The students in Kpah Town, Liberia have had to meet in a thatched roof building, but this year they will be attending a new school. Thanks to a partnership among our missionaries, the people of the village, and this church, funds were raised and labor provided to construct a brick building with six classrooms.

We continue to assist with school supplies, books, gardening tools, and other material

Left: Pastor George Moore and Julia Pehdoh

Above: Goats bought by Franklin School, Escanaba

Herbert & Mary Zigbuo
Monrovia, Liberia

The Zigbuos are a couple that live out what it means to serve Christ on the front lines. United Methodist missionaries since 1980, in Herbert Zigbuo's native Liberia, the couple was among those church workers displaced in the 1990s in the face of Liberia's civil war.

Instead of fleeing the turmoil, the Zigbuos accepted an assignment in Danane, Ivory Coast, to help settle Liberian refugees.

Working with exiled educators, they organized makeshift classes for children and youth, and in 1992helped establish the ProtestantMethodist Refugee School. MaryZigbuo served as a counselor,helping students juggle theirstudies and cope with thehardships of the war. Herbert wasthe school's principal.

Herbert is also an ordained elder in the Liberia Annual Conference and is co-director of the educational ministry of The United Methodist Church in that country. Mary Zigbuo, a native on Bolton, N.C., coordinates Operations Classroom, a project to upgrade church-related educational institutions in Liberia.

Over the weekend of January 12-13, we had the privilege of having as a guest Rev. Caleb Dormah, pastor of our sister church (St. Peter’s UMC) in Liberia. Pastor Dormah had contacted us by email (the most reliable method of communication with Liberia) to let us know that he would be in the U.S. in January, and he hoped to be able to visit. The weekend of the 12th was selected, and he flew up from South Bend, IN, arriving the day we finally got some snow (a new experience for him!). On Sunday he preached at the first service, spent time with each Sunday school class, and preached again and participated in two baptisms at the second service. He got to meet some folks at a pot luck after the second service, and later attended the prayer group and “Companions in Christ” study, giving him a good idea of our Sunday activities.

During Pastor Dormah’s visit we learned a lot about the church and situation in Liberia. Caleb had served as associate pastor at St. Peter’s, and last year took over as head pastor after the death of Rev. Seah Doe. The church is located in Clay-Ashland on the St. Paul River, about 12 miles from the capital city of Monrovia. The congregation has 76 members, many of whom live in Monrovia and charter a bus on Sunday mornings to go to church. The congregation has many young adults who have a commitment to St. Peter’s as their home church, but there is little employment or means of livelihood in Clay-Ashland. During the civil war the church was left with walls, the pulpit, and the door – everything else (including the zinc roof) was taken. In the past few years the members have replaced the roof, constructed pews, and done other work on the building, and they are in the process of constructing a fellowship hall that may serve also as a community center. Some of the women are involved with a sewing group, and there is a long-term idea of setting up a poultry project/business to provide income to families.
In addition to pastoring St. Peter’s, Rev. Dormah is also the Youth Director for the Liberia Annual Conference, and he does a lot of traveling in Liberia in this role. During his sermons he spoke of two different trips – witnessing to the Lord after being jailed along with a youth group, and the experience of grace as he visited the Nana Kru District and saw the extreme poverty there. There is continued fighting in northern Liberia, and the many checkpoints along the roads make travel difficult. It is hard for the country to rebuild, and progress is slow. Still, the people have hope and Pastor Dormah spoke of goals and dreams he has for seeing things change for the better. The young people are the future of his nation (and of all nations, for that matter), and he wants to see them have a strong Christian foundation to build on. There was a lot to fit into a short visit, but in this time the bonds were strengthened between our congregations and our pastors.

A special thanks to Eula Booth for offering her home as a place for Caleb to stay, to the Chapmans for their picture-taking, to Vic Thompson for the High School tour, and to Pastor Mary for the “pastor to pastor” welcome that she provided.

We pray God’s greatest blessings for Rev. Dormah and our sister church, and look forward to further involvement in months and years to come.

Grace Children's Hospital in Haiti was established in 1967 to treat children with tuberculosis, the facility has grown to include a 60 bed in-patient hospital, a large out-patient program, and numerous other programs for literacy, rural health care, vaccinations, and parent training in health, hygiene & nutrition. Last year the hospital became a center for more general pediatric care as there has been a gradual shift in the health needs of children being admitted (AIDS and other problems as well as TB), Involvement of families in the treatment of children continues to be important in the continuing health of the young patients once they are released, since follow-up care may be needed with medicines, etc.

As a member of the Cornerstone Group, we pledge to contribute a minimum of $1000 to Grace Hospital on a yearly basis, and this hasn't been a problem! Our total for the year 2000 passed $2200, and in June of last year we passed the $25,000 mark since beginning this project in 1982. Last March Vic & Rhonda Thompson led some of our youth on a mission encounter trip to Haiti, and they came back with gifts, memories of children, and a new awareness of the lives of people in this country.