Robertsport Reward

I don’t know if any of you are fans of the reality television show Survivor. Our oceanside destination for the weekend (which I eluded to in Power of a Name) reminded me of the reward venues for some of the challenges I have seen in the couple seasons I have watched.

Robertsport, Liberia, was once a destination resort location. It is sad to see the bombed and burned out shells of buildings that I can imagine were once the West African equivalent of five-star accommodations. But some enterprising individuals have endeavored to rebuild from the ashes. It was so relaxing to spend a couple days on the beach and swim to our heart’s content in the warmest ocean waters I have ever been in, with the wave action great for body boarding – no I didn’t, but many of the younger ones in the group did – without fear of a strong rip tide. Our living quarters were tents built up on wooden deck/platforms and the one Laura and I stayed in had three beautiful wood framed queen size beds, with comfortable mattresses, dressed in lovely quilts; a refrigerator, lamps, and fan running on a generator. The bath house had several western toilets, and sinks and showers. Water for the showers was pumped from a well into a large holding container on top of a tower stand outside the bath house. (It was a rudimentary, rural American town, water tower of 60 years ago) Trouble with it was, after most all the overnight guests got their post-ocean-swim-remove-the-salt-and-sand-showers, there was just no more water left when Laura and one of the other women were all lathered up but hadn’t rinsed. So we had literal running water – me running down the hill to the management to tell them the problem, they running up the hill with 10 gallon containers of water, and filling two buckets with a couple gallons each so that I could run them in to Laura and Louisa, and they could finish.

Our evening meal was cooked on location and was fresh catch lobster or fish, with hot and spicy sauce typical of West Africa, and rice. Yummy! After dark, we had a bonfire and had brought with us the makings for s’mores. It provided a great opportunity to visit and get to know more intimately some of our Africa Mercy crew members. Breakfast included scrambled eggs, toast, bacon and sausage as well as juice.

We walked up and down the beach, searched for shells, and just spent time in quiet contemplation. It rained a few times, but it didn’t dampen our pleasure in getting this relaxing break from the routine of life and work on board ship.

Jesus said, "Come off by yourselves; let's take a break and get a little rest." For there was constant coming and going. Mark 6:31 The Message

"Do you think you can explain the mystery of God? Do you think you can diagram God Almighty? God is far higher than you can imagine, far deeper than you can comprehend, Stretching farther than earth's horizons, far wider than the endless ocean." Job 11:7 The Message