Hope for Home, Liberia: 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.