Friday, 3/12
The 9am meeting with Deputy Minister Roberts did not work out. The Honorable Blamoh had made plans to go to Sanniquellie with his construction crew and had a few irons in the fire so we were delayed. But since he knew John Roberts he called him en route and arranged for us to meet him when we arrived at about 10. Of course we were a little bothered by missing the appt. This was important to the future of our efforts here and we could not afford the displeasure of MOE. But God has a way of working these things out and he was pulling strings behind the scenes on his own day timer. When we arrived at the office he was in an important budget meeting so we sat in his waiting room with another American named Cassandra. She is a Peace Corps volunteer and wanted to see Roberts about the nonexistent PTA program in Liberian schools. The three of us immediately had great commonality and we shared a marvelous time chatting when Roberts came in and gave us 10 minutes. While we filled up that time with him, we could tell that he was distracted and pressed, very busy. For the first time we felt a barrier when he asked for mountains of written detail, histories, curricula choices, objectives, locations, you name it. We did not have time for all that, nor did any school in Liberia have to file such a blizzard of paperwork. We were actually asking for help and cooperation so he gave us the new 300 plus page rulebook. We were silently trying to figure out how to comply when he ushered us out and said see you later.
We had met a man the day before, John Morris, and while we were grousing about the previous setback Morris called and asked us to come to his office. Without a better plan we headed there, meeting new friends and telling the story. A few moments later Morris said his boss wanted to see us. We were taken into the office of Othello Gongar who happened to be a former Minister of Education and was now an advisor to the current Minister. He received us warmly and we had a tremendous time with him. He had been in the US for years and had lived near Isela’s peeps in the DC area. We discussed the challenges in the current Liberian situation and had genuine camaraderie. He highlighted the need for a new Liberian curriculum for primary education because they had accomplished that in the early 90’s but the rebels had burned down the printing press and destroyed the books and the entire curriculum. The loss for Liberia is still devastating the school system. I offered to help and was confident we could resurrect the work. What we could not find with the previous contractors in the US, we could write ourselves. There were plenty of successful models to consult. The idea appealed to him and he loaded me with details and organizations to consult when we return to the US. I felt as if the small, rural school program we had proposed had just grown into something nationwide and central to the operation of every school in Liberia. After the hour long meeting with him we headed back out to the central waiting room to reconnect with Cassandra and plan our next effort. While we three Americans were sitting together and talking about education a well dressed Liberian walked up to us and said, “Did I miss something? Are you here to see me? To our complete surprise and delight, it was Dr. Kortu, the Minister of Education, the very man it was impossible to see. He was so gracious and immediately invited us to his office. The three of us followed him and sat close together at his conference table. As we spoke of the conversation with Othello, Dr. Kortu confided to us that the official student/teacher ration was 45 but the actual was between 75 and 90. It was almost impossible to keep teachers and many schools had 1 teacher for 4 different classes. When we began to describe our plan he immediately embraced it and stopped the meeting. He said, “Before we go any further, I would like my entire senior staff to hear this. Could we set an appointment for you to come and present this to all of them next week?”
I was so stunned all I could manage was “We have a projector…” What a dodo. Never has that verse been more apt; not many wise men…are called but God hath chosen the foolish…
If I had not been there, I would have a difficult time believing such a story. Everything we tried to do was almost a waste of time, but God had us before the previous and current Ministers themselves for an hour and a half. Now, if you will pray about this with us, we may have the opportunity to rewrite the future of Liberian education. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God; how unsearchable are his thoughts and his ways past finding out.
Even now, two days later, it still has not sunk in, what God miraculously performed in spite of our clumsiness. Praise his Name. And there is more.
Since we were so close to Providence Baptist Church we walked up the hill to see it. As it happened, our timing was right on God’s day timer. We were warmly received by Wilson, one of the assistants and he toured us around the ‘Cornerstone of the Nation.’ The church was formed on the 1820 ship and was the first church in Liberia, The Declaration of Independence was signed in the church sanctuary and the first meeting of the two houses of the legislature was held there as well. The original pulpit and deacons bench are still there and the aura of history was thick at every turn (You’re going to preach here, son), huh, who me? The ladies prayer meeting was just finishing and we were able to meet them all. Several remembered us from the inauguration of Dr. Hill on Tuesday. They invited Isela to address the women at a future meeting. Wilson then took us upstairs to the Pastor’s Office and Dr. Reeves received us for a fascinating time of fellowship. He also remembered us from the induction and we shared a blessed time. We both feel we have made a real friend in this a sincere, dedicated servant of the Lord. He shared his dream of having a radio ministry and we shared our passion for that as well. After more than an hour with him we headed back to our office just I time to check our email and file the latest blog.
Isela has been encouraging me to get her an electric pitcher to heat bottled water in our room so we can have specific food items when we wish without imposing on our guests who prepare for us twice daily. We have both han some intestinal discomfort but I seem to do OK with most of it but she does not so we headed for the Randall Street Market on foot. Presently, a UN vehicle turned in front of us and stopped. The driver was from India and the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the truck he was driving. But he nicely asked us to join him and he would take us to the market. His name was Aneal and though we could barely understand him we had a wonderful time with this new stranger. The market was way too far to walk so the Lord was saving us a cab fare and getting us where we needed to be right on his timer. When Aneal let us off we checked out the availability of electric water pitchers and ultimately decided on one. Isela was so happy she clutched it under her arm and we headed to the modern super market. Right before we made to the super she noticed a motor pool next door and motioned us to go in there. It turned out to be the GSA (Gov Services Agency) motor pool. It was late in the day and many international people were bringing back their loaned vehicles after work on Friday. This was where NGO’s get their cars and trucks loaned to them by the Presidents office. Isela had been bothered by our difficulty to obtain quality, reliable transportation to get where we needed to go, so she decided to quiz the boss about how we could get on their list. Unfortunately, the boss was on an extended phone call and was not available so Brooks the security chief asked us to wait. While we were waiting, the US Ambassador, Linda Thomas Greenfield and her driver pulled into the parking lot. Oddly enough, she walked straight up to us and stopped. “Just the person we want to see”, I said to her. She noticed Isela’s new pitcher and they began an in depth conversation about oatmeal. We had been trying to see the Ambassador since the first day we arrived but somehow had the wrong email. She confessed that she never comes to the market but she was suddenly overcome by a desire for fresh bread and her husband who usually does the shopping was out of town. Hmm. After a delightful 15 minute conversation we parted ways and she invited us to her office Tuesday (Monday is a holiday). And we thought we needed a water pitcher. She had been at Providence Baptist Church that afternoon as well but we left moments before she arrived. Maybe we were supposed to see her there but God had to go to plan b. Truly amazing. The motor pool guy was still on the phone so we headed into the market for oatmeal and guess who we ran into on that aisle, yes, the Ambassador again. Only this time the General of the Liberian Military joined in the conversation and we all just gabbed. Just as that meeting was concluding, another man walked up to us and introduced himself as...Christopher, the motor pool boss. As it turns out, he works directly for the President and had so much information for us we could not even take it in. He gave us his card and told us how to get a vehicle. We plan to see him Tuesday.
This day could not have been orchestrated by anyone but the Almighty. The timing was impeccable. Any alteration of our nonexistent schedule would have caused us to miss everyone and yet God’s mighty hand skillfully guided our every move and we did not even know it was happening. I really like living this way, on autopilot with the Holy Spirit moving the earth underneath our every step. I have been singing ‘Order My Steps’ since that choir performed it on Tuesday. I am still amazed as I write this, wondering if this is even possible.
Stunning,
Fred and Isela