Liberia, West Africa is a country that has become dear to my heart. Although it has only been in the last couple of years that I have had occasion to visit this country, it has been a focal point for my family since 1995.  It was at that time, during a brutal civil war, that my aunts, uncles, and parents adopted 10 children from Liberia.  These kids, all related as brothers, sisters and cousins, joined our family here in the States.  These same kids, now adults, have become as close as my own sisters.  Around the time these war-victim children were adopted to the States, my father Steve Jones, my uncle Nathan Jones, Doug Collier and Sackie Kwalalon started a school (All God’s Children) for child-soldiers, just like the children I now call family.

I waited over twenty years to see Liberia for the first time. We had learned the parents of these kids our family adopted had NOT died in the war as we had been told.  This knowledge led to a trip that included three sisters, my Liberian cousins, to “meet” their parents for the first time in over 20 years. During that wonderful trip, I enjoyed watching reunions with family members, experiencing a culture I had heard so much about, seeing firsthand the places and people that have become part of my family history. But, as incredible as that story is, that is not the trip I want to talk about today.

Since my first mission trip to Liberia in the summer of 2017, I have returned to Liberia two additional times. That’s 41,622 miles of traveling if you’re keeping track. This last trip was nothing like the mission trips before.  It’s actually a mission trip any right-minded mission leader would hush or keep to themselves because it may scare off others from traveling to serve in countries such as Liberia. So, if you’d like to hear about a mission trip that went side-ways and how God is still working, then please continue.

On February 17th, I was sitting in my own church, surprised to be the one asked to speak on behalf of our team’s trip to Liberia. We prayed for protection, direction and to touch the lives of people in need there. Almost as quickly as the pastor said amen, my phone started ringing. When I returned the call, I got word that the AGC School had caught fire, and that the computer-lab that was set up on our last trip only 4 months before was completely gone – literally every computer reduced to ash.   It was devastating, but in all honesty, about 24 hours later, after praying, crying and fellowshipping we were okay and ready to continue working in God’s plan, whatever that was.

That would have been enough of a setback, but there’s more. On departure day, our very first flight was delayed an hour, making us miss ALL of our connecting flights.   From Chicago on, every flight had to be rebooked with multiple airlines. Well this wasn’t our plan, but we wondered, “God is this yours?” We finally arrived in Liberia, after four flights and one 12 hour layover.

But wait, there’s more!  Upon our arrival in Liberia, we realized all of our bags were missing. During this two-week mission trip most of the team got their belongings on day 7.  I, however, finally received my luggage of personal belongings 3 days before I returned home. These were just a few of the challenges that arose during our trip to Liberia this year, and I have to tell you, I do believe all of this was in God’s plan.  

Even though we arrived a day later, even though we received our clothes and supplies more than a week later, and even though the fire destroyed the computer lab, we were still able to meet with the children. We were still able to meet with faculty. We were still able to meet the goals set out months prior for this trip. Even though this fire had children on the streets crying even before we left the States, a week later I was able to bring art and emotional expression to their classroom. So, in a way we did do our plan. But what about God’s plan?

The day before I left Liberia, the principal of the AGC School asked to speak to me privately. To be honest, he is a man of few words and seems to prefer to watch from a distance rather than dive into the chaos. That said, his words stuck with me. He said to me, “I have to ask you. You know when the fire happened and the computers were burnt, we were all so upset.” I waited for the question. “I asked myself, why are they coming? Why are they coming just to see this mess, there is nothing here for them. And, when you came, you are here and you are smiling, how is that?” What I find so fascinating about his comments and questions is the perception he had of me, us or Americans in general. The question, “Why are they coming to see this mess?” tells me his school had wondered if they were going to be abandoned because of the fire. They wondered about the children’s education, their jobs and their families. What’s more, he noticed we came still smiling and engaging with them. This seemed to shock the faculty into hope. By just showing up, participating and working in the “mess,” everyone’s hope was revived.

This trip really was like no other. This trip had a lot of struggles from day one.  But looking back, God answered our prayers even while the school was going up in flames. He provided protection, not one child or person was injured in the fire. He continues to provide All God’s Children and Serve the Children with direction on how to move forward.  God is opening doors in miraculous ways.  He is creating vision, excitement and hope for the country of Liberia and for those of us blessed to be involved in this next chapter of the Serve the Children/All God’s Children story.  Our God created a connection to the Liberian people this time that I never saw there before, and it’s just because we showed up in crisis. So, in this trip where everything started off all wrong and not according to our plans, it WAS according to God’s plan.

The day I left Liberia, I received more hugs from the children, teachers and staff than ever before. And this time when I left, there were requests and expectations for me to return this year – AGAIN!  That tells me God’s desire for me, and perhaps others, is to connect with our AGC family in Liberia. We are called to continue to support and nurture these relationships because we are all part of His family no matter how messy life gets.

 – Brittany Jones