a before picture!  But more importantly here is the AFTER picture of this section of road.

Now, in the middle of this jungle road to Foya Teinga there is a small strip of 'paved' road on this hill to help truck and motorbikes travel to markets and clinics.  The people of Foya Tienga are in the business of building up there community!

The CMP project also has done community training in sustainable agriculture.  Some churches just outside of Foya got together and were able to purchase a small piece of land to begin growing cassava.  Cassava is a staple here just as much as rice is.  The leaves can be eaten-and of course the root can be prepared many different ways for food consumption.  Right now on the CMP farm, the cassava is just tiny!  But it is building up and soon (after the rains come) it will be ready for harvesting.  The church community can then use it to sell or for food for many of the vulnerable in there community.

Tiny little cassava pushing its way through the dry soil...

Projects like these are building up the people of Liberia.  I hope you noticed throughout these stories a couple of things: 1) We just didn't give them a cement truck or paving equipment and do the paving ourselves or a bunch of freshly harvested cassava-all we did was provide a little training on what assets the community had and how they could be used and the community did the rest.  2) Building up takes time!  I am very proud of our CMP staff for taking time to build up each community and see the fruits of their labour!

Just as a little follow-up and keeping with the building up theme-many of you may remember the story about when we were travelling and came across a house burning down.  Well, I was so happy to see (as we were returning from Foya Tienga) the progress the community has made on re-building:

Building up the walls!

This house is in a CMP community so we have been able to follow -up on its progress.  It was so great to see the community together building bricks to help build up this house again.  I am glad SP was able to assist-as we will help with the roofing when the walls are done. 

Building up something that has been broken takes time and commitment.  You can't just rush into it-there is no 'quick fix' and you have to commit to it.  There are so many similarities to our work in our projects and to marathon training-it really amazes me when I think about it! You make sure you get good information before training, you start to train slowly, you have a team helping you and slowly-step by step you build up to your goal.  For many Liberians that goal is-to build up their family, their community and this nation.  What a building project to be a part of!

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Teams and Toes...

I am sure as you read the title of this blog you are thinking "teams and toes?"  Huh?  Well, on my nice long 9 our drive down from Foya yesterday I had A LOT of time to think (dangerous) and as I thought about what I wanted to post this week-the importance of a team-a certain story from lesson from the Bible came to my mind...just stay with me here and trust me on this!

There is a passage in the Bible (1 Corinthians 12:14-21) that talks about the body and how each part of the body is needed to make the whole. You can't be just one big arm-how would you eat? How would you hear?  How would you live without a heart or brain? This is where the 'toes' from my title comes in...the toes can't say to the eyes-"We don't need you"-if it does and the eyes say "ok fine!"  The toes won't be be able to see where they are going and soon be lost or in pain after a  good stubbing!

This principle is the same for us here in our projects.  WASH can't say "Literacy-we don't need you!"  How will the WASH beneficiaries know how to read their hygiene lesson?  Our projects need logistics and HR to help keep our supplies moving and the hiring our staff.  Finance keeps on track-on being good stewards with what we have been given-trust me we have no choice but to work together as a team here!  Recently, we had two guests from our SPUK office come-and they said it best-every SP projects work together with one another-there is no sharp stop and start-everything flows together working as one.

Gordon and Roger from our SPUK office visiting a CMP Cassava farm-with the CMP TEAM!

Taya (red shirt) and WASH TEAM introducing Gordon and Roger to the community.

Gordon and Roger play a vital role in our SP body.  They oversee many volunteers in the UK -mobilizing them to assist with shoe boxes and in some cases projects.  We need Gordon and Roger to tell people in the UK what they have seen here in Liberia so that people can understand our projects better and then become a member of the SP team.

But there are more parts to our team...actual TEAMS!  As many of you know (and some have been a part of) we have teams that come and bless us in many different ways.  Part of my job is over seeing the hosting and planning of teams who come and visit.  This past month we had a team from Salmon Arm, B.C. come out.  4 guys, Casey, Matthew, Murray and Richard came and for 10 days helped build a new school.  Without them, the school would not be ready for next year.  Not only that, they were such an encouragement to our staff-it is such a blessing for us to have people come and teach new skills or just spend time with our staff and beneficiaries.  This team played a role in the bigger picture of what SP is doing here-they too are needed by the bigger SP Liberia body!

Team helping with laying bricks for the school



Playing team sports my whole life - I have been familiar with the team concept.  However, working with SP in projects here in Liberia made me realize how important and dependant I am on our team-that includes you by the way! In my training-even if I run alone I have a team behind me.  Someone watching my boys, making sure I am getting my fluids-or the staff that are implementing the projects that I am running for.  We all need a team to do what we do-so don't be a stubborn toe who thinks the body doesn't need eyes-you will just end up lost and sore!!

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Sad News...

Today as I sat in a meeting-Eleanor pasted me a small post-it with a message: 

"  Did you know that little baby Eveleen in K&K died.  Sad."

Devastated, sad, mad, frustrated, shocked...I felt all of these things-even more so after talking to Alisa on the phone right after my meeting. It was my hope that Alisa would tell me that she was just sick...As soon as I called her and she answered I asked her, "Is it true?" She replied with a sigh "Yes."

Alisa had told me that last week she was a little bit sick but that the family had gotten some medicine from the hospital.  What she was sick with she did not know.  She had seen her and she was eating still and seemed to be doing fine-so the news of her passing was a shock to Alisa.  Maybe her little immune system was so weak she couldn't fight whatever was making her sick...I don't know.  All I know is it that this is the reality of life for many and after all of these years here I still struggle with this reality.

Like I said in last week's blog I don't share these stories to make you feel guilty-all of you know that these types of stories are the reality of the world we live in.  But let me stress something to you-this is why we are here.  No we were not able to save little Eveleen's life-trust me I wish I could of-even Alisa stated -she wished she could have done more.  However, the work that we do in health, in community development, in WASH, in Literacy, in child protection-all of our projects work towards preventing things like this happening.  Often on this blog you hear the stories where projects HAVE prevented sickness, oppression and hopelessness-but there are also these stories. 

I am sad.  I know that where little Eveleen is - is a much better place-but that does not make me feel better right now.  That is my reality.  I feel that my run today will take on a deeper meaning than just putting the miles needed for training.  Once again I am reminded on why I run. To help prevent losing another little "Eveleen" again.

" Let the children come to me. For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these..." Mark 10:14

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