Yesterday Daniel and I spent the day in church, where my friend James Cooper was being celebrated as Father of the Year. We road to the church in Sinkor with three of James's friends, which was a really nice opportunity for me to get to hang out with some Liberians closer to my own age, listening to their conversations.

I spent almost the entirety of my first two visits to Liberia in Sinkor, so it felt very familiar to be back there again. This trip I had not been there at all until yesterday, since the Jetro Web Development office is located outside the capital proper in Mount Barclay. It turns out James lives not far from here, coincidentally only a few blocks away from Isaac Zawolo's house in the Pipeline community.

The event at church an was an all day special fund raiser, with lots of music and fund raising challenges for the church members, followed by a sermon on the topic of fatherhood.

After the sermon came the father of the year ceremony. James invited me to have the honor of crowning him, after which all the men in the church danced in a circle around him, greeting him and congratulating him on being selected father of the year.

With the ceremony over, we road back to James's house where Daniel took this picture of me with James and his family.

Then James and Theresa invited Daniel and me to join two of his friends for a drink at the club near where he lives. We had a lively conversation, with topics ranging from the horrors of the two civil wars to the impact of global warming and sea level rise on Monrovia. We ended on a high note, talking about our hopes for a better future and the importance helping young folks like Daniel to help build that future.

Daniel and I left feeling joyful and fulfilled, both agreeing we had a wonderful day. As Theresa said during our conversation at the club, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." I was nice to have some time to play.

[!NOTE] I laughed when I heard Theresa say that, and I assumed it came from the movie, The Shining. Daniel informed me that it is a common expression in Liberia, and when I looked it up I found out it dates back to the 17th century.