I’ve been waiting in anticipation to tell you the following: The container we loaded in China is on the water right now, headed for Sierra Leone. In June we went to China to source the last pieces needed to finish the interior of the orphanage. In July we stood on the loading dock and watched the container fill up. After all the months it took, there is a real peace in knowing it is finally sailing toward our children here in Sierra Leone.
That peace comes with an ask, and it is the main reason I am writing today. We need help before the shipment arrives. I also have two happier things to show you from this month, and I will get to both of them below.
Track the Container Yourself
In June we traveled to China to source the final pieces for the interior. In July we watched the container fill up with doors, kitchen appliances, a generator, and school supplies. Months of ordering, paying off balances, and loading by hand went into it. It is now at sea.
You can check on it yourself. Go to msc.com, choose Booking Number as the search type, and paste in this number:
181AN26S4505822V1
It will show you the vessel, the ports along the route, and the arrival date. I wanted you to have that number. You paid for what is inside the container, so you should be able to see where it is.
Where It Lands and How It Gets Home
The ship comes into Queen Elizabeth II Quay in Freetown, the deep water port on the Sierra Leone River. That is where the container has to be cleared before anyone can touch it.
From there the cargo still has to travel inland to the orphanage in Bo Town, about a three hour drive across the country.
What We Need Before It Docks
Here is the hard part. The container is bought, packed, and sailing, and we still have money to raise before it can reach the children. Two payments are coming due, and both are imminent within a few weeks.
Clearing the container at the port. Nobody simply hands you a container at the dock. Customs and port charges have to be settled and the cargo has to be trucked up to Bo Town, and none of it moves until the money is there. If we are not ready when the ship arrives, the container sits, and the port charges us for every day it sits. Everything inside is already bought and paid for. The cost in front of us now is getting it released and delivered.
School tuition. The school year starts very soon. All of our children attend private school, and the fees have to be paid before they can walk through the gate on the first day.
This is the emergency funding I am asking you for. We have come a long way to get that container onto a ship. I do not want it sitting at the quay in Freetown while our children start school without their supplies.
I should be clear about what this shipment covers. It finishes the interior of the orphanage. The exterior and the grounds will still need additional funding after this, and I will keep you posted on that work as we get to it.
A Reward in Freetown
Now the good news. When I landed in Freetown, several of our children had already traveled up from the orphanage in Bo to meet me. I brought them into the hotel to stay the night with me. They earned it. Every one of them did very well in school this past year, and I wanted to reward them.
In the video below they are having breakfast. It is a small thing to put a few children in a nice hotel for one night, and it is also the sort of morning they will remember for a long time.
Discipling the Women of the Village
There is a village close to the orphanage, and the women there have begun coming to me to be taught. The video below is one of those sessions. I am walking them through the gospel from the beginning: the cross, the burial, the resurrection, and what all of it means for who they are now.
The Book We Teach From
The book I use with those women was written by our friends Dr. Jim Richards and Pastor Clint Byars. It is called The Essential Discipleship Guide, and we teach our own children at the orphanage from the same book.
Call Me Anytime
One more thing. We have Starlink internet and Wi-Fi at the orphanage now, so I can make and receive calls from here just as if I were sitting in my own living room. Please feel free to call me anytime at 770-714-9172. If you would like to talk, hear how the children are doing, or pray together, it would mean the world to hear your voice while I am here with them.
Building the Legacy Together
None of what you just read happened on its own. The night in the hotel, the teaching in the village, and the container now at sea all came out of gifts from people who decided these children were worth it.
Would you help us clear the shipment and cover the tuition? Any amount helps, and it helps most if it arrives before the ship does. You can give at ekmoi.org/giving or scan the code below.
Please share this post with anyone who might want to help. Forward it, send the link to a friend, or pass it along at your church. Every person you reach helps us grow this mission and reach more children.
Thank you for walking this road with us, and thank you for your prayers while that ship makes its way to Sierra Leone.
With love and gratitude,
Maseray Young
