"As I went down in the River to Pray..."

All of the many visitors and myself had an amazing weekend in Foria, a village about 70km (correct from previous post) from Kabala. I left late on Saturday morning to make sure I travelled in daylight. I had to convince everyone here that I was capable of riding solo. Well... The road that runs from Kabala to Badela is not so bad, hilly with a few log bridges and long hills. The drive from Badela to Foria would be the envy of many motorcross riders. Fortunately I have no pictures because I was concentrating on the road. It is incredibly beautiful. 12 miles up hills and down with the road going over very rocky places, over streams and on rather dangerous gravelly sections. It was very fun. I think everyone here was amazed that I survived the trip. But I am alive and well, the trip back going far quicker and easier for me than the way there.

The Celebrations in Foria were for the recent start of the Christian Reformed Church in Sierra Leone. They combined a service with the ordination of 2 reverands, 45 baptisms in the stream half a mile a way, and communion for near to 500 people. As things go here, it was a long day. Prior to the service, we were met up at the guest house by the village elders. They welcomed us and praised the work that has been done by CES in the area. They also asked for CES to continue its work there in helping to establish a new water system for the village. Aaron Kortenhoven translated all of the elders' words into English as he knows Kuranko better than many natives of this region, having first come here when he was six. It was very cool to see the respect that CES has established with this and other communities. The Church Service etc that followed was also a very powerful event. Many visitors came from around africa and the US and Canada. It is was pretty amazing to see the long line of people winding its way to where they did the baptisms in a pool of the stream.
Unfortunately, almos immediately after the events had officially concluded we had to make preparations to return, especially for me to return before Dusk on the Honda.