This is it... follow me here over the next 10 days to visit Dr. Sei Buor, his wife Yah, and the entire Christian Leadership Training International ground team in Gompa, Nimba County, Liberia, West Africa.

I will include pictures and movies along the way to help you get a feel for what we are doing. \240You can see more information on our web site www.CLTInternational.org

Facebook Fundraiser here

Or go here if the FB link doesn’t work: https://cltinternational.org/donate/

Stay tuned!

PS. If the pictures are blurry or not showing.... just wait because they are sometime slow to load.... but worth the wait :)

Please let me know if you like the talking or the writing better.

I’m at Chicago O’Hare airport to begin the first leg of my journey. The total time from takeoff here to landing in Monrovia Liberia is about 32 hours. There are many different ways to get to Liberia and I have to admit that I am working with An international travel company that specializes in trips like this to get the best deal by being creative on the itinerary and frugal with the money.

So I go from Chicago to Toronto Canada, \240Toronto to Brussels Belgium, \240Brussels to Freetown Sierra Leone and then Monrovia Liberia arriving Sunday night.

Sei and Yah will be picking me up there. \240We will then stay overnight in a hotel and on Monday we’re visiting United States Embassy for a “get to know you” session with the NEW Public Affairs Officer and anyone else he invites to the conversation.

Checking in at Toronto, next stop Brussels

Just landed in Brussels, Belgium... will transfer to another flight and land in Monrovia, Liberia after a quick stop in Freetown Sierra Leone at about 7:15 pm tonight (which is 3:15 pm EDT Sunday)

Never fails... in the waiting area at the airport and on the plane headed for Freetown and Monrovia I meet special people.... on a mission. I met a man who is originally from Liberia, got out during the civil war, became educated and successful in the USA and is now trying to improve the healthcare system in Liberia. \240It will be commercial and benefit both him and the country to have access to great medicine with improved clinics and hospitals. \240Free Enterprise

Sitting beside me were two men, one from South Africa and the other from Romania.... both now from the US, who left there old jobs to start a new company that will create an electrical grid for Sierra Leon .... and who knows maybe they can team up with Jungle Power in Gompa to continue the electrification of Nimba County.

Looking around the plane it is different because this destination is a path less traveled and the travelers with me are particularly special.

WHY?

Most are on a mission to do something special like follow a business dream, see a loved one who stayed behind and endured the hardship of a bloody revolution, settle their minds and spirits about past horrors or atrocities, or make a mense for their own past sins and offenses to the country. \240Each person has a story and they are returning to help make Liberia (or Sierra Leone) \240a better place. They all have a story and a sense of what to do to make it all better.

Each flight contains seeds of hope and change!

This is a quick checkin... we stop in Sierra Leone to let people off and get a few more who are headed for Monrovia or back to Europe.

We visited the US Embassy in Monrovia today. Introduced them to our mission, accomplishments, and vision for the future.  They gave us compliments for our approach and progress and made suggestions for the future.  This meeting included Jay Skinner, Sei Buor, Yah Buor,

Selim Ariturk, Public Affairs Officer,

Debo Belvis O’diaji, Director of the Information Resource Center, and 

Rasheena Reid, Director, USAID Education Office Liberia.

We continued our Monday with an important visit to the Liberia Revenue Authority and Atty. N. Paul J. Hinneh, Chief of Staff/Technical Focal Point, Commissioner General Office

I met Paul on the plane between Brussels and Monrovia last night and we agreed to meet today. Paul was coming back from government business in China.

In Gompa (same as Ganta) now after traveling yesterday evening from Monrovia by car with Sei and Yah.

The level of construction progress since the groundbreaking last year and the shear enormity of the structure is miraculous and additional evidence that this is a work of God.

This place is huge... I have attached some video and pictures to try and convey how really big it is. And this is just the first floor... there are 2 floors in this phase one building that includes classrooms, library, computer and science labs, and 2 residence apartments (on the far end under the first floor) for visiting teachers.

Great day today... had a training session with the ground team. This included Chestin - Project Manager, Jefferson - Discipleship Coordinator, Amelia - Administration & Finance, Yah - Director of Entrepreneurship, Sei - Founder & President

Professionalism, Leadership and Management were the topics of the day, tomorrow evening we will be addressing Technology and Social Media.

Lunch with Donald Cassell and his son Yoezer. They are from Indianapolis, Indiana. Donald is Senior Fellow, Director of Liberian Initiatives, Africa Rising @ Sagamore Institute. They are visiting us and LICC (Liberia International Christian College).

Understanding the layout with Donald and Yoezer Cassell from Indianapolis.

Here is a video link to the concept in animated form https://youtu.be/4eS1sr9GWGc

We are hosting a Gompa City Council and administration leadership training lunch and learn today at the modern Gompa Alvino Hotel. \240Mayor Amos and his team will be here with about 15 total in attendance.

What a beautiful country... this is Saturday and we are visiting the constructions site for a last look and to thank the workers. I was blessed as they prayed for me and my work too.

Sunday caps off the week for us.

Sei was scheduled to speak at the Howell Macedonia Baptist Church in Barnesville, Liberia.

We were treated like kings by Rev. Momolu Massaquoi, PhD and his congregation.

Sei’s \240topic was from Matt 5 where it mentions that Jesus climbed the mountain and invited the others to follow for some teaching. \240We are called likewise to climb (not just claim) for receiving the Word of the Lord.

I (Jay Skinner) played the piano and sang leading the congregation in “This Little Light of Mine” and then “Revive Us Again”. \240The choir backed me up on the chorus in a way that I was amazed and overjoyed by their improvization.