Sunday June 30, 2013

We went on a tour this afternoon of the community of "LAMCO" where Paul grew up. Our first stop was area "J".  This area of yekepa is divided into sections that are identified by letters.  The Swedish mining company built an amazing city. You can see the remnants of a once very organized community. It's heartbreaking for Paul to see so much of the community devastated and lost. Jungle has overgrown sections where his friends once lived. Paul has a story for every stretch or area we enter. 

This picture is of Earl and Jane Williams home. Earl was the pastor of Mt. Nimba baptist church.   They had five children -- Susan, Joel, and Timmy were three of Paul's good friends growing up. (LAURA)

(PAUL) Timmy actually went back to Liberia souring the civil war to work with his parents. He tells a funny story about a rebel check point that was set up just 30 yards down the road from their house. At night the young teenage rebel soldiers assigned to man the gate would hide in the bush at the side of the road and yell at people walking up the road to stop and identify themselves, "Halt, advance to be recognized!" Unfortunately the unschooled youths weren't conversant enough in English to understand their own instructions. They thought "advance" meant "speak up." So Timmy said he would lay in bed at night and listen for hours to the following absurd, but frightening exchange, "HALT, advance to be recognized!" As people moved forward the young rebels would scream, "Can't you hear? HALT! Advance to to be recognized!" People would stop, and then cautiously start moving forward only to hear the irate soldiers scream again, "What's wrong with you? I'm going to shoot! I said HALT! Advance to be recognized!"  Timmy said he would lay in bed rolling his eyes as this went on every night.