To all who support Don Riley and his family either financially or prayerfully, I should probably introduce myself. I’m Levi, one member of the five man Engineering Team that came to assist Don and his family here in Liberia. Well they keep calling us the “Engineering Team” at least, but that just seems too official for me. The truth is I’m just a college student. A student with a passion to serve the Lord wherever it would lead me. We first met Don Riley at a men’s conference in Lima, Ohio. He spoke about Hope for Home Ministries and how the Lord was using him personally in Liberia. After hearing him speak, my friends and I were sold. We were going to Liberia with Don Riley. He just didn’t know it yet… So five bold, brave, and probably a bit naive college students walked up to Don and asked, “How could you use five engineering students?” Fast forward about a year and here I sit next to mongooses, spiders, and probably bunch of snakes in Liberia, Africa. Enough about me though, let me share with you what God is doing here in Liberia and how He is using us here.
Shortly after landing in Liberia, we taught at one of the Bible Institutes, which are Bible classes established by Don and his team for local church pastors and others church leaders wanting to learn Scripture. Our team came with preparations to teach out of the book of 1 John. I have come to learn of the corruption that is present in the state of Liberia, and sadly that corruption has spread to the church. So in teaching, we taught the book in its entirety and were open to any questions that the church leaders and pastors had. Since our first teaching, we have had the opportunity to speak at other Bible Institutes and even preach Sunday messages to multiple other churches found deep in the bush. God is restoring and uniting the church in Liberia, and what an honor it has been to play a small part in that.
In this one room church in Denta, over 100 people gathered for a Sunday worship service.
Pastors and church leaders gather from neighboring villages to come to the Bible Institutes, while the children peek their heads through the windows.
Nathan, another member of the "Engineering Team" preaching at the Bible Institute having Cyrus interpret in Kpelleh.
Along with teaching church leaders, we have been able to teach the children too. Here, Gabe and Teague are teaching Bible stories to the children.
Along with Biblical teachings, Don and his team run a mobile medical clinic. The medical clinic stops in a bush village twice a month, and serves those who normally could not receive medical care. Families and children, all with life threatening illnesses, walk miles from neighboring villages in order to be treated by the mobile clinics. The Lord has done a mighty work through the mobile clinics! It has been the team’s goal to serve like Jesus in bringing both physical and spiritual healing. Adults and children alike who receive medical care are prayed for individually and told the good news of Jesus Christ. In the last two mobile clinics almost 400 patients were seen and treated, of which many had fatal illnesses if left untreated. Not only were many of these men and women physically saved, but all of these 400 souls had their names lifted personally in prayer and told about a God who loves them. From the two clinics 30 men and woman heard the good news of Jesus Christ and chose to surrender their lives to Him!
All of the patients at the clinic are prayed over personally, including the children.
The medical clinics draw a lot of attention from the village children. Here, Teague is learning a thing or two in a game of marbles against the children.
Special needs children are in dire need of care and protection in Liberia, because they are culturally viewed as demonic or possessed. His Safe Haven has established group homes to care for these children. The ministry has recently purchased land and begun construction on a small community which will care for these children. As five engineering students, we have been able to put our schooling to good use in the construction and design of the group home community. Having a project and construction management background, I felt right at home in Liberia. Almost daily we got to check the progress of the worksite, and give guidance to any issues that occurred. We also aided in the laying out of housing foundations, installation of septic systems, and had some fun along the way!
When we arrived, construction on two homes had already begun. We were able to use the designs of the first homes to lay out and design the remaining homes.
We spent time brainstorming and designing the layout of the group therapy building for the children. We're hoping to include space for a clinic in the building that would be available for all the children and their mothers.
The footer for the fourth house was poured after the foundation was dug. The house is to be placed on a hill, so we had the foundation crew pour a step foundation in order to keep the same elevation.
The houses were made from mud brick from termite hills. In order to keep the termites out, Nathan sprayed the windows and foundations with a pesticide.
Even the worms are larger in Africa! Here's a huge worm Bryon found at the worksite. We quickly learned that Liberians are not too fond of worms, and we may have found the only animal in Africa that the Americans can handle better than the Liberians.
It’s hard to believe that I have already spent over a month serving in Africa, and only have less than a week left. It seems like yesterday I was landing in Liberia and meeting Don for only the second time as he picked us up from the airport. Now after a month in, I’ve made friendships that will last a lifetime and will stretch across the world. I’ve been given a glimpse of the unity through Christ that is here now, but is yet to come in full when our Savior comes again. I’m thankful for all who have faithfully supported the Riley family and the five of us who were able to come and assist them. It truly has been an incredible life changing experience, and for that I'm eternally grateful for. I hope these last pictures bring you as much joy as they have brought to me, and I hope they inspire you. I hope they inspire you to let God's love guide you wherever it may lead you, even if it means walking up to an unknown missionary and asking how you can help.
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