International NGO Day for us
Tuesday, 3/9. What a terrific day this was for Tree of Life. We heard that the Minister of Health, Dr. Gwenigale, liked to come in early, so we decided to be there early also. Leaving the house at 7:15 with the Honorable Wesseh, our kind host, we arrived before any of the MOH senior staff. Isela registered our presence with Dr. Gwenigale’s secretary and though we had no official appointment we were waiting in the entry when Dr. Bernice Dahn (the Asst. Minister) arrived, and she remembered us from our meetings this summer and immediately invited us in. She listened intently as we shared our burden and quoted from the MOH plan for reducing maternal and infant mortality. She had an early appointment at JFK hospital but quickly informed her staff to reschedule it so that she could spend more time with us. She completely supported our efforts and pledged the approval and support of MOH. In short, we could not have asked for a better outcome by 9AM. She even promised to give us a letter of approval and recommendation for the Ministry of Planning and anyone else who needs to see the cooperation between Tree of Life and MOH.
Leaving MOH we jumped in to what we thought was a cab to take the long journey to the Baptist Seminary grounds. The front seat passenger had chartered the cab for his own use but decided to have us as passengers at no charge. He is a Liberian who lives in Hong Kong but had returned to bury his grandmother. We discussed our projects on the 30 minute ride and he provided fascinating candor not usually seen from Liberians. His international experience had exposed him to modern civilization and revealed the lack of modernity in his original home. He was very harsh about Liberian work habits, lack of commitment to excellence and satisfaction with their current state. He had a very low opinion of the influx of Nigerian preachers who come here with a prosperity oriented theology. The ride was over too soon and we parted, promising to email each other. These little cameo experiences have taken on new meaning here because every step we take seems ordered from on high and we don’t want to miss a thing. I am waiting for the right opportunity to use the insight he provided.
We were early for the installation of the new President, Dr. Arnold Hill. We had made his acquaintance two weeks ago when we visited the seminary grounds with Dr. Alexander Brooks, our friend and Pastor of First Baptist Monrovia and professor at the seminary. Dr. Hill had given us assistance and guidance in the filing of our papers with the Foreign Ministry and was so kind to us. We did not even know at the time that his election was in the works but he was so helpful. We have written him a letter asking for a meeting of the esteemed brethren to plan our future cooperation.
The seminary has 170 acres of property in one of the finest settings anywhere. It sits on a peninsular on the Atlantic with lagoons on either side. The grounds are spacious, well kept and beautiful. Clearly it is the finest setting in Monrovia and probably Liberia as well. The buildings are showing signs of deterioration and the school needs plenty of attention but the election of Arnold Hill is a huge step in the right direction. Apparently there has been some struggling within the ranks in the recent past and the platform participants to the ceremony all referred to these struggles and the relief at electing Dr. Hill. The ceremony was very long but the choirs were great. The Southern Baptist Choir from First Baptist was nothing short of phenomenal. Their medley of Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah, Order My Steps, Whom Shall I Fear, and I Shall Dwell (from Ps 23) was, by far, the single greatest live choir performance I have ever seen and neither the choir nor director had a single piece of music. I am further convinced that there is no music available for what they did, making it all the more remarkable. Even the keyboard seemed to disappear under their voices. Before they ended, in this stayed and solemn ceremony, the crowd of the unlively were standing and shouting to the glory of God. We were uninvited guests who were ushered to the front row in before a much esteemed platform panel, but both of us were beside ourselves. We leapt to our feet and sang with them at the top of our lungs even though we did not even know the song. I just could not contain the joy and passion of that moment. We have some of it on film, because at times, when she has the camera, Isela thinks she works for CNN and I hope we can share it with you.
Vice President Joseph Boakai was in attendance and descended the platform to shake our hands and remark that it had been too long since he saw us last. He agreed that we should visit him later in the week at his office. The Speaker of the House was there as was the president of Liberian University among many other dignitaries. The keynote speaker was Harry Rowland from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. We had the pleasure of meeting him afterwards along with many others and exchanged information. We have been invited to preach at Rev. Joseph Johnson’s church 3/21. I hope we are here that weekend.
The length of the festivities made us late returning to the office and Senator Devine from Bomi County was waiting for us. We called en route and asked him to wait but he had a few errands and left promising to return. His brother, Bosten Devine, an ACFI pastor in Bomi whom we had met during the conference, waited for us and soon the Senator returned. It is such a blessing to have an office nice enough to host such important meetings. We had not met the Senator and so this meeting was fortuitous to say the least. He was fascinated with our plan and immediately pledged his support asking us to come to his county to meet with the officials and doctors there. We agreed that if we were going to visit Bomi it would have to be right away since our remaining schedule is so jammed. Delighted, he agreed and set off to plan our visit with all concerned personnel Friday and Saturday. Since Wednesday is a holiday, that only leaves us Thursday to meet with the Ministry of Education and we already have a training session at the ACFI Clinic in Buzzy Quarters Thursday afternoon. The good part is that Bomi is just 90 minutes away, even closer than Bong. This trip was not on our schedule but God seems to have control of the wheel so we will go. As Senator Devine was leaving, Comfort, from the Foreign Ministry called and said our papers were ready to be picked up. Senator Devine was nice enough to take us up the hill to the Foreign Ministry to collect the documents. Rev. Browne went with us and we received the official seal of approval from the Foreign Minister, herself. When I held the documents in my hand I shouted and glorified God right in the parking lot. What normally takes weeks, even months, had been done in a matter of days. On our initial attempt we were told it would cost over $1000 so we backed off and did the work ourselves. We ended up paying $150 to the Foreign Ministry and Rev. Browne was instrumental in helping us achieve this. We will be with his church, New Creation Fellowship this weekend. Our feet barely touched the ground as we walked the quarter mile back to the office. To receive these many blessings in a single day is beyond my imagination. It seems as if we flew around the city all day, barely able to hang on amid the tornado of activity, only to finish the day stunned at all God had accomplished through a pair of willing, empty vessels. We caught a cab and stopped at the super to buy a few things, including a new pair of glasses for me. I have managed to lose 2 pair on this trip, the last pair is somewhere on the 50 acres in Gbartala. Maybe we’ll see them again. On the way home we realized we had not eaten all day so we attacked the food purchased from the super as we rode in the backseat of the taxi. Arriving back at the home of our host we ate peanut butter and jelly and collapsed into bed. What a day. This marks the midpoint (day 20 of 40 days and 40 nights in Liberia) of our visit and I feel like singing ‘Look What the Lord Has Done’, already.
Much Love Fred and Isela