I know it has been a looooooooong time since you have had an update from us. A lot of that has to do with the idea that if you cannot say anything nice, do not say anything at all.

Julie and I have had our fair share of frustrations and disappointments since we came back to Sierra Leone in February, but we have been encouraged as of late and we are anticipating things here will continue to get better and better for us.

Although Julie just recently got over a ten-day sickness with malaria again, she is doing much, much better now and has been going strong all this week.

We do have some WONDERFUL news! It looks as if after over one year and ten months of not having our own home, Julie and I will finally have our own apartment on SATURDAY! We actually moved some of our things into the apartment today! We are extremely excited about this.

Another thing that we are thankful for is that we are in our third week of Krio lessons. Or rather, wi lan Krio fo tri wiks. Krio or Africanized English came into existence after slavery began to be abolished. Ninety percent of Sierra Leoneans speak Krio (tawk Krio), but very few can read and write it. I, on the other hand, can read and write it (rid en rayt), but I can only speak it a little (A tawk Krio smal smal). Around 85% of Krio is based in English and the remaining 15% is a mixture of other African languages.

We had been hoping for more staff to come to Freetown, and the Lord has answered that prayer. Luke Runyon has been with us for one month. He will be with us for another three months and then decide whether Word Made Flesh Freetown is right for him. Please keep him in your prayers.

In less than three weeks we will be visited by our International Directors Chris and Phileena Heuertz. We are very excited for their arrival and while they are here we will also be hosting a ten-day short-term mission group from California. The team will bring with them our newest WMF staff member Cami Sigler. Please be in prayer for the team and for Cami as they make the transition to being here.

The ministries here continue to go well. The Lighthouse ministry (ministry among street children) has been growing and developing. We are hoping to create more stability in the lives of the boys who live on the street. Our hope is that they can eventually make the transition from street life back into a family atmosphere. We are in the process of trying to raise some funds so that we can purchase lockers for the boys. This will allow the boys to have a place to keep some of their belongings. Currently, the boys cannot even keep an extra set of clothes as if they do, they will get stolen from them. We hope that the lockers will be a small step of more stability in the lives of the boys. If you would like to help out with some of the cost, feel free to e-mail me or go ahead and send a check to WMF with a note that the money is for "Sierra Leone Field–Lighthouse lockers".

Thank you so much for your love and support! We appreciate you so much! Grace and peace to you. Take care and bless God.

Love,

Jared and Julie