2010 Liberia LISS-LTUTP-WIST ARM Trip

I wanted to share Jonathan's reflections from portions of his journal with you. Read and be blessed by all he shares:

Liberia is a country of 3.5 million people. Over 1 million of those residents live in the capitol city of Monrovia which lies on the coast. The country is in a recovery process after two civil wars destroyed the infrastructure of the country. There are minimal public services and the rebuilding process is understandably slow. The city of Monrovia is currently experiencing 65% unemployment.
We flew into the capitol city and stayed in the 12th Street United Methodist Compound for both the first and the last night of our stay. Surrounded by block walls and guarded 24 hours a day, the compound only has electricity from dusk to dawn.

Our main mode of transportation was a van that was provided to the compound by the United Methodist Program Operation Classroom. Because of the number of team members, we also travelled with a taxi. This also proved to be a blessing because the manuals for the events we were going to lead had only made it to Monrovia, so we had to transport them ourselves to the city of Gbarnga, pronounced "Bonga." This was the first of numerous surprises along the way!

The following day, we departed on our journey to the Gbarnga School of Theology. Driving out of the city, it was an overwhelming experience to look out the window and see a literal sea of people who were trying to earn a living selling products to travelers. Pedestrians and people riding motorcycles darted in between the cars that were creeping along the road.
The further we went out of the city of Monrovia, the worse the roads became. So much, in fact, that our taxi ended up with a flat tire. Stopping to repair the flat and to then find a place to repair the flattened tire made the 116 mile trip take about 6 hours. Along the way the paved road became a crumbling path with deep potholes and ruts. We would often have to drive beside the paved road on paths made by vehicles avoiding the damaged road. We were thankful for a skilled driver who knew the road well who kept us safe.

We eventually arrived at the Gbarnga Methodist Mission on which the St. Johns Methodist Church sat: the site of our three seminars. There are numerous one-story buildings scattered throughout the campus including a school, guest house, guard shack, library and homes for staff. Much like the whole country, this campus is also in the recovery process as this was the site of the headquarters of the resistance in the second civil war. The large agricultural project that included a fish farm and rice paddies that assisted in producing revenue was destroyed during the war.

Only one well on the campus is working. The afternoon we saw it, there were children filling up numerous vessels. In the mornings we would see folks carrying freshly filled containers. It modeled servanthood to me that there were individuals who would go through so much work to get water that they themselves would never use.

Jonathan and Doug Miller stayed in a guest room in the building that houses the library. The blue barrel in the restroom contained the water with which we bathed and flushed the toilet. The tank on the back of the toilet was purely ornamental! While we were teaching our sessions, the barrel was filled with water each day - a refreshing sight after sweating all day. We were deeply grateful that after the first night we were given a fan. Even though it was hot, the movement of the air helped immensely in being able to rest a little better. We had a generator that provided power from about 7 pm to 7 am. The remainder of the day there was no power. Next to the tires on the van, this little blue generator was one of the most prayed over pieces of equipment on the campus!

The sessions began Wednesday morning in the sanctuary of the St. Johns Methodist Church. It was very humbling to find out that some of the pastors had walked for 14 hours to come to these sessions. They were very appreciative of their brothers and sisters who they said, "Crossed that Atlantic" to be with them.

Beginning with a couple of songs and then a devotional, the local District Superintendents welcomed everyone each day. We then would proceed into teaching. After the first day we discovered that although the participants understood English, we tended to speak too fast for them to comprehend at times. So, some of the D.S.'s and the pastors graciously offered to translate for us. We were blessed by their willing sacrifice. Some of them were very literal in their translation, even when we were teaching on one of the postures of prayer being that of laying prostrate before the Lord!

The participants were engaged and eager to learn. Along with the times of teaching, we had small groups and prayer stations as well as opportunities for prayer ministry. Each of the team members combined their teaching with testimony of how God has been at work in that particular area of their lives. God used the vulnerability of the team members to connect with the participants.

I felt particular grace and empowerment as I taught. Where I thought it would be difficult to work with a translator, I found it most enjoyable. Though it was my first time, I was blessed by the affirmation of the team leader who said one would have thought that I had done that hundreds of times before. One of my prayer requests was that of relating to the participants. God answered that prayer as well allowing me to use simple things like a water bottle and a large chair to explain a concept. There were moments that the translator was cut short by the response of the people who immediately understood. The Holy Spirit was translating!

One of the many highlights of the event was when those who had never known their earthly father were asked to stand. Eight people stood. One of the team members then asked fathers over the age of 40 to come up front. They were instructed to speak words of the Father's blessing over those who stood. The pain on the faces of the fatherless was deep. The power of God's touch on their lives was evident as one of the female pastors began to cry. Keep in mind, this is a generation of people emotionally numb from the abuses of war. Also powerful was when a team member stood as a representative and asked their forgiveness for the things done to them in the civil war. The participants took the opportunity very seriously and God's healing grace was present as they poured out their hearts in expressing forgiveness.

After we introduced the use of streamers and banners as a tool in expressing our hearts to God, the participants eagerly joined in. The freedom they were beginning to experience was expressed through their worship.

After the sessions, participants would head back to where they were spending the evenings and the team would head back to the guesthouse. This guesthouse became a hangout for the local children who were grateful for the bubble gum that one of the team members had brought. They also liked to play soccer beside the guesthouse.

Public education is not free in Liberia. If a child does go to school it is because the family paid the tuition or someone sponsored the individual to go. The child above came to the session asking for prayer that he would be able to go to school.

On Pentecost Sunday, the team split up to preach in local churches. I went to the Richard E. Dunbar United Methodist Church. The church met in a wooden and block structure with a thatch roof. It has been a temporary building for 10 years as they are in the process of building a new church building right beside it. Because many in the village only make $1 a day, there are not a lot of excess funds to invest in the building fund. We had a precious time of prayer standing in the new building thanking God for completing the project so that more people in the village could be reached and discipled. The church was extremely gracious, making me their pastor for the day and giving me full authority (even giving me the pastor's gavel!) They gave me a beautiful shirt and were very appreciative of the message. After the service they had a congregational meeting. After that meeting, I went back to the home of the pastor. Sitting in the shade of a mango tree, I had the opportunity to meet his family and to ask questions about the meeting.

We had two opportunities for the participants to share testimonies. One participant said, "I never thought white people would come in unity." He went on to express that he experienced the presence of God saying. God has done something in my heart." Another shared that he had stayed up until 3 am weeping and finally awoke his family sharing all that God had done in his heart during the seminar.

One expressed that he learned how to pray. Another told us that he was a farmer and that he had a worker who was attacked by a neighbor. The farmer shared that he had learned how to love his neighbor and has sought to reconcile in the love of Jesus instead of taking the attacker to court.

One testified that his feet had been hurting and could barely walk. After he was prayed for, he said his feet were getting better and he could walk much more easily. Another shared that he had been disappointed with some circumstances in his life. He testified that he was deeply touched by the fact that people would come from far away and share God's love. He felt like God was expressing His love to him by sending us.

One shared that he learned that there are many ways to pray and that God is most powerful. Another shared that he was grateful and committed to teach others from the manuals that we brought. He said that these things would "be taught forever and ever and would remain in the church."

The second time we offered testimonies more people shared. One testified that God encouraged him to move into what He was calling and thanked God for changing his wife's heart and now wants to go into ministry together. Another shared that God had lifted heaviness from her and that her joy had been restored!

One shared that she had been experiencing depression and that our coming made her realize that God loves her. "God is true and wonderful to His Word." She went on to say that she felt God as she was prayed for and "woke up with a great feeling" in her legs and could now "walk effectively." Another shared that she had been sick for a long time and after prayer ministry woke up the next morning feeling so much better."

One expressed thanksgiving for the "unity of black and white" and that there was nothing "doubtful" in the teachings. Another shared that "My heart was tied down with burning." She expressed that she felt relief when we prayed for her and that she "feels young again."
One shared that she felt equipped to know how to pray for others. That very morning as she was getting ready to come, a snake had bit her child. She prayed for the child and the child's symptoms went away!

Many others expressed that they experienced a physical touch from God; in the legs, in the stomach and in the heart. The last person asked for continued prayers that her rheumatoid arthritis would completely be gone.

Before the final seminar, we traveled about 2 hours to the city of Ganta to visit another Methodist Mission. We saw a hospital that was 90% destroyed in the civil war that is now operating again. It was extremely basic, but clean. The hospital has a school of nursing allowing the students to intern in the various departments. We saw one intern working in the pharmacy.

We also saw a school as well - all in need of resources. While we were there, we found out that the Mission just had to have their generator repaired to the tune of $9,000 US dollars. At the time one US dollar was valued at 70 Liberian dollars. They are in a difficult predicament that they cannot go without power for long periods of time when operating a hospital. Needless to say, it was an eye-opening visit.

On the way back to the airport on our final day we stopped at a children's home. There were about 65 residents housed in what they called "Pods." Each pod contained a small kitchen, dining room, living room and bedrooms. The students lived as families with each pod having a house mother. We were able to walk through one of the pods and meet one of the house mothers as well as one of the instructors at the school that is a part of the complex. There are students at the school that are not residents of the orphanage which their tuition then provides a little bit of income to offset the expenses.

There is a consistent theme of gratitude, joy and love in each of the places we visited. The wall hanging that greeted us in the pod we walked through summed it up: "My Lord is Real." God's presence has been so tangible in this place.

At the closing service with the School of Theology, team leader, Frank Billman exhorted the students to use the curriculum in their Sunday School classes, as sermon outlines and as outreaches. There are 180 pastors and lay people who have been taught, ministered to and challenged to take what they have learned into their churches to equip other leaders to carry on the message. Many of them expressed appreciation for having tangible curriculum that they can use, particularly keeping in mind that in many churches, it is only the pastor that has a Bible.

The team was able to present some laptops to the faculty of the school, choir robes to one of the pastors, a keyboard to another pastor as well as crayons and clothing to other pastors.
Was the trip worth it? The final words of the Dean of the Gbarnga School of Theology, Rev. Yatta Young, answered that question. "Rev. Dr. Frank Billman and members of the ARM team: You have impacted our lives and you will always be in our hearts because our lives have been changed significantly since we met. You have given us answers to some key questions regarding our Wesleyan heritage. From now on, our prayer lives will never be the same. Thank you for coming. You leave us with wonderful memories. We hope you are leaving us with fond memories in your heart. As you cross the Atlantic, continue to pray for us and we will do the same."

I wanted to close sharing a special experience that happened before I left. When I heard that many people do not have Bibles and saw the worn Bible of one of the D.S.'s, my heart was grieved. I felt a little guilty as I held my fairly new Maxwell Leadership Bible, complete with sturdy cover, highlighter and pen. Because the Bible I had was packed with leadership principles, outlines and examples of leadership throughout Scripture, I felt like it would be a great tool for one of the D.S.'s to have. I felt prompted to give my Bible to the D.S., Rev. David Bondo. I prayed for the "right" time to give it to him - laying a fleece before the Lord to say "If this prompting is You, I need You to set things up in such a way that I would know that it was You."

The last day, during the closing service, David sat down right next to me. I handed him the Bible and explained why I gave it to him. I told him that "You are a humble man of God and a leader of leaders. I believe God is going to use you mightily as you minister to your ministers." He was overwhelmed. He kept shaking his head in disbelief saying "Oh my, oh my," as he carefully held it. Joy was bubbling up in him and he could barely sit still.
Then an amazing thing happened. I mentioned in the original letter of invitation to participate that we believed that part of our role was to aid in the spiritual rebuilding of Liberia. I was stunned when the very first place that Rev. Bondo turned in his new Bible was to the book of Nehemiah! He kept rubbing his chin, nodding his head, saying "hmmm." What a perfect expression that God was accomplishing His purpose in sending us!

I am humbled that the safest prayer that I could ever have prayed became the most dangerous prayer I have ever prayed! I encourage you to pray it and see what God will do... "Lord, if You open the door, I will go."