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Inspiring Voices - Polly Riddle

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63 pages

English

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In 2011, with the assistance of her family and friends at St. Andrews United Methodist Church and her senior living facility, Anns Choice, author Polly Riddle took a memorable journey in response to a special call from God. The Best to the Guest is her entertaining and inspiring diary of that journey to Liberia. Her first mission trip to Liberia, West Africa, in 2010 was with Compassion Corps, so naturally she asked them to handle her travel and work arrangements for this trip as well. As her mission approached, she particularly looked forward to spending extended time with her dear Liberian friend, Marinda, a school principal. To insure that her trip was successful, Polly prepared a curriculum and gathered supplies to take with her to Liberia. Her call from God was to teach adults to read and enable them to do arithmetic on a second grade level. In addition, she taught the youngsters Sunday school songs, Bible stories, and phonemic awareness using games. Once in Liberia, she was always ready for an adventure, rarely saying no to an invitation, no matter what it was. Whether it was going to the market, exploring the many diverse churches, or visiting a bamboo field, Polly was intrigued by everything she saw and everyone she met in Liberia. Sharing the humor of everyday life, The Best to the Guest tells Pollys entertaining and inspiring three-month story in diary form.

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Lettres et linguistique

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Publié par	Inspiring Voices
Date de parution	09 septembre 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781462409792
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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Extrait

Mama Polly in Liberia
POLLY RIDDLE

Copyright © 2014 Polly Riddle.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Inspiring Voices
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.inspiringvoices.com
1 (866) 697-5313

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4624-0978-5 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4624-0979-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014909004

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 9/9/2014
Contents
Dedication
Preface
Acknowledgments
Preparation: Summer 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Day 1: Tuesday, November 15
Day 2: Wednesday, November 16
Day 3: Thursday, November 17
Day 4: Friday, November 18
Day 5: Saturday, November 19
Sunday, November 20
Day 6: Monday, November 21
Day 7: Tuesday, November 22
Day 8: Wednesday, November 23
Day 9: Thursday, November 24
Day 10: Friday, November 25
Saturday, November 26
Sunday, November 27
Day 11: Monday, November 28
Tuesday, November 29
Day 12: Wednesday, November 30
Day 13: Thursday, December 1
Day 14: Friday, December 2
Day 15: Saturday, December 3
Sunday, December 4
Day 16: Monday, December 5
Day 17: Tuesday, December 6
Day 18: Wednesday, December 7
Day 19: Thursday, December 8
Day 20: Friday, December 9
Saturday, December 10
Sunday, December 11
Day 1: Monday, December 12
Day 2: Tuesday, December 13
Day 3: Wednesday, December 14
Day 4: Thursday, December 15
Day 5: Friday, December 16
Saturday, December 17
Sunday, December 18
Day 6: Monday, December 19
Day 7: Tuesday, December 20
Day 8: Wednesday, December 21
Day 9: Thursday, December 22
Day 10: Friday, December 23
Christmas Eve: Saturday, December 24
Christmas Day: Sunday, December 25
Second Day of Christmas: Monday, December 26
Third Day of Christmas: Tuesday, December 27
Fourth Day of Christmas: Wednesday, December 28
Fifth Day of Christmas: Thursday, December 29
Sixth Day of Christmas: Friday, December 30
Seventh Day of Christmas: Saturday, December 31
New Year’s Day and the Eighth Day of Christmas: January 1, 2012
Ninth Day of Christmas, Day 11 of Teaching: Monday, January 2
Tenth Day of Christmas, Day 12 of Teaching: Tuesday, January 3
Eleventh Day of Christmas, Day 13 of Teaching: Wednesday, January 4
Twelfth Day of Christmas, Day 14 of Class: Thursday, January 5
Respect and Rest Day: Friday, January 6
Day at Leisure: Saturday, January 7
Sunday, January 8
Day 15: Monday, January 9
Day 16: Tuesday, January 10
Day 17: Wednesday, January 11
Day 18: Thursday, January 12
Day 19: Friday, January 13
Market/Downtown: Saturday, January 14
Sunday, January 15
Inauguration Day: Monday, January 16
Day 19: Tuesday, January 17
Day 20: Wednesday, January 18
Thursday, January 19
Friday, January 20
Saturday, January 21
Sunday, January 22
Grief Day: Monday, January 23
Burial:Tuesday, January 24
Day at Leisure:Wednesday, January 25
Farewell Celebration: Thursday, January 26
Transition Day: Friday, January 27
Day at Leisure: Saturday, January 28
Sunday, January 29
Day 1: Monday, January 30
Day 2: Tuesday, January 31
Day 3: Wednesday, February 1
Day 4: Thursday, February 2
Day 5: Friday, February 3
Day at Leisure: Saturday, February 4
Sunday, February 5
Day 6: Monday, February 6
Day 7: Tuesday, February 7
Day 8: Wednesday, February 8
Day 9: Thursday, February 9
Saturday, February 11
Sunday, February 12
Monday, February 13
Appendix A Gospel of Mark
Dedication
This diary of my trip to Liberia to teach adults would never have come about without the seeds sown by my mother, who in December of 2013 turned ninety-eight. When I was a child, she taught me elocution, generosity of spirit, perseverance, and the Bible. Her nurturing has returned a thousand-fold. Thank you, Mother.
In addition, I would like to dedicate this diary to the two women, Marinda and Martha, who took a chance on this American lady. Marinda knew me from her days at my church, and she knew I had helped her raise funds for her school. Martha knew me only as the teacher of math teachers and Frisbee player when our mission group came to her orphanage in 2010. Neither knew how I would react to their reality. Both were women in their fifties who had lost their husbands during the civil war in Liberia 1989-2004 and could have immigrated to the United States for a life of leisure. Instead, they sought to enrich their country with a school and an orphanage.
Finally, the diary is dedicated to the glory of God, who wishes all things well.
Preface
When Marinda Badio pursued her master’s degree to become principal of a school being built in Monrovia, she attended Polly’s church, St. Andrew’s United Methodist. Polly secured money and books for the school.
In 2010 Polly went to see Marinda’s school, Haweh Academy, and was asked to hand out kindergarten diplomas. Marinda had dubbed her “Mama Polly.” In the courtyard after the graduation ceremony was a young man who looked to be fifteen. Mama Polly asked him if he was studying there or somewhere else. No? Then she asked, “What do you do?” He couldn’t say.
Polly found out about the lost generation because of their conscription into the civil war (1989–2003) and other causes. They had no hope. When the war was over and the guns removed, they didn’t know anything about making a living. Mama Polly was appalled: a young man without a positive future. She prayed.
After a bit, she realized she was being called to return to Liberia to teach a “Basics Boot-camp”: two hours of phonics and literacy and one hour of arithmetic for twenty days. Her students would be men in the morning and women in the afternoon. She could give three months—one each in Monrovia, White Plains, and Ganta, each of which she had visited before. She was uniquely qualified for this at age sixty-eight, being a retired teacher of math and reading with a master’s and a doctorate in English to speakers of other languages, plus a master’s of divinity from a seminary. Her husband of more than thirty-seven years, Ira, had died in 2009, the year after they had moved to Ann’s Choice, a senior living residence. Her home was protected.
She taught several adults from the community to read in Monrovia at Marinda’s school. At Martha’s orphanage in White Plains, she raised the skills of many adults; unfortunately, it was too close to Christmas, and possible students could not afford to take the time to come because they worked so hard for many hours. Since going to Ganta was not to be realized, she stayed in White Plains for three more weeks. She played phonics games, sang songs, danced, worshiped, led Bible studies, and exercised with the children.
The orphanage has a dream to produce cassava and other cash crops in order to build a library and a clinic on its grounds, which already includes a school. Now they want to start a Mama Polly-inspired night school that people could actually attend because they work during the day.
In Monrovia Mama Polly spent two extra weeks helping her former students, teaching two eleventh graders to upgrade their math background, and offering a literary Bible study on the gospel of Mark. This was to further the skills of her students and others. A Mama Polly night school is planned there, too. God was, and continues to be, in it all.
Acknowledgments
The many people of Inspiring Voices Publishing Company have made my diary come to life. I thank you.
My sister Carolyn proofread the diary twice and made suggestions. My friend and dinner companion Mary helped me proofread the semi-final product. Lee used his computer expertise to combine the separate parts. Marty, Howard, and Bill helped augment my computer skills. Many people have encouraged me by many different means. God be praised for all their efforts on my behalf.
Preparation: Summer 2011
To prepare for my adventure, I sought the counsel of Pastor Wendy at St. Andrew’s UMC along with that of Jan and Beth of Compassion Corps. I had originally thought of leaving in May, but at an eye appointment in December, I was told to return to them in June for possible cataract surgery. I was also needed for a church mission trip to North Carolina in October. That would give me a chance to study at the School of Christian Mission in July as well as attend the Leadership Summit—and get my week at the beach in August. Finally, I decided that healing from surgery would be finished by the time I worked the election polls in November. Beth obtained plane tickets from Philadelphia to Monrovia via Atlanta and a visa for Saturday, November 12. The result of the eye exam was that I had cataracts, but they were not