"never leave me again"

these have been Kadences words for years, but now they are true!!! she has been approved for a visa..... we just have a couple more documents to gather and then visa will be put in her passport!!!! and we will be all coming back to NH together!

Tenative date is mid November.

We so look forward to visiting friends and family! Thankyou for your support and encouragement through the years.

Sincerely, Lorie

more pix

Fresh Fish

Family Preaching upline, Dad and DJ, Mom and Kadence

Aberdeen Beach, Fishermen pulling in net, others mending nets and boat.

Lakka Beach, this beach is a few minutes walk from our house. We enjoy swimming and relaxing. Also makes for great morning walks. The villagers are getting used to seeing us and recognize us as Jehovah's Witnesses.

Today while riding bikes with the kids I stopped to visit with some women cooking near the edge of a side road. We had a good conversation and they asked if they could study..... it was arranged for them to come to our place on Weds. afternoon.

One of the women has a great deal of bible knowledge, she has studied in Freetown in the past. She is excited to be able to resume her study.

Another study started recently told me of her experience. She started studying years ago while living with her father in Freetown, her parents were divorced, father remarried. Her parents are Muslim and did not want her to become Christian. Her father forbid her to go to Sunday meetings and deprived her of food. She stopped going on Sunday but continued to attend the Thursday night meetings. She would visit her mom after the meeting and eat with her. Her stepmother found out and told the father, when she arrived home he beat her badly, she had to leave the home. She went to Liberia, war started and she had a hard time moving from village to village. She got married and had two children, her husband was not good to her and beat her, she had to leave him and went to Guinea until the war settled. She had heard that both her parents were killed during the war, she made her way back to Freetown, mostly by foot. When she finally arrived she learned that her mom was still alive! She was so Happy. She remarried a nice young man and they now have a small daughter. She was so excited when Jehovah's Witnesses called on her. She had wanted to study again but had not had contact in years. She started attending meetings right away, however after her second Sunday meeting she has gotten severe opposition from her husbands family and her husbands church. She is trying to be patient and to show that she will continue to be a good wife and mother while serving Jehovah and going to meetings. Her husband is really nice and we have had some really good conversations, he wants to work things out peacably with his family. He has agreed that she can go to Tuesday night Meetings but asks that she wait a bit before attending Sunday. This Tuesday she came and greatly enjoyed the meeting and visiting with the friends.

Main road in Lumley, suburb of Freetown. Flash flooding of the road two weeks ago. Rainy season is over, but Sept and Oct are known for fast rains. It is very much like turning on a faucet, one minute heavy,heavy rain, the next minute gone, sky bright blue and clear again..... it is so amazing!

Dexter and Kingdom Hall Cleaning

Cockerill Kingdom Hall, Freetown Sierra Leone
All the chairs in the Kingdom Hall are removed for a complete washing off of the dust.

This is Little Dexter, this is a picture of the first time he let anyone touch him...... he was with us nearly two months before he would trust us. The first people that had him would have eaten him but he was too small, they didn't take care of him and he got really sick and had sores. A friend of ours rescued him and brought him to us to help, after vet visits and good care he really is a New Monkey! He is doing great now! When I came across this picture the other day it brought back such memories of how scared he was, amazing how a little love and care can make such a big difference.

Cockerill Kingdom Hall everything must be dusted.... washed down

Library, still needing some books......

This is one of the new, in city limits, Kingdom Halls, it is the biggest one in Freetown.

Two congregations share the facility. They use a generator most of the time when light is needed, as Freetown is still without electricity most of the time, as is most of the country.

There is no glass or screen on the windows, no actual windows, there are cement breeze blocks.

some pix from the past

Making the most of bumpy african roads....roller coaster anyone!?

this is where the pavement ends..........................

walking to meeting upline (bush country)

I thoroughly enjoyed the 4 1/2 hour occada (motorcycle) ride upline. Behind me are typical market stalls for selling fruits and vegetables alongside the road, protect seller and market from rain in rainy season and sun in dry season.

Remote village children, don't want to miss out on the good news! Often time the children are the only ones in the family who can read, schools are still needed in rural areas. Many send their children to live with relatives or friends inside the city limits to go to school. Schools are not free, they have to pay and also buy uniforms and books and paper, pencils etc. It is not easy. Along the roads upline we often see signs that say "send your girl Pekin (child) to school" many still are not accustomed to sending girls to school, however more and more are and it is truly a blessing when we meet small ones who can read and carry the message back to their family.

Summer Time????

Tigo, Dexter's friend.

Lyam found a seedling, we have planted it in our yard. The tree in the background is what it will grow into.....in due time.

Lazy Days of Summer........the island in the background has a nice little guesthouse and restaurant..... high tide it is an island, low tide we easily walk to it.

Recently on a morning walk a woman approached me on the beach, she was a return visit who wanted to study, but I have not been able to find her home. She asked me to come to the restaurant/guesthouse, anytime, to study as that is where she is working now. The week before in service we had a really good conversation with the chef and manager of the hotel, so conducting a study while she is working will be no problem. She is a hardworking single mom with three small children.

Kadence took this picture, caught Shelby "creature from the black lagoon" coming to disturb mom...... yep didn't get very far in my book..... :) it's all good!

Bike Wash......... anyone?

My seasons are getting all mixed up again........ rainy season is ending, and the sun is shinning more and more each day. I am thinking this is June.... not September.....

The swimming pool is up and running again, it had been closed alot during rainy season. The little ones are working on their dives.

I am still working on the same novel as before rainy season..... thats ok, I finally finished the one I started 2 years ago.... I love reading..... but just don't have much time for novels. I enjoy watching the sights here in Amazing Salone and the kids..... time flies they just grow and change too quickly. I don't even want to blink.....

Dexter "the monkey" has a visitor. Tigo, is a little girl, although bigger than Dexter. She is less than a year old, and was rescued by a family in our congregation when she was very very small. They brought her to visit Dexter last month for the day, they got along great. So three weeks ago they brought her for an extended visit, it has been a success, they get along wonderfully. Monkeys are social animals and both Tigo and Dexter were missing their "families" but it is not possible for them to go back to the wild. Eventhough they are different species of monkey they get along fine. They have even started "talking" this week. It is so neat! (just so no one worries, we have a great vet that makes housecalls and has vaccinated all our pets, and visiting pets)

Jehovah is so wonderful, his marvelous creations continue to awe us.

Take Care, Swift Family

special assembly day Freetown

ASL area, nearly flooded

Hello Friends and Family,

We had a very eventful Special Assembly Day in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

It rained, "betta betta one"!

The brother giving the discourse never missed a beat, he kept on marvelously, even though the open air stadium had such heavy rain and strong winds. Their were various brothers holding umbrellas but the rains came sideways as well.

During the baptism talk brothers worked to build a tarp house/shelter around the speaker who was wearing a bright pink rain parka, part way through the talk the audio speakers were filled with water, the talk was suspended for some time while the speakers were drained and covered.

The friends were patient waiting for the talk to resume. Many of the friends were huddled at the top of the stadium cement seating area, huddled together under umbrellas. Many of the friends cannot afford umbrellas though and so got soaked. The joy and smiles abounded though at lunchtime and fellowship was so encouraging!

If you get a chance to look in the Proclaimers Book page 433 has mention of Sierra Leone and Brother Brown, it is amazing the growth in this country. Brother Brown came with his family so many years ago, to Wilburforce, the same territory we first moved into here :)

Take Care, Swifts

photos

heavy heavy rains, special assembly day, brothers built rain shelter for speaker in the rain

sorry this turned, boots for the rain water, this sister was interviewed for special assembly day, needed the boots to walk through the water to the stage

Hunter learning to ride bike, gets lots of help from neigborhood kids :)

special assembly day, Freetown, Sierra Leone

new bible study, with her 4 week old baby, first meeting.

Had her first study saturday, came to meeting sunday and raised her hand three times to answer. We contacted her a Saturday before and she said she used to study the Live Forever Book and attend meetings in the city years ago, but had not been in contact with witnesses since she moved to this remote village. She was so happy to start again. Her husband and three friends joined the study and want to continue also.

Welcome

Hello Family and Friends,

Shelby and I just returned from her Senior trip to London, Yes Shelby's graduating! my how time flies.

We had a wonderful trip. A major highlight was the convention at Twickenham Stadium, with an attendance of 26, 109 on Sunday! It brought tears to our eyes when they announced the "love and greetings from the 19 publishers in Sussex, Sierra Leone, West Africa Congregation" It brought more tears when the love from the 26,109 was announced and received back here in Sierra Leone last Tuesday. It is so hard for the friends in our little african bush congregation to imagine such a large crowd sending their love, it touched their hearts deeply.

More special news, Shelby and I came home to Sierra Leone just in time to head upline, into bush country, for an assembly program. It was a marvelous program with 186 in attendance. A smaller crowd, but the same love and appreciation. This day was extremely special because it has been 13 years since they have held an assembly in Makeni. Dennis had two parts and if I may say so was wonderful! his Krio is amazing and his talks were so encouraging.

Tuesday was also a big day, Kadence gave her first talk!

And today, Sunday, Hunter became an unbaptized publisher!

What a busy week!

While in London we met many friends from London and other parts of the world :)

I would like to take the time to welcome you to our blog and the following will be an introductry post. I'll will try to make it short, but I really don't think that is too likely :)

We are the Swift Family,

Dennis and Lorie

We have 3 daughters, Shelby, Lorelle and Kadence (adopted, Sierra Leone),

and 3 sons Lyam (adopted, Vietnam), Hunter (adopted, Guatemala) and DJ (adopted, Sierra Leone)

We are currently serving where the need is great in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

Our family moved here in 2007. This blog keeps all previous posts, so if you want to take the time to read more history you are welcome to. Happy time travels :)

We started this blog because internet connection is not always good and well it can also be lonely here at times. I try to post at least once a month. We don't have electricity, hope to get it again.... but for now there isn't any, the transformer that serves the 16 homes that get electricity in our village has burnt out...... there are thousands of people here in our village who never have had electricity, and don't use generator either. We use a generator at night from about 7 to midnight. Most of the country of Sierra Leone is out of electricity, including the capital of Freetown. Sierra Leone is a 3rd world country with infrastructure that is trying to come up. If an area does get electricity it is not 24 hour, it is usually rotated on a 3, 6, or 12 hour rotation with other areas of the city or outlying villages. Some rotate every third night or so....

We thoroughly enjoy the field ministry here and have too many bible studies. When we first came to Sierra Leone we were living in a subburb part of the city, but still city..... we recently moved to a small newly formed congregation on the penninsula, with beautiful beaches in our territory. It is much quieter here out of the city, we have two dogs, one cat and a monkey.

We didn't plan to have a monkey, but he was caught and going to be eaten, but then got sick, the people who had him misstreated him and some friends in our congregation rescued him and brought him to us to see if we could save him. He is doing very well. (there are previous posts on Dexter the monkey).

I don't want to write a whole book of boring facts.... if you have any questions you are welcome to ask in the "comments" section of the blog and I will gladly answer them. If I don't answer right away don't worry, internet here can be sketchy at times. We are even amazed we get it at all. Sometimes we can read emails, but can't send, not sure why..... but we do keep trying and cherish the contacts we receive!

Take care, Lorie

photos

Here are some photos to go with the new "summer time" post below, enjoy!

We think of you often, sorry can't get on line as much as we would like, internet is slow and sparatic, but we are so thankfull for the contact,
Take Care, Lorie

Yes, someone taller than Dad!

The four little ones, not so little anymore!

Dexter enjoying being out of his cage, he is doing really good.

Pioneer School, what a priveledge for Dennis and I to go a second time and with Shelby!

Pioneer School Class

check out the boots for the reader for meeting, yes rainy season is here

happy, happy service group CO week, Lyam in background in green raincoat, Dennis up on hill in center, hard to see....

DJ......... helping dad build dog pen, this month has had a lot of woodworking, Dad and the kids made screen doors too

village water was shut off for four days, but with rainy season, no shortage of water for washing, boys enjoying a shower outside

Hunter riding bike with Daniel

summer time

Amazing Color

Beautiful Creation

Lyam and Denys

Trying out a village swing, out in service.

Kids Family Photo

Hello Friends and Family,

We are doing well, settled in and having a wonderful summer full of activity.

The CO visit just ended, the congregation was very entusiastic eventhough it is rainy season.

We have 21 publishers, 2 of which are away right now, yet we had 31 in field service on Wednesday! Lots of young soon to be publishers in the congregation. It is fun for the kids to have so many children to be with.

The rains have gotten heavy now, we planted a garden and did some yard work, the place is really looking nice. There are so many little birds, butterflies and other insects. Some are so beautiful! There are two little tiny red birds that come around, they are leary though so I haven't gotten a picture yet......

We invited two young brothers from Kissy Congregation to spend a couple weeks of their summer vacation with us. They had a wonderful time, it was especially fun for Lyam and Hunter to have two "big brothers" to give them bike rides. Even in the pouring summer rains! Lots of mud, they had lots and lots of fun.


Preaching last week, Hunter and I approached a porch with a student studying, a fisherman mending a net and another older gentleman standing. When we approached Hunter said he wanted to talk................... as we aproached the man standing asked what we were there for, Hunter said "Preaching" the man said "What can a small boy teach me?" , I thought Hunter might back down as the man was a bit overbearing, but Hunter didn't back down. He introduced himself, greeted the man and proceeded to say "let me show you John 17:3, he than proceeded to read it to the man and explain what Knowledge was, learning, and that two things were needed to get to the everlasting life, Knowledge of God and Knowledge of Jesus. He was able to continue to share points from scriptures with him and during the conversation another man came from inside the house, he listened too and said he had attended meetings in the past in the city congregation and enjoyed reading the Watchtower and Awake magazines.

May Jah be with you and guide you,

Lorie

Getting Settled

New home front 1/2 view. The place is big and spacious, with lots of windows for breeze. It is so quiet that we can sometimes here the waves crashing at the sea.

Our new home side view from backyard garden.

Street where the kids play soccer right outside our gate.

Poda poda, minibus, loaded with friends from Sussex congregation heading back to Sussex after assembly. Experience in last post.

Little girl in the middle comes to meetings on her own, her experience is in the last post. How she walked to friends home for assembly, etc. Little girl with the hat is her neighbor that she brought to meeting with her.

Hello Friends and Family,

We are now in our new home! And we have electricity from 7 pm to 7 am. Hopefully it will continue. Water is available all the time! The Guma Water Reservoir is just over the mountain from us, therefore we are one of the first villages supplied with water, before even the city of Freetown. The water is good and clean too. We still boil it for cooking and continue to brush our teeth with bottled water and drink bottled water. But bathing and washing laundry etc is so much easier now. We even have an outdoor flush toilet and high pressure shower, great for when we come back from the beach and have sand. No more tracking sand into the house. The house has running water and plumbing to 3 full baths and 1 half bath. We also have a full size kitchen with double sinks, something rare here in Sierra Leone.

We still do our cooking outside on a coal pot. Electricity is not there during the day and our little generator cannot run the cook stove. The coal pot is more economical anyways. We also continue to do laundry by hand, we do it outside now instead of in the tub in the house. It is much easier and actually refreshing. You don't mind getting wet doing laundry when it is over 95 degrees outside. The little ones like helping, they push the laundry up and down in the sudsy water in giant bowls, like a gently cycle washing machine. Rainy season is here now so it isn't very easy to get the clothes dry, we often have clothes partially dry laying around the house to finish drying at night with the fans on. So far so good.

The kids are all excited to be in our new home. It has a great big flat yard and plenty of space to run and play. We are kitty corner to a school for kids grades 1 to 4. At recess time the kids go outside to play soccer with some of the school kids that knock on our gate and ask them to join in playing right in the dirt road in front of our house. Yes, the kids play in the street, it is a very rural African village dirt road, a few motorcycles pass in the daytime, but thats about it other than foot traffic. It is so nice and peaceful. The kids are really enjoying country living. They also like the new house, the set up is better than our last one. Lyam has his own room, DJ and Hunter share. Shelby has her own room, Lorelle and Kadence share.

Kadi and Jessica did not move with us. We miss them lots. Kadi was too used to city life and didn't want to go back to village life.

The village we live in has approximately 600 people, it has three schools so lots of the population here are children, some are sent from more rural villages to live with relatives here so they can attend school. We are the only Jehovah's Witnesses in the village. Saturday preaching was wonderful. We will probably be needing to do group studies soon.

Last week Shelby had a wonderful call on a woman and her family. She wanted to attend Sunday meeting, but there was a death in the family and she had to go to the funeral on Sunday. However she asked if her 10 year old son could come with us to the meeting. He met us Sunday morning and came to meeting. She plans to come next Sunday.

Our new little congregation has 21 publishers now, of that 21, 7 are pioneers and 2 are missionaries. It is a great little congregation. We have been averaging 54 on Sunday.

One of the new publishers is a young man about 18 years old, he was thrown out of his home, by his father, when he started to study the bible. He has found a place to live in the neighboring village and has been studying for about 10 months now. He conducts 3 bible studies, 2 of which attend Sunday meetings.

Pioneer school was amazing, it was such a refreshing and upbuilding two weeks of intensive study! One of the sisters that attended was a missionary single sister who started pioneering in 1968. This was her 3rd time attending pioneer school, plus she has gone to Gilead. What a spiritual gem! This was the second time for Dennis and I, what a true priveledge, it was so amazing. I know I already said amazing, .....but it just was! The encouragement to not be anxious and to rely on Jehovah was so wonderful.

h