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