Monthly Archives: March 2014

In the morning we finished packing.  Then with Princess Jusu as our guide, we walked three blocks to  Tubman Blvd and attended the S.T. Nagbe United Methodist Church near the Conference Center as they celebrated their 47th anniversary.   The music was exciting and the people were very enthusiastic.

Song Leader, Band and Choir

We stopped by the Conference Offices sign for a picture.

Back at the Guest House we changed clothes, ate up leftovers, and finished closing suitcases.  Alfreda and her driver came.  He loaded all the luggage into the LAC UMC 20 van. We got in the smaller van with Sam one more time.   Rev. Anthony Dioh also went with us to the airport.

After we got to the airport area, we went about 10 minutes beyond the airport driving through the Firestone rubber plantation.  We made a short stop at the parsonage for the Kakata-Farmington District Superintendent.  Diana wanted to see it since her husband with a team from Detroit Conference had been responsible for helping to build it in 2008.  His name was mentioned on the cornerstone. There were also walls about 10 feet tall next door starting an administrative building for the district.  It will have meeting rooms and office space.

After a short visit we went to the airport.  Our luggage was put in place to wait for check in.  We sat at a table for about an hour.  Then we joined the queue to check in.  After we cleared security, we were ready to go.  There was still some time before the flight left so we had some supper in the little restaurant.  The flight left on time at 9:40 pm and we got to Brussels on time at 5:15 am.

Monday – After a four hour layover, we headed to Newark.  8 hours and 30 minutes but we got in a half hour early at noon.

After we cleared customs and headed for our gates, we had a group hug and final goodbyes then split to go to different terminals for our flights to our home states.  Those who had earlier flights were pretty much on time.  Those who had later flights were even later leaving.  Diana had one more flight to go farther north in Michigan.   All arrived home safely.

Praise God!  We had a wonderful experience that will not be soon forgotten!  Thanks to all our friends and families for their prayers for our Ubuntu Journey.

Our breakfast was leftovers from Friday’s breakfast.  This time two vans were available for our trip.  One took the team and the other took Alfreda, Princess and Muriel Nelson who was from the area we were headed to.

The team drove north of Monrovia to the Harrisburg area of St. John River District.  Team Leader Linda Crowell had been at St. John United Methodist Church with VIM teams from East Ohio.  Now in addition to the church, there is a women’s training center with sewing as their primary work, a guest house that visiting teams can stay at instead of driving in and out of Monrovia and a farm that is part of a Farmer-to-Farmer project.

We were met at the drive by the Youth Choir who sang us in.  They were wearing robes that Linda had helped them start when she was there last year.  During a worship service scheduled for our visit, Sis. Othelee Bass-Diggs, Coordinator for the Farmer-To-Farmer program, announced that Linda was being honored by their naming the Women’s Center for her and a friend that had started the project.

Pastor Siakar, Sis Othelee and Linda

After church the directors of the training center had some of the girls demonstrate how they made patterns and then the clothing.

Gifts of hotpads made from bottle caps covered with material were handed out.  Then lunch was eaten in the Green House.  It had been prepared by Sis. Othelee.

After a short drive to see a clinic, a school and part of the farm, we headed back to Monrovia.  Sis Othelee brought food back from Harrisburg for our supper.

We had visits from time to time by vendors who were selling souvenirs.  So we went another time to the area by the gate.

We talked about our day, had devotions and did some packing.

Missionary Princess Jusu who lived near us in the compound had invited us to have breakfast with her on Friday.   She had oatmeal, banana bread, and jam for toast as special treats as well as other food.

Alfreda Anderson came with the van and driver.  We went back over to the Conference Center to visit the Day Care Center and the Women’s Training Center.  A girl was getting water from a well in front of the Day Care.  That fit the theme of our workshop “Living Water”.

The center had two rooms of children.  In each room they were sitting in chairs ready to greet us.  They sang to us then walked around to say hello.

Arlene with the children

Then we visited the Women’s Training Center coordinated by Princess Jusu.  Training is given in Food and Nutrition, Pastry, Cake Baking/Decoration, Sewing, Beads crafts and Arts and Crafts.

We visited a class in jewelry made from beads.  A dormitory is being built to house the girls who have to come a distance from their homes.

Girls making jewelry

We went downtown to go to the dress shops.  It was very crowded with many small shops plus vendors along the streets.  Some of the team bought dresses.  One vendor was selling large maps of Liberia, West African countries, and the continent of Africa.  Several team members bought some of those.

We got back in the van and were taken to an arts and crafts area of small shops in a quiet area near the U.S. Embassy.  There must have been 15 or more.  No shop was missed.  There were carvings – wood and stone, painting, dolls and toys, jewelry, and other kinds of crafts.

Arts and Crafts Market

We went back downtown and had lunch at King Burger.  Then we did some sightseeing around Monrovia.  We went by many government buildings to Ducor Hill where we could see the Atlantic Ocean and the seaport.  There was also a statue of Joseph Jenkins Roberts, the first president of LIberia.  Later we stopped by a beach to get closer to the ocean.

We went back to the Guest House for some rest.  The Bishop’s driver came about 6 pm and took us to the Episcopal Residence for dinner with Bishop John Innis and his wife Irene.

On Thursday we again went to the Women’s Center for breakfast and greeting the women as they came in.   When breakfast was over, Diana led in worship. The liturgy focused more on the Holy Spirit.  The meditation was about the Spiritual disciplines of Bible reading, worship and prayer.

Rita led in the Bible Study focusing on Psalm 91 – The Protection Verses.  She mentioned the various words for God.    God will be with us when we make God the head of our life.  We worked on worksheets in small groups and discussed them.

After a break, Rita and Muriel Nelson gave a session on Domestic Violence.  After introducing how they would be sharing, Muriel led us in a stretch break called COCONUT with actions spelling it out.  Then another woman started a favorite song “The Lord Is Blessing Me Today”.

Several resources were handed out.  Muriel talked about examples in the Bible where domestic violence has occurred.   Liberia has many problems with domestic violence but not good sources for dealing with it.  Because of the dowry system and the exchange of money, some men feel that they own the wife.   Some of the women gave testimonies about situations they were aware of and what could be done.

We had lunch and continued to visit with the women.

The afternoon session was on HIV-AIDS education and was led by Linda and Pauline Roberts who worked in Public Health.  Pamphlets were passed out about HIV and STDs and were discussed with the women.

Many stories were shared about experiences that some of the women were aware of.  More education is needed on many levels.

Most of the time Joseph from the Conference Communications was video taping and taking photographs.  He got so caught up in the discussion that he eventually had to share himself.

When the closing began, Linda thanked her team and all of the women for their participation in the workshop.

Alfreda Anderson, the women’s coordinator, and the past and current conference presidents, Ellen Natt and Sarah Nah, gave speeches of gratitude.  Gifts were given to the Ubuntu team.  Certificates were given to all of the Liberian participants.

Then we shared in the closing worship.  We are Ubuntu: My humanity is bound up in yours.

We rested, debriefed and ate half of the supper we had saved from the previous night.

(Sidebar – internet was not accessible over the weekend.  We are at the Brussels airport waiting for the Newark flight.  More on the weekend later.)

These are the last pictures of the workshop group.  More will be posted about how the rest of the workshop went.

Ubuntu Team with Mother Innis.

The attendees of the workshop.

the Atlantic Ocean near the Compound

We had a good night Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.  Those who had presentations did some more planning.  We ate at the guest house using leftovers from lunch at the center and leftovers from a restaurant visit.

We went to the Women’s Center for breakfast .

Worship – We started with “This is the day”.  The prayers reflected these words. We have come to worship. We come seeking the water.

Linda lead the Bible Study on the theme from John 4:1-30.

There were lots of comments about the Samaritan Woman at the Well.  The women are really sharing and testifying to the truths they experience through the Scripture.

They were engaged in the conversation and passionate about the interpretations of what happened.

After a break, Diana talked about the Channels of Mission Giving and had them share the similarities and differences.  They used the term Assessments which are asked of the conference to the district for administration and program.  The districts ask the locals to contribute an assessment.

Linda and Rita started their segment on Leadership Development by using the Matthew 20 and John 13 verses about servant leadership.  After lunch they continued sharing with the women using materials from the handbook sections on taking on the task and responsibilities of members of the organization.   There was a lively discussion about the roles of leadership.

Discussion of how they would like to work on their conference project continued.   They are going to do a needs assessment so they will be able to focus on what is needed in the different areas.  They are definitely going to focus on women, children and youth.

When they leave they will have a better feel for the structure and awareness of the social issues that are going to be discussed tomorrow.

In the evening we rested and went to dinner at a restaurant around the corner from the compound that served Chinese food and other Asian cuisine.  We had debriefing devotions and began to settle for the night.

The Guest House where we are staying.

We have now spent a day and a half in our workshop.  We had been asked to talk about our connections and many aspects of United Methodist Women and learn more about what the Liberia United Methodist Women are doing.  The theme is Living Water referencing John 4:1-30.

The women who were invited to participate in the workshop were leaders in the conference and five district UMW presidents.  They were not all there at the beginning.  On Monday there were visitors including Bishop Innis and past conference presidents.  Members of the Liberia Conference Leadership were in and out to greet us.   The Bishop’s wife, Mrs. Irene Innis joined us for the whole workshop.

Monday afternoon our team leader Linda led in an overview of the United Methodist Church using printouts of a powerpoint.  She talked about John Wesley and the beginning of the church.   She included the Mission of the United Methodist Church, what we believe and how we are governed through the three branches of the episcopacy, General Conference and the Judicial Council.  We are a people of the books – the Bible and the Discipline, the book of Worship and hymnals, Book of Resolutions and Social Principles.

A few of the women had been to General Conference and were helpful in talking about their experiences.  The women helped us make the connections from Local, District, and Conference.  They use similar committees in their churches.  They are part of the West Africa Central Conference with 4 episcopal areas, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierre Leone and Nigeria.

The four Areas of Focus were mentioned as well as the leadership units of the church.  There was a lot of familiarity to all of these.

Tuesday we went to the Women’s Center for breakfast with the women.  The Bishop’s Administrative Assistant Awah Cole joined us for the day.

We started the day’s program with Worship led by Diana.  Carol and Arlene led the Bible Study about Living Water using various verses from Isaiah.  We discussed about various trees and plants that are in USA and in Liberia and the differences in meaning for the image of “streams in the desert.”

We took a break.  Then Carol and Diana discussed the Purpose and the Visions of United Methodist Women.  We taught them the JoAnn Orthel Purpose song which they loved.  We will sing it often.  Arlene divided them into three groups to brainstorm and identify mission projects that they could do as a conference UMW project.

After lunch Mrs. Innis talked about what Living Water and the story of the Samaritan Woman at the well meant to her.  Then Rita shared with great enthusiasm what membership in United Methodist Women meant to her.  She pulled out from the women many descriptions of how they became members.  Almost everyone had become a member because someone invited them to join their group.

Throughout our time someone from the Liberia group or from our team would think of a song and we sang.

Then Arlene had the three groups meet again then make reports of where they were heading.  Each idea was a different aspect of helping less fortunate women and children.  They are very concerned about helping women get more education and children being safe.  They will be working on them more each day.

A lot of energy was expended by all.  We were greatly inspired by our sisters.  We began to become good friends.  We look forward to the next two days.

We went back to the Guest House exhausted so the evening was spent in resting and going over what needed to happen the next two days.  (Sidebar – Tuesday about 4am the electricity went off.  We learned later that there was a problem with the generator.  Arlene who uses a cPap machine was all right.  By the time we got back Tuesday night all was well.  They are being very good to us.)

Hello from Monrovia, Liberia!  We are having breakfast this morning in a hotel.  We got to the United Methodist Guest House at 10:00 pm. We are in a house on the second floor with three bedrooms at our end, bathroom, living room, dining room, and kitchen.  There are bedrooms and bath at the other end.

We settled in and then sorted through the abundant gifts and supplies we had brought.   We had an interesting time finding things after unpacking.  Items were never where we expected them to be. We reviewed our plans and had devotions.  The last person was in bed by 1:30 am.  There were bed nets on the beds so we were well covered.  We slept well until the alarm went off at 7 am.  There was no water this morning. Four had washed up the night before.  Diana waited until morning and lost out.  We used bottled water to wash up.

Alfreda Anderson, Director of Women’s Work, is with us now.  We will be going over to the conference center this morning to meet our Liberian friends.

We are very grateful for safe travel.  More later.