Voted #1 Most corrupt nation in the world

Liberia was voted #1:  

That’s right Liberia made #1, tied with Mongolia, as the most corrupt nation of the world!  An example of the effects of corruption:  All across Liberia the hospitals closed again because no one was paid for 4-5 months.  Typically when this happens the government will give a month or two back pay and promise to pay regular.  They will go back to work.  No more pay will come and they will strike again.  It is an ever repeating cycle. (Report came from USA Today and Transparency International)

Liberia on the top of another list:  

Listed as the second most miserable country from the Misery Index of nations.  What does that look like for an individual?  I dread even writing this story.  There are things we just prefer not to know or here.  But, I feel my silence would be wrong:  Onika attends one of our discipleship groups.  She has a beautiful smile and a very small premature baby that is always sick and on the edge of death.  Two weeks ago she became homeless.  Last week a friend of hers, Cynthia, came to her from the jungle sick and was welcomed into the home of another in our discipleship group.  She was having trouble breathing.  The next morning she was found dead.  Hospital closed.  Preventable.  A day later I heard Onika’s baby died.  She came to me sobbing.  It was not her sickly premature baby, as I expected, but her 3 year old that was staying with her mother in Monrovia.  The child had swollen tonsils.  Often the treatment here is that someone will stick a finger down their throat to bust the tonsil.  They did.  The child died.  Hospital closed.  Preventable.  Today, I took Onika and the baby to a medicine shop.  The baby is sick again with fever.  Illness not known, a guess as to treatment.  Medicine bottle was dirty.  Later today, we bury Cynthia.  Tomorrow, I put Onika on car to go to Monrovia to bury her baby.  All preventable.  This all just happened and is but one of the many stories of the misery of individuals in Liberia that are within that Misery Index. (Google “Misery Index Liberia”).

Ojuku’s Confession and Salvation:  

Ojuku came to me puking out one of the most evil confessions I have ever heard.  I will share just one of the less vile stories: In Monrovia, during the war, there was a church where 2,000 innocent people gathered inside for refuge and safety.  They were mostly women, children and the elderly, unarmed and harmless.  The church was surrounded and ignited.  If any tried to escape the flames they were shot.  All were massacred.  He was one of the leaders in the massacre. The one to ignite the church and was one of them who did the shooting.

He said that his other soldier friends have come here to Wordsower Liberia to find forgiveness and escape from the dark world.  He said he wanted that and wanted to be right with God.  We prayed.  Today he is a common sight around here.  He smiles plenty, is free, and is testifying to his fellow former soldiers.  As we disciple him he is now beginning to disciple others.  He has completed his marking lessons plans on attending our school in a couple weeks.

Christine Medan:  

She worked with us for 2 years.  Our Lord transferred her to Afghanistan.  She came for a two weeks visit. She is much loved here. Many throughout Liberia celebrated her return.  Here is one testimony from her visit: In Monrovia years ago she met a Muslim from Guinea with a swollen infected foot and unable to walk.  She shared Christ with him and prayed for his healing and left.  Moments later he ran to her to thank her for his healing.  They talked, prayed and he accepted Christ.  She united him with a local church for discipleship.  They parted ways: she went to Afghanistan and he back to Guinea. The boy had a dream that they would meet once again.  The boy returned to Liberia for a visit and soon after she walked around a corner and there he was.  They were surprised, hugged, laughed and prayed… well I guess she was the only one surprised, for him it was anticipation.  He has matured into a committed Christian. Our Lord loves reunions and surprises. Rejoice, Heaven will be full of them!   

100,000 Pages:  

This month with our new print shop we printed over 100,000 pages of Bible training material.  I am reminded of a quote from the book Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan: “Just before China was taken over by the communists, a communist officer made a revealing statement to a missionary, John Meadows: ‘You missionaries have been in China for over a hundred years, but you have not won China to your cause… but we communists have been in China less than 10 years, and there is not a Chinese who does not know… has not heard the name Stalin… or something of communism… We have filled China with our doctrine.  Now let me tell you why you have failed and we have succeeded.  You have tried to win the attention of the masses by building churches, missions, hospitals, and schools.  But we communists have printed our message and spread our literature all over China.  Someday we will drive you missionaries out of our country and we will do it by the means of the printed page’… The communists were true to their word.  They won China and drove out the missionaries.  Indeed, what the missionaries failed to do in 100 years the communists did in 10.”  So, we print.  It is a powerful tool for spreading the name of Christ throughout Liberia.

This post was written by my partner: Kim Smith