Monday 3/29 The Last Day
Departure Day. We had been so focused on gaining accreditation that we had not even considered how close it was until our departure. We had called our last board meeting for 9am and had invited our extended advisory board to attend. We wanted to bring everyone up to date on the accomplishments we achieved on this trip as well as to identify the areas where we did not hit the mark. We also wanted to focus on the things that needed to be done in the near term both in Liberia and in the US. Robert and Deddeh Browne, and Nyamah are an the Liberian Board of Directors but will be included as advisors also. Dr. McKinley Teah was there along with Yvonne Blamoh (Registered Nurse), Elizabeth Bimba (Trained Midwive), and Deddeh Browne (Nursing Assistant). These four represent the medical portion of the board. Arthur Zarmapoe, Thomas Smith, Robert Browne and Robert Bimba are all pastors and educators. The Honorable Wesseh Blamoh will serve as overall advisor. Robert Bimba, his Father and Sylvester Mulbah make up the agricultural team while Nyamah Dunbar is our International Liaison and coordinator of interchurch efforts. All in all, the board of advisors is a great cross section of talent; they have each presented a profile of their educational qualifications and other accomplishments, and will become part of the foundation for future initiatives in Liberia. The boards were obviously designated by the Lord.
As we were approaching Capitol Hill for our 1pm meeting with the VP Patrick Broh suddenly appeared. We hadn’t seen him since the first week. He immediately began offering excuses why he had been absent but we had called him repeatedly and sent messages through his brother, Pastor Lawrence Broh, his boss, Senator Blamoh Nelson among others. We had been worried about him until the senator assured us he was in Grand Kru. I told Patrick how badly we had needed his help on this trip but that we had been forced to proceed without him. He seemed to understand and we were out of time, so pray for Patrick and for his church.
The meeting with VP Boakai was warm and friendly. We talked about many things, bringing him the news of all the happenings including the great victories accomplished on this trip. He promised to share our blessings with the president and asked us to visit on Independence Day (July 26) with him and his family. When we showed him the radio he was thoroughly impressed and when we gave it to him it was gratefully received, almost as if we were family. Isela and I really love him and want to meet Mrs. Boakai. We saw her at the Baptist Seminary but did not get to speak with her. Ignatius, their son, was arranging a dinner but that never materialized.
Leaving Capitol Hill we were out of time and we flew to Bill’s, said our goodbyes, loaded up and headed to the airport. Unfortunately, internet check in is unavailable for Roberts Field so early arrival was necessary. When we arrived, our hosts were there with the apostless, prophetess and evangeless, all women from North Carolina, who were invited to speak at the Missions Conference in which we were also speaking. We were on the same Brussels flight out of Liberia. We had come to know them during our cooperation in the conference and this was their first trip to Africa. They were not prepared for some of the hardships and as we waited for our flight they were shocked at some of our stories. We have exchanged contact info and promised to reconnect when we visit N.C.
The woman we sat next to on the flight to DC gave us some key insight into Liberia .Korto and her family had left for the US years ago and only return periodically, this time to bury her sister. According to her the Delta flight to Monrovia (which we had reserved in Jun 09) was cancelled because after a year and a half of planning, Delta had sent undercover fliers to buy tickets and fly out of Roberts Field. The undercover agents secretly smuggled weapons onto the plane by showing them to the airport personnel then offering them bribes to overlook them. They were able to bring weapons on the plane with the full knowledge of the airport personnel who had been bribed. This all occurred in May 2009 and when Homeland Security in the US was informed all flights from Roberts Field to the US were cancelled. When we went through the airport this time everything was different. Security cameras were installed and the security guards were very strict, wanding every passenger repeatedly. The previous security breakdowns had no doubt cost Liberia dearly; for even the Brussels flights would not refuel in Monrovia but flew all the way to Abidjan in Ivory Coast to refuel before landing at Roberts on the way down and then after we took off from Roberts we flew to Abidjan to refuel. We can only hope that the breaches will be corrected because it is very expensive for every passenger to pay for all the extra stops and starts.
While on the way to DC, we discovered the husband of the US Ambassador, Linda Thomas Greenfield was on our flight and within a few moments he came back to our seats in economy to chat with us. He is a happy, polite gentleman and invited us to their home on our next visit.
40 days and 40 nights in Liberia have been productive beyond our greatest expectations. The fact that we were able to achieve International Accreditation and Certification as an NGO is more than we imagined. None of this would have been possible without the power of God at every step.
Awaiting our return,
Fred and Isela
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Sunday 3/28
Palm Sunday was a big deal at Robert Bimba’s Church, Abide in the Vine. It was a normal morning service but there was another service immediately following in which two church choirs were coming to sing. His choir was going to receive robes in an extravagant ceremony and the choir leader was to be robed by me in a kind of ordination style ceremony. Oh and by the way, I was supposed to preach at both services and Isela and I were going to sing in both and she was to speak in the second service also. At this point were so committed whatever the Lord set before us that it would not have mattered what they asked, especially since the pastor had been up all night with his wife and new baby born at home! You may remember that Robert is the head of Communities of Hope, an agricultural ministry parallel to ours. Plus he was going to plant and care for the 5000 Moringa trees along with his father who was an agriculturalist and had 5000 acres in Lofa county. Dad was in both services and we did not even know who he was until we visited them later that evening and saw the new baby girl and the healthy, happy mom. The child was delivered by Robert’s mom who is a Swedish Trained midwife and now an advisory board member to Tree of Life. The church service was so powerful and our fellowship so sweet that we have committed to the Bimba family, and intend to involve the all of them in Tree of Life Liberia. It was an answer to prayer for both families. There was no way I could plant 5000 seeds on secured property and watch over them until we return. They were excited to become involved in something every member of the family could have an important role. Plus, the agreement is, they could keep the 5000 trees and I would get the seeds they produce to plant the farms. Pretty good for $40 bucks.
Actually, Priceless,
Fred and Isela
Palm Sunday was a big deal at Robert Bimba’s Church, Abide in the Vine. It was a normal morning service but there was another service immediately following in which two church choirs were coming to sing. His choir was going to receive robes in an extravagant ceremony and the choir leader was to be robed by me in a kind of ordination style ceremony. Oh and by the way, I was supposed to preach at both services and Isela and I were going to sing in both and she was to speak in the second service also. At this point were so committed whatever the Lord set before us that it would not have mattered what they asked, especially since the pastor had been up all night with his wife and new baby born at home! You may remember that Robert is the head of Communities of Hope, an agricultural ministry parallel to ours. Plus he was going to plant and care for the 5000 Moringa trees along with his father who was an agriculturalist and had 5000 acres in Lofa county. Dad was in both services and we did not even know who he was until we visited them later that evening and saw the new baby girl and the healthy, happy mom. The child was delivered by Robert’s mom who is a Swedish Trained midwife and now an advisory board member to Tree of Life. The church service was so powerful and our fellowship so sweet that we have committed to the Bimba family, and intend to involve the all of them in Tree of Life Liberia. It was an answer to prayer for both families. There was no way I could plant 5000 seeds on secured property and watch over them until we return. They were excited to become involved in something every member of the family could have an important role. Plus, the agreement is, they could keep the 5000 trees and I would get the seeds they produce to plant the farms. Pretty good for $40 bucks.
Actually, Priceless,
Fred and Isela
Saturday, 3/27
The trip to Todee brought back memories off the arduous journey to Tzekepa. The roads were so bad I had no illusion we would be able to get equipment into the village to clear the land. Almost every farmer burns the foliage off the land but that kills many of the good organisms and all the fruit trees. We had determined to clear the land but leave the important trees and the roads were terrible. This is one of the great shortcomings in Liberia. If you can’t get equipment in progress becomes virtually impossible. We were headed to the village of Yeabah Town but before we arrived there we stopped at another village and met the chiefs and elders. They were very excited to have us and showed us all around their clinic built by the chief with his own money and he had a right to be proud. It was still under construction and would be a fine facility. Some of the elders were Muslim but were still attentive and helpful even though I mentioned Jesus and his miracles from the New Testament. Sylvester rode in the front, Isela and I in the back. Robert Bimba, had wanted to accompany us so he rode in the back with us. Just before we arrived in Yeabah Town we crossed the railroad track less than a mile from the town. We would be able to bring in equipment on the train without having to repair 20 kilometers of road. Thank the Lord.
The 100 acres he was giving us was well wooded ground with a swamp at one end that does not dry out. Typically, if you dig a fairly large lake, you could provide irrigation for the entire farm from there making it a much more versatile property.
From there we returned by different but equally bad road. Soon we joined the Todee Road Rehabilitation Project by USAID. Though the road was washboard bumpy, it was wide and ditched on both sides and the bridges were strong. This road went all the way to the St. Paul River, the location of the other property. When we arrived it was breath taking. The river was wide and strong and this was the dry season though it had been raining very hard of late. It brought North Carolina to mind with its large igneous rock outcroppings. We immediately fell in love with it and were imagining all the possibilities while jumping on the rocks to get as far out into the river as possible. It was a deep river and with some care you could navigate upstream to this point from the Atlantic Ocean, making it possible to deliver goods here more easily. If we had to choose Todee or St Paul, this was a far superior choice and we gently told Sylvester
As it turns out, Sylvester is running for the District Representative in this area and has a wonderful relationship with the community. Everywhere we stopped the entire town would pour out to meet him as if he were their long lost relatives. It was nice to see.
When we left St Paul, he had his wife and niece join us for the trip back though he remained in Todee to handle business. We had hoped to go by the house Auntie Pea had offered but that will have to wait till next time. Robert Bimba’s wife was pregnant and ready to deliver while were out in the bush so he was trying to stay in constant contact with home. We dropped him off first and around 2 am his third daughter Was born. We were preaching at his church the next morning and he called us early to share the good news.
Wow,
Fred and Isela
The trip to Todee brought back memories off the arduous journey to Tzekepa. The roads were so bad I had no illusion we would be able to get equipment into the village to clear the land. Almost every farmer burns the foliage off the land but that kills many of the good organisms and all the fruit trees. We had determined to clear the land but leave the important trees and the roads were terrible. This is one of the great shortcomings in Liberia. If you can’t get equipment in progress becomes virtually impossible. We were headed to the village of Yeabah Town but before we arrived there we stopped at another village and met the chiefs and elders. They were very excited to have us and showed us all around their clinic built by the chief with his own money and he had a right to be proud. It was still under construction and would be a fine facility. Some of the elders were Muslim but were still attentive and helpful even though I mentioned Jesus and his miracles from the New Testament. Sylvester rode in the front, Isela and I in the back. Robert Bimba, had wanted to accompany us so he rode in the back with us. Just before we arrived in Yeabah Town we crossed the railroad track less than a mile from the town. We would be able to bring in equipment on the train without having to repair 20 kilometers of road. Thank the Lord.
The 100 acres he was giving us was well wooded ground with a swamp at one end that does not dry out. Typically, if you dig a fairly large lake, you could provide irrigation for the entire farm from there making it a much more versatile property.
From there we returned by different but equally bad road. Soon we joined the Todee Road Rehabilitation Project by USAID. Though the road was washboard bumpy, it was wide and ditched on both sides and the bridges were strong. This road went all the way to the St. Paul River, the location of the other property. When we arrived it was breath taking. The river was wide and strong and this was the dry season though it had been raining very hard of late. It brought North Carolina to mind with its large igneous rock outcroppings. We immediately fell in love with it and were imagining all the possibilities while jumping on the rocks to get as far out into the river as possible. It was a deep river and with some care you could navigate upstream to this point from the Atlantic Ocean, making it possible to deliver goods here more easily. If we had to choose Todee or St Paul, this was a far superior choice and we gently told Sylvester
As it turns out, Sylvester is running for the District Representative in this area and has a wonderful relationship with the community. Everywhere we stopped the entire town would pour out to meet him as if he were their long lost relatives. It was nice to see.
When we left St Paul, he had his wife and niece join us for the trip back though he remained in Todee to handle business. We had hoped to go by the house Auntie Pea had offered but that will have to wait till next time. Robert Bimba’s wife was pregnant and ready to deliver while were out in the bush so he was trying to stay in constant contact with home. We dropped him off first and around 2 am his third daughter Was born. We were preaching at his church the next morning and he called us early to share the good news.
Wow,
Fred and Isela
Friday, 3/26
Bill’s generator shuts down around midnight so the heat is stifling after that. I remember waking up in a pool of sweat so I guess the fever broke sometime in the early am. With dawn we arose and began planning our last full business day. Isela and I were to share the pulpit at the noon service at Rev Blamoh’s church but we had to deliver the paperwork to MOH before then. Yvonne carried us in so we had time to prepare what Momulu would need to see. Dropping off the file we asked if he could have it for us this afternoon and he agreed. We then headed to church. I set her up with a continuation message from Eph 5 and turned it to her. She spoke on women’s empowerment from Prov 31, that if women want to be elevated it must come from them through the Holy Spirit by their virtue, demonstrated by the words of their mouths, the works of their hands and the ways of their feet, leading others into a life of personal empowerment. She turned it back to me and I continued with Eph 5, Husbands, love your wives. If men truly want women to be elevated in Liberia men will love their wives. God really used the team approach and both of our messages were enhanced by the mutuality of our presentation. God seemed to use us together in a much greater way. A vigorous question and answer time followed and we finished in prayer for them. They closed the noon service by 1pm and we flew back to MOH. By now you could almost imagine more delays and sure enough, Momulu was not there when we returned and no one knew where our paperwork was or when he’d be back. Just as we were about to leave he opened the office door and seeing us said, “Oh, I have your letter.” He pulled out the official sectoral clearance and showed it to us. We took it as if it was the holy grail and in a way it may have been. Without this document, we would not have been cleared by MOH and our mother and baby program would have had to wait till next time. With this clearance, we were now authorized to engage the women of Liberia in the Doula Program and pursue our God given strategy for saving lives. Furthermore, this letter would provide entrance into countless donor organizations. We had him make a copy of it before he sealed it for the Planning Ministry. We immediately headed for Nimely’s office at Planning. We did not have a ride so we had to hoof the mile walk but we were so thrilled that it barely mattered. Once in Nimley’s office he unsealed the letter and with a grin acknowledged our effort. He headed upstairs for the Planning Certificate of Accreditation. Though we had to wait a few moments for the unseen signature, the office was cool and we knew our biggest effort on this journey was completed. Within a moments. Nimely returned and asked us to sign for the Certificate. It is hard to describe the feeling we enjoyed in that moment. We forgot all the denials and delays and thanked the Lord for his continual encouragement. What should have taken a team of lawyers. millions of dollars of funding, and at least a year of effort had been accomplished by a husband and wife team who knew what God wanted and were not willing to accept anything less. We are grateful to all who assisted us in this effort. Now I know why God demanded 40 days and 40 nights to accomplish this. It was our mountain wilderness of temptation. Every sermon I preached here was focused on being filled with the Spirit and now we will go forth in the power of the Spirit. I expect that God has mighty things in store for this country and I am depending on him to bring it to pass. Some of you who are following this should make plans to go back with us for the July or August trip.
Leaving the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs, we walked across the street to Capitol Hill. We wanted to see some of the legislators who started out helping us. Stopping by Senator Blamoh Nelson’s office we laid the evidence before him in order of their importance. At least 5 impossible documents that he knew we needed but could not cross the line to bring to pass with all the power of his office. We had sat with him and Gabriel Smith our first week here. They knew these things were necessary but for them they were impossible. Now he looked in wonder at what God had done, “Wow, you two have been very busy.” He said, grinning broadly. We told him how saddened we were at not being able to visit his county (Grand Kru) but that it would be first on our list when we returned. We also saw Senator Devine and he marveled at the power of the certifications and accreditations. We were now as legitimate as any organization in West Africa and fully expect to be invited into every one of these nations.
Arriving back at the office we busied ourselves making copies of all these documents and putting the presentation together for our final Board Meeting Monday morning. Soon, we received a call from the Vice President’s office saying our appointment with him was Monday at 1pm. We had come full circle. This summer, the last thing we did was to spend an hour with the VP before heading to the airport and this time it looks like the same thing will happen. We tried to communicate with our peeps by email until the server shut down around 5pm, then headed for home with a sense of finality. God had accomplished his objectives and we were so satisfied. Late in the day Ezekiel showed up with the Moringa seeds. I had agreed to give him $35 for 5000 seeds but there were only 4500 seeds so I agreed at $30. We were so close to the edge that it was a real sacrifice but when I counted out the money for him I gave him $40 instead of $30 by mistake. I just couldn’t make him give it back so it left us really broke for the last 2 days. Lord, please bless it.
Fred and Isela
Bill’s generator shuts down around midnight so the heat is stifling after that. I remember waking up in a pool of sweat so I guess the fever broke sometime in the early am. With dawn we arose and began planning our last full business day. Isela and I were to share the pulpit at the noon service at Rev Blamoh’s church but we had to deliver the paperwork to MOH before then. Yvonne carried us in so we had time to prepare what Momulu would need to see. Dropping off the file we asked if he could have it for us this afternoon and he agreed. We then headed to church. I set her up with a continuation message from Eph 5 and turned it to her. She spoke on women’s empowerment from Prov 31, that if women want to be elevated it must come from them through the Holy Spirit by their virtue, demonstrated by the words of their mouths, the works of their hands and the ways of their feet, leading others into a life of personal empowerment. She turned it back to me and I continued with Eph 5, Husbands, love your wives. If men truly want women to be elevated in Liberia men will love their wives. God really used the team approach and both of our messages were enhanced by the mutuality of our presentation. God seemed to use us together in a much greater way. A vigorous question and answer time followed and we finished in prayer for them. They closed the noon service by 1pm and we flew back to MOH. By now you could almost imagine more delays and sure enough, Momulu was not there when we returned and no one knew where our paperwork was or when he’d be back. Just as we were about to leave he opened the office door and seeing us said, “Oh, I have your letter.” He pulled out the official sectoral clearance and showed it to us. We took it as if it was the holy grail and in a way it may have been. Without this document, we would not have been cleared by MOH and our mother and baby program would have had to wait till next time. With this clearance, we were now authorized to engage the women of Liberia in the Doula Program and pursue our God given strategy for saving lives. Furthermore, this letter would provide entrance into countless donor organizations. We had him make a copy of it before he sealed it for the Planning Ministry. We immediately headed for Nimely’s office at Planning. We did not have a ride so we had to hoof the mile walk but we were so thrilled that it barely mattered. Once in Nimley’s office he unsealed the letter and with a grin acknowledged our effort. He headed upstairs for the Planning Certificate of Accreditation. Though we had to wait a few moments for the unseen signature, the office was cool and we knew our biggest effort on this journey was completed. Within a moments. Nimely returned and asked us to sign for the Certificate. It is hard to describe the feeling we enjoyed in that moment. We forgot all the denials and delays and thanked the Lord for his continual encouragement. What should have taken a team of lawyers. millions of dollars of funding, and at least a year of effort had been accomplished by a husband and wife team who knew what God wanted and were not willing to accept anything less. We are grateful to all who assisted us in this effort. Now I know why God demanded 40 days and 40 nights to accomplish this. It was our mountain wilderness of temptation. Every sermon I preached here was focused on being filled with the Spirit and now we will go forth in the power of the Spirit. I expect that God has mighty things in store for this country and I am depending on him to bring it to pass. Some of you who are following this should make plans to go back with us for the July or August trip.
Leaving the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs, we walked across the street to Capitol Hill. We wanted to see some of the legislators who started out helping us. Stopping by Senator Blamoh Nelson’s office we laid the evidence before him in order of their importance. At least 5 impossible documents that he knew we needed but could not cross the line to bring to pass with all the power of his office. We had sat with him and Gabriel Smith our first week here. They knew these things were necessary but for them they were impossible. Now he looked in wonder at what God had done, “Wow, you two have been very busy.” He said, grinning broadly. We told him how saddened we were at not being able to visit his county (Grand Kru) but that it would be first on our list when we returned. We also saw Senator Devine and he marveled at the power of the certifications and accreditations. We were now as legitimate as any organization in West Africa and fully expect to be invited into every one of these nations.
Arriving back at the office we busied ourselves making copies of all these documents and putting the presentation together for our final Board Meeting Monday morning. Soon, we received a call from the Vice President’s office saying our appointment with him was Monday at 1pm. We had come full circle. This summer, the last thing we did was to spend an hour with the VP before heading to the airport and this time it looks like the same thing will happen. We tried to communicate with our peeps by email until the server shut down around 5pm, then headed for home with a sense of finality. God had accomplished his objectives and we were so satisfied. Late in the day Ezekiel showed up with the Moringa seeds. I had agreed to give him $35 for 5000 seeds but there were only 4500 seeds so I agreed at $30. We were so close to the edge that it was a real sacrifice but when I counted out the money for him I gave him $40 instead of $30 by mistake. I just couldn’t make him give it back so it left us really broke for the last 2 days. Lord, please bless it.
Fred and Isela
Thursday, 3/25
Rising very early I knew that there was something wrong with me. After a shower, I was having a hard time concentrating and had no energy, and It was my turn to have more upset stomach. We had the early presentation at Ministry of Agriculture to all the farmers and had been preparing for this since Feb 25. When the day finally arrived Tony became our transportation to the Ag office. The place was packed and there was standing room only. We had arrived early enough to set up our projector only to find out that CARE Int’l was also presenting as was a german company called Welt Hunger Hilfe. I volunteered our electronics rather than disconnecting altogether. The meeting dragged on and on but there were personnel there from USAID, Sustainable Trees, Cocoa farmers, Palm nut growers among others. Our presentation was chosen first and the interest was very high with many questions. At the close, everyone wanted our email and phone and the USAID rep named Wilbur asked for a copy of our presentation. We were in such a hurry to get out of there because we had a 1pm meeting with the Baptist Investment Board and they were waiting. The AG meeting had gone way overtime so we were scurrying to get to the next meeting. Fortunately, the brethren waited for us and Tony drove furiously. Dr. Hill chaired the meeting and all were excited at the opportunity to work together. The Baptists have thousands of acres across Liberia and many have been abandoned or are currently dormant. They were also very excited about the Radio Station and fascinated by our ideas for the school system. Dr. Hill and the men pledged to cooperate with us on any property or facility or project we needed. They even pledged us the use of their properties for agriculture, radio, schools or clinics. In short, they joined with us in every way possible promising letters to that effect. We promised to consult the Baptist brethren in the US to renew their involvement in Liberia.
We had to fly back to the office because we had not had time to prepare the documents for Momulu at MOH and time was passing us by. While at the office, Cassandra stopped by stay in touch and review her credentials she had emailed for us to consider. She works with Peace Corps and wants to stay in Liberia. She is well educated, from the US and well connected, especially in Bong and Nimba Counties, We think she is just the kind of person who could be an asset to TOLL. After meeting with her, Sylvester came back by and said Auntie Pea was coming over to talk to us. She is the sister of the president and we were delighted to meet her. She was thrilled with both of us, the Doula program, agricultural plan and especially the radio. That little device had caused a great stir everywhere. Because Sylvester was so sincere and generous we had given him a radio the day before and Auntie Pea wanted one also. When she heard of our difficulty with MOH, she said “You know he’s my brother”. We didn’t know so she clarified that the Minister, Dr. Gwenigale, was her husband’s younger brother and immediately called him on her phone. We were shocked when he answered. Since he was in a meeting, she told him she was coming by in a few minutes. She then told us her story about the war and how the rebels invaded her home and took over her house in Monrovia. At gunpoint they forced her to leave and she never returned. Then she offered her house to us saying it was a big secure compound but it needed refurbishing. We knew we needed God to intervene but had no idea it would come from this direction. After the precious meeting with her she left. A few minutes later she called us from Dr. Gwenigale’s office and said she asked him why we were being delayed for so long. She also said she had seen our program and wanted us to be able to implement it in Liberia. His reply to her was, “as soon as they get their paperwork to Momulu, I have given orders for them to be approved.” We reserved our jubilation until it all actually happened but we knew God had stepped in. After the meeting with Autie Pea, Ezekiel stopped by the office. He heard that we were looking for Moringa seeds and offered as many as we needed. We were down to our last money but I committed to 5,000 seeds for $35. He promised to return tomorrow with the seeds. I was still feeling ill so we left for home. Isela had been after me too move us to Bill’s guest house and since the Blamoh’s were still at their mission conference we decided to move our stuff, I knew there were going to be ramifications with our host but was too sick to consider it. We settled in at Bill’s and he was delighted to have us. I took some medicine and crashed. The Honorable called us late and was disturbed that we left ‘unceremoniously’. I apologized and assured him of our love and respect but that we had discussed it with Yvonne and him in the last few days, and that this was always in our plans. So he said OK and hung up. We were scheduled to speak in his church tomorrow and I thought we could smooth things over then.
Rising very early I knew that there was something wrong with me. After a shower, I was having a hard time concentrating and had no energy, and It was my turn to have more upset stomach. We had the early presentation at Ministry of Agriculture to all the farmers and had been preparing for this since Feb 25. When the day finally arrived Tony became our transportation to the Ag office. The place was packed and there was standing room only. We had arrived early enough to set up our projector only to find out that CARE Int’l was also presenting as was a german company called Welt Hunger Hilfe. I volunteered our electronics rather than disconnecting altogether. The meeting dragged on and on but there were personnel there from USAID, Sustainable Trees, Cocoa farmers, Palm nut growers among others. Our presentation was chosen first and the interest was very high with many questions. At the close, everyone wanted our email and phone and the USAID rep named Wilbur asked for a copy of our presentation. We were in such a hurry to get out of there because we had a 1pm meeting with the Baptist Investment Board and they were waiting. The AG meeting had gone way overtime so we were scurrying to get to the next meeting. Fortunately, the brethren waited for us and Tony drove furiously. Dr. Hill chaired the meeting and all were excited at the opportunity to work together. The Baptists have thousands of acres across Liberia and many have been abandoned or are currently dormant. They were also very excited about the Radio Station and fascinated by our ideas for the school system. Dr. Hill and the men pledged to cooperate with us on any property or facility or project we needed. They even pledged us the use of their properties for agriculture, radio, schools or clinics. In short, they joined with us in every way possible promising letters to that effect. We promised to consult the Baptist brethren in the US to renew their involvement in Liberia.
We had to fly back to the office because we had not had time to prepare the documents for Momulu at MOH and time was passing us by. While at the office, Cassandra stopped by stay in touch and review her credentials she had emailed for us to consider. She works with Peace Corps and wants to stay in Liberia. She is well educated, from the US and well connected, especially in Bong and Nimba Counties, We think she is just the kind of person who could be an asset to TOLL. After meeting with her, Sylvester came back by and said Auntie Pea was coming over to talk to us. She is the sister of the president and we were delighted to meet her. She was thrilled with both of us, the Doula program, agricultural plan and especially the radio. That little device had caused a great stir everywhere. Because Sylvester was so sincere and generous we had given him a radio the day before and Auntie Pea wanted one also. When she heard of our difficulty with MOH, she said “You know he’s my brother”. We didn’t know so she clarified that the Minister, Dr. Gwenigale, was her husband’s younger brother and immediately called him on her phone. We were shocked when he answered. Since he was in a meeting, she told him she was coming by in a few minutes. She then told us her story about the war and how the rebels invaded her home and took over her house in Monrovia. At gunpoint they forced her to leave and she never returned. Then she offered her house to us saying it was a big secure compound but it needed refurbishing. We knew we needed God to intervene but had no idea it would come from this direction. After the precious meeting with her she left. A few minutes later she called us from Dr. Gwenigale’s office and said she asked him why we were being delayed for so long. She also said she had seen our program and wanted us to be able to implement it in Liberia. His reply to her was, “as soon as they get their paperwork to Momulu, I have given orders for them to be approved.” We reserved our jubilation until it all actually happened but we knew God had stepped in. After the meeting with Autie Pea, Ezekiel stopped by the office. He heard that we were looking for Moringa seeds and offered as many as we needed. We were down to our last money but I committed to 5,000 seeds for $35. He promised to return tomorrow with the seeds. I was still feeling ill so we left for home. Isela had been after me too move us to Bill’s guest house and since the Blamoh’s were still at their mission conference we decided to move our stuff, I knew there were going to be ramifications with our host but was too sick to consider it. We settled in at Bill’s and he was delighted to have us. I took some medicine and crashed. The Honorable called us late and was disturbed that we left ‘unceremoniously’. I apologized and assured him of our love and respect but that we had discussed it with Yvonne and him in the last few days, and that this was always in our plans. So he said OK and hung up. We were scheduled to speak in his church tomorrow and I thought we could smooth things over then.
Wednesday 3/24
Upon our early visit to MOH, Charlena informed us that we had not yet seen the right person and sent us downstairs to the office of Momulu Sirleaf, the 4th MOH office we had visited for our accreditation. He confirmed that his office had to review our application and provide the “Sectoral Clearance” we were so tirelessly seeking. At this point Isela was on edge. She had had enough of the runaround and was vigorously telling them so. (“Why weren’t we told this 4 weeks ago? Why does no one on MOH know this?”) When we mentioned that Ag had already accredited us and that Planning had already decided to certify us, the assistant to Momulu called Nimley at Planning and actually questioned our approval process. He did not believe we had cleared all these hurdles and was trying to prove us wrong. Nor did he believe we had been all through MOH already. Nimley confirmed our every word and the impertinent assistant backed off. Good thing, because the Costa Rican Princess was about to introduce him to a new conflict. Momulu stepped in and promised that there would be no more delay in their process. Yet we still had to create a new packet and letter and resubmit it to his office. Somehow, they were not able to just process the requests we made to Dr Dahn, Dr. Gwenigale or Kpanbala Sengbe. Unless God intervenes, we would not be able to receive the confirmation from MOH with just 3 days left and one of those days half gone.
When we got back to the office, we had a visitor named Sylvester Mulbah, a friend of Robert Browne. When he heard of our plans for Liberia and saw our success with Ag, he decided to give us more property. He said he had 1200 acres in Todee, a community near Monrovia and wanted us to have 100 acres of it. We were stunned, and I must admit, I could not quite believe it. Furthermore, he was the nephew of the President’s sister, Auntie Pea, a greatly beloved lady of Liberia. He told us he also had 1500 acres on the St. Paul River and if we would rather have property there it would be fine with him. Since we had seen neither, we said we would like to see them both before we could decide and we set Saturday for that purpose.
With our time almost gone we said our farewells and headed for Rev Blamoh’s church to sing and preach. Upon our arrival the people received us joyfully and we were escorted to the platform. Yvonne Jones, one of the other speakers was already sharing so we were able to catch our breath from the pace of this whirlwind day. After a vigorous time of worship, Rev Blamoh turned the service to us and we sang All in All. He had asked us to focus on the theme of the conference, Mark 16:15 and I had wanted to use the PowerPoint and projector but we could not find the message on the laptop, even though I had seen it on there just days before. We searched the computer files at the office and on the ride over unsuccessfully. Since I had planned to use the projector I had no notes but rather than worrying about it, the Lord seemed to assure me that He didn’t actually need the notes and that He knew exactly what he wanted to say. As I recall now, I never used notes during the entire time there. I had prepared them but there was always a good reason why they were not necessary. When it was time to preach, the Lord was free to just select the thoughts He wanted me to share. The outline may have been a little different but the message was better. God reminded me to use my own testimony, and though I was speaking on ‘Soulwinning, the Main Duty
of the Church, but when I gave the invitation, scores of people came forward. In my spirit, I felt that many of them were not saved and I asked them to raise their hands if they were coming to be saved. To my surprise, almost 50 hands were raised. I thought that they might have misunderstood me. Isela saw my questions and suggested Rev. Blamoh should translate for them in their tribal tongue. After we prayed for those responding to the invitation they returned to their seats and Rev. Blamoh did translate for them as requested. I closed the service and told them to meet me afterward down front if they wanted to receive Christ. After the benediction they all came back down front; men, women and teenagers. Some of the adults were shooing the kids out of the church so we could deal with those trusting Christ. Isela saw that and stopped them, even going outside to bring in more children who had tried to respond. When it was over, 42 people had called upon the Lord for salvation, at a meeting of church leaders. This leads me to believe that many church members and workers in this very Christian culture are actually lost. I shouldn’t be surprised because many church members here are not saved either. The next time we come we should have a major evangelism effort either with a series of crusades or movie showings.
Still Stunned,
Fred and Isela
Upon our early visit to MOH, Charlena informed us that we had not yet seen the right person and sent us downstairs to the office of Momulu Sirleaf, the 4th MOH office we had visited for our accreditation. He confirmed that his office had to review our application and provide the “Sectoral Clearance” we were so tirelessly seeking. At this point Isela was on edge. She had had enough of the runaround and was vigorously telling them so. (“Why weren’t we told this 4 weeks ago? Why does no one on MOH know this?”) When we mentioned that Ag had already accredited us and that Planning had already decided to certify us, the assistant to Momulu called Nimley at Planning and actually questioned our approval process. He did not believe we had cleared all these hurdles and was trying to prove us wrong. Nor did he believe we had been all through MOH already. Nimley confirmed our every word and the impertinent assistant backed off. Good thing, because the Costa Rican Princess was about to introduce him to a new conflict. Momulu stepped in and promised that there would be no more delay in their process. Yet we still had to create a new packet and letter and resubmit it to his office. Somehow, they were not able to just process the requests we made to Dr Dahn, Dr. Gwenigale or Kpanbala Sengbe. Unless God intervenes, we would not be able to receive the confirmation from MOH with just 3 days left and one of those days half gone.
When we got back to the office, we had a visitor named Sylvester Mulbah, a friend of Robert Browne. When he heard of our plans for Liberia and saw our success with Ag, he decided to give us more property. He said he had 1200 acres in Todee, a community near Monrovia and wanted us to have 100 acres of it. We were stunned, and I must admit, I could not quite believe it. Furthermore, he was the nephew of the President’s sister, Auntie Pea, a greatly beloved lady of Liberia. He told us he also had 1500 acres on the St. Paul River and if we would rather have property there it would be fine with him. Since we had seen neither, we said we would like to see them both before we could decide and we set Saturday for that purpose.
With our time almost gone we said our farewells and headed for Rev Blamoh’s church to sing and preach. Upon our arrival the people received us joyfully and we were escorted to the platform. Yvonne Jones, one of the other speakers was already sharing so we were able to catch our breath from the pace of this whirlwind day. After a vigorous time of worship, Rev Blamoh turned the service to us and we sang All in All. He had asked us to focus on the theme of the conference, Mark 16:15 and I had wanted to use the PowerPoint and projector but we could not find the message on the laptop, even though I had seen it on there just days before. We searched the computer files at the office and on the ride over unsuccessfully. Since I had planned to use the projector I had no notes but rather than worrying about it, the Lord seemed to assure me that He didn’t actually need the notes and that He knew exactly what he wanted to say. As I recall now, I never used notes during the entire time there. I had prepared them but there was always a good reason why they were not necessary. When it was time to preach, the Lord was free to just select the thoughts He wanted me to share. The outline may have been a little different but the message was better. God reminded me to use my own testimony, and though I was speaking on ‘Soulwinning, the Main Duty
of the Church, but when I gave the invitation, scores of people came forward. In my spirit, I felt that many of them were not saved and I asked them to raise their hands if they were coming to be saved. To my surprise, almost 50 hands were raised. I thought that they might have misunderstood me. Isela saw my questions and suggested Rev. Blamoh should translate for them in their tribal tongue. After we prayed for those responding to the invitation they returned to their seats and Rev. Blamoh did translate for them as requested. I closed the service and told them to meet me afterward down front if they wanted to receive Christ. After the benediction they all came back down front; men, women and teenagers. Some of the adults were shooing the kids out of the church so we could deal with those trusting Christ. Isela saw that and stopped them, even going outside to bring in more children who had tried to respond. When it was over, 42 people had called upon the Lord for salvation, at a meeting of church leaders. This leads me to believe that many church members and workers in this very Christian culture are actually lost. I shouldn’t be surprised because many church members here are not saved either. The next time we come we should have a major evangelism effort either with a series of crusades or movie showings.
Still Stunned,
Fred and Isela
Tuesday 3/23
We received an early morning phone call from the Minister of Agriculture’s office that our letter would be ready by noon and we shouted together. The Honorable was leaving for his office and gave us a ride. We were a bit early but since the Ag office was on the way we stopped to check anyway. Charles Mclain, the Minister’s admin came out saying we were too early, so we promised to return. As we headed back to the waiting car, Tito arrived and shouted out that we should wait just a moment. He had brought the letter and the certificate of NGO Accreditation. This was more than we had hoped for and it happened right in front of Hon. Blamoh. He had not seen all of the Lord’s work with us, though I had preached in his church the first Sunday in March and God had greatly blessed. It was good to rejoice with him over answered prayer. His missions conference was to begin tomorrow, Wednesday, 3/23, with me preaching the opening night. He had asked us to focus on Mark 16:15 and we were ready.
Since we had received the documentation from the Ag Minister, we spent some time putting the finishing touches on the requirements for the Planning Ministry. We dropped it off early in hopes that they would go ahead and provide the certificate we needed, which they had promised weeks ago but when we arrived, their printer was down. We made arrangements for them to come by our office to print it thinking that would speed up their process. They did come by and print their certificate at our office a little later but still had to get the Minister’s signature and he was out of town. This was just a sample of the disorganized way government is set up.The various divisions of government appear to be working against each other. MOA certifies but Planning stalls and no one at MOH seems to know who approves NGO participation. We had been calling MOH daily trying to get their approval letter and Charlena, Dr. Gwenigale’s assistant, asked us to come by again early the next morning.
We received an early morning phone call from the Minister of Agriculture’s office that our letter would be ready by noon and we shouted together. The Honorable was leaving for his office and gave us a ride. We were a bit early but since the Ag office was on the way we stopped to check anyway. Charles Mclain, the Minister’s admin came out saying we were too early, so we promised to return. As we headed back to the waiting car, Tito arrived and shouted out that we should wait just a moment. He had brought the letter and the certificate of NGO Accreditation. This was more than we had hoped for and it happened right in front of Hon. Blamoh. He had not seen all of the Lord’s work with us, though I had preached in his church the first Sunday in March and God had greatly blessed. It was good to rejoice with him over answered prayer. His missions conference was to begin tomorrow, Wednesday, 3/23, with me preaching the opening night. He had asked us to focus on Mark 16:15 and we were ready.
Since we had received the documentation from the Ag Minister, we spent some time putting the finishing touches on the requirements for the Planning Ministry. We dropped it off early in hopes that they would go ahead and provide the certificate we needed, which they had promised weeks ago but when we arrived, their printer was down. We made arrangements for them to come by our office to print it thinking that would speed up their process. They did come by and print their certificate at our office a little later but still had to get the Minister’s signature and he was out of town. This was just a sample of the disorganized way government is set up.The various divisions of government appear to be working against each other. MOA certifies but Planning stalls and no one at MOH seems to know who approves NGO participation. We had been calling MOH daily trying to get their approval letter and Charlena, Dr. Gwenigale’s assistant, asked us to come by again early the next morning.
Monday, 3/22/10
Pastor Joseph came by early to share the bad news but to rejoice with us at God’s protection. Several of the young men at our compound began to reveal the wicked nature of thugs like these and the murderers who were still at large. It was a sobering thought that these people were willing to cut off fingers for a wedding band and the police are very little help. If the police found the bad guys they would just confiscate the stolen merchandise for themselves or accept a bribe to look the other way. This whole ordeal has disgusted me. The officials here are corrupt, from the ‘Bishop’ at the Foreign Ministry, to the guard at the airport, to the checkpoint thieves with a rope across the road. Unless the rule of law becomes more important, it is just a matter of time before the wicked rule, and I hope I am wrong.
We then headed to MO Agriculture to pick up our promised letter. Logan, the Deputy Minister, was cordial and interested but when Tito came in, the one in charge of the NGO approval process, he said the procedure was wrong and we had to go to the Minister proper. That would have been nice to know three weeks ago. That office was way across town and we had no one inside that office to move this project forward. Nevertheless we determined to go by there today with a new letter of request and all necessary documentation to keep the process moving. We were in our last week and had not accomplished our primary goal.
We stopped by Broad Street for more legal copies of our documents and since we were so close we stopped at Diana’s Restaurant, for a clean, good, Philly Steak and Cheese sandwich.
Back at the office we prepared the paperwork for the next step with Agriculture and rushed over there before they could leave for the day. When we walked in, the Minister herself, a warm friendly woman named Mrs. Chenowith, invited us right into her office. As we explained our need and the confusion at the other office she immediately called Tito and demanded he bring the letter to her at 7:30 the next morning and that they should not delay us any further. We spent over an hour with her and became dear friends. She was excited to hear our proposals and pledged any assistance she could give to speed us on our way. She happened to be very fond of Moringa and consumed it daily so she needed little convincing of its merits.
When we left her office, completely exuberant at the change at Agriculture, we immediately caught a ride on a government bus packed with people and we didn’t even care. I got on the bus first and Isela jumped on behind me. When I sat down, my backpack was up against her. One of the Liberians said, “Sir, you are pushing the lady”. Of course I said “Hey, that’s no lady, that’s my wife”. Apparently they had never heard that one before because the bus exploded with laughter as they repeated the punch line over and over. We had a great time all the way to that ELWA Junction. We needed a taxi and met Ebenezer who gave a lift the rest of the way. He will be on our list to call when we need a good taxi man. After we got home, I needed to buy more Moringa seeds so we visited the woman near the home of Honorable Blamoh and purchased the rest of her stock. She sold me 265 seeds for $10. I had paid $8 for the first batch of 125 seeds so I felt ok. She was poor and really needed the money. I later found out I could get 72 per dollar.
Oh Well,
Another Day,
Fred and Isela
Pastor Joseph came by early to share the bad news but to rejoice with us at God’s protection. Several of the young men at our compound began to reveal the wicked nature of thugs like these and the murderers who were still at large. It was a sobering thought that these people were willing to cut off fingers for a wedding band and the police are very little help. If the police found the bad guys they would just confiscate the stolen merchandise for themselves or accept a bribe to look the other way. This whole ordeal has disgusted me. The officials here are corrupt, from the ‘Bishop’ at the Foreign Ministry, to the guard at the airport, to the checkpoint thieves with a rope across the road. Unless the rule of law becomes more important, it is just a matter of time before the wicked rule, and I hope I am wrong.
We then headed to MO Agriculture to pick up our promised letter. Logan, the Deputy Minister, was cordial and interested but when Tito came in, the one in charge of the NGO approval process, he said the procedure was wrong and we had to go to the Minister proper. That would have been nice to know three weeks ago. That office was way across town and we had no one inside that office to move this project forward. Nevertheless we determined to go by there today with a new letter of request and all necessary documentation to keep the process moving. We were in our last week and had not accomplished our primary goal.
We stopped by Broad Street for more legal copies of our documents and since we were so close we stopped at Diana’s Restaurant, for a clean, good, Philly Steak and Cheese sandwich.
Back at the office we prepared the paperwork for the next step with Agriculture and rushed over there before they could leave for the day. When we walked in, the Minister herself, a warm friendly woman named Mrs. Chenowith, invited us right into her office. As we explained our need and the confusion at the other office she immediately called Tito and demanded he bring the letter to her at 7:30 the next morning and that they should not delay us any further. We spent over an hour with her and became dear friends. She was excited to hear our proposals and pledged any assistance she could give to speed us on our way. She happened to be very fond of Moringa and consumed it daily so she needed little convincing of its merits.
When we left her office, completely exuberant at the change at Agriculture, we immediately caught a ride on a government bus packed with people and we didn’t even care. I got on the bus first and Isela jumped on behind me. When I sat down, my backpack was up against her. One of the Liberians said, “Sir, you are pushing the lady”. Of course I said “Hey, that’s no lady, that’s my wife”. Apparently they had never heard that one before because the bus exploded with laughter as they repeated the punch line over and over. We had a great time all the way to that ELWA Junction. We needed a taxi and met Ebenezer who gave a lift the rest of the way. He will be on our list to call when we need a good taxi man. After we got home, I needed to buy more Moringa seeds so we visited the woman near the home of Honorable Blamoh and purchased the rest of her stock. She sold me 265 seeds for $10. I had paid $8 for the first batch of 125 seeds so I felt ok. She was poor and really needed the money. I later found out I could get 72 per dollar.
Oh Well,
Another Day,
Fred and Isela
Sunday, 3/21
Pastor Joseph picked us up early for the church service at Trumpet of Faith Baptist Church. I have preached at ACFI churches, Methodist meetings, Pentecostal services among others, but this is my first message at a Baptist church in Liberia. It’s about time, and this one will be broadcast to all Liberia.
Pastor Joseph is a great host and friend and both Isela and I look forward to many years of fellowship with him. Though I prepared a new sermon and used the projector and PowerPoint, it all ended up at the same place, ‘Be Filled’. Pastor Joseph had assigned me the topic for this week, ‘Stewardship of Time’, one of my weakest areas personally but the passage God seemed to focus on was ‘Redeeming the Time’ from Ephesians 5, two verses before ‘Be Filled.’ Isela and I sang ‘Fill My Cup’ and were being sent out to all Liberia and the total radio time was constrained to 30 minutes. The service was great and the people were wonderful. At the invitation, the entire church came forward to pray and be filled with the spirit. My goal here has been to keep it simple as possible rather than trying to be too smart. They have a challenge just understanding me so I have been speaking slowly and simply, to God be the glory.
After the service we went to see Nyamah and Helen, two of the UMC people at their compound and they shared bowtie pasta with us. It was really good after all the Liberian food we had endured. Helen is deeply involved with Education and was a great source of info for the current condition of Liberian schools. I have already written about the student/teacher ratio at 75+ to 1. That is with only 34% of students attending school. If all children decided to attend, the ratio would be over 200 to 1. Only 12% of students attend government schools while the other 88% attend private or mission schools which charge tuition and fees. I am more convinced than ever that their current situation is unsustainable and a complete rewrite of the curriculum and program is in order. I hope we have a chance to present our concerns but I have no confidence that MOE will listen. They have too much invested in their current failure to change everything now. Nyamah is the UMCOR representative (United Methodist Committee on Relief) which is the Methodists NGO worldwide. She has been so instrumental we have asked her to be on the Liberian Board of Directors and she has agreed. She is now our international Liaison and will handle many things in our absence.
We had been scheduled to have dinner with the VP and family, but son Ignatius called us and cancelled.
After visiting at the Methodist compound we jumped a taxi for the ride home but they dropped us at ELWA Junction, which is a veritable chaotic throng of people, very close to the murder site the day before and both of us were concerned but I saw a UN style vehicle and asked them for a ride. As it turned out, they were Peruvians and spoke Spanish. When they spoke to Isela and they began to communicate they were happy to oblige us and we were happy too. Thank You, Lord.
Earlier at Trumpet of Faith, Pastor Joseph gave me the first ever Liberian love offering. He gave me the 500 Liberian dollars I had given him for gas earlier in the week but it was such a blessing to us. Much to our dismay, armed robbers broke into his house later that night and attacked he and his wife. They took all their little money and when they saw his wedding ring were about to chop his finger when he said, “No, no, I’ll take it off for you”. As the thugs were finishing the neighbors came into the house and the bad guys fled. God protected the young pastor and his family and all they lost was a few possessions.
Will write more later,
Fred and Isela
Pastor Joseph picked us up early for the church service at Trumpet of Faith Baptist Church. I have preached at ACFI churches, Methodist meetings, Pentecostal services among others, but this is my first message at a Baptist church in Liberia. It’s about time, and this one will be broadcast to all Liberia.
Pastor Joseph is a great host and friend and both Isela and I look forward to many years of fellowship with him. Though I prepared a new sermon and used the projector and PowerPoint, it all ended up at the same place, ‘Be Filled’. Pastor Joseph had assigned me the topic for this week, ‘Stewardship of Time’, one of my weakest areas personally but the passage God seemed to focus on was ‘Redeeming the Time’ from Ephesians 5, two verses before ‘Be Filled.’ Isela and I sang ‘Fill My Cup’ and were being sent out to all Liberia and the total radio time was constrained to 30 minutes. The service was great and the people were wonderful. At the invitation, the entire church came forward to pray and be filled with the spirit. My goal here has been to keep it simple as possible rather than trying to be too smart. They have a challenge just understanding me so I have been speaking slowly and simply, to God be the glory.
After the service we went to see Nyamah and Helen, two of the UMC people at their compound and they shared bowtie pasta with us. It was really good after all the Liberian food we had endured. Helen is deeply involved with Education and was a great source of info for the current condition of Liberian schools. I have already written about the student/teacher ratio at 75+ to 1. That is with only 34% of students attending school. If all children decided to attend, the ratio would be over 200 to 1. Only 12% of students attend government schools while the other 88% attend private or mission schools which charge tuition and fees. I am more convinced than ever that their current situation is unsustainable and a complete rewrite of the curriculum and program is in order. I hope we have a chance to present our concerns but I have no confidence that MOE will listen. They have too much invested in their current failure to change everything now. Nyamah is the UMCOR representative (United Methodist Committee on Relief) which is the Methodists NGO worldwide. She has been so instrumental we have asked her to be on the Liberian Board of Directors and she has agreed. She is now our international Liaison and will handle many things in our absence.
We had been scheduled to have dinner with the VP and family, but son Ignatius called us and cancelled.
After visiting at the Methodist compound we jumped a taxi for the ride home but they dropped us at ELWA Junction, which is a veritable chaotic throng of people, very close to the murder site the day before and both of us were concerned but I saw a UN style vehicle and asked them for a ride. As it turned out, they were Peruvians and spoke Spanish. When they spoke to Isela and they began to communicate they were happy to oblige us and we were happy too. Thank You, Lord.
Earlier at Trumpet of Faith, Pastor Joseph gave me the first ever Liberian love offering. He gave me the 500 Liberian dollars I had given him for gas earlier in the week but it was such a blessing to us. Much to our dismay, armed robbers broke into his house later that night and attacked he and his wife. They took all their little money and when they saw his wedding ring were about to chop his finger when he said, “No, no, I’ll take it off for you”. As the thugs were finishing the neighbors came into the house and the bad guys fled. God protected the young pastor and his family and all they lost was a few possessions.
Will write more later,
Fred and Isela
Saturday, 3/20 Bomi is the Bomb
We did get a taxi to carry us to the meeting 2 hours away. Tony, our new friend agreed to take us for $5 per hour and he would buy the gas so we flew to the meeting arriving about 10:30. Everyone was waiting but had no idea what they were about to hear. Almost everyone here is extremely attentive to protocol. Every letter we have written has been so complimentary ie, “Dear Honorable Minister, It is a privilege to present our compliments to you…” Each speaker at the many occasions we have attended, starts at the top of the guest list and addresses each person on the platform with almost monotonous formalism. The chiefs were no different. So we have tried to follow suit though it is strange to us. When we presented Tree of Life Liberia and the 4 plans, they were more excited than any group we have seen. I can see how God is going to use this. There were Muslim chiefs in attendance and they are inviting us into every corner of their chiefdom. This is going to happen all over West Africa. A mission model for the 21st century could emerge from this. After our presentation, the chiefs exited the building asking us to remain inside so that they could have a private meeting to discuss property. After a few minutes they returned with a plate of cola nuts, an African ceremony of total acceptance and mutuality. In a formal display of covenant we all took a cola nut and bit a chunk to chew (chewing vigorously on very bitter Cola nuts) they promised 100 acres for the work of Tree of Life, and. Isela and I obediently crunched the bitter nut trying our best not to cough it up. That would have been a bad sign so we just grinned at each other, laughing silently at how bad they tasted but inwardly rejoicing that God was moving the hearts of over 40 chiefs to do his will. It was an unforgettable moment of joy. The chiefs appointed Chief Billy Gray as the point man to handle the transaction. There are 4 districts in Bomi and they had wanted to split up the 100plus acres into 25 acre sections in each district (they were fighting over us) and each Paramount chief wanted us in his district but they finally decided to put it all together in Klay district (the main one and the closest to Monrovia). So now we have 100 plus acres in Bomi County, Klay District, just west of Tubmanburg up Coleman Hill. Senator Devine and his brother, Bosten, the ACFI Pastor of Coleman Hill Community Church were very instrumental in this process and both are to be credited for their sacrifice and support. I gave Bosten 25 Moringa seeds to plant for us.
When we left for the meeting earlier in the day, we rode passed a man who had been murdered the night before and he was lying in the weeds just off the road. A single policeman had arrived with a crowd of onlookers. Later, when we returned home, he was still there with the same policeman and a larger crowd, Thankfully, he had been covered by plastic. Tony, our driver, told us that the police will leave the victim at the scene until identified by relatives or up to 3 days. This turned out to be a ritual killing by a band of rebel thugs who practice devil worship. The details are even more sickening than you can imagine with the brutal chopping of toes and other parts, draining of blood for sacrificial offerings. His wife had heard that there was a dead body and happened upon the scene only to make the gruesome identification with no preparation. Understandably, she collapsed with all the pressure. We are told these murders increase as the election season approaches as the rebel underground factions commit these crimes to conjure spells for their candidate or against their opponents.
While we were driving back from Bomi earlier, there were several checkpoints stopping our car and the guard would come and look into the back seat seeking “small small”, which always means he wants a bribe. Fortunately, we escaped the necessity to bribe any of them because we were on official business in the county of Senator Devine and that usually convinced the crooked guard that his scheme would be uncovered and he would let us pass. Apparently, this is normal procedure all across Africa and is now being tried in Liberia. Many simply pay the extortion like I did at the airport. What a shame.
Once back at the house Isela gave me a haircut as many kids watched and laughed. Shortly, two Liberian men walked by from behind the house and began urinating in the open. Isela shouted at them to stop because there were children around and it is totally inappropriate to expose children to this regardless of how common or widespread it is. One man mocked her but the other apologized and came up to us asking forgiveness and making promises. His name was Emmanuel and he reeked of alcohol. As we talked, he confessed Christianity and even pulled out a Bible from his pocket. From the hardness of his hands I could tell he was a hard worker and he said he was working for the Chinese on a building project making $10 per day, which is good pay for a Liberian worker these days. Even so I asked him how he could possibly afford to drink on that salary and still take care of his family. He admitted that his wife had left him with his 3 children because of his drinking. He even told us his brother had refused to help him as long as he was in this bondage. Isela also warned him of the emptiness of his ways. I felt real compassion for him and preached a little to see if his ears were open to it. We had prayer together and he committed his life to Christ, promising no more drinking and that he would go to church the next day and go forward in the service and tell the pastor and the church of his decision. He lives nearby and we visited his home to meet mom and family. We all joined hands and prayed for his new decision. The Honorable Blamoh has a construction company and could use a good worker, and Emmanuel needs a good pastor to keep him on track. We have turned him over to Rev. Blamoh after we leave. Pray for Emmanuel and his family.
After a busy, fruitful day we sat down with the Honorable to teach him PowerPoint and how to use it to preach and make presentations. He was delighted and wanted to learn as much as possible. Now he wants our projector so that he can use it all the time. Since he has a laptop, he could have a regular youth movie night and reach more young people than he could fit in the church. We showed The Lion King and everyone on the neighborhood wanted to come so we ended up showing it three times just to accommodate them. They were so childlike in their awe of the big picture on the wall. This one thing could win more souls than anything else we did. When we return we want to have a crusade with gospel movies all around Monrovia. Thousands will come and many will be saved.
What a day,
Fred and Isela
We did get a taxi to carry us to the meeting 2 hours away. Tony, our new friend agreed to take us for $5 per hour and he would buy the gas so we flew to the meeting arriving about 10:30. Everyone was waiting but had no idea what they were about to hear. Almost everyone here is extremely attentive to protocol. Every letter we have written has been so complimentary ie, “Dear Honorable Minister, It is a privilege to present our compliments to you…” Each speaker at the many occasions we have attended, starts at the top of the guest list and addresses each person on the platform with almost monotonous formalism. The chiefs were no different. So we have tried to follow suit though it is strange to us. When we presented Tree of Life Liberia and the 4 plans, they were more excited than any group we have seen. I can see how God is going to use this. There were Muslim chiefs in attendance and they are inviting us into every corner of their chiefdom. This is going to happen all over West Africa. A mission model for the 21st century could emerge from this. After our presentation, the chiefs exited the building asking us to remain inside so that they could have a private meeting to discuss property. After a few minutes they returned with a plate of cola nuts, an African ceremony of total acceptance and mutuality. In a formal display of covenant we all took a cola nut and bit a chunk to chew (chewing vigorously on very bitter Cola nuts) they promised 100 acres for the work of Tree of Life, and. Isela and I obediently crunched the bitter nut trying our best not to cough it up. That would have been a bad sign so we just grinned at each other, laughing silently at how bad they tasted but inwardly rejoicing that God was moving the hearts of over 40 chiefs to do his will. It was an unforgettable moment of joy. The chiefs appointed Chief Billy Gray as the point man to handle the transaction. There are 4 districts in Bomi and they had wanted to split up the 100plus acres into 25 acre sections in each district (they were fighting over us) and each Paramount chief wanted us in his district but they finally decided to put it all together in Klay district (the main one and the closest to Monrovia). So now we have 100 plus acres in Bomi County, Klay District, just west of Tubmanburg up Coleman Hill. Senator Devine and his brother, Bosten, the ACFI Pastor of Coleman Hill Community Church were very instrumental in this process and both are to be credited for their sacrifice and support. I gave Bosten 25 Moringa seeds to plant for us.
When we left for the meeting earlier in the day, we rode passed a man who had been murdered the night before and he was lying in the weeds just off the road. A single policeman had arrived with a crowd of onlookers. Later, when we returned home, he was still there with the same policeman and a larger crowd, Thankfully, he had been covered by plastic. Tony, our driver, told us that the police will leave the victim at the scene until identified by relatives or up to 3 days. This turned out to be a ritual killing by a band of rebel thugs who practice devil worship. The details are even more sickening than you can imagine with the brutal chopping of toes and other parts, draining of blood for sacrificial offerings. His wife had heard that there was a dead body and happened upon the scene only to make the gruesome identification with no preparation. Understandably, she collapsed with all the pressure. We are told these murders increase as the election season approaches as the rebel underground factions commit these crimes to conjure spells for their candidate or against their opponents.
While we were driving back from Bomi earlier, there were several checkpoints stopping our car and the guard would come and look into the back seat seeking “small small”, which always means he wants a bribe. Fortunately, we escaped the necessity to bribe any of them because we were on official business in the county of Senator Devine and that usually convinced the crooked guard that his scheme would be uncovered and he would let us pass. Apparently, this is normal procedure all across Africa and is now being tried in Liberia. Many simply pay the extortion like I did at the airport. What a shame.
Once back at the house Isela gave me a haircut as many kids watched and laughed. Shortly, two Liberian men walked by from behind the house and began urinating in the open. Isela shouted at them to stop because there were children around and it is totally inappropriate to expose children to this regardless of how common or widespread it is. One man mocked her but the other apologized and came up to us asking forgiveness and making promises. His name was Emmanuel and he reeked of alcohol. As we talked, he confessed Christianity and even pulled out a Bible from his pocket. From the hardness of his hands I could tell he was a hard worker and he said he was working for the Chinese on a building project making $10 per day, which is good pay for a Liberian worker these days. Even so I asked him how he could possibly afford to drink on that salary and still take care of his family. He admitted that his wife had left him with his 3 children because of his drinking. He even told us his brother had refused to help him as long as he was in this bondage. Isela also warned him of the emptiness of his ways. I felt real compassion for him and preached a little to see if his ears were open to it. We had prayer together and he committed his life to Christ, promising no more drinking and that he would go to church the next day and go forward in the service and tell the pastor and the church of his decision. He lives nearby and we visited his home to meet mom and family. We all joined hands and prayed for his new decision. The Honorable Blamoh has a construction company and could use a good worker, and Emmanuel needs a good pastor to keep him on track. We have turned him over to Rev. Blamoh after we leave. Pray for Emmanuel and his family.
After a busy, fruitful day we sat down with the Honorable to teach him PowerPoint and how to use it to preach and make presentations. He was delighted and wanted to learn as much as possible. Now he wants our projector so that he can use it all the time. Since he has a laptop, he could have a regular youth movie night and reach more young people than he could fit in the church. We showed The Lion King and everyone on the neighborhood wanted to come so we ended up showing it three times just to accommodate them. They were so childlike in their awe of the big picture on the wall. This one thing could win more souls than anything else we did. When we return we want to have a crusade with gospel movies all around Monrovia. Thousands will come and many will be saved.
What a day,
Fred and Isela
Thursday, 3/18
Early at the office, we called John Kollie because were scheduled for the TV show at 10:30. A few moments later, he picked us up and we drove to the station. It was hectic inside was many were scurrying around preparing for the live show. With almost no show prep John was introducing us on air and turned to me to describe our proposed work here. He seemed provocative, challenging well known statistics and almost accusing us of coming to Liberia to make money. He was stuck on the financing issue, asking the same question repeatedly, “How much money do you have?” Isela came to the rescue and flatly told him we were not here to talk about our (non existent) finances, but about mothers and babies dying by the thousands in Liberia. It was a great segue and John backed of completely, though began another series of provoking questions. All in all, the show was a great success and later at the capitol building, many recognized us from the TV show earlier.
The presentation at MOEducation was looming at 1pm and there were still loose ends for the trip to Nimba County, such as finding a 4wd pickup, figuring who was going to buy the 50 gallons of fuel, finding out where we were going and why, etc. This was not on our schedule and there was considerable pressure to go. Maybe that should have been our first clue…So reluctantly I called Josiah, Dr. Kortu’s admin person, to see if a reschedule would be better. He immediately agreed and said we should wait till Monday and he would set it up. Relieved, we headed to the capitol to see the Representatives and Senators from Nimba County for some fuel assistance. The Honorable Blamoh, our host, was provided with coupons each month, for fuel at the most popular gas stations. Senator Devine had provided the fuel for the trip to Bomi the previous Saturday and Senator Jewell Howard Taylor had provided car and driver for the trip to Bong County. So we assumed that one of the elected officials would help since we were willing to go to their county and meet with their constituents. Just a thought… But the excuses we were greeted with were completely ridiculous. All we were asking for was fuel coupons and you would have thought we were holding them up. We felt hosed. So we dejectedly walked back to our office to share the news with the rest of the team. Browne had promised the vehicle and fuel from Lands and Mines and that our lodging was all set. Plus, he said the trip would be 4 hours to Ganta and then a little more. When we returned only the vehicle was being provided and suddenly I was required to buy fuel or the entire trip was in jeopardy. We were already close to the edge, having spent all we had to make the trip and had just given up the MOE presentation for this. Browne’s boss Tingban, who had given the vehicle, a Nissan Hardbody Xcab 4wd, kicked in $50 and that convinced me to pay the rest but it made Browne look a little ragged in his communication to us about the whole trip and made us wonder what other surprises awaited us.
We set off excitedly and there was a lot to talk about on the way. We had to take a driver, Browne and Osundo. Because it was an overnighter we packed some clothes and took all of Isela’s teaching stuff. Since we had intended to present Moe we had all that baggage. It was threatening rain and our laptop and projector were endangered in the bed of the pickup so we had to stop, buy visquine, rope, etc. Then we had to buy big bottles of water and extra jugs of fuel (no filling stations in the jungle) and finally, around 3 we managed to get out of town. We lamented postponing MOE but prayed for God to work it out.
The journey was one of the worst trips either of us had ever experienced. The back seat of the truck was cramped with no head room and the roads were horrible. We could not even call them roads; they were ditches we had to straddle. And the bridges were frightening. Many bridges none of you would drive over but Sam, our driver was undaunted. Though he went too fast and thrashed us about (my neck is still jammed from bouncing off the ceiling of the Nissan), he was a very good ditch driver. We went through mud holes country boys would avoid at a tractor pull for hours on end until we finally arrived in Tzekepa at 2am. Oh, and there was no place to stay. Osundo had promised us we would stay with the District Commissioner at his home, but no. They finally stirred a poor man named Nelson who woke up his entire family of kids and grandkids. They eventually moved kids around and gave us a room. Both of us would have rather slept in the truck but all insisted we sleep in the ‘house’. We were so exhausted we could barely keep our eyes open but we could not sleep. And frankly, I was angry at the lack of truthful reporting as to our entire journey. Not that it was so bad for me, and it was, but they had put my precious wife through this; and that was unacceptable to me. As I was figuring a way to exact revenge from Browne for all of this, God finally got my attention to remind me that He had miraculously protected us this far and that we should trust Him. Well, at least I could doze off for a few minutes since He was going to keep an eye out for us, and I would get revenge later, zzzz.
Early the next morning was a relief from the hot night and hardness of the board with a sheet on it we half slept on. About the time we made it outside the midwives came dancing down the road to greet us. They sang and circled us on the front porch. Isela could not help herself and jumped in the line as they howled with delight. I was camera boy and followed them around the circle they shuffled around in rhythmic display. Then they headed back down the road as we followed. We had heard that a camera team with the Presidents media man, David Kortie, had followed us in to the village and that the entire event would be televised in the future. We didn’t even have time to wonder about this because the women all led us to a hillside where the men and school children had already gathered. The meeting with the Tzepeka folks was tremendous and far more than we could enter here. This was deep in the bush in Lower Nimba County; a very remote village with little civilization. Isela and I took turns speaking and inspiring them. The presence of the children was very enjoyable to me. Their bright faces and snickers at the goofy, big, white man just stole my heart. Somehow, they knew how much I loved them and they squeezed in to get closer to me, while Isela spoke to the midwives. Many of the kids just wanted to rub the hair on my arms to see how it felt. Maybe some of them had never been that close to white people, though I can hear Isela saying, “Who you calling white?” Some of the adults tried to shoo away these uniformed primary schoolers but I wouldn’t let them, much to the joy of the kids. After the meeting they all hung on to us trying to get closer, as we walked us back to the place we spent the night.
Before leaving the meeting the truth became very apparent. Tingban (pronounced Timba). Browne’s boss, who gave the $50 for fuel, is running for representative in that district and his friends, (Friends of Tingban) took over at the end of our meeting for a rally of their own. As it turns out, Tingban is from that village and district and will need their votes to prevail in the next election. That cleared up the TV crew and their purpose for making this arduous journey. David Kortie was especially angry about the distance, bad roads and poor communication. He was driving his own vehicle and would not cross the last few bridges in the dark. He spent the night in a village 20 kilometers short of our location at Tzekepa, and had to be retrieved by our vehicle the next morning.
There seems to be significant resistance to any kind of progress in many parts of rural Liberia. A huge loader was repairing part of the road between Saclepea and Tzekepa and each night the machine would be vandalized by unknown rebels so that it would have to be repaired each morning before work could proceed. The villagers were paying hundreds of US dollars to repair the roads, which is the key to any rural improvements. In a nationwide survey, condition of the roads was the #1 problem in Liberia, ahead of malaria, infant mortality and pervasive poverty. Some people feel like progress and advancement is what lead to the last 30 years of devastation and therefore resist any effort to bring Liberians out of the ‘stone age’. Some things are going to be difficult to change here. The UN has spent billions here with little permanent change to show for it. Isela and I have actually discussed ‘who do we think we are to come and encourage such massive changes’. Our only hope is that God will do what the UN could not. So many of the people seem so ready to lift their sight and embrace a better way. We better pray hard!!
Overall, Tzekepa was a great success. Though we did not meet with the Chiefs to have them set aside a large portion of arable land (the starting point for our local involvement), the people responded so overwhelmingly, and the chiefs were in attendance to see it, we are sure the word will get to them and they will make the offer. We have never asked for any land but God just seems to move them in that direction as a means of guiding us to the appropriate communities. Though Tingban did not accompany us on this journey, he has since assured me that he will approach the chiefs and that together, they will set aside the portion we need there.
We were not anxious to leave, remembering the 13 hour marathon from yesterday, but we could not wait any longer. The ride home was worse than before and though the little Nissan made it, it will never be the same again. We also made time for a stop in Ganta, at the Methodist compound there. They have a fine hospital and a great organization on the ground there. Plus, Brother Joseph Theoway, the first man we met at the Monrovia Methodist center had just been transferred to Ganta to head up operations there and they were growing Moringa. We met with Joseph and David Vulu and they toured us around the compound, including their airstrip, new hospital facility under construction, eye center and even the Moringa farm. They have agreed to add the Doula Program to their nursing training and they have even offered to supply our farm with Moringa seeds. We wanted to stay longer but we had to leave with the better half of the trip ahead of us. By the time we arrived back at the Blamoh’s, the truck was ‘shakin and bakin’, and caked with red mud/clay. We put less than 600 km on it but it was much worse for that wear. Arriving around 2 am (again) we had to wake up Yvonne to let us in. We had an early trip to Bomi and a 10 am meeting with all Bomi chiefs in Tubmanburg, but on the way home we found out that we would not have a ride. That meant we would have to arrange transportation early so we tried to sleep quick
Early at the office, we called John Kollie because were scheduled for the TV show at 10:30. A few moments later, he picked us up and we drove to the station. It was hectic inside was many were scurrying around preparing for the live show. With almost no show prep John was introducing us on air and turned to me to describe our proposed work here. He seemed provocative, challenging well known statistics and almost accusing us of coming to Liberia to make money. He was stuck on the financing issue, asking the same question repeatedly, “How much money do you have?” Isela came to the rescue and flatly told him we were not here to talk about our (non existent) finances, but about mothers and babies dying by the thousands in Liberia. It was a great segue and John backed of completely, though began another series of provoking questions. All in all, the show was a great success and later at the capitol building, many recognized us from the TV show earlier.
The presentation at MOEducation was looming at 1pm and there were still loose ends for the trip to Nimba County, such as finding a 4wd pickup, figuring who was going to buy the 50 gallons of fuel, finding out where we were going and why, etc. This was not on our schedule and there was considerable pressure to go. Maybe that should have been our first clue…So reluctantly I called Josiah, Dr. Kortu’s admin person, to see if a reschedule would be better. He immediately agreed and said we should wait till Monday and he would set it up. Relieved, we headed to the capitol to see the Representatives and Senators from Nimba County for some fuel assistance. The Honorable Blamoh, our host, was provided with coupons each month, for fuel at the most popular gas stations. Senator Devine had provided the fuel for the trip to Bomi the previous Saturday and Senator Jewell Howard Taylor had provided car and driver for the trip to Bong County. So we assumed that one of the elected officials would help since we were willing to go to their county and meet with their constituents. Just a thought… But the excuses we were greeted with were completely ridiculous. All we were asking for was fuel coupons and you would have thought we were holding them up. We felt hosed. So we dejectedly walked back to our office to share the news with the rest of the team. Browne had promised the vehicle and fuel from Lands and Mines and that our lodging was all set. Plus, he said the trip would be 4 hours to Ganta and then a little more. When we returned only the vehicle was being provided and suddenly I was required to buy fuel or the entire trip was in jeopardy. We were already close to the edge, having spent all we had to make the trip and had just given up the MOE presentation for this. Browne’s boss Tingban, who had given the vehicle, a Nissan Hardbody Xcab 4wd, kicked in $50 and that convinced me to pay the rest but it made Browne look a little ragged in his communication to us about the whole trip and made us wonder what other surprises awaited us.
We set off excitedly and there was a lot to talk about on the way. We had to take a driver, Browne and Osundo. Because it was an overnighter we packed some clothes and took all of Isela’s teaching stuff. Since we had intended to present Moe we had all that baggage. It was threatening rain and our laptop and projector were endangered in the bed of the pickup so we had to stop, buy visquine, rope, etc. Then we had to buy big bottles of water and extra jugs of fuel (no filling stations in the jungle) and finally, around 3 we managed to get out of town. We lamented postponing MOE but prayed for God to work it out.
The journey was one of the worst trips either of us had ever experienced. The back seat of the truck was cramped with no head room and the roads were horrible. We could not even call them roads; they were ditches we had to straddle. And the bridges were frightening. Many bridges none of you would drive over but Sam, our driver was undaunted. Though he went too fast and thrashed us about (my neck is still jammed from bouncing off the ceiling of the Nissan), he was a very good ditch driver. We went through mud holes country boys would avoid at a tractor pull for hours on end until we finally arrived in Tzekepa at 2am. Oh, and there was no place to stay. Osundo had promised us we would stay with the District Commissioner at his home, but no. They finally stirred a poor man named Nelson who woke up his entire family of kids and grandkids. They eventually moved kids around and gave us a room. Both of us would have rather slept in the truck but all insisted we sleep in the ‘house’. We were so exhausted we could barely keep our eyes open but we could not sleep. And frankly, I was angry at the lack of truthful reporting as to our entire journey. Not that it was so bad for me, and it was, but they had put my precious wife through this; and that was unacceptable to me. As I was figuring a way to exact revenge from Browne for all of this, God finally got my attention to remind me that He had miraculously protected us this far and that we should trust Him. Well, at least I could doze off for a few minutes since He was going to keep an eye out for us, and I would get revenge later, zzzz.
Early the next morning was a relief from the hot night and hardness of the board with a sheet on it we half slept on. About the time we made it outside the midwives came dancing down the road to greet us. They sang and circled us on the front porch. Isela could not help herself and jumped in the line as they howled with delight. I was camera boy and followed them around the circle they shuffled around in rhythmic display. Then they headed back down the road as we followed. We had heard that a camera team with the Presidents media man, David Kortie, had followed us in to the village and that the entire event would be televised in the future. We didn’t even have time to wonder about this because the women all led us to a hillside where the men and school children had already gathered. The meeting with the Tzepeka folks was tremendous and far more than we could enter here. This was deep in the bush in Lower Nimba County; a very remote village with little civilization. Isela and I took turns speaking and inspiring them. The presence of the children was very enjoyable to me. Their bright faces and snickers at the goofy, big, white man just stole my heart. Somehow, they knew how much I loved them and they squeezed in to get closer to me, while Isela spoke to the midwives. Many of the kids just wanted to rub the hair on my arms to see how it felt. Maybe some of them had never been that close to white people, though I can hear Isela saying, “Who you calling white?” Some of the adults tried to shoo away these uniformed primary schoolers but I wouldn’t let them, much to the joy of the kids. After the meeting they all hung on to us trying to get closer, as we walked us back to the place we spent the night.
Before leaving the meeting the truth became very apparent. Tingban (pronounced Timba). Browne’s boss, who gave the $50 for fuel, is running for representative in that district and his friends, (Friends of Tingban) took over at the end of our meeting for a rally of their own. As it turns out, Tingban is from that village and district and will need their votes to prevail in the next election. That cleared up the TV crew and their purpose for making this arduous journey. David Kortie was especially angry about the distance, bad roads and poor communication. He was driving his own vehicle and would not cross the last few bridges in the dark. He spent the night in a village 20 kilometers short of our location at Tzekepa, and had to be retrieved by our vehicle the next morning.
There seems to be significant resistance to any kind of progress in many parts of rural Liberia. A huge loader was repairing part of the road between Saclepea and Tzekepa and each night the machine would be vandalized by unknown rebels so that it would have to be repaired each morning before work could proceed. The villagers were paying hundreds of US dollars to repair the roads, which is the key to any rural improvements. In a nationwide survey, condition of the roads was the #1 problem in Liberia, ahead of malaria, infant mortality and pervasive poverty. Some people feel like progress and advancement is what lead to the last 30 years of devastation and therefore resist any effort to bring Liberians out of the ‘stone age’. Some things are going to be difficult to change here. The UN has spent billions here with little permanent change to show for it. Isela and I have actually discussed ‘who do we think we are to come and encourage such massive changes’. Our only hope is that God will do what the UN could not. So many of the people seem so ready to lift their sight and embrace a better way. We better pray hard!!
Overall, Tzekepa was a great success. Though we did not meet with the Chiefs to have them set aside a large portion of arable land (the starting point for our local involvement), the people responded so overwhelmingly, and the chiefs were in attendance to see it, we are sure the word will get to them and they will make the offer. We have never asked for any land but God just seems to move them in that direction as a means of guiding us to the appropriate communities. Though Tingban did not accompany us on this journey, he has since assured me that he will approach the chiefs and that together, they will set aside the portion we need there.
We were not anxious to leave, remembering the 13 hour marathon from yesterday, but we could not wait any longer. The ride home was worse than before and though the little Nissan made it, it will never be the same again. We also made time for a stop in Ganta, at the Methodist compound there. They have a fine hospital and a great organization on the ground there. Plus, Brother Joseph Theoway, the first man we met at the Monrovia Methodist center had just been transferred to Ganta to head up operations there and they were growing Moringa. We met with Joseph and David Vulu and they toured us around the compound, including their airstrip, new hospital facility under construction, eye center and even the Moringa farm. They have agreed to add the Doula Program to their nursing training and they have even offered to supply our farm with Moringa seeds. We wanted to stay longer but we had to leave with the better half of the trip ahead of us. By the time we arrived back at the Blamoh’s, the truck was ‘shakin and bakin’, and caked with red mud/clay. We put less than 600 km on it but it was much worse for that wear. Arriving around 2 am (again) we had to wake up Yvonne to let us in. We had an early trip to Bomi and a 10 am meeting with all Bomi chiefs in Tubmanburg, but on the way home we found out that we would not have a ride. That meant we would have to arrange transportation early so we tried to sleep quick
Wednesday, 3/17
Our rides are getting harder to arrange. The Honorable Wesseh Blamoh had been renting a Pathfinder and a driver (CoCo) to carry us around because his Pathfinder was in the shop. When we found out this was costing him $50/day, we determined to get our own transportation. Pastor Joseph drives by our community daily and we were going in his direction so he picked us up and dropped us back at MO Agriculture. Unfortunately, Logan had left for another city and Francis could not give the letter without Tito’s approval so we had spent another wasted effort chasing this elusive certification process. Pastor Joseph dropped us at Bushrod Hwy and Somalia Drive, an intersection you would do well to avoid. There is a special way to wave your hand to flag a Liberian Taxi, and every time we get into a cab the price triples and we have to argue with the driver to get the right number. But on this day no taxis were interested so we waited and waved. I felt like a fiddler crab waving his large claw, “Hey, over here, can’t you see my claw?” After sweating for 30 minutes or more, a kind Liberian man stopped and gave us a free ride to downtown, across the long bridge over the polluted Montserrado River. He is a business man whose business is gold and real estate. Once there we stopped at a sidewalk copier and had copies of our approval from the Foreign Ministry made. Everyone seemed to want one so we made many to submit with our requests. The streets are packed with cars, trucks and people and the sidewalks are thronged with vendors of all kinds, and there are many beggars. They all seem to follow me and Isela asking for handouts. We have compassion for those who have been victimized by the war and those who are really crippled but by helping a few when we first arrived we seemed to have invited the mob of not so disabled. Maybe the word had spread and dozens picked us out calling me Daddy and Isela Mommy. With so many poking at us we fled to a taxi and hurried to the office.
Since we had so much detail to deliver to Planning we spent most of the day creating the history of our efforts in Liberia. We also had to list all board members and provide letters to various individuals with all the documentation they required. We were leaving for Nimba County the next day so we were trying to wrap up all our loose ends with the various ministries before we left because Thursday was going to be a full day.
When we arrived at the office, Arthur Zarmapoe, , ACFI Pastor of Ocean View, and his assistant Thomas had came by office and were waiting for us. We had met earlier in the week and I could sense the frustration he was feeling. Both of them wanted to join Tree of Life and I want to help them. Arthur is a 22 year friend and one of the first I ordained here. Thomas is a fine young assistant who works with the youth and choir and teaches in the school. Of course it is too early in our organization to consider employees but both of these men would be a blessing to us. I told them that we would consider their request but that Bishop Edward Kofi would have to be aware of everything and approve any changes we made with them. He is on our Liberian Board (he was the first person we asked to serve in that capacity) and my life long friend. Furthermore, we will be working with ACFI for years to come. Both men agreed completely and said there were already ongoing discussions regarding their future. We showed them our overall plan while Isela and I took turns working on the Planning requirements. We erroneously thought that we would be accredited as soon as we filed the paperwork with Planning because we were expecting the necessary letters from Health and Agriculture, and Planning only needed one to certify us (either of them). After a grueling day, Sam, one of the workers at Lands and Mines offered us the ride home.
Thank You Lord,
Fred and Isela
Our rides are getting harder to arrange. The Honorable Wesseh Blamoh had been renting a Pathfinder and a driver (CoCo) to carry us around because his Pathfinder was in the shop. When we found out this was costing him $50/day, we determined to get our own transportation. Pastor Joseph drives by our community daily and we were going in his direction so he picked us up and dropped us back at MO Agriculture. Unfortunately, Logan had left for another city and Francis could not give the letter without Tito’s approval so we had spent another wasted effort chasing this elusive certification process. Pastor Joseph dropped us at Bushrod Hwy and Somalia Drive, an intersection you would do well to avoid. There is a special way to wave your hand to flag a Liberian Taxi, and every time we get into a cab the price triples and we have to argue with the driver to get the right number. But on this day no taxis were interested so we waited and waved. I felt like a fiddler crab waving his large claw, “Hey, over here, can’t you see my claw?” After sweating for 30 minutes or more, a kind Liberian man stopped and gave us a free ride to downtown, across the long bridge over the polluted Montserrado River. He is a business man whose business is gold and real estate. Once there we stopped at a sidewalk copier and had copies of our approval from the Foreign Ministry made. Everyone seemed to want one so we made many to submit with our requests. The streets are packed with cars, trucks and people and the sidewalks are thronged with vendors of all kinds, and there are many beggars. They all seem to follow me and Isela asking for handouts. We have compassion for those who have been victimized by the war and those who are really crippled but by helping a few when we first arrived we seemed to have invited the mob of not so disabled. Maybe the word had spread and dozens picked us out calling me Daddy and Isela Mommy. With so many poking at us we fled to a taxi and hurried to the office.
Since we had so much detail to deliver to Planning we spent most of the day creating the history of our efforts in Liberia. We also had to list all board members and provide letters to various individuals with all the documentation they required. We were leaving for Nimba County the next day so we were trying to wrap up all our loose ends with the various ministries before we left because Thursday was going to be a full day.
When we arrived at the office, Arthur Zarmapoe, , ACFI Pastor of Ocean View, and his assistant Thomas had came by office and were waiting for us. We had met earlier in the week and I could sense the frustration he was feeling. Both of them wanted to join Tree of Life and I want to help them. Arthur is a 22 year friend and one of the first I ordained here. Thomas is a fine young assistant who works with the youth and choir and teaches in the school. Of course it is too early in our organization to consider employees but both of these men would be a blessing to us. I told them that we would consider their request but that Bishop Edward Kofi would have to be aware of everything and approve any changes we made with them. He is on our Liberian Board (he was the first person we asked to serve in that capacity) and my life long friend. Furthermore, we will be working with ACFI for years to come. Both men agreed completely and said there were already ongoing discussions regarding their future. We showed them our overall plan while Isela and I took turns working on the Planning requirements. We erroneously thought that we would be accredited as soon as we filed the paperwork with Planning because we were expecting the necessary letters from Health and Agriculture, and Planning only needed one to certify us (either of them). After a grueling day, Sam, one of the workers at Lands and Mines offered us the ride home.
Thank You Lord,
Fred and Isela
Tuesday, 3/16
At the inauguration service for Dr. Arnold 3/9, we had been ushered to the front row and it seemed odd because no one was sitting in the 3 or 4 rows behind us. Since we already stick out this only made it more obvious up there all by ourselves. We enjoyed the service and the people and when the installation was actually being done they asked me and other preachers to lay hands on him! And since I was right down front, he came and sat right in front of us. The honor I felt was more than I can say. Just to be there was an honor. This was only the fifth president in the history of the seminary and this dedicated servant of God, whose shoes I am not worthy to untie looked up at me with tears in his eyes as we all lifted our voices in prayer. Many of the preachers could not reach him so after a moment I gave space for others to share in this worthy event. I am sure the Lord was smiling as the brethren, some of whom had opposed his election, laid their hands to his appointment.
When we left that day, one of the fine young pastors was Joseph Johnson, the senior pastor of Trumpet of Faith Baptist Church and since we had no ride away from the seminary, which is way out of town, Joseph agreed to carry us back in. While on the way he invited us to preach on 3/21 and we immediately accepted. He also has a Christian School with 300 kids which we wanted to see as well. Then we found out the message would be on the radio all over Liberia. I spent hours imagining all the things I wanted to say to the country, such as ‘pick up the trash’ or ‘stop using everywhere as the bathroom.’ Luckily, God did not have the same things in mind.
We had set up this day to spend some time together so Joseph showed up early and we took the 45 minute drive to the Gardenersville MO Agriculture to see if they would give us a letter of cooperation and approval. My thinking was that since they invited me to speak to all the farmers on 3/25 that it was tacit approval of our AG proposal and since the MO Health was moving slowly we should try and get MO Agriculture to help us as well. The final hurdle to clear with the MO Planning and Economic Affairs was to gain their certification and accreditation so that we could officially begin business in Liberia as a certified NGO. The Foreign Ministry approves the paperwork but Planning issues the accreditation after the thorough check up. When we met with Planning they completely embraced our programs and gave us the application and requirements, which were difficult to fulfill. In order to speed up the process, Dargbe Nimley, the Minister in charge of these things promised that if we could get just one letter of approval from any of the Ministries we were cooperating with (Health, Education or Agriculture) that he would immediately approve us. This gave us great hope because Health had already given verbal approval from the Deputy Minister, Dr. Bernice Dahn, when we met with her. But to get the letter from her was not allowed. The approval I had to come from Gwenigale’s office not Dr. Bernice Dahn’s. Are you confused yet? We sure were because we asked the right questions from the wrong people repeatedly and got nowhere. Two weeks after Foreign Ministry had approved us we were no closer to our goal. This is why we went to MO Agriculture. To our dismay, Tito, the one who asked me to speak at the Association meeting was not there so we went to his Boss, Logan. We had great fellowship and he was equally excited about the agricultural innovations. He turned us over to Francis, the man who was to write the letter. He asked for a copy of our Foreign Ministry filing plus an official request to write the letter of approval and we left to comply with his request. While walking to Joseph’s car we met a young man who handed me a brochure for Communities of Hope, a Christian farming group. He asked me for our phone number so his boss could call us (more on that later). We hastened back to the office to write the letter. On the way we stopped at Joseph’s church and school. It brought back many memories to see so many kids in uniforms with humble accommodations.
He gave us copies of the Liberian curriculum to help me prepare for our presentation to MOEd later in the week. Joseph came and saw our office and since he did not have to be at his appointment he joined us for fellowship as we got to work. Since he had driven us around for hours I gave him 500 Liberian dollars which is about 7 bucks for gas (remember this for later). About that time Robert Bimba, from Communities of Hope called and came by as well. He as already leading a movement in agriculture very similar to ours but without any of our innovations. He was fascinated and wanted to assist us. After preparing the document for MOA we prepared a twin for MOH and took it by there before heading to MOA, but by the time we left MOH Francis had already gone. Bimba had come with us wanting to hear more. He even carried Isela’s briefcase as she was carrying several other items. We talked while we walked because we could not seem to find a taxi. He is a dedicated Christian and a wonderful brother. We had a great time together. About that time, God’s time, MOH called us back because the man we needed to see had just returned. The asst Minister of Planning for MOHealth, Kpangbala Sengbe, gave us audience. He is a fine Christian man. He informed us that our letter was wrong and needed to be addressed to Dr. Walter Gwenigale. Since we had the letter on the memory stick he was able to edit it and reprint so little time was lost in the effort. If you get the feeling that these various ministries were designed to work against each other, join the club. Nevertheless, we were not going to be taken off course.
Since we were so long at MOH and were having difficulties finding a taxi, Bimba had called his friend, Holmes, to take us back to the office and then the 40 minute ride home. We had been trying to get together with Ignatius Boakai, son of the VP. He is a fine young man who works with Ecobank. We had established a friendship with him over the summer and he came by the office on his way home. We have invited him to be on our Advisory Board and he graciously accepted. He invited us to meet his mom and we agreed. Apparently we will have dinner with the VP and family at their home Sunday evening. Hello.
Holmes and wife Josephine, along with Robert Bimba gave us a ride home and we sang worship songs all the way, and the people heard us. They even parked the car and walked us the quarter mile into the community. We joined hands for prayer in the living room before they left. Even though there was substantial disappointment today we can still see God working in every circumstance.
Pray without ceasing.
Fred and Isela
At the inauguration service for Dr. Arnold 3/9, we had been ushered to the front row and it seemed odd because no one was sitting in the 3 or 4 rows behind us. Since we already stick out this only made it more obvious up there all by ourselves. We enjoyed the service and the people and when the installation was actually being done they asked me and other preachers to lay hands on him! And since I was right down front, he came and sat right in front of us. The honor I felt was more than I can say. Just to be there was an honor. This was only the fifth president in the history of the seminary and this dedicated servant of God, whose shoes I am not worthy to untie looked up at me with tears in his eyes as we all lifted our voices in prayer. Many of the preachers could not reach him so after a moment I gave space for others to share in this worthy event. I am sure the Lord was smiling as the brethren, some of whom had opposed his election, laid their hands to his appointment.
When we left that day, one of the fine young pastors was Joseph Johnson, the senior pastor of Trumpet of Faith Baptist Church and since we had no ride away from the seminary, which is way out of town, Joseph agreed to carry us back in. While on the way he invited us to preach on 3/21 and we immediately accepted. He also has a Christian School with 300 kids which we wanted to see as well. Then we found out the message would be on the radio all over Liberia. I spent hours imagining all the things I wanted to say to the country, such as ‘pick up the trash’ or ‘stop using everywhere as the bathroom.’ Luckily, God did not have the same things in mind.
We had set up this day to spend some time together so Joseph showed up early and we took the 45 minute drive to the Gardenersville MO Agriculture to see if they would give us a letter of cooperation and approval. My thinking was that since they invited me to speak to all the farmers on 3/25 that it was tacit approval of our AG proposal and since the MO Health was moving slowly we should try and get MO Agriculture to help us as well. The final hurdle to clear with the MO Planning and Economic Affairs was to gain their certification and accreditation so that we could officially begin business in Liberia as a certified NGO. The Foreign Ministry approves the paperwork but Planning issues the accreditation after the thorough check up. When we met with Planning they completely embraced our programs and gave us the application and requirements, which were difficult to fulfill. In order to speed up the process, Dargbe Nimley, the Minister in charge of these things promised that if we could get just one letter of approval from any of the Ministries we were cooperating with (Health, Education or Agriculture) that he would immediately approve us. This gave us great hope because Health had already given verbal approval from the Deputy Minister, Dr. Bernice Dahn, when we met with her. But to get the letter from her was not allowed. The approval I had to come from Gwenigale’s office not Dr. Bernice Dahn’s. Are you confused yet? We sure were because we asked the right questions from the wrong people repeatedly and got nowhere. Two weeks after Foreign Ministry had approved us we were no closer to our goal. This is why we went to MO Agriculture. To our dismay, Tito, the one who asked me to speak at the Association meeting was not there so we went to his Boss, Logan. We had great fellowship and he was equally excited about the agricultural innovations. He turned us over to Francis, the man who was to write the letter. He asked for a copy of our Foreign Ministry filing plus an official request to write the letter of approval and we left to comply with his request. While walking to Joseph’s car we met a young man who handed me a brochure for Communities of Hope, a Christian farming group. He asked me for our phone number so his boss could call us (more on that later). We hastened back to the office to write the letter. On the way we stopped at Joseph’s church and school. It brought back many memories to see so many kids in uniforms with humble accommodations.
He gave us copies of the Liberian curriculum to help me prepare for our presentation to MOEd later in the week. Joseph came and saw our office and since he did not have to be at his appointment he joined us for fellowship as we got to work. Since he had driven us around for hours I gave him 500 Liberian dollars which is about 7 bucks for gas (remember this for later). About that time Robert Bimba, from Communities of Hope called and came by as well. He as already leading a movement in agriculture very similar to ours but without any of our innovations. He was fascinated and wanted to assist us. After preparing the document for MOA we prepared a twin for MOH and took it by there before heading to MOA, but by the time we left MOH Francis had already gone. Bimba had come with us wanting to hear more. He even carried Isela’s briefcase as she was carrying several other items. We talked while we walked because we could not seem to find a taxi. He is a dedicated Christian and a wonderful brother. We had a great time together. About that time, God’s time, MOH called us back because the man we needed to see had just returned. The asst Minister of Planning for MOHealth, Kpangbala Sengbe, gave us audience. He is a fine Christian man. He informed us that our letter was wrong and needed to be addressed to Dr. Walter Gwenigale. Since we had the letter on the memory stick he was able to edit it and reprint so little time was lost in the effort. If you get the feeling that these various ministries were designed to work against each other, join the club. Nevertheless, we were not going to be taken off course.
Since we were so long at MOH and were having difficulties finding a taxi, Bimba had called his friend, Holmes, to take us back to the office and then the 40 minute ride home. We had been trying to get together with Ignatius Boakai, son of the VP. He is a fine young man who works with Ecobank. We had established a friendship with him over the summer and he came by the office on his way home. We have invited him to be on our Advisory Board and he graciously accepted. He invited us to meet his mom and we agreed. Apparently we will have dinner with the VP and family at their home Sunday evening. Hello.
Holmes and wife Josephine, along with Robert Bimba gave us a ride home and we sang worship songs all the way, and the people heard us. They even parked the car and walked us the quarter mile into the community. We joined hands for prayer in the living room before they left. Even though there was substantial disappointment today we can still see God working in every circumstance.
Pray without ceasing.
Fred and Isela
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