Ministry Update

Arthur and Gomar

Arthur and Gomar and their families are among the poorest of the world's poor.  Arthur's left hand and arm are deformed and one leg is longer than the other.  Gomar, Arthur's wife, is deaf.  Arthur and Gomar's disabilities have made it impossible for them to find work.  

Arthur started building this mud brick house for his family using the little money he and his wife received from selling produce from their garden.  Last month, you completed the construction of their house for them.  Thank you!

Gomar has never been taught sign language therefore she grunts and gestures when she needs something.  Imagine never being able to communicate with your spouse.  Imagine never hearing, "I love you" and never being able to say, "I love you."  This is Gomar's life.  Gomar has never heard the Gospel and will never hear it unless someone teaches her sign language.  Do you think it is an accident that God placed our family less than one mile away from her house?  Please pray that Gomar and Arthur will have the desire to learn sign language.  Please pray that Gomar will soon be able to hear the Gospel in her new found language.    

Arthur saying "Thank you" for his house

Hunger Months

As you are aware, I do not make a practice of ask for money on this blog.  I am however moved to do so on this occasion.  Without an education, children in Liberia have no hope for a brighter future.  Will you prayerfully consider sending a child to school this year?  I believe this is one of the best ways we can assist the poor.  Our mission is prepared to do whatever it takes to help as many children as we can go to school this year.  School fees vary in price depending upon grade level.  A year of schooling for the lower grade levels is around $45 a year.  A year of schooling for upper grade levels is around $150 a year.  If you desire to help, time is of the essence because school fees need to be paid before the start of school in September.  Thank you for your help.  You can donate online at liberiacalls.blogspot.com or by sending a check to:

Hope for Home Ministries

P.O. Box 393

Troy, OH 45373

Please write, "Liberia school fees" on the memo line of your check.  100% of your donation will go directly toward a child's school fees.  Thank you!

Mobile Bible Training for disciple makers, pastors, and church planters.

Please pray for Kokoyah Road.  This coming month, we will be laying the ground work for the opening of a Bible Training Center in Gbenequelleh.  From this center, disciple makers, pastors and church planters will be trained with the vision of reaching every town on Kokoyah road from Gbarsue to Botta with the Gospel.  

Picture taken while on Kokoyah Road last week

While it is true that there are several churches already on Kokoyah Road, most of the pastors have never been trained.  Some are pastors simply because they can read.  These pastors will never be able to be trained by attending a traditional Bible School due to poverty.  Our goal is to take Bible training to them.  Once the training center is opened, we will host two day classes every month until we see a healthy church in every town and village.  

Meet Cyrus and David.  These men have sacrificed beyond imagination to start churches in Dentaa and Foloblai, Kokoyah Road.  We will be working as a team on this project.    Thank you for your prayers.

Update on our children's ministry

Since arriving back in Liberia, Grace has been meeting with her friend, Martalyn.  Together, they have been reading through the Action Bible New Testament.  Two weeks ago, they completed the Action Bible and are now co-leading a group of their friends through the Action Bible.  

Tommy's heart's desire since returning to Liberia has been to disciple his friend, Jerry.  Last month, I listened in on their conversation as Tommy was teaching Jerry from the Action Bible.  I heard Tommy say, "Jerry, if you were to die today would you go to heaven?"  Shortly after hearing those words, I heard Tommy and Jerry praying, asking God to forgive their sins.  Praise God!

Thank you for giving us the wonderful privilege of serving Jesus in Liberia!  I wake each morning feeling truly blessed to get to do what I do everyday.  My heart is full of passion and vision for the work God has called us to.  Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel. 

Hunger Months Video

Hunger Months

The months of August and September are known by many as, “hunger months" in Liberia.  During these months, poor families use all the money they have to send their children to school.  Many families cannot afford to send all their children to school.  Simply put, there is no hope for a brighter future without education.  Imagine choosing which of your children you will send to school and which of your children will remain uneducated.  Poverty is ugly!  Our mission is doing all we can to send children to school this year.  Starting next month, we will use every spare dollar we have in this effort.  We believe that one of the best ways we can support impoverished children is by giving them a good Christian education.  Please consider joining us in this effort.  School fees varied in price depending upon grade level.  A year of schooling for the lower grade levels is around $45 a year.  A year of schooling for upper grade levels is around $150 a year.  Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel!

You can donate online at liberiacalls.blogspot.com or by sending a check to:

Hope for Home Ministries

P.O. Box 393

Troy, OH 45373

Please write, "Liberia" on the memo line of the check.

Update from Gbarnga

Garmen, her 4 children baby Don, Omega, Abraham, and Rebecca.  There are 2 neighborhood children also in this pic.

Meet Garmen:
Thank you for loving on Garmen and her four children.  Garmen is the single mother of 4.  Each child has a different father who is no where to be found.  Garmen's family lives in extreme poverty.  During the day, Garmen uses the little money she has to buy peanuts to bake and then walks to town to sell.  Her income for her day's work is often less than $1.   

Porch of Garmen's house

When we met Garmen, she was living in this house.  She could not afford to pay rent for the whole house so she rented one room while several other rough, young men lived in the other rooms.  As our family walked pass their house, it was not uncommon for these men to make course jokes about my wife and children.  Needless to say, we were concerned about beautiful little Rebecca being alone all day with these men.

Rebecca

Last month, we rented our neighbor's house for Garmen to live in.  Upon moving into the house, we installed ceilings in the bedrooms to help prevent malaria.  

Adding ceilings to Garmen's house

Nearly every day, Garmen and her children are at our house.  As I write this post, I hear her children on our swings.  Our heart's desire is to see Garmen and her children following God with their whole hearts, souls, and minds.  

Training Pastors:
In remote villages of Liberia, illiteracy rates soar as high as 80%.  Stop and think about the enormous responsibility God has placed on those who pastor illiterate people.  Since the illiterate cannot read, often, their only access to the Word of God is through their pastors.  Sadly, most pastors in Liberia have no plan in place that leads their churches through all of the Scriptures.  This means that the illiterate will never truly know God's Word.

Stefan Teaching

Class Photo

Last month, I had the privilege of teaching a week long conference with my friends from Heli Serve.  Together, we led pastors from 4 counties, verse by verse through the book of 1 Corinthians.   The goal of our teaching was for these pastors to truly understand 1 Corinthians and to know how to preach verse by verse through the Bible.   

Rebecca, Emanuel, Patience, and John

Meet Emanuel and Patience:
Recently, our family temporarily assumed the care of two precious children named Emanuel and Patience.  We are working in partnership with Wordsower International for their care.  Both Emanuel and Patience have special needs and have been abandoned by their families.  At the time we assumed their care, Emanuel was very sick and both children were drastically underweight.  Twice a week, we visit our physical therapist and for a while we visited the malnutrition center once a week.  We praise God that both children are becoming more healthy and no longer require the oversight of the malnutrition center.  Emanuel and Patience live with our friend, Rebecca.   

Kim Smith

Praise God for Sparing Kim's Life:
Last week, our good friend, Kim Smith had a bad motorbike accident.  He was traveling from Zwedru to Maryland county at full speed when his bike hit loose gravel.  His bike instantly went out from under him and he went head first to the ground.  The impact was so hard that it split his helmet.  We flew Kim out of the bush by helicopter to a hospital here in Gbarnga.  Since that time, we have been providing care for him while he awaits a flight to America for further treatment.  We praise God for sparing Kim's life.  His shoulder is damaged and we have been concerned about his neck.  Please keep Kim in your prayers as he flies to the States for treatment.  Kim's accident reminds me that our lives are but a vapor.  They are here today and gone tomorrow.  Let us invest our lives in things that are eternal and hold loosely to things of this earth.

This video was taken during Kim's medivac.  We flew from Gbarnga to Maryland to pick him up.  

This video was taken immediately after flying over our house in Gbarnga.

See if you can find my wife in this picture.  She is waving at you.

Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel! 

Pictures from Liberia

They say a picture tells a thousand words.  Here are several pictures from our first month back in Liberia.

Last meal in the States

In New York, we loaded 6 carts so each of us could push our luggage through the busy airport.  We navigated several crowded elevators, took the subway and rode the bus to the hotel.  We were exhausted when we arrived.  

From New York, we flew to Nigeria.  We left the States on a Wednesday and arrived at our home on Sunday.  

Nigeria

Upon arriving in Liberia, we learned that our entry paperwork was not correct.  Don spent the day at Immigration working on our documents.  We stayed the night at our good friend's house and then loaded our new car and drove into the bush.  We bought our car from ZOA.  Our good friend, Paul Layman from Christian Aid Ministry worked on the car to get it running perfectly for us!  We are blessed to have such wonderful friends.

After arriving home, we quickly got reconnected with all the families we work with. 

Thank you for providing gifts for each of our sponsored children.  Here are a few pict.

Last month, we had a terrible storm that blew the roofs off several homes and killed 4 people in our area.   Thank you for helping us love on those who were affected.  This is a picture of Rebecca's roof.  

Several of you gave money to assist Rebecca.  

The old roof and damaged portions of her walls were removed.

Windows were added

A strong roof was added.  We also added cement pillars to make the house strong for many years to come.  Thank you!  Rebecca's roof is now completed.  We are still in the process of helping a young lady named Yessa replace her roof.

Our boys brought bows back from the States to start a bow club with neighborhood children.  Though the club has not officially started, our boys have had a lot of fun shooting with our neighbors. 

After shooting, Christian teaches Bible lessons and prays for the children.  

Several times each week, Grace teaches Bible stories from our house.  

We added a fence around our property for security purposes.  

We praise God for the addition to our solar system.  We now have all the power we could need.  The solar system gives us light in each room, a freezer for our food, electricity to charge our computers and phones, and energy for our hydroponic systems.  Last week, we started growing lettuce on our hydroponic system.  

We started our homeschooling.

We have gone on several mission trips to our sponsored children's houses.  Here we are on Civil Compound loving on children who were orphaned during the Ebola epidemic.  

 

Please pray for PaMoba.  PaMoba is an elderly widow who is raising three orphaned grandchildren.  PaMoba has been sick for a long time and has been in the hospital for several days.  Her stomach and legs are swollen like she is pregnant.  The doctors don't seem to know what to do.  Please pray that God spares her life.

Thank you for giving our family the privilege of serving God in Liberia.  It truly is a privilege to be partnered with you for the Gospel.  

We are returning to Liberia under Hope for Homes Ministries

Dear Friends and Family Members,

We are excited to announce that we will be returning to Liberia, March 10th, for a one year commitment under Hope for Home Ministries.  Hope for Home Ministries' purpose to educate people on the needs of orphans, challenge families to adopt and inspire them to become involved in ministry to orphans.  In Guatemala, Hope for Home Ministries is caring for special needs children through their group home, sponsorship program, and maternity care program.  This year, Hope for Home is expanding their ministries into Uganda and Liberia. 

Daryl working in the villages

Hope for Home’s director, Daryl Fulp and I have been close friends and prayer partners since 2000.  It was through Daryl’s ministry that we adopted our son, Don.  God used Daryl, to make us aware of the orphan crisis that exists in the world and to open our eyes to the responsibility and privilege of caring for the needs of orphans and those who are destitute. 

Children in Gbarnga who were effected by Ebola

Last year, we lived in an area that was once the epicenter of ebola.  Throughout the year, we felt our hearts being drawn more and more toward the needs of ebola orphans and destitute children.  We believe partnering with Hope for Home Ministries will enable us to better serve these children because orphan ministry is their area of expertise.  

Due to our new ministry focus your donations will need to be redirected to Hope for Home Ministry.  Hope for Home will now be taking over the care of your sponsored children. Please make your donations payable to Hope for Home Ministries and write, "Sponsorship - Child's Name, Liberia” on your memo line.  For any other donations, simply include the word “Liberia” on the memo line.  Donations should be mailed to Hope for Home Ministries, P.O. Box 393 Troy, OH 45373.  Wordsower will temporarily transfer all of our sponsor’s donations to Hope for Home Ministries until everyone is accustomed to sending their donations to this new address. 

You can familiarize yourself with Hope by Home Ministries by reading and subscribing to Daryl’s blog at hopeforhome.blogspot.com.  You can also visit Hope for Home’s webpage as it is being redesigned to include Liberia at hopeforhome.org.  

Please remember our family in your prayers as we move back to Liberia under Hope for Home Ministries.  Thank you for your love and sacrifices for the Liberian people.  We look forward to another year of serving Christ alongside of you.  

The Riley Family

We are home for Christmas!

December 3, our family boarded an airplane for a surprise Christmas visit to our family and friends in the States.  Melanie's mom, Andie, was the only person from our family who knew we were coming.  She picked us up from the airport and the surprises began.  Here are some of the images that were captured during our surprise.

After surprising Don's family, Don's mom redid her traditional Thanksgiving meal.  Wow, the food was good!

Next, we were off to Florida for a spontaneous week and a half vacation with Melanie's family.

While in Florida, we celebrated Christmas with Don's Grandma Evans and then traveled to Detroit Michigan and celebrated Christmas with Don's family.

We praise God for giving us the opportunity to be home for some much needed R&R.  In the past two weeks, we have been in the following places: Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, New York City, Washington DK, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Michigan.  

We are scheduled to return to Liberia March 9.  While home, we will be making a visit to Guatemala to visit Hope for Home Ministry (to learn more about ministering to the needs of orphans) and we will be visiting with our family, friends, and supporters.  

We look forward to seeing you soon!