MISSION TEAM UPDATE
The first mission team is back! They were able to interview & photograph 130 children in grades 1-4 at our two schools. These children will now be available in our sponsorship program. Kris Repp ministered to over 400 patients through dental clinics coordinated by Mercy Ships. She was able to travel further into the country to reach people with no other access to dental care. They passed out 1,000 toothbrushes!
Several of the team members met with the PTA at our school in Sinkor and the president of the 15 Gate PTA. The parents and teachers were able to give valuable input on how things are going and what they would like to see happen in the future. Mike Sandefur, the team leader, recalls one mother in particular who stood up to say how thankful she was that we provide her child with a free education in a Christian Context. She said that reading and writing are very important, but she is so thankful that we also teach her child what it means to be a Christian.
The next team leaves on June 23rd for two weeks. They plan to hold several workshops on HIV/AIDS, computer education using computers and generators that we shipped over on our last container, and teacher workshops. Playing with the kids, meeting with staff and coordinating aid with other UN organizations will complete the trip.
Some of you have expressed a desire to go on a short term mission trip this Fall. Please contact us if you are interested.
OUR SCHOOLS
Our staff added an afternoon session at our Sinkor School in Monrovia in order to serve more students. We now serve a total of 939 students with 39 staff at our two schools. We purchased land near the 15 Gate school and need to raise around $10,000 to build a school for 500 children there. We currently squeeze 260 children into the small building that Firestone Rubber allows us to use rent-free. We are also looking for more space for our children in Monrovia.
TRICIA JOOS
Tricia will leave for Liberia on July 23th. She raised enough support to serve as our Education Director for one year. Communications in Liberia continue to improve with two cell phone companies (land lines are still rare) and faster internet service, so we plan to get a monthly update from Tricia once she settles in.
CONTAINER UPDATE
Thank you to everyone who is already collecting items for our next container shipment to Liberia. The State Department still has a hold on all humanitarian aid shipments so we must wait. It would cost us around $5,000 to ship a container ourselves. We will let you know when the hold is lifted and we can start collecting items again. We plan to ship one from Tacoma and Moses Lake, WA and one from St. Louis, Mo.
LIBERIA'S FUTURE
This October Liberia will hold free elections for their next president. Over 50 candidates are running for President, around 13 are expected to be on the final ballot. Exiled former President and warlord Charles Taylor continues to meddle in West African politics by financing up to 8 of the candidates himself, while the War Crimes Tribunal in Sierra Leone continues to pressure Nigeria to turn him over for prosecution. He has been living there under asylum since stepping down in August 2003 as part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the war. Over 1 million Liberians have registered to vote in the upcoming elections. The UN continues to maintain 15,000 personnel in the country. We continue to hope and pray for a peaceful and fair election, and that the new government will work hard to improve the lives of the Liberian people.