We were without power for over 36 hours, from early Monday morning till late last night (Tuesday). Apparently someone had been using heavy-duty equipment that was too much for the normal system, and overloaded the grid. Rolling power outages are normal here in Liberia, but this was beyond the normal. My computer was almost totally out of charge, and my phone was down to 50%, so I was trying to conserve it as much as possible. Hence this post is a catch-up of the last few days, and general impressions of this country.
Liberia is hot! In fact all the West African countries are considerably hotter than the East African countries. Access to a fan, whilst not absolutely essential, is highly desirable. The problem is, electric fans require electricity (duh!) and as mentioned above rolling power outages – often six to eight hours at a time – are the norm. The convent where I stayed last week had generators, and so claimed that they had 24/7 power, but a few times power went off and there was nobody around who knew how to actually work the generators, so we sweated through the outage. This week I am staying at Pastor Mac’s home, and the room they have given me is great – it has windows on two sides, which gives a great air flow, and if I leave the door open it is even better. Also, it seems to be a little bit cooler here than in the city.
For some reason Liberia doesn’t feel like Africa. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. There are still the multiple African languages, although most people speak English and all my ministry here so far has been done in English. There are still the rough buildings, although the city of Monrovia is quite modern. There is still the traffic chaos. There is still, sadly, the piles of rubbish lining the streets once you get out of the main city area. But somehow it doesn’t feel African.
The food here is spicy, as seems to be the case in most West African countries. Fortunately, I like food that bites back, and Mac’s wife is a very good cook. I particularly like a kind of fish that I have had a couple of times (she told me the name of it, but I have forgotten) – it’s absolutely the most delish fish I have ever tasted. I also love the fried bananas – not the fried banana chips that are available from the roadside sellers (though those are also yummy) but whole fried bananas. Think banana split without the toppings. Major yummo!
Like other West African countries, Liberia has a love affair with ceramic tiles. Almost all floors are tiled (a very sensible option in this climate) – but so are outdoor areas, fences, and I have even seen entire buildings clad with tiles. I’m assuming it is some kind of status symbol.
This week I am ministering every evening at a revival crusade, with the theme The Glory of God. I thought they were going to be outreach meetings, but really it is primarily a conference for the church here. Nonetheless, there was one salvation on Monday night, as well as five recommitments and one healing. Last night there was one healing. God is moving.
Now the power is off again – I assume one of the regular outages – so I need to finish this off while the computer still has power.