Update

Hello Friends and Family,

Thankyou for your patience in waiting for an update! We have been extremely busy.

It was heart wrenching to pack and return to the US, we had hoped to stay in Sierra Leone longer and were enjoying our new home and congregation there. However with lifes twists and turns we are back in the US. We plan to return to Sierra Leone in the winter to attend the convention in January 2011.

We still have our rental in Sierra Leone and are happy to know that some friends have been able to visit and stay with the wonderful family that is "caretaking" for the home while we are not able to be there.

The children are all doing very well. We did have some flus and colds our first month or so here in NH, that was to be expected with adjusting to the cold :)

We are enjoying the ministry and have even been able to meet some in a neighboring territory from Sierra Leone, we hope to keep up with our Krio and expand with Krio ministry here in NH.
There are many Sierra Leonians in Manchester and Concord area.

Dexter the Monkey is doing well with his new family, although we miss him very very very much! He is living with his friend Monkey Tigo :) and our dear friends who have many children also so we know he is getting lots of attention :)

We have a new pet, a goldfish named Pudge. One will be enough pets as we hope to be on the go, we will continue homeschooling as to keep our travel and volunteering options open.

Kadence has enjoyed being in the US, it is truly a relief to all of us to all be united and know it is final and permanent. She likes the snow and hot chocolate! Although last week she informed us that winter was toooooo long! She thought it would be about 6 to 8 weeks like rainy season in Sierra Leone, big surprise!

Hope this note finds you well, staying warm if you are in a cold climate and cool if you are in a hot climate :)

Swift Family

"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