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After 11 years of going to this remote region of the world, I didn’t think anything was left to ‘shock me.’ I was wrong. It was our last day inside the refugee camp, where we were training and equipping hundreds … Continue reading
The remarkable film, “Amazing Grace” follows English abolitionist William Wilberforce as he determines his Christian faith no longer allows him to be silent about slavery. His courage and tenacity led to that most wicked of human institutions being abolished in England three decades before our country would follow suit.
Yesterday, Pastor Peter, our Liberian host, drove us to a rural area outside of the capital city. Along the dirt road I saw children working – carrying recently made bricks on their heads and one young boy, probably 11 years old, struggled with a broken down wheelbarrow full of what appeared to be cement.
Across the dusty road were school children in their familiar African school uniforms walking home. ”Why are these children working instead of going to school?” I asked Peter.
He replied with a sadness in his voice, “Their parents cannot afford the school fees which are between $50 – $75 per year, so their children will never be educated, but only work.”
Pastor Peter then told us that probably 80% of the children in this ‘district’ do not attend school. That is why he is building a school which will not require school fees, but will offer scholarships. He is also trying to build a medical clinic for women and children. It’s only a foundation on the hard African soil at the moment, but the land is paid for and his congregation is full of faith toward this vision! These are the kinds of pastors and leaders we are privileged to come alongside and train – truly “Kingdom people!”
But as we drove past these children working hard labor, I saw another little boy, his shirt pulled up over his head to give some relief in the hot tropical sun and tears formed in my eyes. ”This is so wrong!” I muttered rather loudly. Peter heard me from the front seat of the car and replied, “Yes it is! Which is why we are so thankful that you have come to Liberia to help us!”
I’m certainly no Wilberforce. But with God’s strength, and His provision through others who care, perhaps we can help this country!
Meeting with the Lutheran BIshop of Liberia
The embarrassment and humility far outweighed any notoriety I might have felt later in the day.My day started out well – a good night’s sleep, which is a real blessing, as anyone who travels internationally understands. I shaved, took a shower (there is a point in giving personal details of my morning ritual) and looked forward to teaching a group of pastors, meeting with the presiding Bishop of the Lutheran Church of Liberia, and enjoying the growing camaraderie with my friend, Pastor Mark Glenn from Illinois.
My shower was finished, and I tried to open the small glass door in the rather small, square shower enclosure only to find that the handle had broken and was stuck in the ‘locked’ position from the outside. At first, I chuckled at the situation, figuring that a good ‘jiggle’ of the relatively unstable shower door would unlock me from my wet and “awkward” circumstances. Fortunately, I had my towel, which I had draped over the enclosure.
After several minutes of jiggling, turning, pushing, forcing, etc., I began to become just a bit more agitated. A few shouts yielded no help, as the walls are all literally, solid concrete.
I’ve watched the TV show with the British survivor expert, Bear Grylls, so I looked at what resources I had – a towel, the only thing, quite literally, at my disposal. If I could do a rather hefty ‘pull up,’ perhaps I could swing myself over the top of the shower. The only problem is there was only about 18 – 20” of space between it and the ceiling. Jumping up, I needed just a slight ‘boost,’ so I slipped my toes onto the water faucet fixture, mostly just for balance, only to have the rather rusted fixture break off and begin to spray water all over the place!
At this point, falling back into the shower, I determined that I HAD to get out of there! So, with a lot of will power and upper body strength, I made it up, and trying to not shatter the glass, swung my body over, then used a wooden drapery header to again, balance myself. Except, the wooden header then came right off the wall, crashing to the floor, where I followed, obtaining a respectable ‘road rash’ on my forearm, but, other than that, and my pride, I was unharmed!
There’s just something about Africa!
The rest of the day went better. Temperature was 91° and the humidity was 91%, but we had over 60 pastors show up for our orientation and training… the first such gathering we’ve had in Liberia. During lunch we went over to the Bishop’s office and were received in a warm and inviting way.
Today, we had even a few more pastors come, some of them representing networks of churches. One man dressed in traditional African garb was so excited to meet me. He is involved in planting over one hundred churches in rural Liberia! A nation rising out of the ashes of unspeakable horror and bloodshed, there is hope for this little country which has been forgotten by so many.
Airport sitting always stimulates that smaller-than-average math part of my brain and I began to calculate my own travel statistics: Since transitioning into my present ‘role’ as a missions guy at the end of 1999, I’ve traveled to Africa 35 times (this trip is my 36th, but who’s counting?) Add up ‘mission’ trips while I was a senior pastor, and the total is over 50 international trips since 1988 – when I arrived in England for my first ‘overseas’ trip.
I have removed the United Airlines Hemisphere’s Magazine from the seat pocket (which the announcement over the speakers has told me I am welcome to take as a souvenir) and looked at the map. It’s hard to read with all the little lines representing United and partner flights, but… best I can tell, I’ve actually only been to 10 African countries (no, airport stops don’t count!) and a total of 22 countries in the whole world, including Canada and Mexico.
Canada clearly wouldn’t count as an international trip, since, other than the bacon, everything else is pretty much the same, eh? Mexico sort of counts, one trip was accompanying my [then] youth pastor on a mission trip to Mazatlan. The other two Mexico trips involved, as I recall, my wife, a beach, and some sort of little drinks with paper umbrellas in them…
So, how come I’m on my third passport, all with extra pages inserted – twice for each passport – with only a paltry 22 countries total?
When I was a pastor with the Vineyard churches, our leader, John Wimber, warned us about developing a ‘mission’ philosophy that has more to do with filling one’s passport with a variety of stamps than developing long-term Kingdom connections.
My passports appear redundant – ten trips to my dear friends inside the Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, nine trips to the terrible, impoverished, mega-city of Kinshasa, DR Congo, etc., etc. But each time I land in familiar airports throughout the world, I am met by friends – colleagues in ministry, some of whom I have known for over a decade. There is not the excitement of a new place (even ‘exotic’ locations lose their exotic status the sixth or seventh time you’ve been there), but there is the ongoing development of kingdom relationships, where you sense that your efforts are actually making a difference.
Contrast that with the ‘show-up-and-do-something-for-these-poor-people-get-some photos-and-leave’ philosophy, which seems to have pretty much hijacked most local churches’ missions departments. Often in the book of Acts, it states that Paul, or Barnabas, or others would ‘stay there for a while’ to encourage the church.
Perhaps rather than the cart leading the horse, local churches, through collaboration between their leadership and laity should prayerfully find true partnerships where they can have ‘staying power,’ and thus make some measurable differences, i.e., “fruit,” for the sake of the kingdom!
Years ago, as a local church pastor, I never anticipated my future would bring me face to face with people and nations emerging from civil war, but the past decade has found me in refugee camps, war-torn villages and UN military zones! Last year, our ministry’s CEO asked me to prayerfully consider taking on a new responsibility – directing and overseeing a new project in the war-ravaged nation of Liberia, in Western Africa.
Established in the 1800’s as a place where freed slaves from America and the Caribbean could be resettled in Africa, this lush tropical nation has more recently been known for an incredibly violent civil war, killing hundreds of thousands of people and sadly, was infamous for using “child soldiers.” By 2003, the London Economist magazine declared Liberia, “the worst place in the world to live.”
Last November, I went to Liberia at the invitation of several Liberian pastors who have quite literally pleaded with AFMIN to start a pastoral training program. By the end of our week in Monrovia, the crowded, impoverished capital of Liberia, we were able to meet with 26 key denominational leaders. The pastors present were enthusiastic about AFMIN starting an equipping and training project in their country.
I am departing for Liberia on April 9 and my primary purpose is to establish stronger ties to the pastors and church leaders of the country, and to conduct a two-day leadership seminar.
Before and after the seminar, I’ll be meeting with leaders from the Pentecostal churches, Evangelical congregations, as well as the denominational leaders from ‘mainline’ protestant denominations, as well as the government’s “Secretary General” of churches in Liberia.
In spite of the 20-year civil war, the churches have maintained their ‘labels’ and sadly, their divisions as well. Over 40% of the Liberians claim to be Christians, yet few of the pastors are adequately trained and many (if not most) of the churches are very ‘unhealthy.’ Islam is also making its ‘claim’ on this region, reaching out to unsuspecting nominal Christians.
I was raised in a liturgical Lutheran church where I learned about the Lord and saw a genuine and sincere faith in my parents and in my church family. But, it wasn’t an “emotional” type church structure (if you know Lutherans, you know they are a stoic bunch!). But I clearly remember a church service when I was 11 or 12 years old. Missionaries from Liberia came to our church, told stories, showed slides, and shared what God was doing. I remember crying – the only time I ever remember crying inside that church, and recall as if it were yesterday, asking God at the end of the service if there was something I could do for the people of Liberia.
Now, forty years later I’m actually doing something for the people of Liberia!
