Mission Liberia

Pirates Moving in to West Africa

2011-09-26T10:32:00.001-04:00

Pirates are expanding their activities into West Africa, according to a United Nations report released Saturday. Previously, most pirate activity occurred around the Horn of Africa, and especially Somalia on the continent’s east coast.

In particular, pirates now have taken control over coastal areas in Benin, the small nation that borders Nigeria and Togo, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

More HERE

African Bible College partners with HCJB World Radio

2011-09-13T16:45:00.000-04:00

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

Monday, September 12, 2011

HCJB Partner Station Opens on Campus of Christian University in Liberia

By Michael Ireland
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service YEKEPA, LIBERIA (ANS) -- Pioneering Christian workers established Radio Station HCJB in the Andes of South America in the 1930s, according to the book, Come Up to This Mountain by Lois Neely.
Now, 80 years later, young broadcasters have made the ascent to a mountaintop that they are praying will become the broadcasting site for a station run by Africa Bible College University (ABCU) in Yekepa, Liberia, says Ralph Kurtenbach in a news update from HCJB Global.

Group of Liberian radio broadcasting students.
(Photo courtesy HCJB Global).

Kurtenbach writes that Alex Walker, a British HCJB Global missionary, recently concluded a module on the practical essentials of quality broadcasting for Liberian students on the campus.
An agreement to broadcast from the mountain is not finalized with a cell company, so ABCU’s communications students currently broadcast from the campus, Kurtenbach says.
According to Kurtenbach, with help from radio trainer Joseph Kebbie, the school was granted a radio frequency just weeks after it had filed an online application with Liberia’s government regulatory body. The licensing process can take months, or even years, in some African countries.
“From the mountaintop they could see parts of Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire and many miles of Liberian countryside,” said Jeremy Maller, projects coordinator for HCJB Global’s Sub-Saharan Africa Region.

Inside the new Liberian broadcsat strudio.
(Photo courtesy HCJB Global).

“When we were ready for the first test broadcast, the students … volunteered to sit behind the microphone and announce to a live audience that ABCU Radio is now ready to be heard,” Maller said, adding: “In the coming months, students will use the radio studios to improve their skills in radio production.”
Kurtenbach reports that some 100 students are enrolled at the school which reopened in 2008 after years of civil war in Liberia had devastated the campus.
In July 1990 the war also forced the evacuation of staff from renowned international broadcaster ELWA after clashes on the station’s campus between fighters of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia and government troops, Kurtenbach said.
He writes that staff returned and reopened the broadcasting and healthcare ministries in 1991 -- only to flee fighting in Monrovia again in April 1996. Missionaries and Liberian staff reinitiated ministries in 1997.
Kurtenbach adds that ELWA has partnered with HCJB Global and other broadcasters since 1985 in the World by Radio effort, making Christian broadcasts available in numerous languages that didn’t yet have gospel programming.

Liberian broadcast tower.
(Photo courtesy HCJB Global).

Further back in history, Kurtenbach writes, HCJB Global’s French-language programming reached African listeners via international shortwave radio as well as medium wave radio. ‘Impact in Africa!’ headlines an August 1968 edition of the mission’s magazine, Call of the Andes.
He states that segments of letters sent to the station accompany photos of Radio Station HCJB’s African listeners. “Did you know that HCJB’s French programs are being broadcast over 19 stations in Africa?” the 1968 article asked its readers.
Kurtenbach reports that nine of the stations which aired Christian programs were in the Democratic Republic of Congo or Republic of Congo. HCJB Global’s programs were also aired in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Gabon, Liberia, Mauritius, Niger, Rwanda and Senegal.
Sources: HCJB Global, Call of the Andes, Come Up to This Mountain by Lois Neely

Do your YWAM DTS in Liberia, West Africa

2011-07-27T13:52:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Are you looking for a place in Africa, where you want to do the Youth With A Mission Discipleship Training School?

YWAM Liberia will be running a six month Discipleship Training School, the school starts September 5, 2011 and end February 6, 2012.

The lecture phase will be done in Liberia and the outreach phase will be done in one of our neighbouring countries.

Registration for the school is now in progress. You can fill in the application form on line at www.ywamlib.org and email us at ywamlibwa@yahoo.com We look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks Jamil KromahImage via Wikipedia

Rosie Schaack: Distinguished Leader Award

2011-04-25T16:18:00.000-04:00

Rosana Schaack of THINK, Touching Humanity in Need of Kindness, has received a Distinguished Leadership Award from the Hubert Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.
Read her speech here:
http://www.thinkliberia.com/archives/2011/04/distinguished-leadership-award.html

LCC makes ELWA-GOL land dispute worse

2011-04-11T10:18:00.001-04:00

Image by Jason Judy via Flickr

The Liberian Council of Churches, trying to be the mediator, actually sounds like they were pushing ELWA to accept the Government of Liberia position without negotiation. This seems to have angered ELWA officials.

http://www.liberianobserver.com/content/elwa-land-dispute-government-deepens

2011-03-31T22:11:00.000-04:00

Image by United Nations Photo via Flickr

Liberia Uneasily Linked to Ivory Coast Conflict http://ff.im/-AdGUV

Thousands find freedom in Christ at Franklin Graham Fest in Liberia

2011-03-30T23:23:00.000-04:00

Thousands Find Freedom in Christ at Franklin Graham Fest in Liberia

By Eryn Sun|Christian Post Correspondent

The son of the great American evangelist Billy Graham admitted before thousands of people that he too was a sinner.

View Full Image

(Photo: BGEA)

Franklin Graham spoke to a crowd of 91,000 people during a festival from March 25-27, 2011 in Monrovia, Liberia. Over the three days, 13,749 people made decisions to commit their life to Christ.

View Full Image

(Photo: BGEA)

A young boy sits on the stadium stairs during the All Liberia Life Festival with Franklin Graham in Monrovia, Liberia, March 25-27, 2011.

Addressing the multitudes gathered during the All Liberia Life Festival in Monrovia, the capital city of the west African nation of Liberia, Franklin Graham stood at the podium delivering a message of true freedom and restoration offered by Christ alone. The event was held from March 25-27 but webcasted on March 29.
In a country devastated by war, terror and corruption following two civil wars, Liberia, once a refuge for freed slaves, hoped to rebuild the nation and become what their very name represented, a “Land of the Free.”
Speaking to the west African nation, Graham told listeners that freedom lies not in religion but in a relationship with Christ.

Conference Call 2/17 8pm with Samuel Kofi Woods

2011-02-17T15:18:00.000-05:00

Speaker Series - A Conference Call with Minister Samuel Kofi Woods

Thursday, February 17, 2011 from 8:00 PM - 9:15 PM (ET)

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1324789481/efbnen

Speaker Series - A Conference Call with Minister Samuel Kofi Woods

Please join us this Thursday, February 17th at 8PM EST as we kickoff our Speaker Series via a Conference Call in partnership with the Government of Liberia with Minister Samuel Kofi Woods, Minister of Public Works for the Republic of Liberia.

About The Liberian Cabinet Official Speaker Series

From time to time, cabinet members from the Government of Liberia visit the United States without holding any discussions with Liberians in the Diaspora who are craving feedback of the current status of the country. Liberian Professional Network has partnered with the Government of Liberia to launch this Speaker Series that will provide a platform for Liberians in the Diaspora to listen to cabinet members and provide feedback and ideas on how to lift Liberia.

About Minister Samuel Kofi Woods

Minister Samuel Kofi Woods is no stranger to many Liberians. He is the current Minister of Public Works for the Republic of Liberia and has also served as Minister of Labor. Mr. Woods is a Liberian journalist, academic, activist, and politician. His lifelong commitment to human rights began with student activism that led to his first arrest in 1981. In 1986, as a member of the National Student Union, he was forced into hiding and later banned from employment and travel. Upon the outbreak of civil war in 1989 he fled to Ghana, but returned to Liberia in 1991 to found his country’s most prominent human rights organization, the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission. His work led to the liberation of more than fifty inmates at the Central Prison in Monrovia, many of whom were held without charges after arbitrary arrests. The human rights radio program he established broadcasts reports of arrests and extrajudicial executions, and educated tens of thousands of Liberians about their rights.

RSVP Information for the Conference Call

Please note that this is one RSVP per person. If you would like to invite other people, please send them the link directly to RSVP themselves. We will send out the conference call number via email on the day of the conference call. The conference call number will ONLY BE SENT TO THOSE WHO HAVE REGISTERED. The deadline to register for this conference call is Thursday, February 17th at 3PM EST!!!

Conference Call Logistics/Etiquette

This conference call starts 8 PM EST SHARP…Yes, we do start on time! The conference call ends at 9:15PM EST. This is an interactive Conference Call and we would like participation from every attendee. However, we would also like to be cognizant of other participants' input so please note we will moderate each speaker with a time limit. The following are general guidelines for the conference call

* Please mute your phones by using the mute button on your phone or by pressing *6 on your touchtone to toggle muting on and off.

* If you would like to ask a question, unmute your phone and state your name

* Each speaker should please introduce his/herself (Name & State) and provide a context (Question, Follow-up, Feedback, Suggestions)

* Each speaker will have 2 minutes to provide suggestion, feedback, or ask a question. The representatives from the GoL will either respond or wait for follow up discussions

Women of Peace

2010-11-12T11:48:00.003-05:00

From Liberia: Women Who Pushed For Peace Face New Challenges http://n.pr/axEpFS

We want Peace Now

2010-11-05T16:23:00.003-04:00

Pray the Devil Back to Hell

2010-11-05T16:18:00.003-04:00

NPR in Liberia

2010-11-05T15:21:00.000-04:00

Liberia Dispatches 1: Departure : The Two-Way : NPR
http://n.pr/ckwh18
NPR's Jordana Hochman will be spending the next few weeks travelling through Liberia, and is trying to learn how the country is recovering from 14 years of political instability and violence.

ELWA's James Kesselly

2010-09-07T15:42:00.002-04:00

Other ELWA students interviewed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tqOtIkC0-Q&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbQDTgZdehQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKo0mrpPI8k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3sChz2PsCs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aF6k2OYKNQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op22KHSeY_8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hntWoI4sls&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHHEbpawdT4&feature=related

ELWA on the Web

2010-09-07T15:33:00.000-04:00

The ministries of ELWA and SIM in Liberia can now be found at the following addresses:

http://www.elwamausa.org

http://www.facebook.com/EMAUSA

Aggreys, CRCA, & Water of Life

2010-08-16T11:53:00.000-04:00

Dennis and Vania Aggrey from Liberia, West Africa, are featured in this award-winning documentary by Dispatches from the Front. The documentary profiles Christian Revival Church Association's partnership with the well-drilling ministry, Water of Life. Below is the trailer. Order your own copy of the hour-long documentary here.

Episode 3: I Once Was Blind from Dispatches From The Front on Vimeo.

Update from Voinjama

2010-03-07T21:41:00.000-05:00

From John Mark Sheppard:
http://coraplayer.xanga.com/723146075/more-news-from-voinjama/#

I talked with Ansu again this weekend about what has been going on between the Loma and Mandingos. He said that it was his impression that this violent behavior was caused for the most part by non-native Guinean Mandingos. Unfortunately though I learned that the district commissioner of Quardu-Gboni, (whom I know) was implicated in the recent events and is in the Selega jail awaiting trial. I was told that he had received the phone call from Konia with the false information about the mosque being destroyed, and spread this information without proper investigation. He was arrested when he would not divulge the name of the person from Konia who called him.

The good news is that most of the Quardu-Gboni Mandingo have come out to strongly condemn the actions of the trouble makers. In the villages of Quardu-Gboni as far as I know, the Loma and Mandingo are still living together peacefully. When I was working with Samaritan's Purse in Quardu-Gboni, we helped the Loma and Mandingo come together through community development projects. In Samadu, the Mandingo people worked to help the Loma build a bridge and clear the road to their village of Kpakumai. They are now working together to build a school for both communities with the help of PLAN International. People from Marvinkonnehdu and Selega also worked together to build community swamp rice farms with the aid of Samaritan's Purse. From the news I heard today, many of the Mandingo people in Voinjama have been going to the Loma people's houses to apologize for the actions of their brothers. The two groups have even been working together to clean the town. Slowly things are returning to normal.

2010-03-07T21:33:00.000-05:00

Source: http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/kumbway/

John Mark Sheppard's 2007 reports on the elusive Liberian river monster, the Kumbway, or Gbahali..

I am an American working in Liberia, West Africa with an international relief and development organization. I have always had a bit of an interest in cryptozoology, and enjoy your website.
Liberia is covered in dense rainforest and has a low population density. Because of its long civil war (now over), it has been almost totally neglected by biologists and other scientists.
In my work in northwestern Liberia I have been hearing reports about several animals which may be of interest to you. Most notable is a large amphibious reptile known as the “gbahali”.
It is described as being like a crocodile or monitor lizard, but much larger (up to 25 or 30 ft long). It has an armored back with three rows of serrations running down it, a powerful tail, and a short snout with many large teeth. It is known to be an ambush predator, carrying its prey underwater to drown before coming on shore to eat it.
I talked to a number of eyewitnesses who have seen this creature in recent years. I traveled to a village deep in the forest where fishermen used to actually catch these animals. They would use nets and shotguns to kill them, before butchering them and selling the meat in local markets. They told me that they used to have a skull of the animal in the village, but it was destroyed along with everything else when rebels set fire to the village. When I showed the villagers a picture of a Postosuchus taken off the internet, they all agreed that that is how the head and body of the gbahali looks, although the legs are semi-erect like a crocodile.

Postosuchus

The river in which these creatures are said to live is very remote, passing through large areas of unihabited forest. They are said to mainly be seen during the rainy season, when they travel upstream to look for food. They are greatly feared by the local population, because they have been known to kill people.
As recently as this November 2007, someone was attacked and killed by a large unknown animal near a village called Gelema, on that river. The United Nations police went to investigate, and found out that only the man’s head and a few body parts were left on the river bank. In this same village, the town meeting house was built according to the length of a gbahali that was killed there in years gone by.
I know this might sound sensational, like a bad monster movie or something. I have lived in Liberia and have heard my share of tall tales about dwarfs and jinns and so forth. However, there is nothing fantastic or supernatural in the accounts I have been hearing. To them this is just another kind of water animal, albeit a very large and dangerous one! I talked to at least three people in different villages who have had encounters with these animals. I have also heard about a picture that was taken in the last ten years of this creature as people were trying to capture it. I hope to spend some time in the coming year investigating these reports further.~ Sincerely, John-Mark Shephard, December 19, 2007.

There is a Liberian cryptid known in the Mende language as Kumbway. This reptilian creature is less widely known than the Gbahali.
The Kumbway lives in swampy areas of the deep forest of Vahun District, Lofa County. The uncle of one of my staff named Samuel Carmo was a hunter in the Vahun district. In 1988 he killed one near his village of Segemah near the Sierra Leone border. He apparently had been stalking it for several days when he came across it early one morning.
When it saw him, it crouched down in the grass, leaving only its armor-like back exposed. His shotgun would have been ineffective at this point. Then animal then reared up on its hind legs to attack him. Luckily for him, he was able to shoot it in its mouth, killing it instantly. He hurried back to his village and recruited three other men to help him carry it home. An old man in the village remarked that these creatures were more common in the past, but had become very rare in the recent years. They then butchered the animal and the villagers, including Samuel, ate it.
Samuel described the animal as being between 15-20 feet long. One of its most notable features is the thick armor-like plating on its back with a distinct brown and black pattern. There also is a row of 1/2” serrated spines running down its back to the end of the tail. In contrast to its heavily protected back, the underbelly is soft and is covered with a whitish hairs about an inch and a half in length. These hairs can also be seen on its snout. The teeth are very large (about the size of a man’s thumb).
The Kumbway has powerful hind legs which allow it to rear up occasionally. They are said to be ambush predators, their diet probably consisting primarily of ground hogs and small forest antelope. The legs extent straight underneath the belly, in contrast to lizards and crocodiles. They have thick, powerful claws that allow them to dig large borrows, probably in which to lay its eggs. Other animals like giant pangolins may take up residence in these borrows after they are abandoned by the kumbway.
I actually visited the village on a recent survey trip for my program, but the uncle had left for Sierra Leone, and had not been seen for two months. I hope to return there in the coming months to interview him personally about this animal.
As for actually seeing one of these creatures with my own eyes; that is extremely unlikely. It would be like finding a needle in the proverbial haystack. The forest in which they live also contains other large animals such as forest buffalo, pigmy hippos, leopards, and elephants; yet one could go for weeks in the forest without seeing any of these well-documented animals. The area is very large and the forest is extremely dense.
Recently I was able to take a UN helicopter to travel from Lofa to Monrovia. As we flew over Liberia’s seemingly endless rainforest, with its cloud covered mountains (below), and its winding rivers meandering under the forest canopy (below), I was reminded again of how much of Liberia remains to be explored. Who knows what is still out there waiting to be discovered? ~ John-Mark Sheppard, in personal correspondence to Loren Coleman, December 2007.

Muslim-Christian violence in Lofa

2010-03-07T21:16:00.000-05:00

From John Mark Sheppard

The latest from Voinjama

Last Friday I received a call from my father in Liberia informing me about some bad news from Lofa County. Details were scarce, but the word was that fighting was taking place between the Christians and the Muslims and that several people had been killed and that churches and mosques were burned. As soon as I got home I tried calling my friends in Voinjama but could not get through. Finally the next morning I was able to reach my friend Ansu. This is what he told me...

Apparently a Christian girl in Konia was killed and her body was found near the mosque. The Lomas (a predominately animistic and Christian ethnic group) began questioning the Mandingos about the killing and things were tense, but they got the situation under control. Then a false rumor spread to Voinjama that the mosque in Konia (a town about an hour down the road from Voinjama) had been burned. So a bunch of Muslim youth began to attack Christian's houses and churches. The Free Pentecostal church was looted, and the Catholic compound was burned. About 20 people were injured and four killed. The UN eventually stepped in and the situation was put under control now. However, the atmosphere remain tense. Many people left the town and fled across the border to Guinea. No one I know was hurt, although Ansu's house was vandalized and some mattresses and personal effects were stolen. He said he was seized by the mob and they were threatening to kill him because he had left the Islamic faith, but a Loma man intervened and when the mob turned their attention to him, Ansu was able to escape. Ansu's met his wife and children as they were heading to Guinea. Most of the SP staff still in Voinjama have been taking shelter in the FOF building. He told me that through all this the Christians did not retaliate, and even turned back a group of Lomas from neighboring Lawalazu who were coming to fight the Muslim Mandingos. We need to pray that the Christians would be able to forgive those who did these terrible things, and that those who carried out these unprovoked acts of violence would be convicted and repent.

I am also thinking and praying about what can be done to bring more resolution to the underlying Loma/Mandingo conflict in the region. Unfortunately, they have turned this into a religious conflict, when the underlying issue is really control of land and resources. Oral histories tell us that the Loma and Mandingo in Lofa are really one people divided by language and culture. They are both apparently descendants of one man from the same ancestral town of Musadu in Guinea. Unfortunately the adoption of Islam by the Mandingos has caused many of them to feel superior to the Loma "kaflis" (infidels), further widening the divide between them. Thankfully the SP Community Health Evangelism program has helped to foster peace-building between the Mandingos and Lomas in such places as Samadu and Kpakumai, but so far there seems to have been little done to address this problem from a Christian perspective in Voinjama. The believers in Lofa County need our prayers more than ever.

ELWA Palava Hut

2010-01-04T11:00:00.000-05:00

Wanted to make you aware of a blog called ELWA Palava Hut. It is memories of the old and the renewed ELWA.

Kokeh Kotee with LEAD Liberia reports

2009-10-25T12:24:00.001-04:00

As we come towards the end of the year, we are thankful for a partially successful year of ministry in spite of financial crisis affecting the world. Each of us were affected directly or indirectly.

In July we graduated 64 key leaders who successfully completed a one year advance leadership training in the Nimba area. These men and women are already serving their local churches and committed to training others. We are planning and hoping to work alongside them beginning next year to do lower level training of other leaders in their regions.

In August we took on a shot term teaching assignment at ABC University. The taught the Evangelism/Discipleship as a process of spiritual multiplication and New Testament Survey. It will interest you to know that three of my pastors from my rural training are now enrolled at ABCU for advance training.

While at ABCU we also had the privilege to do a two day leadership training with 37 pastors and other church leaders from the community and its environs. Most of these pastors were grateful for the opportunity to encourage them in their ministries after years of training drought. We are hoping to continue in the future.

As we look into the future we are beginning to see that greater opportunities to serve more people in Liberia and other neighboring countries( Sierra Leone , Ivoery Coast and Guinea). This means our capacity must be buit to meet these challenges. We are looking to seeking for partners who could help us in tangible ways in any of the following areas. If you can also connect us with partners interested in empowering national organizations to serve their own people.

Please pray along with Lead.

5 acre property for leadership center on Marshall road outside Monrovia

Funding and logistical support for Southeast project beginning January

5 year strategic plan for Lead in November

looking for land(20 acres ) to lease for one year cassava and corn cultivation and processing.

Everyone is doing well. We miss you all and look forward to doing it again.

Kokeh Kotee

LEAD Liberia

African Christian Art

2009-09-15T12:06:00.000-04:00

Here's a page you can use with African Christian art.

http://mattstone.blogs.com/photos/african_christian_art/index.html

Witchcraft in Liberia & Sierra Leone

2009-08-30T08:28:00.000-04:00

Click the link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8229203.stm
Thanks to Kerry Buttram for the heads up on this BBC story.

Adopted Child needs US flight

2009-08-01T12:57:00.002-04:00

Adopted Child's Flight To US Is Life Or Death Matter

Sick Child From Liberia Can't Fly Commercial Flights

POSTED: 11:58 pm EDT July 31, 2009
UPDATED: 12:08 am EDT August 1, 2009

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- A local couple is pleading for help with an adoption that could be a matter of life and death.The papers are signed to bring a severely ill boy from Liberia to the U.S., but there's one very expensive obstacle.Alvin Jackson is a 13-year-old boy who can't walk, and his time could be running out.David and Stephanie Dodd said they're ready to welcome their newest child into their family."I've never had any hesitation, and I never will," Stephanie Dodd said. "I'll love him like I've had him since birth."Jackson is paralyzed from the waist down because of tuberculosis of the spine.Tuberculosis of the spine creates sores, which become huge bed sores, the Dodds said. His adopted parents said the disease is gone, but the infected sores may kill him.The Dodds said Jackson has one sore that shows his hip bone is out of place."It's showing through where you can actually see the bone poking through," Dodd said.David Dodd said he will leave soon for Liberia to bring their son home to the U.S. and to the medical treatment he needs to survive. His outlook in Liberia is bleak."When you say life or death, we mean one or two weeks -- not months or years," David Dodd said.Right now, the couple has no way to get him home. Due to his medical condition, Jackson can't travel on a commercial flight. His only other options are unaffordable."We've looked into air ambulance services, but I think the best quote I've had is…the amount is breathtaking," David Dodd said.By breathtaking, he means between $100,000 and $200,000.Jackson will be the fourth child that the Dodds have adopted, always relying on a measure of faith to see them through."It's just a way of compassion for us to share Christ with somebody else," Stephanie Dodd said.If someone can provide a plane to bring Jackson back to the U.S., he will get to meet his new brother, 8-year-old Beau Dodd.The Dodds adopted Beau three years ago from the same orphanage as Jackson. The couple found the boys through a humanitarian organization called "Acres of Hope."

Byang Kato & African theology

2009-06-11T19:13:00.002-04:00

In 1974, Byang Kato, newly elected first African president of the Association of Evangelicals of Africa, met with three SIM missionaries in Jos, Nigeria, who asked, "What do you hope long-range for Africa, for the future of Christianity here?"

"African Christianity is being consumed by a dreadful disease," he says. "We must find a cure for our theological anemia." Quickly, as if unleashed, Kato, the father of African evangelical theology outlines a plan.

Full article here.

We need evangelical African scholars writing and publishing African theology.
We need graduate schools in theology so that our best students do not leave the continent in order to learn: one school in French-speaking Africa in the west and another in English-speaking Africa in the east.
We need a journal. African scholars of theology will seek a place to publish their ideas and read the responses of their evangelical peers across the continent.
We need an accrediting agency to set standards of theological education and monitor the progress of schools in order to maintain those standards. Scholars throughout the world will want to know what African-educated theologians think about Jesus.

Today in Africa:

Books by evangelical African scholars can and do fill at least a small library. These volumes include African Commentary on the Bible (2006), edited by Tokunboh Adeyemo with contributions from 70 African scholars.
Nairobi Evangelical School of Theology (NEGST) and Bangui Evangelical School of Theology (BEST) educate Africa's future theologians in both English- and French-speaking Africa.
The African Journal of Evangelical Theology (AJET), based at Scott Theological College in Kenya, publishes scholarly articles twice a year.
The Accrediting Council for Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA) sets standards and qualifies evangelical schools throughout Africa.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/bytopic/missionsworldchristianity/letafricanchristians.html

Husband Wife Drama

2009-05-24T22:32:00.001-04:00

Hilarious! When a man has too many women, plenty palava results, leading to big fight.

New frontiers for Christian Revival Churches

2009-05-20T10:04:00.007-04:00

From Dennis Aggrey this morning:

“My food,” said Jesus “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. …Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest (John 4:34-35 NIV).

Harvesting the ripe crop for eternal life’ is exciting.

(Pictured: Liberian coast at Buchanan)

January 2009: CRCA in partnership with one of Dennis’ friends launched into Grand Bassa County to do church planting. Up to May 20, 2009, CRCA has four churches in this county. Our Regional pastor, Brother Oliver Gaye works tirelessly overseeing the work in this area.

April 9-12, 2009: CRCA hosted a prayer conference for the four Grand Bassa churches in Paytoe Town. Two hundred persons from these churches attended. (Pictured: An initiated teenage girl of the Sande society.)

At this prayer conference, eighteen persons were baptized, (12 female and 6 male). We showed the Jesus video in the Bassa dialect and fifteen persons gave their lives to Christ.

The Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes from Samaritan's Purse were also distributed to 140 children. Please continue to pray for our pastors and churches in this region.

Church

a. Buchanan City------------------------------------Pastor C. Gbarluhion

b. Paytoe Town--------------------------------------Pastor Simeo Browne

c. Vorlugul Town------------------------------------Pastor Philip Gonoe

d. Peter-Whorkpee Town --------------------------Pastor Mother Sundayway

e. Regional pastor----------------------------------- Pastor Oliver Gaye

Another new frontier in Bomi County among the Gola people is Weakama Town. This is a central village with four surrounding villages. Brother Ronnie Carr and two others lead Bible studies in these five locations.

During April 1-May 10, a storytelling workshop was held in Lofa County in the Lorma dialect, in Bomi County in the Gola dialect, and in Gbarpolu County in the Kpalla dialect. Only seventy-five persons in total were allowed to attend.

The Malawu church construction with four class rooms was completed. We are now trusting God for the funding to help with Peter’s Town church and zinc to roof some of our mud and thatch buildings.

Thank you for your continued prayers as the Lord goes forth among us to do His work.

Malawu

2009-05-04T22:44:00.000-04:00

Liberia, West Africa - April 2009 Update from Danny Cox on Vimeo.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Comedy Central

2009-04-23T12:08:00.002-04:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

Liberia's Iron Lady

2009-04-15T23:20:00.001-04:00

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf talks to NPR about her efforts to reconstruct Liberia.

Liberia's orphan trade

2009-03-25T11:34:00.001-04:00

Crossing Continents: Liberia

Liberia's Orphan Trade

Liberia's 'orphan' trade

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/7726687.stm
By Nadene Ghouri
BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents

All John Varkpola has to remind him of his niece is a few photographs.

John Varkpola's niece was adopted without his consent

"I miss her, but I hope she is having a good life," he says sadly.

Five years ago, John's sister died in some of the worst fighting in Liberia's brutal 14-year civil war, leaving a new-born baby in his care.

John named the baby Faith and prayed for her survival.

But, with three children of his own and no job, he struggled.

When an elder in his church said she knew of a charity which would feed and educate Faith, he agreed to hand her over, believing he could still have contact with his niece.

There is no chance of that.

Because today baby Faith has a new name and a new life with an adoptive family in the US. Around 600 children like her have been adopted from Liberia to North America in the last two years alone.

Liberia Mission Conference report 2/28/2009

2009-02-28T21:45:00.004-05:00

The Liberia Mission Conference at Brookwood Church in Simpsonville, SC, on Saturday, February 28, 2009, was attended by around 70 persons representing organizations such as Water of Life, Brookwood Church, Southside Fellowship, Chestnut Ridge Baptist Church, Liberty Baptist Church, Kairos International, Vision Trust, Christian Revival Church Association, Baptist Mid-Missions, Campus Crusade AFRICAME, SIM, and other ministries and churches. It was a good time of networking and meeting new friends in Liberia missions.

Below are pictures of the gathering. (If you cannot see them because you are receiving this post by email, follow the link at the end of this post to the Liberia Missions yahoogroup to see them.)

Roland Bergeron of Water of Life speaking to the gathering.

Jose Alfaro of Brookwood Church speaking to the conference.

Dennis Aggrey of Christian Revival Church Association addressing the gathering.

John Mark Sheppard leading a demonstration of oral learning through God's Story chronological Bible storying.

John Mark Sheppard speaking in exquisite Liberian English.

Left to right: Vania Huff, Dennis Aggrey, and James Hill of Chestnut Ridge Baptist Church.

The venerable and beloved Al Schukoske from Liberty Baptist Church, Chelsea, AL.

Dennis Aggrey and Vania Huff.

Left to right: Vania Huff, Dennis Aggrey, Amanda Brooks, Gene Brooks.

Feb 28: Liberia Conf in Greenville, SC

2009-02-06T07:44:00.000-05:00

2009 Brookwood Mission Partners
LIBERIA MINISTRY CONFERENCE
If you serve as part of a ministry team in Liberia or have a desire to do so, join us as we come together to discuss each of our ministries. There will be time for your ministries to present what you do in Liberia, connect with other ministries, and organize our combined efforts.

Friday February 27, 5-6 pm
Meet and greet with dutch treat dinner to follow.

Saturday February 28, 9am-5pm
Conference and ministry presentations.

If you are interested in attending, please contact Jose Alfaro by Friday, February 20. If you would like to present your ministry to the group, please contact Jose Alfaro by Friday February 13.

Jose Alfaro
864-688-8231
jose.alfaro@brookwoodchurch.org

Feb 28: Liberia Mission Conf in Greenville, SC

2009-01-31T14:47:00.005-05:00

Brookwood Church and Water of Life are co-hosting a Liberia mission conference at Brookwood in Greenville, SC, on February 28, 2009, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.

This is an important opportunity for those interested in Christian mission work in Liberia.

For more information please contact

Roland Bergeron
Roland@bergeronbuilders.com
864.241.6222

Jose Alfaro
jose.alfaro@brookwoodchurch.org
864-688-8231

This conference is a big deal. Try to get there. My family is driving down that weekend from the Raleigh area for this conference.

GOL suspends int'l adoptions

2009-01-30T12:23:00.001-05:00

LIBERIA The Liberian government has suspended intercountry adoptions with the exception of special needs cases until new rules and regulations can be put into place. The following comments were made earlier this week by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf:

"The gross mismanagement of the adoption program, by both Liberian and U.S. Personnel in the concerned NGO is the subject of a report by a Special Committee which I appointed for this purpose. Essentially, we have discovered that many of the children in these orphanages are not in fact orphans but children taken from their living parents on the promise of support and a good life in America. We have thus suspended the adoption program until laws, policies and proper guidelines have been established and we have asked our concerned friends and partners in the United States to be patient as we try to correct the serious malpractices which exist." At this time the future of intercountry adoptions from Liberia is unclear, including in-process cases.

Source: Lisa Gupton

Robertsfield security officer refuses US$20K bribe

2009-01-29T10:21:00.003-05:00

An airport customs officer in Liberia has been honoured by the West African country's president for refusing a bribe from a drug trafficker.

Richard Karyea was offered $20,000 (£14,000) to look the other way by a Nigerian smuggler trying to bring cocaine in to Liberia two years ago.

"If it took me 50 years to earn that money, I'd want my conscience, I will always want my conscience." ----Richard Karyea, Airport security officer

Click to read the full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7855480.stm

YWAM Liberia 2008 report

2009-01-10T16:06:00.002-05:00

Dear Beloved:

We bring you warm Christian’s greetings from YWAM-Liberia.

Liberia is a tiny country with 3.5 million people. Situated on the West Coast of Africa. Liberia has now enjoyed peace for four years, after a bitter civil war that took away 250,000 lives.

With the help of God and the United Nation peacekeeping troops, Liberia is gradually taking her place in the community of nations, with the first female president in the whole of Africa, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Liberians are grateful to have her. Because her reform strategy is putting Liberia back on the map. No longer a country that fuels trouble, but a country that is working with other world leaders to make the world a better place for everyone to live happily.

We have said enough about Liberia, but what is YWAM doing in Liberia. Our goal is to help disciple the nation and bring reconciliation and healing to churches and communities.

We have been involved with community outreach through our drama team. We were able to visit three communities. We worked in the chicken soup factory, Barnersville, and the Duan Town Communities. We worked with local churches from these areas. During our visits, we saw ninety persons coming to give their lives to Christ, and turn over to these churches for follow-up and discipleship. And we have established supportive relationship with these churches. So go in sometime to conduct workshop, to help them keep these converts. We are also into school Evangelism. We are presently catering to one school but we plan to increase the school to three this academic year. Our activities in the school include, but not limited to preaching, counseling, this include a little bit of career and guidance counseling and health talk on HIV and Aids.

We are also into the communities, we visit the hospital and talk with sick patients and share toothpaste, tissues and toothbrushes. This program is under the partnership of YWAM and a local church in Monrovia. We have received lot of testimonies about the hospital ministry. In August of last year we launched the family ministry, with Emmanuel and Annie Esahe coordinating. In May we partners with SON Ministries Nigeria in hosting a pastoral conference, with 150 pastors and church leaders in attendance. We have a small team that are involved with conflict management at community level. Our community development team visited a number of churches, to conduct community development seminars. And a big one that run for a week was plan, with one hundred pastors and church leaders attending. The workshop was gear toward community mobilization for community Transformation. It was wonderful. It was held in the chicken soup factory community, with Joseph Rowgoski, serving as chief facilitator.

Our Discipleship Training School is currently preparing for their outreach. This year outreach will be done in Liberia. The students are all excited about it. We have twenty-one students this term, the largest group since YWAM came to Liberia. We have been praying for them. Most of then are kingdom minded. We believe that God want to do something special in their lives.

Visits: We had Bruce and Neille Litchfield from the family ministries – Australia and John Patrick, the West Africa regional leader both coming to visit and teaching on our DTS.

We have others that came to see us; Ed powers – story telling/YWAM Tyler, Stephane and team for Holland and couple of friends from Africa Mercy, Mercyship

Projects: The lord had blessed us with six plots of land that need to be developed. We are presently occupying a rented facility to carry on ministry work and this is costly. So, we are embarking on a project to construct three building on our property/land along the Marshall highway, about forty-five minutes drive away from Monrovia. According to Engineer, it will cost us a little over US$175,000.00 for the three building. If anyone know of any organization that can help, we will highly appreciate. Our plan is to develop a training center that will cater to U of N courses and vocational department to give the young people a marketable skill that will help them to contribute to national development. Liberia has a youthful population; about 70% of country population is youth. And most of them are not doing nothing, but engage in to drugs and crime related activities. They feel that there is not alternative to life. They are part of our mandate to disciple and make them useful. We want to give them the Bible and basic skill to work with. So, we ask you to join us.

PLANS: We plan to start construction work on the land along the Marshall Highway, around the road leading to the International Airport, as soon as possible. Because we are ask to vacate the property. The owner is need of it.

2. Expose YWAM to other counties in Liberia. 3. Children and the Reconciliation Ministries Launched. 4. Economic Empowerment program to raise staff support, preferably transportation. 5. Community Empowerment through Agriculture supplies (seeding and materials) and small seed projects.

It is always good to keep the best for the last. We are extremely grateful for your prayers, financial and materials support. You are really a true partner. Thank God for all of you. We appreciate you so much.

Last year was not a small period for us. But we made it through God. Again, we have started this year, we have committed it to His care and we believe he will take us through. God has use angels in time past to meet the needs of His people, but today God is using men/women from every where. To support His people and his work.

Praise and prayer Point

1. We remain grateful for God for all our partners. We praise God for you.

2. Praise God for the provision of a parcel of land for YWAM-Liberia.

3. Praise God for good health for all of our team members and their families.

4. Praise God for peace in Liberia. We are grateful for UNmil and the international community for their tireless efforts.

Prayers

1. As we praise God for the land, He provided for our mission, we now have the challenge of raising over US$175,000.00 to put out three structures for our quick relocation. We solicit your prayer and material support.

2. Please join us in prayer for a four wheel double cabin pickup to be use for both evangelism to transport our equipments and materials for the community empowerment program. We covet your prayer God’s provision. Local it cost US$10,000.00 used one.

3. Pray for a Youth Coordinator, that will coordinate our youth program. We are also in need of an administrator that will help the director in the day-to-day running of the ministry, here in Liberia.

4. Pray to provision for staff needs. We are trying to raise a minimum of US$50.00 for each staff. The year 2008, was a struggling year, so, we are hoping for better things for our staff this year. We have two of our staff in training in Nigeria.

5. I will want you join me pray for God’s provision for the leadership development school in Spain and to also attend the West Africa Regional Leadership Conference in Banjunal, Gambia. It will cost US$2000.00 for both airfare and the fees for the LDC and US$ 865.00 for the leadership conference.

If you want to be a part of what God is doing through YWAM-Liberia and you want to help in any way, please feel free, to contact us Jamil M. Kromah. Director Phone#: +231-6-605099, Doug Tunney – Phone #: +14126001096 or Sue Pratt – Phone#: +34952412283. We will be glad to receive your call.

May God continue to shower His blessing on you, your ministry and your family as you help us in bringing hope to our people.

Remain blessed.

Your Co-laborer

Jamil M. Kromah

For YWAM-Liberia

Tenegar's Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T19:35:00.003-05:00

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Liberia's Thanksgiving for Mercy Ships

MONROVIA, LIBERIA (ANS) -- As America prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving this week, hundreds of residents and community leaders in the Liberian town of Tenegar in Africa, gave thanks for the vital support of Mercy Ships, as Her Excellency Madame President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf cut the ribbon to the area's long-awaited health clinic.

During the past 10 months while Mercy Ships surgeons provided free surgeries in the Port of Monrovia, the ship's community development volunteers also provided management and expertise to the Tenegar site. Day workers from 10 different villages contributed 12,000 hours to clear and construct the clinic. Matching funds came from Mercy Ships Sweden, the Hildebrand Foundation, and Drake family of California.

The Samolu M. Dukuly Memorial Health Center now proudly occupies the original site of a burned-out clinic that stood empty since the facility was looted by rebels in the early 90's during the nation's 14-year civil war.

Clinic provides free services

Plans are for the new clinic to be staffed and operated by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. One building includes a waiting room, pharmacy, lab, records area, and two examination rooms for outpatient services. A second is intended to serve maternity needs of the community. Services will be offered free to the community. The greater Tenegar area has a population of about 6,000 from many tribes including Mandingo, Vai, Gola, Kpelle, and Bassa, all with different dialects and is 90 percent Muslim in population.

Liberia will rise again

"A billboard in the city says Liberia will rise again," stated Mercy Ships Operations Director Ken Berry. "Today we celebrate a wonderful demonstration of that rising again, both in the building dedicated today and in the faithful people who built it," he said, stressing the sacrifices made by the Tenegar community.

"You cut back the brush that engulfed this property. You dug the holes that provide a strong foundation for the building. You mixed and placed the concrete to make sturdy framework. You cooked the meals that feed the laborers. You laid the blocks to divide the rooms. You built the roof frame and attached the zinc to keep the rain out, and installed the floor tiles. You banded together to help ensure your future and that of generations to come," said Berry.

"We had been trying to find someone to [repair the clinic], and we talked to many people. Everybody said, 'That is not a real priority. We will get around to it in due course.' When we got the message that Mercy Ships would do the clinic, what a wonderful day it was! And now we have the results of this major contribution to our medical services," said President Johnson Sirleaf as she accepted the keys to the clinic from Mr. Berry.

Rebuilding is "a miracle of God"

Master of Ceremonies, Dr. Meimei Dukuly, descendent of the family who first purchased the land in 1850, explained the historical significance of the property in northern Montserrado County. The first clinic, originally built in 1972, was to be a permanent contribution by the Dukuly family to the people of Tenegar. Dr. Dukuly believes the rebuilding is "a miracle of God," and thanked Mercy Ships for the "many invaluable gifts, assistance, and services rendered to Liberia's people."

Illustrating other aspects of the holistic effort within the community, school children who attended a Mercy Ships program on community health performed songs for the President. She then toured the agricultural area which now boasts an organic demonstration garden, chicken coop, 12,000 plantain trees, 10,000 pineapples, and a low-lying rice field which has already produced 75 bags of rice for the 10-village collective. Six new wells will provide sufficient water for the clinic and the community of 1,200.

Shining a beacon of hope

The word Tenegar is a Mandingo word that means "building my town on a hill." Certainly this new clinic "on the hill" carries with it the opportunity to provide a shining beacon of hope and healing for years to come.

Over the past 30 years, Mercy Ships has worked in more than 70 countries providing services valued at more than $670 million, directly impacting more than 1.9 million people. More than 850 crew worldwide, representing more than 30 nations, are joined each year by thousands of short-term volunteers. Professionals including surgeons, dentists, nurses, community developers, teachers, cooks, seamen, engineers, and agriculturalists donate their time and skills to the effort. To find out more go to www.mercyships.org

American Library, Monrovia

2008-11-29T23:23:00.000-05:00

The American Library in Monrovia has a wonderful program of weekly activities open to anyone who wants to attend. There are Guest Speakers on various topics, Movie Nights, a Story Hour for children, and much more.

SIM journalist Christina Holder

2008-11-23T21:55:00.000-05:00

Christina Holder is a kingdom journalist. She went to the West African nation of Liberia in June simply to “write about how this country is rebuilding after being torn apart by a 14-year civil war.” So far she has written articles for the Washington Post (her latest was published today) and for SIM, among other organizations.

As she shared in the inaugural post of her Liberia blog, “Healing is taking place in Liberia, and the world needs to know about it! Liberia’s story is underreported in the worldwide media, and I believe that there are so many stories that need to be told to bring awareness to Liberia’s needs and to give many people hope in seeing how God works out his healing and redemption in the midst of great brokenness.”

I think that’s a beautiful statement about what kingdom journalism looks like. But the beauty of Christina’s intentions and work in Liberia have not protected her from facing some real difficulties. Just one month into her time in Liberia, Christina was robbed at knife- and gun-point. By God’s grace, she has been able to continue her work, and she sounds (from her blog anyway) to be doing well and recovering from this traumatic experience.

Now that Christina has reached the half-way point in her time in Liberia, I’m only getting more and more excited about the work she is doing. I hope you’ll remember to pray for Christina as she spends three more months there, doing the work of kingdom journalism to raise awareness about this often forgotten country and the glorious work that God is doing in making all things new.

Here are a few of the articles Christina has written about SIM’s work in Liberia during her time there:

View article...

Redemption Road on ELWA

2008-11-05T20:21:00.000-05:00

Transcript of Elma Shaw's interview on ELWA's "Wings of Hope" 94.5 FM
with Pastor Perry Saydee and Rev. Dr. Lyn Westman of Mercy Ships

Announcer: God is our help and hope in time of trouble. When we are confused, the way of God is there for us. Join Pastor Perry Saydee and his team of counselors every Wednesday at 7:30 and allow God to heal those wounds.

Pastor Perry Saydee (PS): Thank you very much for being there. This is the program "Wings of Hope." Tonight we have some personalities in the studio. We're going to have a wonderful time tonight. We have a number of topics to be discussed. Let me just give you our phone numbers first, because our phone lines should be busy tonight. Lonestar 06 902 360 and Comium 05 764 242. I hope you are set and ready for Wings of Hope. Wings of Hope is a radio counseling program. It's a phone-in program where you can make your views known by calling us on those numbers I gave you. And so we have in studio Elma Shaw. She's a writer and she's a media practitioner. We also have our Wings of Hope consultant, that's Rev. Dr. Lyn Westman, in the studio. You're all welcome to Wings of Hope.

Elma Shaw (ES): Thank you.

Dr. Lyn Westman (LW): Thank you. A pleasure to be here as always, Perry.

PS: We also have a guest in the studio. I'll let her introduce herself. Could you please say your name and who you are.

Gemma Speck: My name is Gemma Speck. I'm a community health nurse, and I'm working with Mercy Ships. I'm from England.

PS: Okay, thank you so much. Tonight we will be talking about reconciliation. We've gone through a war situation in this country. We know that a lot of people were hurt. A lot of people were affected. Children were mishandled and misused, especially for the sake of fighting. We know that a lot of women were abused. A lot of things happened in this country because of the civil war. This lady, Ms. Elma Shaw, has written a book. She is a Liberian, and she will better introduce herself. We will be talking about her book and we will be talking about reconciliation as it has to do with uniting our people in this country. Could you please introduce yourself, Elma?

ES: Sure. My name name is Elma Shaw, and I moved back to Liberia in 1999 and spent the last few years here writing and also doing some humanitarian work. I worked with street children and former child soldiers as well as with girls who had been out of school for many years because of the war.

PS: You said you just returned to Liberia. Where have you been all this while?

ES: I went away for a vacation in June and I just came back, but I've been living here for many years.

PS: You wrote a book called Redemption Road. Why this name, Redemption Road?

ES: Well, a lot of people don't know this, but the road behind the Mansion is called Redemption Road. Back in 1980 it was just a path with no name. It was the path that the 17 soldiers took from the barracks to the Mansion to assassinate President Tolbert. They later named the road Redemption Road. They fixed it up and called it Redemption Road. It wasn't until 16 years after the coup that I found out it was called Redemption Road. By then we were right in the middle of the civil war and the first words from my lips when I heard that were "Redemption from what!?" because nothing good or positive had happened because of what took place on that back road. It was also the same place where the 13 government officials were executed right after the 1980 coup. So that title holds a lot of significance. It doesn't only refer to the spot where these things took place -- where our course of history changed so drastically -- but also, the characters in the novel are all seeking a redemption of some sort. We have characters from all walks of life, representing all the different people in Liberia and each of them is struggling with something and they're all searching for their own redemption.

PS: Okay, how did you come to write this novel?

ES: When the war started in 1989 I was in America going to school. By 1990 people started to leave the country because of all the fighting. They were coming to the States and telling us all these horrible stories of what was going on at home. And when I finally came home myself six years later to see and to document some of these stories that were still continuing I knew that I had to put them them together in some form so that we would have them for history. The stories that I heard from people made it into the novel, but it also includes things I heard even before the civil war. Things that I heard growing up, things that I saw myself, my own observations. So it's a very Liberian book. It's all about us. It's to help people understand where we were and how we came to the point of something as violent as our civil war, and it also deals with the issues that we're facing now, in post-war Liberia.

Dr. Lyn Westman: Thank you Elma. As I was reading your book, and as I told you, it's a wonderful book -- it's very deep, very moving, and you say that it's a novel but as I read it, it seemed so real that it was hard for me to believe it was just a novel. As you talked about, there were some stories there of some people you came to know or maybe even some of the work you were doing. I suspect that some of those stories resemble maybe some particular lives of people. I don't want to ask you who particularly, but they did seem very very real so can you share just a little bit more about that for us?

ES: Our situation is really complicated so I made sure that the characters in the novel are all three-dimensional characters that really will tell people who we are. The stories and the characters are not necessarily the story of one person, but it's all lots of stories mixed up -- attitudes and thoughts and everything -- several of them given to one character so that we can see the essence of who we are as Liberians. The stories that I ended up portraying in the book were the stories that I heard most often. Everyone wanted to tell what had happened to them, and what had gone on. And the ones that kept repeating from different people, from different places -- the incidents that kept repeating -- those were the ones that made it into the book.

LW: One thing that was so significant for me was as we teach about counseling, and how to help people through trauma, we're always teaching them that it's more than just facts. It's also about the things that they think, the perceptions they have, the interpretations, and the feelings, and then how they act that out. And you did such a marvelous job identifying the internal conflicts, their feelings and their thoughts. It was just so well done, and there was such a depth to it. What I saw with the inner conflcts was that in the same person you might see them frustrated because of the prejudice around them and yet at the same time there is prejudice within them.

ES: Yes.

LW: And as you just said, life here is complicated. Of course we always teach that people are complicated. It fits right in with that, so just to see that. For many of us, we may think we have no prejudice but the way you did this story you show that all of us should be looking deeper inside to see where maybe we still have some areas that we need to be healed, or where our perspectives and interpretations need to change.

ES: Definitely, yes.

Pastor Perry: Let me ask Ms. Shaw this question. The main themes of this novel are atonement and reconciliation. As the TRC is underway, how do you think this book -- Redemption Road -- can help this process?

ES: Well, I have plans to get the book out to the masses. Not everyone will be able to read and so we have plans to do a Liberian English audio version that will be played around the country because I want everyone to be a part of the dialogue. The book is written so that we will all be encouraged to begin to talk about the things we still have holding inside us -- the resentments and everything. And so I hope that right in the wake of the TRC and all its findings that will soon come out that people will also begin to talk about the things they're feeling and begin to heal within themselves. I hope that the communities will be talking with each other and healing as well. Not everyone can appear before the TRC and so the book, I hope, will let people talk wherever they are, wherever they find themselves.

PS: Okay, this is Wings of Hope. This is ELWA Radio. You can call us on Lonestar 06 902 360 and you can make your contribution to this show. You can ask Ms. Shaw anything you want to ask her about the book, about reconciliation, about problems you're going through. We have Dr. Lyn here. She's our veteran counselor. You can send your questions to her, whatever they are, and she's going to answer them by the help of God. Remember she's a reverend and she's going to use her biblical experiences and knowledge to help you get through what you're going through. And so let me come back to Ms. Shaw. We have a lot of children who are wayward around here. Should I say they are bandoned and don't have homes. They are all in the street. You've written a novel about reconciliation. How can you bring in these children to fit in this novel?

ES: Well the novel does include a set of children, very briefly, but still. When I first moved back to Liberia I worked with former child soldiers and at the time they were really really children. They were small. They had just come out of the fighting. There are a few characters in the book who are based on those children, a little more grown up, and it shows that they're still struggling. They're still on the streets, some of them. The war is over, but they're still struggling because they have nothing to do. There're no jobs for them. They missed school because of the fighting. I know that there are several organizations that work with children in all kinds of ways -- children who used to fight, children who were associated with fighting forces. There are lots of scholarships for girls especially. I hope that all that work will continue...

PS: Let me cut you off a little bit. You talked about scholarships for girls. Who offers these scholarships for girls?

ES: Well we know that the Liberia Education Trust has money to send girls to school and they have given grants to many NGOs to help keep girls in school. I also have a program which I started back in 1999. We started by putting ten girls in school -- Senior High School -- and the program later grew with the help of the US Ambassadors' Girls' Scholarship Program. We went up to about 50 girls. The most important thing, besides the scholarships, was the mentoring. We had mentoring activities for them where we taught them life skills, we talked about health, we took them around to the universities, all the different nursing schools, so they could see the possibilities for themselves. We did job training, lots of different things.

PS: Okay, let me just switch this over to Dr. Lyn. Dr. Lyn, you read the book, and you explained that what you've been teaching here in Liberia, in the counseling seminars, are things that Elma has stressed. As reconciliation is going on right now in this country, you read her book and you've been talking with a lot of people -- child soldiers and those that were involved with the war in this country. What are the prospects of reconciliation in this country? Are you sure that we're going to have peace and reconcile and that everybody will forget about the past and reunite?

LW: That's a very broad and difficult question. I can't say that I'm sure of anything. There's only one person who knows what is possible. And we know all things are possible with God. What exactly will happen, a lot of that depends on our choices. And part of what we teach is that everyone has a choice: if they live in the past or if they move ahead; if they forgive or if they remain resentful and bitter. What we see though is that forgiveness works at whatever level and for whatever things that happened. When people can forgive, it brings not only a freedom to the people that they were holding the unforgiveness against, but it brings a personal freedom. And so as we look at scripture, even, it says that we have to forgive in order for God to forgive us. And that can be a very hard journey, and when you read the book you'll see the struggles that people had. That's why I think it was so well-written because forgiveness is not an easy task. When I look at my own life and sometimes very minor things, I think when any of us look at our own lives, we can have some minor incident and it's difficult to forgive. How much more when you have some of the situations that have been here in Liberia? And yet, with God all things are possible. All of us can forgive, and all of us are called to. One thing that people often don't remember or don't think about is that they may be able to forgive others, but one of the hardest things is learning to forgive themselves. And that still is unforgiveness, but they don't realize that and so they get held in bondage because of wishing that they had been different or trying to believe a different past than what they really have. So part of that journey, as she wrote in her book as well, is coming to terms with what they did and who they are, but then always, who they can be. That's the miracle of redemption. We're not locked into who we were. We all have the possibility for a great future. And just as you said, bringing those girls to see the universities, to see potential... It's unlimited with God, what people can do and how they can change.

PS: This is Wings of Hope. You can call us on 06 902 360 on our Lonestar phones, and Comium 05 764 242, and make your contribution to this show. I have a book before me, a novel that was written by Elma Shaw. She's right here in the studio and she's talking about this book, Redemption Road. Right after the war, what next? We need peace. Do we have it? I don't know. You call us and tell us. There's a call. Let's take this call..........Hello Caller?

Caller: Hello?

PS: Yes. This is Wings of Hope.

Caller: (unintelligible) ........

PS: Okay, Ms. Shaw?

ES: Please clarify the question for me. What did he say?

Caller: The cost?

ES: Redemption Road will be available around town starting on Friday. It's $16.95 for a paperback copy.

Caller: $16.95?

ES: Yes.

PS: The book is $16 US dollars, but it's like she is trying to give it away for free because if you see the book you will want to even buy it for $50.

ES: Oh! (laughs)

PS: I have the book in my hands right now and I hope I will find the money to purchase one. You will like it. Look for it and try to get one.

Caller: Okay I will try to get one.

LW: Yes, I'd like to ask you Elma: When you were writing this book -- you know usually when you write a book you identify some with the characters, maybe feel a little closer to others. Maybe if you could tell us the relationship -- not exact relationships, but your relationship with the different people in the book. Which ones you struggled with a little more, or which ones you felt you were closest to...just anything you want to tell us about your characters.

ES: Well I am surrounded by characters in my own life. I had to put some of them in there. And so each character probably represents 4 or 5 people who are crucial to the story. I needed to put in people who represented all the different people we have to deal with...

PS: Could we please take a call, there's a caller on the line. Let's take this call. Hello caller.

Caller: Good evening to you all.

PS: Good evening.

Caller: I want to thank Sister Shaw for what she has done for this country by producing her book which will serve also as a history to our country. I just ask that God will continue to inspire her to do more for this country with her writing, and every other thing that she aspires to do, may God bring it to pass. Listening to the explanation of the book I just feel that I should have one now. I hope you will have some around ELWA so we can pick it up from there. Thank you very much for the program.

ES: Thank you very much.

PS: Thank you so much. We'll talk that over with Elma later, see if we can have some books right here for people to come and buy. Here's another call. Oh, wait. Please don't beep us! We're just taking calls, please. Elma, you were saying something when I interrupted.

ES: Yes, we were talking about the characters in the book and how I identify with some of them. So, to continue, the characters are all representing 4 or 5 different people, and I wanted them to show all the different kinds of people we have to deal with. There's the naive Liberian who's been in America and just comes home after the war and thinks she knows everything, and thinks she knows what she would have done if she was here for the war. We also have characters who are still living in the past, in the old days before even the coup, and then there're people like the main character, Bendu, who wants to change. She was a part of the past, the elite, but she sees that the future for Liberia -- a good future -- is one in which we are together as Liberians. A future in which we love each other and treat each other as equals. Those are some examples. I really liked Commander Cobra, the warlord. I love his parts because - and a lot of people tell me this too - he was not all bad. He had high aspirations for his people and things sort of went awry as he was struggling all his life for the peace and the justice that the masses do not have. I really enjoyed writing his bits.

Dr. Lyn Westman: Can I say something about Commander Cobra? As I read that book, he was one that really did bring out the pain and the torment of the past. He was struggling with good and evil within himself. And the dialogues between Bendu and Commander Cobra were amazing -- to just see how real they were together and how they were able to confront each other's idealisms and also their weaknesses -- and to come to some place of trying to find the strengths that each of them could offer. It was great to show that sometimes we just see the warlord type for the violence or for the anger. We don't see the torment that is within them and sometimes they don't even know really what torment they have. You did a great job with that as well.

Elma Shaw: Thank you.

Pastor Perry Saydee: We're almost out of time. Elma what do you have to say to your audience now, as we close this program?

Elma Shaw: I want people to know that the book will be available starting Friday, but that eventually we'll have it available in more affordable forms for Liberian readers. $16.95 is the average price for a paperback but we're in a different sort of situation and so we're looking at publishing the book in a format that is more affordable to the general public. And for those who won't be able to read the book at all, we're doing a Liberian English audio version so that everyone far and wide will be able to hear the story of Redemption Road. I just hope that people will join the dialogue. That the book will help open up their hearts, and that people will start talking with each other about some of the issues raised in the book, and that together as a nation we'll use it as a catalyst for change - as something to help heal our nation.

Pastor Perry Saydee: Okay, thank you very much Ms. Elma Shaw, and Dr. Lyn Westman of Mercy Ships, our consultant. And thank you all very much for calling and participating on this show. The time is 8:00 and it's time to go. The next program is "Seeds of Holiness."

Human Trafficking in Liberia

2008-10-29T18:00:00.000-04:00

Source: http://www.gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Liberia.htm
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery
Republic of Liberia [ Country-by-Country Reports ]
The Republic of Liberia [map] is located on the west coast of Africa. It fronts on the Atlantic Ocean for 350 mi (560 km) on the southwest and is bordered by Sierra Leone (NW), by Guinea (N), and by Côte d'Ivoire (E). Monrovia is the capital and largest city. Years of conflict have led to the multiple, internal displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, disrupted delivery of basic social services, increased vulnerability of women and children to extreme poverty, hunger, disease and HIV/AIDS.
Liberia is a source, transit, and destination country for children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation. Most victims are trafficked within the country, primarily from rural areas to urban areas for domestic servitude, forced street vending, and sexual exploitation. Children are also trafficked to alluvial diamond mining areas for forced labor. Refugees and internally displaced children in Liberia have been subjected to sexual exploitation by some international organization and NGO personnel. A January 2008 UN report indicates, however, that such abuses by UN personnel have declined since the previous year. There have been reports that children are trafficked to Liberia from Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Cote d’Ivoire and from Liberia to Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Nigeria for domestic servitude, street vending, sexual exploitation, and agricultural labor. Struggling to rebuild after 14 years of civil conflict and two years of transitional rule, the capacity of the government elected in 2005 to address trafficking is limited by a crippled judiciary and a lack of resources. Aside from capacity issues, in the wake of its war, Liberia has not been sufficiently aggressive in prosecuting traffickers or providing care to victims. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2008 [full country report]

CAUTION: The following links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Liberia. Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No attempt has been made to verify their authenticity or to validate their content.
*** FEATURED ARTICLE ***
Mississippi in Africa: The Promised Land
Of the many tragedies set in motion by the enslavement of African people in the United States, few are more sorrowful than the history of Liberia.
Rather than ending slavery, Liberia became both a place of enslavement and a host to other forms of coerced labor that differed from slavery in name only. The immigrants and their offspring mercilessly exploited the indigenous African population.

*** ARCHIVES ***
Bur of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – NGO estimates of the number of persons trafficked to the country during the year ranged between 20 and several hundred. Victims were trafficked within the country and from neighboring countries for prostitution and labor. Young children were at a particularly high risk for trafficking, especially orphans or children from extremely poor families. Trafficking victims were often subjected to harsh living and working conditions.
There were reports of forced labor; however, none had been confirmed. There also were reports of the recruitment of child soldiers, but the reports had not been confirmed, and the matter was under investigation at year's end.
Traffickers enticed their victims with promises of a better life. Parents of trafficking victims were persuaded that their children would have better food and educational opportunities in another country and that they would eventually return home.
Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2004
[58] The Committee notes that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 18 August 2003 recognizes the special demobilization and reintegration needs of child combatants. However, the Committee expresses its extremely deep consternation at the very high number of children who have been forcibly recruited into armed forces and armed groups by all parties involved in the conflict, including children as young as nine years old. The Committee is also concerned that these children have been forced to carry goods and weapons, guard checkpoints and often fight in the front line, while girls have been raped and forced to become servants of the soldiers as well as combatants.
Amnesty International Calls for UN Resolve
Only the deployment of sufficient numbers of troops with logistical support by UN member states will provide the protection that civilians so desperately need. An Amnesty International delegation that traveled to Liberia in November found that civilians live in fear of increasingly undisciplined and desperate groups of armed fighters who continue to kill, rape, and use men, women and children as forced labor.
The Guns are in the Bushes - Continuing Abuses in Liberia [PDF]
IV. ABUSES BY ALL THREE FACTIONS - FORCED LABOR - An employee of a church group noted that There’s a lack of food in the area to feed the fighters, that’s why this forced labor is happening. If people refuse, they are humiliated, beaten, tied, and tortured.
Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 3 Civil Liberties: 4 Status: Partly Free
Human Rights Overview by Human Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide
Amnesty International Report 2004 - Liberia
CIVILIANS TARGETED IN ARMED CONFLICT - Civilians lived in constant fear of undisciplined armed groups who killed, raped, forcibly recruited children and looted. After the peace agreement, violence increased in some areas as command structures broke down and combatants made last-ditch attempts to seize territory and property before deployment of UNMIL forces. The gravity of abuses against civilians prompted an emergency report by the Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on 8 August which described the grievous abuses against civilians and called for international support in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Rape and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls, including those who had been internally displaced and Sierra Leonean refugees, by government, LURD and MODEL forces were widespread. Young women and girls were abducted and forced into sexual slavery.
Mississippi in Africa: The Promised Land
Of the many tragedies set in motion by the enslavement of African people in the United States, few are more sorrowful than the history of Liberia.
Rather than ending slavery, Liberia became both a place of enslavement and a host to other forms of coerced labor that differed from slavery in name only. The immigrants and their offspring mercilessly exploited the indigenous African population.
UNMIL’s Crackdown on Trafficking Puts Women at Risk
In Liberia, crime has returned with vigor after the civil war. In addition to street crime and burglary, there are increasing reports of Ukrainian and Moroccan women being trafficked into Monrovia to serve as prostitutes in popular bars that double as brothels. The UN Mission in Liberia, UNMIL, says it is taking the problem seriously. UNMIL’s Civilian Police (CIVPOL) has hired an officer to address human trafficking. However, by not coordinating her efforts with NGOs and other supporting organizations, her independent actions may actually be exacerbating the problem.
Child Soldiers of Liberia1
http://www.liberia-leaf.org/reports/trials/childsoldiers/soldiers1.htm
The people of Liberia were harassed and intimidated by the different factions. Civilians were repeatedly robbed and murdered. During the seven year war, villages and towns continually changed hands, and each time a new faction moved in, they would plunder, torture and commit atrocities. Many children were forced to join one of the warlords. Their parents, siblings or other villagers would be tortured until they agreed to join.
US names human trafficking offenders
FORCED INTO PROSTITUTION - He added: "It is... morally unacceptable that hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are exploited, abused and enslaved by peddlers in human misery." Apart from Greece and Turkey, the other major offenders named were Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burma, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Liberia, North Korea, Sudan, Suriname, and Uzbekistan.

Liberia: Militant Women on the Rise

2008-10-25T22:11:00.001-04:00

October 15, 2008
It may come as a surprise to some that a new report from the United Nations says former female combatants in Liberia are TWICE as likely to take up arms again to "escape poverty."

Check out the U.N. report on-line. It goes beyond talking just about the women of Liberia and discusses the prospects for long-term peace in a country where 19 percent of those surveyed said they would go back to war. Click here to read the short report.
Source: CBN News

Delta: Atlanta-Monrovia direct flight

2008-10-23T15:11:00.001-04:00

Wednesday, October 22, 2008 - 1:30 PM EDT
Delta plans Atlanta-Liberia route
Delta Air Lines Inc. said Wednesday it plans to expand its service to Western Africa with a direct flight between Atlanta and Liberia.
The planned route, which would link Atlanta to Monrovia, Liberia, also includes a stop at Sal Island, Cape Verde, according to a Delta news release. Atlanta-based Delta (NYSE: DAL) said it plans to launch the new route in June, pending governmental approval.
“Delta is pleased to add Monrovia to our industry-leading Africa network,” Glen Hauenstein, Delta executive vice president for network and revenue management, said in the release. “Passenger traffic to and from Africa continues to grow at some of the highest rates in the world. We are very encouraged with the response to our flights to Africa and look forward to serving Liberia and contributing to its trade and tourism development efforts.”
In recent years, Delta has expanded its presence in Africa. The carrier already offers flights from Atlanta to Lagos, Nigeria; Johannesburg, South Africa and Dakar, Senegal.
Delta also flies to Dakar; Cape Town, South Africa; Accra, Ghana and Cairo from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

ELWA Personalities

2008-09-25T20:12:00.000-04:00

Rebuilding ELWA Radio
3 September 2008 — Moses Nyantee, director of ELWA radio, is helping rebuild the station so that it can broadcast hope to the Liberian people, still broken from the brutal civil war.

We Have Seen the Grace of God
2 September 2008 — Paté Chon, a counselor in the HIV/AIDS program at Eternal Love Winning Africa Hospital has seen the horrors of war, but in her work at ELWA hospital today, she sees the grace of God.

Captured By Rebels
2 September 2008 — Joe Wankollie remembers walking the broken roads of Liberia for more than 30 miles, trying to escape bullets cutting through the hot, muggy air.

Liberia: 205th in PCI

2008-09-25T16:28:00.000-04:00

Check out this table of per capita income. (To shorten things, I've skipped from #8 to #201.) It's one reason Becky and I work in Ethiopia (which is the poorest nation on earth according to the Atlas method). Source: Per Capita Income Around the World.

Ranking	Country	Per Capita Income in US$
1	Bermuda	N/A
2	Luxembourg	43,940
3	Norway	43,350
4	Switzerland	39,880
5	United States	37,610
6	Liechtenstein	N/A
7	Japan	34,510
8	Denmark	33,750
201	Sierra Leone	150
202	Guinea-Bissau	140
205	Liberia	130
206	Burundi	100
206	Congo, Dem. Rep.	100
208	Ethiopia	90

Mission Videos

2008-09-22T16:50:00.000-04:00

Here are 38 videos from a November 2007 trip to Liberia's Bong and Lofa Counties.
Click here for the page with all of them.

ELWA Hospital
Dennis Aggrey's Vision
On ELWA beach
Old Matadi Estates Monrovia

LOFA COUNTY
St. Paul Bridge Lofa Road
Lofa Road 1
Lofa Road 2
Lofa Road Hole
Liberian Mud Hole
BomiHills Church (Konia) 1
BomiHills Church (Konia) 2
BomiHills Church (Konia) 3
BomiHills Church (Konia) 4
Konia Elementary School
Konia Christian Revival Church...
Konia Sermon 1
Konia Sermon 2
Konia Church Worship
Konia Sermon 4
Konia Sermon 5a
Konia Sermon 5b
Konia Sermon 6
Zuwolor Church 1
Zuwolor Church 2
Zuwolor Church Worship 3
Monkeys & Markets
Looking for Wood -Sawing Mandingo Men...
Sawing Wood 1
Sawing Wood 2
Stuck on Lofa Road

RAINBOW TOWN, GBARNGA
Driving to Gbarnga
Rainbow Town Welcome 1
Rainbow Town 2
Rainbow Town 3
Rainbow Town Devotions
Rainbow Town Well & Kitchen...
Mama Feeta & Harriet

SIM Liberia: 5 years after the War

2008-09-21T16:45:00.003-04:00

SIM Liberia: Five years after the War (whole article)

EXCERPT: "The past five years have been difficult. Liberia is a country of ruins, and every sector of society is the process of being rebuilt. SIM Liberia needs partners to help sustain its efforts to raise up Christ-centered, Liberian leaders—people like Joe Wankollie, Paté Chon and Moses Nyantee. These Liberians already are helping to influence and raise up other leaders so that one day, this post-war country will rest completely in the hands of its people.

Read the stories of Joe, Paté and Moses. Learn about their personal journeys from the darkness of war into the light of a life shaped by Christ."

Please pray about how you can partner with these faithful Liberians. You can be part of God's work to bring hope and healing to an entire nation torn apart by war. Find out how you can pray for Liberia

There are many ways you can be a part of rebuilding Liberia. Check out the opportunities list

New mosquito repellant

2008-09-03T07:26:00.001-04:00

Full story: http://www.MNNonline.org/article/11622

International (MNN) -- An organization that supports Bible translation around the world is taking on a pest -- the malaria-carrying mosquito. President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates Bruce Smith says malaria is a huge risk to Bible translation as they work in areas where malaria-carrying mosquitoes thrive. "It's pretty debilitating, let me tell you. There are very few missionaries working overseas who haven't been affected by it. Tropical fevers wreak havoc with your body. I even know missionaries that have had to retire from service overseas because their body just can't fight off the next malaria onslaught." One million people die from malaria every year, and Smith says they're doing something about it. "There's actually a local supplier here in our Orlando area for a repellent that's non-toxic, and it's a treatment that you can spray in your house. Obviously with people in their homes a good deal of the time, this reduces the probability of being bitten by a malaria-carrying mosquito." The product is called Suspend SC. Wycliffe says $35.00 can protect 20 families for six months. Click full story above for help.

Tippit Ministry plans Liberia work

2008-08-14T00:24:00.002-04:00

Ministry lays groundwork for Liberia care plan

Full story: http://www.MNNonline.org/article/11551

Liberia (MNN) -- And, Dave Tippit with Sammy Tippit Ministries says they're one step closer to implementing a care plan for Liberia. Last December, Evangelist Sammy Tippit shared a special burden to help the people recover from 14 years of civil war.

This summer, Dave headed up a team to put feet to that vision. "This was an exploratory trip this was our first step in several steps. 2009 is our kickoff. We will be bringing back medical teams and some of the microfinance stuff we started laying the groundwork for. We're looking at drilling and doing some water wells." The team is laying plans to make an impact spiritually, socially, economically, and educationally. This is a big vision for one community in the country.

"It's a longterm project. We met with everyone from the vice president of the country to local government leaders. We're working through the churches. That's our whole desire is for people to see the love of Christ tangibly through the physical actions of what's going to be happening in the community and connecting that also to see how Christ can change their lives spiritually, and their souls can be saved through Him."

Mercy Ships gets Redskins promotion

2008-08-06T20:34:00.001-04:00

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Redskins' draft pick, Malcolm Kelly, leads delegation to Liberia on weeklong sojourn to profile the Liberian people and promote the global charity Mercy Ships

MONROVIA, LIBERIA, WEST AFRICA (ANS) -- Malcolm Kelly, former standout receiver at the African nation of Liberia from July 5 - 10th on behalf of the global charity, Mercy Ships.

According to a media release from Mercy Ships, the five-day "Vision Trip" is designed to shed light on the medical and development effort Mercy Ships is providing to the people of Liberia, as they continue to improve their health and well-being standards within the country's reconstruction.

Mercy Ships says that during the weeklong trip, the group will visit with crew onboard the Mercy Ships flagship, Africa Mercy, the world's largest non-governmental hospital ship, which is docked in the nation's capitol, the port city of Monrovia.

The group will view surgeries in one of the Africa Mercy's six state-of-the-art surgical suites and tour parts of the country now recovering from more than a decade of civil war. Malcolm will also meet with Liberian officials and hold a press conference before leaving Liberia.

In addition, he will spend an afternoon working out with members of the 2008 Liberian Olympic Team and other Liberian athletes at the Samuel Doe Stadium.

The Mercy Ships press release says Malcolm has enlisted the help of his own personal trainer, world-renowned sports performance coach, Chip Smith and Competitive Edge Sports, based out of Atlanta, Georgia, to provide two coaching sessions for trainers and athletes to encourage the emergence of Liberian sport initiatives.

Liberia's Deputy Minister for Sports, Mr. Marbue Richards states," We are a developing nation and what we are lacking is trained trainers. Mr. Kelly bringing his personal Training Coach for our benefit is a wonderful opportunity. The fact that Chip Smith is world renowned and is willing to share his training techniques for free is very valuable because we want to produce more competitive athletes."

Following involvement in college with Mercy Ships, Malcolm named the global organization as his charity of choice soon after declaring himself eligible for the 2008 NFL Draft.

The International offices of the global charity are located only 25 miles from Kelly's hometown of Longview, Texas. Malcolm's father, Moses Kelly will also accompany him on the trip.

"I'm honored and humbled to play a small part in this effort to bring both hope and healing to the people of Liberia," said Kelly. "As I have come to know the history and spirit of the Liberian people through Mercy Ships, I feel a real connection to the country. I admire the way they are rebuilding their future and I want to do everything I can to help. My folks always taught me that giving is better than receiving.unless of course it is on the football field."

Mercy Ships is a global charity that has operated hospital ships in developing nations since 1978. Mercy Ships brings hope and healing to the forgotten poor by mobilizing people and resources worldwide.

A crew of both professional medical and non-medical volunteers serves all people without regard for race, gender, or religion. This is the forth time a Mercy ship has visited Liberia.

For more information about this trip, or to schedule an interview contact:

For Malcolm Kelly in USA
Pauline Rick
Mercy Ships International
903-939-7649
rickp@mercyships.org
www.mercyshipsnews.org

For International Media:
Diane Rickard, Director Media Relations
Mercy Ships International
UK Tel: 44 1438 727 800
rickardd@mercyships.org
www.mercyshipsnews.org

ELWA & HCJB partner

2008-08-06T16:50:00.001-04:00

Liberia rebuilds from civil war devastation

Liberia (MNN) -- Meanwhile, though rebels destroyed the ELWA Radio Station in Liberia's civil war, the Gospel wasn't silenced. Dee Walker with HCJB Global Voice says the station has gradually pieced the ministry back together. They're partnering with them because: "Much of their equipment was outdated. We committed to provide for them some training and some equipment. Right now, pieces of the equipment are on their way to ELWA, and we were able to buy some computers. What we are trying to help ELWA to do is to maximize their already-existing ability, so we're moving them from analog to digital." While the fighting ended, the devastation lives on. Walker says their team is training the ELWA group to help them better share the hope of Christ. She asks that "people will "pray for our team. Our team is growing, and there is need for infrastructure and development, but we are very cautious. Just pray that God would keep us healthy and keep the team together. Pray that the governments would be able to keep security in place so that those of us who are traveling to those places will feel safe."

Full story: http://www.MNNonline.org/article/11520

LEAD-Liberia reports (Kokeh Kotee)

2008-06-11T09:12:00.006-04:00

LEAD - LIBERIA

www.leadliberia.org

January - April 2008 REPORT:

Our team recently returned from a full week in Garplay with an amazing six hundred (600) believers in attendance. Patrick (Middle) and I participated in an ordination service of two (2) pastors and two (2) elders during the Garplay Regional Conference of the United Liberia Inland Church.

In March, we attended a Pastor's Conference in Gbedee, Todee District. Despite our four wheel truck getting stuck in the deep mud during our journey, we had great fellowship with local pastors and church leaders. Thank God for the villagers on their way from the farm who aided us. A crane would be very valuable when no one is around to pull you out. (See pictures in this post!)

On my way to visit a village the family of one of the pastors during the Todee Conference, I encountered yet another damaged bridge. Trying to overcome this obstacle, once again, landed me in some deep mud.

At the Tubmanburg Conference held in April, I had the great pleasure of awarding a certificate to Pastor Davidson Rogers after a three (3) day intensive leadership seminar in partnership with ILI (International Leadership Institute) in Liberia.

In spite of the many challenges, we find no greater joy than to go into impassable areas to train and encourage pastors on the frontline. Thanks for praying and holding the rope!

In His service,

Kokeh S. Kotee, II
LEAD/Liberia, Inc.

Ministry Prayer Requests:
• Please pray for ongoing training for 50 key leaders and our upcoming conferences.
• Please pray for teachers and coordinators monthly support for a year.
• Please pray for safe travel pastors who will be attending our upcoming conferences.

YWAM reports

2008-04-17T09:13:00.001-04:00

Jamil Kromah reports on YWAM - Liberia's work

NEWS UPDATE --LIBERIA April 2008

Dear Beloved:

We bring you greeting in the powerful name of our soon coming King, Jesus. We remain grateful for your timeless prayer and support for this ministry. We appreciate it so much, may God bless you. God has been faithful to us, and we want to share our recent news. Running a YWAM ministry in a postwar country like ours is not easy. The base has been open and closed three times now, due to the civil war. Now that we are open, the truth is that there are still challenges.

Most of our work for the past six months has been focused on training and evangelism, with some community development.

Training: DTS We are grateful to God for the Discipleship Training School (DTS) which has just finished. Because of limited resources, we thought that it was impossible to run this DTS. We were going through a transition and all we had on hand was $125.00(our piece of rod). We needed to do some repairs, recruit students, and scout out for speakers etc. Despite these challenges we still felt God speaking to us to go ahead. Two weeks to the opening of school we had only two students that send in their application forms. We continued this faith adventure with the setting up of the dorms and repairing the bath rooms.

Then we ran out of money five days before the school started, but the student numbers had increased to three, with no fees “Is it really you God that has told us to do this? This was the question we asked ourselves. Then, we still went further and borrowed $100.00 to buy food. We arranged to pay back the money, when the students had paid some fees.

But by the end of the first week we had five students and through a church in UK God provided additional $603.00 for YWAM Liberia. This amount was to be used for the DTS and other things including renovation. So we completed the dorms, the bathrooms for the students and amount left over was used to continue our base life. Wasn’t that awesome? From these experiences, we have developed a greater faith in God to supply our needs.

The lecture phase was a great blessing as students and staff met with God in powerful ways. Then we all went on outreach to Guinea, which borders Liberia on its northern perimeter. Our three hours prayer walk last year into Guinea with the Australian DTS team yielded its intended fruit. We worked with a church in Nzerekori, Guinea, three hours drive from the border with Liberia. We proclaimed the gospel with a drama on the heart of man, with translation into French and Kpelle, (the language of the major tribe in that community). At the end of the drama, ten people gave their lives to Christ. After this, we travelled into other villages and shared the gospel.

Leadership development

We are also working on a leadership development seminar with some churches in the Gardnersville area, a suburb of Monrovia. The problem in Liberia and the rest of Africa is leadership. We have resources, but we don’t have good managers. So, if the church can be challenged in this area, we believe, it will bring tremendous blessings. God told Adam to “take care of the garden”, Gen. 1:28. Our country needs godly leaders, who will champion the cause of the poor and needy. If there will be any transformation, it must start with the Christians. We are trying to develop Darrow Miller’s teaching, “Discipling Nations through Community Transformation” to make it relevant to the needs of our people.

Evangelism : We have had some of our presence felt in the offices and prison. But this year, we plan to take our drama team to schools, streets and use our mega phone in proclaiming Jesus Christ. We want to see more youth trained in the area of drama. For the past six months, we have been involved on one-on-one evangelism around the YWAM base. We have people from the community coming to our weekly community fellowship on Thursday evenings. It has been an exciting time. One evening an elderly man entered our fellowship and asks us to pray for him and his household to be committed to God. This brought joy to our heart to know that what we were doing was impacting our community.

Mercy Ministries: We plan on training community development facilitators and potential leaders, who will teach and mobilize their community in undertaking development programs. If you would like a copy of our project proposal to help raise funds for our community development projects, please don’t hesitate to contact us. There is a lot that you can do for Liberia right now. We need help in developing this ministry, especially people to come with passion and skills in community development.

Youth Ministry: Recently, we met with the representative of Lifeline-Liberia, Rev. Swallie. We believe that when two work together, they can be more effective, we are planning on entering into partnership with Lifeline in the area of youth development. We have targeted a community outside of Monrovia to erect a youth center. Activity in this center will include; soccer game, Bible teaching, indoor games, health talk on HIV/AIDS, and Hygiene. We plan to also get them involved in small community development project and a weekly interactive forum on reconciliation.

Praise And Prayers

Praise God for all of our staff and students
Praise God for the successful conclusion and graduation of the DTS.
Praise God for the level of peace, we are enjoying in Liberia. Praise God for Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf- President of Liberia and the Vice President Joseph Boakai.

Please join us in prayer for:-

--God’s protection for the team

--God’s impartation during the outreach.

--God’s provision for our base

--God’s provision for our staff needs

--More staff in the area of community development, youth ministry, fund raising

--one laptop computer to facilitate our communication.

God has been faithful to us, running a base in a postwar country like ours is not easy. The base has been open and closed three times now, due to the civil war. Now that we are open, the truth remains that there are still challenges. We need a minimum of $500 (exchanging staff fees) to run this base monthly. The staff are contributing a little toward this amount; most of them are finding it difficult to raise even $25.00 per month to contribute to community life. It will cost $75.00 for a single person to live basically in Liberia. For a family of three, it will cost $150.00 monthly. This is a real challenge for us. So could you please join us in prayer for base and staff support.

Yours in His Service

Jamil M. Kromah

Base Leader

If you would like to support the work of YWAM Liberia financially, by sending a donation for the DTS or for staff support, please contact Jamil Kromah on ywamliberia@yahoo.com.

Also if you are sending money within or through the UK, please send your donation to

Sue Pratt, Highfield Oval, Ambrose Lane, Harpenden, Herts. AL5 4BX.

Please make the cheque out to Youth With A Mission. Thankyou very much-- Sue Pratt spratt@oval.com

Rainbow Town Update

2008-04-16T13:27:00.000-04:00

Update from RAINBOW TOWN IN GBARNGA, BONG COUNTY, LIBERIA

From: Jackson Quenisear [mailto:jgermeni@yahoo.com]

Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 10:52 AM

To: Gene Brooks

Subject: Re: March 08 update

Praise the Lord for His love, goodness and grace. His grace is all sufficient for us at all time.

The gardener rejoices when his garden produces fresh fruits for his effort is rewarded. So much the more when the loving parents see their children growing in the Lord.

OUR CHILDREN

Our children have not only being blessed during this reporting period. They also were source of blessings to others during this Easter break.

They were involved in a Vacation Bible School organized by Gorpu Gudugba and implemented with Harriet Quenisear and others in Gbarnga, Bong County. Gorpu Gudugba is the supervisor of the caretakers at Rainbow Town. There were time of singing, praising and quizzing. Rainbow Town children did well and were praised for the part they played.

EASTER WEEK/ GOOD FRIDAY

Three of our children from Rainbow Town took part in GOOD FRIDAY celebration with Grace Baptist Church in Gbarnga, Bong County saying three of Jesus’ last words on the cross. They were the only children that said from memory.

EASTER SUNDAY

All except the 4-7 years old of our children were taken in our truck to Grace Baptist Church for Easter Sunday celebration. It was a REAL CELEBRATION! Our two Choirs---the children and the young adult sang beautifully to bless all in Grace Baptist Church. There was also a Bible quizzing between the children of Grace Baptist Church and Rainbow Town. Rainbow Town children won by 90-75 over Grace Baptist children. This was the beginning of taking our children to minister to others in churches outside of Rainbow Town environment. It is intended to encourage both our children, churches and ministries to get more involve with children ministry in Liberia that is still very hard for churches.

RAINBOW TOWN DINING HALL

Praise the Lord for CHILDREN donors in London. We have received some funds over two years from children in London through the faithfulness of Dr. John Meadley. The funds have been added up to start our dinning hall now up to roof level. We need to lay the floor, plaster the wall and put up the roof. There are three main rooms in the dinning hall; a store for food, a store room for toys and a big dinning room. After the dinning hall is completed, the children will sit and eat in a dignified manner good for all children. We are trusting the Lord that the funds for the furniture to come soon from the donors.

GARDEN

Our garden continue to grow with plan to expand our rice farm. There is a plan to plant 7 acres with Water Melons, Cabbage and Lettuce and 10 acres of swamp rice. Pray with us for success in all are of our lives. We need more funds, faithful and hard working man power.

SCHOOL

The school continues with both the students and teachers motivated. What is more interesting is the awaken interest of the parents in their children’s learning. The PTA meeting has been well attended by parents from the community---villages around.

These are parents from the community whose children come to school at Britt T. Academy, Rainbow Town.

PRAYER LISTS:

Pray with us for three of our children visiting the hospital this week for check up. Moses Ricks and Jerry Mulbah were involved in an accident 2006. They have had problem with urinating. A special Dr. has been contacted to check them and give a record of what can be done. Cecelia Flomo recently cried from heart arch. She is also going to be checked along with Moses and Jerry. Praise the Lord for all that He is blessing us without limit and for the one He is going to do.

Prepared by:

Jackson Queninsear.

Christian Revival Concludes first convention

2008-03-05T14:25:00.000-05:00

Source: The Analyst, Liberian newspaper

(Pictured: Konia Christian Revival Church, Lofa County)

The first annual conference of the Christian Revival Churches Association (CRCA) last Saturday, January, 5, 2008 concluded with over seven hundred delegates rejoicing and praising God over the rapid growth that the indigenous ministry has achieved in a short time.

At the final ceremony of the six day event that was held in Konia, Lofa County, the Mission Director of the CRCA, Pastor Dennis T. Aggrey, told delegates to attach importance to the theme of the conference from 1 Peter 2:4-10, where the Bible relates that all believers are priests.

Telling his attentive audience that the time for bench- warming or acting as spectators is over, the young clergyman urged all of the delegates to return to their communities in preparedness to impact them with the saving message of Jesus Christ.

Re-echoing the sermon of the keynote preacher, former Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary President, Dr. Lincoln Brownell, Rev. Aggrey admonished the gathering that being a holy nation and royal priesthood of God, has its corresponding responsibilities that believers must grapple with, including active witnessing and discipling of that nation for Jesus Christ.

“It is time for two-by-two outreach into other communities; for long have a lot of you been saved to be contented with only your salvation. We will not tolerate such selfishness anymore. Get up and stir Jesus everywhere with the rich messages you have heard at this conference,” he emphasized.

The Christian Revival Church Association (CRCA) is an umbrella body of semi-autonomous indigenous revival churches championing rural outreach as a focal point of conveying the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Transforming lives through providing for spiritual renewal and physical empowerment. The association has established branches in five counties including Bomi, Gbarpolu, Montserrado, Margibi, and Lofa.

With extensive local and external partnerships, the CRCA is dubbing the Jesus film in various vernaculars including Lorma and Gola to assist its outreach amongst rural Liberians. Though not yet fully disclosed by the Elder Board, the next annual conference is slated for Tumukolia, in Gbarpolu County by December.

The Konia Conference was graced by the presence of two family allies of the Association, in persons of Albert and Ms. Carla Schukoske and John and Miles Coggins. While the two families participated in the training sessions for church leaders and workers, it is particularly notable that the Coggins, as a normal act of philanthropy, procured a new generator for the Konia Church and school and also carried out an extensive electrification of the new compound. This is a repeat of the chore that they completed in Monrovia last year.

Oldman Bardi Zeon arrangements

2008-03-05T09:13:00.000-05:00

From: James Kesselly [mailto:james.kesselly@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 7:50 AM
To: Lovers of ELWA
Subject: Oldman Bardi Zeon

The body of Oldman Bardi Zeon is expected to be removed from the Good Shepherd Funeral Home on Friday, 14 March. to the Antioch Baptist Church, Zoewolon, Paynesville-ELWA area where funeral services will be held.

Meanwhile family meetings are being held at residence of the deceased to plan the funeral services and to see how best the related expenses can be covered. The next family meeting is scheduled for Sunday, 8 March at 4pm GMT. Rebecca Bardi Godu, daughter of the deceased can be reached at cell number +231 564 068

James S. Kesselly
ELWA Ministry Association
Post Office Box 192
Monrovia, Liberia
Website: www.elwaministries.org
Email: james.kesselly@elwaministries.org
Cell Phone +231 6 521 821 [US prefix 011}

EQUIP: CHE, Wat/San, Medical, Food training

2008-03-02T21:48:00.001-05:00

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Catch Missionary Medicine Intensive March 30 - April 10, May 18 - 29, July 13 -24 (in Canada), September 7 - 18.
Learn Water Technologies & Filters - April 13 - 18, September 28 - October 3.
Pick up Well Drilling - April 20 - 25, October 5 -10.
Do Community Health Evangelism TOT 1 - June 1- 6, September 21 - 26, July 27 - August 1 (in Canada).
Top it off with Food Production - May 4 - 16 and
Construction Tech - April 27 - May 2, October 26 - 31.
For more information, see..http://www.equipinternational.com

ELWA: Oldman Badi Zeon's death

2008-03-01T16:11:00.000-05:00

This is to announce the death of Oldman Badi Zeon, one of the first carpenter at ELWA. He passed away this afternoon, Saturday, 1 March at the daugher's residence at about 6:15 pm.

Funeral arrangement will be announced later.

James S. Kesselly

ELWA Ministry Association

Post Office Box 192

Monrovia, Liberia

Website: www.elwaministries.org

Email: james.kesselly@elwaministries.org Cell Phone +231 6 521 821 [US prefix 011}

Buchanan Railroad jobs

2008-02-28T09:32:00.002-05:00

From a post on the Liberia network on Facebook from Adriano Brasil (Liberia) wrote
at 1:30pm on February 26th, 2008:

Hello, we are working on a Railroad rehabilitation project in Buchanan, Liberia.

We are looking for experienced administrative and technical professionals, local or expat.

If you are interested, please send your resume and contact info to pacb_brasil@hotmail.com, with "Liberia" in the subject.

Buchanan: Youth leaders trained

2008-02-26T22:27:00.001-05:00

YOUTH LEADERS’ TRAINING SEMINAR

PHASE ONE WEEK TWO

February 23, 2008

February 23, 2008 was the second day of the Youth Leadership Training Seminar, which the JESUS EVANGELISM MINISTRIES INC (JEM) started on February 16, 2008.

There seem to be no vibrant youth ministry in the city of Buchanan and its environs now. Youth ministry in the local churches is very weak. If this problem is not dealt with in the shortest possible time, we can surely predict what will become of the local churches in the years to come. For the youth are the future leaders of the church. If we neglect training and equipping them, we are surely neglecting the dream of having a strong Bible believing church. With this mind, JEM had decided to use this year as a year of training and equipping youth leaders of the churches in Buchanan and other places in Liberia.

At about 9:00AM, on February 23, Youth Leaders started to flock in for the seminar at the Buchanan Open Bible Standard Church, located at Central Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, Liberia.

After the registration, Pastor Matthew Malachi of the United Liberia Church led the devotion from the text 1 Peter 5:7. The devotion was a time of discussion. The group discussed on “WHAT IS WORRY?”, “WHAT CAUSES WORRY” and “HOW CAN WE CAST OUR WORRY ON HIM?”

The rate of teenage pregnancy and unwanted pregnancy is getting high among the youth causing school age girls to drop from school. To help solve this problem, we decided to have as one of our topics, “CHRISTIAN DATING”.

The first speaker, Rev. Tom Teyon Logan, pastor of the Buchanan Open Bible Standard Church, and graduate of the African Bible College, in Yekepa, Liberia, spoke on the topic “CHRISTIAN DATING”. In his teaching, the speaker brought out these points:

WHAT IS DATING?
WHEN SHOULD WE DATE?
HOW SHOULD WE DATE?
WHERE TO FIND OUR DATE?
WHO TO DATE?
WHAT TO AVOID ON A DATE?

The second speaker was Rev. Benjamin T. Munford. He spoke on the topic: “LEADERSHIP” from the book called “THE 21 IRREFUTABLE LAWS OF LEADERSHIP”. He dealt with Law four through Law five. Below are the laws and their interpretations:

LAW FOUR: THE LAW OF NAVIGATION which says, “Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to cart the course”. “A leader is one who sees more than others see; one who sees further than others see; one who sees before others see”.

LAW FIVE: THE LAW OF E.F. HUTTON which says, “When the real leader speaks, people listen”. He brought out the seven things that make real leaders which are:

CHARACTER –Who they are
RELATIONSHIP –Who they know
KNOWLEDGE –What they know
INTUITION –What they feel
EXPERIENCE –Where they’ve been
PAST SUCCESS –What they’ve done
ABILITY –What they can do

Our last session was held after lunch. During this last session, we were blessed to watch a film on leadership. It is a video on the 2005 leadership summit at Willow. The speaker was Rick Warren. He spoke on “LEADERSHIP IN STEWARDSHIP”. His text was Exodus 14. He brought out the following points:

What is in your hand? Moses’ rod represented his:

· Identity

· Income

· Influence

Moses lay threw his rod on the ground and it become alive

When we throw our identity, our income and influence to the ground; it’s not about us but about God, He will make ministry come alive.
After this the rod of Moses was referred to as the rod of God
The rod of God was used to perform great miracles

The five Goliaths of the world

· Spiritual emptiness

· Egocentric Leadership

· Poverty

· Disease

· Illiteracy

His Peace Plan

· P—Promote reconciliation

· E—Equip Leaders

· A—Assist the Poor

· C—Care for the sick

· E—Educate the next generation

The seminar ended at 2:15PM with about 33 youth leaders from 10 local churches in attendance.

Kindly keep us in prayer for the third week of the first phase training which will be on March 1, 2008 at the Buchanan Open Bible Standard Church.

Many thanks.

Submitted by Rev. Benjamin T. Munford

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

JEM

Email: bentmunford@yahoo.com

Tel: 2317-701-1472

YWAM Liberia Report

2008-02-24T07:36:00.002-05:00

From: Alfred Varney [ thevarneys71@yahoo.com ]
Sent: Saturday, February 09, 2008 7:23 AM
To: ywamliberia@yahoo.com
Subject: DTS outreach in Ganta

THANK GOD WE MADE IT!
YES! We are in Nimba, Nimba county far in Eastern Liberia by the border with Guinea. We are seven in number (five students and two staff)

Just about an hour into our journey we had a breakdown. Can you imagine, it was in the same town that the van broke down in November last year while taking the Australian DTS to Ganta. But this time around we did not take anything for granted. While the vehicle was been repaired we join our hands together in prayer, reminding the devil of his defeat on Calvary and our victory over him in Christ Jesus. Though the five hour journey took us seven hours because of the breakdown, we did not have any breakdown after that prayer. By 9:20 local time we arrived in Ganta.

We spent our first full day yesterday prayer walking in Ganta. Ganta is a gateway city to and from Guinea and Ivory Coast, just at the border with Guinea. Nimba county is considered as the spiritual gateway to Liberia - with peoples of strong fetish powers and deeply entrenched in secret societies. With Ganta so close to Guinea (which is predominantly Muslim), Islam is gradually taking root again, especially in Ganta due to the migration of Muslim Fulani's and Mandingo's into Liberia seeking for business opportunities.
We will be here for three weeks working with churches doing evangelism through drama. We are also planning a one day youth conference before we leave for our two weeks outreach into Guinea.

Our stay here for this week has been very fruitful. We are reaching out in two communities: Woe and Gbesela (with strong fetish, witchcraft practice and secret society). From our two days of evangelism along with a local church planted there by Bethel World Outreach Ministries, 57 adults and youths give their lives to Christ. We will continue with house to house evangelism on Saturday and then climax the week with a church service on Sunday at the Bethel Church. The Bethel church was not allowed to build any church building in Gbesela and so they moved to Woe Town just 5 mins walking from there. During our outreach in Gbesela yesterday 32 people give their lives to Christ. We also did some mercy ministry. So please continue to pray with us. Those communities need Jesus. We will be visiting the Ghetto today along with another church. Surely we bless the Lord for His move.

Our first two weeks in Monrovia was also wonderful. 157 people give their lives to Christ through the drama and one-on-one evangelism on the streets.

Well Beloved, we honestly need your prayer,for without which our efforts will count for nothing. Please also continue to join us in faith as we are still trusting God for financial provision, especially for our outreach in Guinea.

Thank you yah and God bless you o o.
Alfred
DTS Leader

"No more US bases in Africa"

2008-02-21T10:55:00.000-05:00

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2274310,00.html

'No more US bases in Africa'
20/02/2008 15:11 - (SA)

Accra - United States President George W Bush said on Wednesday that the US
had no plans to build new military bases in Africa, amid concerns on the
continent about a new Africom command now based in Germany.

"We do not contemplate adding new bases," Bush said, on the second-to-last
stop of a five-country Africa swing, during a joint press conference with
Ghana President John Kufuor.

"I know there's rumours in Ghana - 'all Bush is coming to do is trying to
convince you to put a big military base here.' That's baloney. Or as we say
in Texas, 'that's bull,'" Bush said.

"That doesn't mean we won't develop some kind of office somewhere in Africa.
We haven't made our minds up. This is a new concept," Bush explained, amid
deep suspicion on the continent about the purpose of Africom.

'We've got an issue in Darfur'

Some African critics had tied the project to the fact that, by 2015,
Washington expected that 25% of the oil it imported would come from the
continent, essentially from the Gulf of Guinea.

Bush rejected the premise: "It is a command structure that is aiming to help
provide military assistance to African nations, so African nations are more
capable of dealing with Africa's conflicts, like peacekeeping training."

He added: "We've got an issue in Darfur that we've got to all work together
to solve, and I'm very pleased that the African Union (AU) and the United
Nations hybrid force should be moving in there. I'd like to see it move in
quicker."

He said: "I want to dispel the notion that all of a sudden America is, you
know, bringing all kinds of military to Africa. It's just simply not true.
The whole purpose of Africom is to help leaders deal with African problems."

World's 8th exporter of crude oil

Confronted by a lack of enthusiasm for Africom, Washington had been doing
its best to sound reassuring.

At the end of January, US diplomat Geoffrey Martineau told the Nigerian
parliament that America did not intend either to put military bases in
Africa or to invade the oil-rich Niger Delta.

Nigeria was the world's eighth exporter of crude oil and the fifth supplier
to the US. Nigeria had already refused to host Africom and had made known
its unwillingness to have it based "anywhere on African soil".

The US government announced early in the year that the Defence Department
was creating a US Africa Command headquarters to coordinate all American
military and security interests throughout the continent.

The American military involvement in Africa had so far been shared among the
US European Command, the US Central Command and the US Pacific Command, and
Africom is currently based in Germany, while a continental location is
evisaged in the longer term.

AFP

Liberian Youth find threats in US

2008-02-20T13:42:00.003-05:00

NPR: Liberian Youth in U.S. Find Threat from New Violence

Youth leaders trained in Buchanan

2008-02-19T23:37:00.002-05:00

YOUTH LEADERS’ TRAINING SEMINAR

PHASE ONE WEEK ONE

February 16, 2008

During the past three years, THE JESUS EVANGELISM MINISTRIES INC. (JEM) has been conducting series of seminars for pastors, church leaders and lay leaders.

This year 2008, however, JEM had decided to concentrate on training and equipping youth leaders from various churches. This, we hope will enable our young people to become better future leaders of our churches and nations tomorrow. If we are able to establish a vibrant youth ministry through our training program, we can ensure having an efficient and effective youth ministry in our churches.

Our first phase of Youth Leaders’ Training for this year started February 16, 2008, at the Open Bible Standard Church, in the city of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, Liberia. It commenced from 9:00AM to 2:15PM.

The first speaker, Pastor Love W. Gibson, spoke on the topic “HIV/AIDS”. In his teaching, the speaker brought out these points:

Definition of HIV and AIDS
Where HIV/AIDS is found
What is Safe Sex
AIDS transmission
Full Blown AIDS

Our first speaker works with Samaritan's Purse Liberia as County Coordinator for the OVC (ORPHANS and VENERABLE CHILDREN) Program which is a section of the HIV/AIDS Department.

The second speaker was Rev. Benjamin T. Munford. He spoke on the topic: “THE 21 IRREFUTABLE LAWS OF LEADERSHIP”. He dealt with Law one through Law three. Below are the laws and their interpretations:

LAW ONE: THE LAW OF THE LID which says, “Leadership ability determines a person’s level of effectiveness”

LAW TWO: THE LAW OF INFLUENCE which says, “The true measure of leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less”

LAW THREE: THE LAW OF PROGRESS which says, “Leadership develops daily and not in a day"

After lunch, we have our last session. During this last session, we witness a film called “The Ancient Path”. It is a video on Church Planting Training for Oral Cultures. The speaker brought out the following points:

The process of Church Planting

Story Tell in Church Planting

Stories of the Beginning
Abraham’s Stories
Stories of the Prophets
Jesus Stories
Stories of God’s Community
Stories of the Apostles

The seminar ended at 2:15PM with about 35 youth leaders from 10 local churches in attendance.

Kindly keep us in prayer for the second week training of phase one which will be on February 23, 2008 at the Open Bible Standard Church.

Many thanks.

Submitted by Rev. Benjamin T. Munford

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

JEM

Konia Baptism featured on webshots.com

2008-01-24T18:50:00.000-05:00

This picture in Dennis Aggrey's account on webshots.com was the featured picture of the day on January 23, 2008. It is a shot of a baptism at the Christian Revival Fellowship Church in 2005 in Konia, Lofa County, Liberia. Congratulations, Dennis!

ELWA January 2008 Report

2008-01-23T11:42:00.000-05:00

From James Kesselly, ELWA's general manager:

ELWA Radio Anniversary – The 54^th Anniversary of ELWA Radio was celebrated on Friday, 18 January 2007 with the dedication of the new short wave transmitter and ground-breaking for the construction of a new studio building which will be rebuilt on the former foundation of the building destroyed during the Liberian civil war. A major project [LR-95107 ELWA Radio Restoration Phase III] has been written by SIM to raise funds towards this project and for digital equipment, staff training, etc. This project is intended to address the problem of limited studio facilities and inadequate space for offices. Fund Drive in the amount of US$175,000.00 was also launched in support of the new studio building construction. Initial collection received during the celebration was US$1500.00 and L$25,940.00 equivalent of US$411.75.

Resumption of Short Wave Broadcast – Since the breakdown of the short wave transmitter in July of 2006, ELWA Radio again resumed transmission on a 5000 watts transmitter on 27 November 2007, broadcasting into the interior of Liberia on 4760 kHz, 60 meter band and on 6070 kHz, 49 meter band especially for the benefit of rural listeners across Liberia and beyond to neighboring countries. This was made possible by the grace of God through the skillful and helping hands of John & Ruth Stanley. However, the transmitter is operating on low power at 2 kilo watts. Presently, we broadcast 9 Liberian languages in fifteen minute segments. Our intent is to increase these broadcasts to 30-minute each day and to add 3 additional languages, [Bandi, Vai and Mandingo] when funding is available. The Current language broadcast runs from 6 pm – 7:30 pm with the hope of extending the time to 8:15 pm.

FM Broadcast – As a result of repair works on the power supply of 2000 watts FM amplifier by the Stanleys, the FM signal has significantly improved within the Monrovia, according to recent reception reports, the broadcast is now heard in all part of the city and reaching 100 miles into the interior.

Digital Broadcasting The Station has been able to acquire some digital equipment and have hire an expert in digital broadcasting to help conduct in house training for announcers This is a major step towards upgrading the studio equipment from analog to digital. The switch over from analog to digital has greatly improved the sound quality.

Major Needs/Prayer Points - Construction of new studio building, program sponsorship, digital broadcast equipment & training, short wave broadcast, especially the Liberian Languages.

Hospital Ministry

HIV/AIDS Program – ELWA Hospital main objective is to provide both quality healthcare and spiritual witness. Hence, the Counseling Department has been striving to fulfill this objective through these means:

Prevention Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) Program – An intensive one month message of prevention, treatment and awareness on HIV/AIDS were carried out at the ELWA Clinic and within eight (8) communities from door-to-door around the Monrovia area, using videos & other communication tools. The campaign did encourage many to get tested for the HIIV virus, also prevented some from becoming infected.

Rice Farm Project – Six-acre of land was acquired for a rice farm project which yielded 56 bags of seed rice in 2006 - 2007. Portion was sold and the balance was processed and shared among members of the support group members of People Living With AIDS (PLWA) for the Christmas Holiday. The purpose of the project was to provide food security, nutritional supplements and therapy for the PLWA’s. The farm project for 2008 will be mainly vegetables and other crops.

Home-Based Care – the home-based care has been an “intervention strategy” which has help greatly to lower the death rate among PLWAs. Nutritional supplements and some special drug are key part of the strategy. The World Food Program (WFP) have been very helpful in providing the nutritional supplements which includes: bulgur wheat, oil, beans, sugar and corn soya blend (CSB),

Sanitary Improvements – In light of the challenge to improve sanitation, series of measures have been taken to address the situation. These includes: erection of “zinc round pit” outside of the Hospital fence for medical waste disposal [the Hospital is still trying to figure out the use of the incinerator constructed by the Cedarville team in May 2007], scrubbing floors on the wards and renovation of the male ward. Next is the renovation of the semi-private ward.

Security Lights – to help with night time security, street lights have been installed in some of the strategic areas around the Hospital premises. Next “target” is the Clinic area.

Launching of Strategic Plan – Official launching of the ELWA Hospital 3-Year Strategic Plan is slated for Friday, 25 January 2008 at the ELWA Hospital. Key components includes: Establishment of a Drug Revolving Fund, HIV/AIDS Education & Awareness, expansion of Hospital infrastructure & medical services and improvements in staff welfare.

Drug Purchase on Account – Due to funding issues and delay in getting the IDA drug order in a timely fashion, it has been very difficult to keep adequate supply of drugs on the shelves, thus separate agreements have been entered into with the Christian Health Association of Liberia (CHAL), the National Drug Service (NDS) and Abeer Pharmaceuticals to purchase drugs on account. This does not completely solve the problem but it does help to get some immediate supply of drugs on the shelf in a timely manner and delay on-the-spot payment for a period of time.

Major Needs/Prayer Points - Adequate drugs & medical supplies, ambulance service, rehabilitation of morgue, collection of unpaid bills, repair of aging roof over the older buildings, SIM project # - LR 95204 ELWA Hospital Renovation Phase 4) is raise funds for this purpose and other needs.

School Ministry

Computer Training – Hopefully by early 2008, ELWA Academy in partnership with Trinity Computer Solutions will offer computer education for students, staff and community members for an affordable fee. Currently, portion of the ELWA Academy Library space is being used to set up the computer lab.

Founder’s Day Celebration – ELWA Academy on 30 November 2007, celebrated its 5^th Anniversary with indoor and outdoor activities. Friendly soccer and kickball matches were held with the Alpha Academy of the Paynesville-ELWA community. ELWA Academy won all her games, kickball 39:9 and soccer 2:0. The Students were divided into four groups, using the colors red, blue, green and yellow for the time of fun and fellowship.

Academic & Extracurricular Activities

§ All 18 students from the ELWA Academy who sat the national primary exams for academic year 2006/2007 passed with “flying colors”. Reasons being that the national curriculum and syllabus for this special exam were carefully taught to the students. Result of this exam is highly recognized by the Government.

§ Every other Friday, the Academy will conduct quizzing in the following subjects: Math, Science, Social Studies, English and Bible after recess period for the elementary and junior high level students as a means of developing their intellect and also to be able to handle stage fright.

Junior High Level Permit – ELWA Academy NOW has permit to operate on the junior high level

from the Government after meeting the SET requirements. Major activities included painting of the buildings,

installation of functioning door locks and sanitary improvements, particularly, additional toilet facilities.

Major Needs/Prayer Points – Timely collection of fees, stationeries [mainly sheets, 6 reams/marking period],

lateness of students, workshop for teachers during vacation breaks and partnership with churches for the

spiritual & character development of teachers.

Campus Services & Facilities

Power Grid – In order to compete the Power Plant Upgrade, there is a need to: acquire a 150 kva generator to paralleled with present generators for better redundancy and capacity, with the major advantage of generators automatically starting , synchronizing and adjusting loads. Also stopping generators to meet load demands with no operator input needed, replace some transformers for better efficiency, change power set up from 60 Hz to 50 Hz in preparation for hook-up into Government power grid and improve overhead lines as a preventive measure.

Campus Security – Crime rate on the campus has reduced greatly as a result of the improved patrol

system, regular monitoring of guard posts, extension of coverage areas, coupled with the availability of a

patrol motorbike and hand held radios provided by Samaritan Purse, an International NGO residing on the ELWA

Compound.

Major Needs/Prayer Points – Processing of work orders, safety for work crews, Fuel purchase/inventory,

Collection of unpaid power bills, Increased security manpower with good pay structure, guesthouse renovation

& expansion Plan and Completion of the ELWA Services/Administrative Office building to allow the ELWA

Academy upgrade to full junior high level. ELWA Services Office/Campus Upgrade LR-95348 is open to

receive funds for the completion of the office building and to purchase a grader, tractor, etc.

Central Administration

Strengthening of Central Administration - As part of the process of strengthening the ELWA Administrative

Office, applications are in process to bring on staff a comptroller to provide financial expertise to the ELWA

Institutions and to relieve the office of the ELWA General Manager from some of these responsibilities so that

his office can begin to build a strong presence of the ELWA Ministries into communities across the country.

Our BIG Dream - ELWA has a desire to connect with local churches which we strongly feel will promote

and DRIVE the current “national initiatives” as well as stimulate prayer and financial support for the work of

ELWA. This will also help to SHAPE and maximize the kingdom effects of ELWA’s outreach activities.

Regrettably, ELWA has not being able to go beyond mere casual relationships with local churches into

establishing strategic alliance and collaborations that will create a sense of ownership of the ELWA

Ministries. Formation of a national association to stand behind ELWA has been a major CHALLENGE for the

ELWA Board and the Management Team. The Board has constituted a Membership & Publicity Committee

which we hope, this time around, will get the process off the grounds.

Major Needs/Prayer Points – Recruitment of Comptroller & Personnel Manager, Funding of “ELWA

Leadership Empowerment” Project [LR-95503] to purchase: used vehicle, office equipment, office

supplies, office Furniture, etc for the office of the ELWA’s General Manager

John Mark Sheppard

2008-01-20T23:08:00.001-05:00

If' you're a Liberiaphile like we are, you'd really enjoy bookmarking John Mark Sheppard's blog (http://www.xanga.com/coraplayer) where he rafts dangerous Liberian rivers and is in search of undiscovered reptiles in the jungle forests. In his spare time, he works for Samaritan's Purse.

You might know his parents if you don't know him already: Mark and Nancy Sheppard of Baptist Mid-Missions.

General Butt Naked tells all

2008-01-20T22:56:00.000-05:00

Liberian warlord, General Butt Naked: "Any time we captured a town, I had to make a human sacrifice"

http://peetfamilyinliberia.blogspot.com/2008/01/liberian-warlord-general-butt-naked-any.html

Charles Taylor trial & other news

2008-01-20T22:03:00.000-05:00

From Plantains and Palm Trees blog

Ruthie Ackerman's article in The Nation on the reintegration of ex-combatants. She highlights the corruption in the Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DDRR) process.
Mike Corder's AP article. Corder talks about trial evidence showing that a jet formerly used by the Seattle Supersonics NBA team was used to smuggle Ukrainian weapons into Liberia during the war.
The Trial of Charles Taylor website. The site continues to post trial transcripts and commentary. This transcript of the cross-examination of a prosecution witness shows how complicated it can be to translate a rural West African concept of time with the dates and numbers that are needed for an accurate narrative of events to be determined
There is a mini-documentary on ex-combatants in Liberia that aired on PBS this morning. The video is available online by going to their blog and then clicking on the second image on the page.

They interview the guy who always sat outside Abi Jaoudi in the evening with the little wooden box. Apparently there is a communal system; different men sit there throughout the day, and at night they share the profits from the small donations.
There is a great documentary called Iron Ladies of Liberia, directed by Daniel Junge and Siatta Scott Johnson, a Liberian woman. It was part of the African Diaspora Film Festival.

Guinean gunmen attack, assault 8 on Nimba border

2008-01-14T21:29:00.000-05:00

Liberia: Unknown Gun Men Attack Commercial Bus in Guinea
AllAfrica.com Mon, 14 Jan 2008 7:28 AM PST

http://allafrica.com/stories/200801140973.html
A Toyota bus marked TB-1629 carrying eight occupants over the weekend came under attack by a group of unknown gunmen who are said to be based in the Republic of Guinea; Liberia's northern border country. Eye witnesses said three persons were wounded in the incident.

A Liberian mud hole

2008-01-09T23:29:00.000-05:00

On the Lofa Road returning to Monrovia, we came upon this sight somewhere in Lofa County. This is a heavy transport truck stuck in a mud hole. It is likely from Guinea bringing things to sell in Monrovia. When we got there midday, the truck had been stuck since 5pm the day before.

I have great video of this scene and our trucks hitting the mud to show you if I can overcome this slow dial-up connection somehow.

Christian Revival Fellowship in Lofa County

2008-01-09T23:24:00.000-05:00

In November 2007, Chestnut Ridge Baptist Church in Laurens, SC, sent a team to Liberia in cooperation with Living Water Carolinas. This trip was to Konia, Lofa County.

This is the Christian Revival Fellowship Church in Bomi Hills, Lofa County, Liberia, West Africa. I preached here two times. The building stands out because it has a metal roof and is newly painted and clean. Very few buildings look this good this far north.

Here is a picture of David Humphries preaching in the church. He is country director with his wife, Judy, for Living Water Carolinas. They were leaders on our team.

Here is the painting of Jesus inside the church and a close up.

TRC, Taylor, Market women

2008-01-09T22:21:00.001-05:00

First public hearings for Liberia's truth and reconciliation commission
AFP via Yahoo! News Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:51 PM PST

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080108/wl_africa_afp/liberiapoliticsrights_080108205122
Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) held its first public hearings Tuesday, in an attempt to shed light on crimes committed during 14 years of brutal civil war which ended in 2003.

War Crimes Trial Resumes for Liberia's Taylor
NPR Tue, 08 Jan 2008 4:23 PM PST

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17938548&ft=1&f=1001
The war crimes trial of the former Liberian president has resumed in the Hague. A survivor of the atrocities provides grim testimony to the brutality inflicted by rebel soldiers in Liberia. Charles Taylor is accused of orchestrating rape, murder and mutilation and using child soldiers during the civil war in Sierra Leone.

Liberia: Monrovia District Conference Condemns Information Minister's Statements Against the Christian Church
AllAfrica.com Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:11 AM PST

http://allafrica.com/stories/200801080783.html
The Monrovia District Conference of the Liberia Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church has reacted sharply to recent statements made by Liberia’s Information Minister, Rev. Dr. Laurence K. Bropleh, in which he said, “Our National Legislature needs to revisit the exclusivity of national holidays granted to the Christian religion, and think of a more equitable religious arrangement.”

Liberia: Market Women Help Revive Economy
AllAfrica.com Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:26 AM PST

http://allafrica.com/stories/200801080789.html
To the untutored eye of a visitor from elsewhere, the markets in Liberia and many other African countries seem chaotic, noisy, smelly, dirty and often dangerous. Traders and shoppers alike are wary of ever-present pickpockets or, more threatening, criminals.

CRFCA Convention in Konia, Lofa County

2007-12-28T14:34:00.000-05:00

The Association of Christian Revival Fellowship Churches is having its inaugural convention December 26-30, 2007, in Konia, Lofa County, Liberia.

Rev. Dennis Aggrey is mission director for the association which expects 500 messengers for the five day event.

Besides Rev. Aggrey, speakers at the event include Mr. Al Schukoske of Liberty Baptist Church (SBC) in Birmingham, AL, and Dr. Lincoln Brownell, former president of Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary in Monrovia.

The association, now sixteen churches in Liberia, is growing rapidly, having planted ten churches in 2007 alone. The great need is leadership training.

The association is Baptist in theology and indigenous in its worship.

Through Dennis Aggrey, the association partners with a number of churches and ministries in the United States including Liberty Baptist (SBC) Church in Birmingham, AL; Samaritan's Purse in Boone, NC; Living Water Carolinas in Greenville, SC; Brookwood Church in Simpsonville, SC; Chestnut Ridge Baptist Church (SBC) in Laurens, SC; and Amis Chapel Baptist Church in Oxford, NC, and a number of other ministries and churches.

AFRICOM in Liberia?

2007-12-27T23:44:00.000-05:00

Nigeria has turned the US down, but Liberia wants AFRICOM

Sammy Tippit in Liberia

2007-12-27T22:24:00.000-05:00

Surprise e-mail begins a dream of transforming Liberia

Full story: http://www.MNNonline.org/article/10719

Liberia (MNN) -- A few years ago, Evangelist Sammy Tippit received a desperate e-mail from a man he'd never met. The man was a Liberian pastor who had searched out ten American pastors online. Tippit says, "He wrote all ten. I was one of them, he sent an e-mail to, and I was the only one who responded to him. He said, 'Our country is in war, we're devastated. Would you consider coming?'" And Tippit went. Now he has a heart to begin a God-size change in the country. Tippit says, in a sense, they'd like to adopt Liberia. Liberia's vice president has even asked Tippit to come back to help the country rebuild. The next step is getting the word out. "I pray that there will be partners that the Lord would touch here in America who say, 'Hey, we can provide some doctors. Hey, we can provide some construction workers. We can provide some things to go in and make a total impact" -- not just socially, but spiritually as well, which we're already doing." Learn more about Tippit's vision for Liberia at our Web site.

Latest news

2007-12-19T15:18:00.000-05:00

Liberia: International Contact Group Statement
AllAfrica.com Mon, 17 Dec 2007 9:42 AM PST

http://allafrica.com/stories/200712171524.html
The International Contact Group on Liberia (ICGL) welcomes the recent decision by the Board of the World Bank to clear Liberia's outstanding arrears, and the announcement by the International Monetary Fund that it has secured sufficient financing pledges from member countries to allow the Fund to provide debt relief to Liberia.

Liberia: Ellen, Bryant Hold Talks
AllAfrica.com Mon, 17 Dec 2007 7:26 AM PST

http://allafrica.com/stories/200712171210.html
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has held a meeting in Monrovia with the former Chairman of the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL), Mr. Gyude Bryant.

Liberia: George Haddad Stopped From Traveling
AllAfrica.com Mon, 17 Dec 2007 7:12 AM PST

http://allafrica.com/stories/200712171195.html
Barely two weeks after he was apprehended and grilled in connection with the sale of iron ore in 2004 by the National Transitional Government of Liberia, Lebanese business tycoonl George Haddad has been barred from leaving the country.

Liberia government offers Africa model
MSNBC Sun, 16 Dec 2007 2:28 PM PST

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22285777/
Rarely in Africa has the human cost of war and greed been clearer than in this dingy, broken, sweltering corner of hell that is Liberia. Yet nowhere has the expectation of change created so much hope.

Comium to cover Liberia

2007-12-19T13:47:00.000-05:00

Comium Will Cover All of The Counry
AllAfrica.com Tue, 18 Dec 2007 7:15 AM PST
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712180738.html
The Executive Chairman of Comium Liberia, Monie R. Captan, said the company is committed to its numerous subscribers and would do everything to cover the entire country soon.

News: Firestone, Hotel Africa, Comium

2007-12-11T14:04:00.000-05:00

UNMIL Deploys Extra Security in Firestone
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712110877.html
The UN Mission in Liberia, (UNMIL) has supported the Liberia National Police (LNP) to restore calm and order on the Firestone Rubber Plantation in Harbel, Margibi County, following last week's violent disturbances.

South African Firm Brings Us$100m To Refurbish Hotel Africa
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712110871.html
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's desire to attract investment opportunities for Liberia is yielding more dividends amidst reports that a South African Investment delegation - the Nubian Consortium - has expressed intention to renovate and rehabilitate Hotel Africa and its facilities in Virginia.

Comium Extends Services to Four Areas
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712110888.html
Comium Liberia has extended its services to four areas in less than one week. The areas include: Bong Mines, Kakata (re-launch), Totota and Zeinzue. This brings to five the number of sites launched by the company in recent days.

Gyude Bryant arrested

2007-12-08T17:19:00.000-05:00

Liberia: Ex-President Arrested
New York Times Fri, 07 Dec 2007 7:14 PM PST
Gyude Bryant, left, a businessman who led the transitional government that operated from the exile of Charles Taylor in 2003 to the inauguration of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf last year, was arrested for violating conditions of his bail while on trial on charges of embezzling $1.3 million from the government.

Liberian ex-president arrested : government
AFP via Yahoo! News Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:23 PM PST
Liberia's former transitional president Gyude Bryant was arrested Friday after he failed to appear in court to answer corruption charges earlier this week, the country's information minister said.

Liberian ex-president arrested
AFP via Yahoo! News Fri, 07 Dec 2007 10:53 AM PST
Liberia's former president Gyude Bryant was arrested on Friday after he failed to appear in court to answer corruption charges earlier this week, he told AFP.

Joseph Menjor to the States for 3 months

2007-12-03T22:45:00.001-05:00

Liberia: Bishop Menjor Off to USA Today
AllAfrica.com Mon, 03 Dec 2007 6:57 AM PST
The General Overseer of the Free Pentecostal Global Mission (FPGM) the Rev. Joseph T. S. Menjor, is expected to leave the country this morning for a three month visit to the United States of America.

Pictured: Tage Swallie (left) and Joseph Menjor (right).

Comium now at Lofa Bridge

2007-12-03T22:43:00.002-05:00

Liberia: Comium Extends Services to Lofa Bridge
AllAfrica.com Mon, 03 Dec 2007 6:41 AM PST
Comium Liberia, one of the leading GSM companies in the country on November 30 officially launched its site in Lofa Bridge with a colorful ceremony attended by thousands of residents and guests.

Lofa Bridge is at the border of Bong and Lofa Counties on the St. Paul River.

Lebanese power broker Haddad arrested

2007-12-03T22:31:00.000-05:00

Liberia: Security Picks Up George Haddad
AllAfrica.com Mon, 03 Dec 2007 6:41 AM PST
State security headed by the Ministry of Justice over the weekend arrested and detained the Chief Executive officer of the Haddad Group of Companies, Mr. George Haddad for his alleged involvement in the sale of a huge deposit of Iron Ore in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County during the regime of the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) headed by Charles G. Bryant.

George Haddad, who once boasted that he owned the Liberian government and could hand pick the President, now arrested by the Ministry of Justice.

Leon & Orchid Jordan in Liberia

2007-12-02T16:58:00.000-05:00

Historical pictures from Liberia
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/385766.html
The Kansas City Star Sat, 01 Dec 2007 8:20 PM PST
Photographs of Leon and Orchid Jordan from the years they spent in Liberia
will go on display Saturday Dec. 8 at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage
Center, 3700 Blue Parkway.

Monkey meat garners federal charges in NY for Liberian woman

2007-11-26T08:35:00.000-05:00

Monkey meat garners federal charges in NY for Liberian woman
Nov 24, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071124/ap_on_re_us/monkey_meat_2

Note (1) the unspecified "religious" aspects of eating monkey meat as well
as (2) the potential animal to human trans-infections such as monkeypox, HIV,
SARS, Lassa, and Ebola.

Bush awards Ellen the Presidential Medal of Freedom

2007-11-20T21:58:00.000-05:00

Bush awards Johnson-Sirleaf Presidential Medal of Freedom
VOA News | Nov 5, 07
http://www.newser.com/story/11563.html?rss=y

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