African Stories 1…

A friend from Liberia visited this afternoon with his family. We spoke about life in Nigeria which has been good these past 3 years as he studied at JETS. For 2 of the 3 years his family has been with him and that is such a joy and a blessing. My friend has 4 children: 2 daughters (18 and 12 years old) and 2 sons (15 and 2 months ). As he told me his story I realize why…

Things in Liberia are good now, but a while back there was 15 years of fighting. He told accounts of the family running for their lives. More than once the family was separated in flight for their lives… for a year they didn’t know where his son was. I can’t imagine… then they learned from friends that a family has seen his son running and gathered him into their clan. Another time again for a year or so, my friend didn’t know where his wife was. I’m not sure which parent had the children… I try to relate to these stories, honestly, I can’t. And in my mind I can’t decide which is worse, running for my life with my family or living a year not knowing the fate of a wife or son?

And my friend tells his story so matter-of-factly and praises God so earnestly for being together now.

A sidebar note to this story: I asked whether the children went to school here in Nigeria, which they do. Next I questioned their grade in school. All three (12, 15, and 18 years old) are all in primary school. Why? Because, he went on to explain, during the 15 years of fighting there was no schooling in Liberia. I never thought about that consequence of warring. Not only did many, many die during the fighting, but the better part of a whole generation lost the opportunity of education.

Oh the toll of war…!?!