Global Mission Mondays: Liberia

Liberia is home to 3.7 million people. English is the official language, while over 30 indigenous languages are spoken within the country.

Beginning in 1820, the region was colonized by freed American slaves with the help of the American Colonization Society, a private organization that believed ex-slaves would have greater freedom and equality in Africa. Slaves freed from slave ships were also sent there instead of being repatriated to their countries of origin. In 1847, these colonists founded the Republic of Liberia, establishing a government modeled on that of the United States.

A military coup overthrew the Americo-Liberian establishment in 1980, marking the beginning of political and economic instability and two successive civil wars that left approximately 250,000 people dead and devastated the country's economy. 

Today, Liberia is recovering from the lingering effects of the civil war and related economic dislocation, with about 85% of the population living below the international poverty line.  The civil war destroyed approximately 95% of the country's health care facilities.

Liberia is one of the world's poorest countries, with a formal employment rate of only 15%.  In 2010, the country's nominal GDP per capita stood at US$226, the third-lowest in the world.

As of 2006, Liberia has the highest population growth rate in the world (4.50% per annum). Similar to its neighbors, it has a large youth population, with half of the population under the age of 18.

85.5% of the population practices Christianity. Muslims comprise 12.2% of the population.

[information via wikipedia]

Autumn colors

A little history lesson at the evening for Senior Citizens

This Wednesday night our church held its monthly special evening for senior citizens.  We had a great turnout and it seemed like everyone was enjoying themselves more than usual.  Maybe it had something to do with the gardening, canning, and yardwork season finally being over.  

Liese and Olya Zschech headed up the kitchen and they did a great job with some dessert assistance  from Christy Claycamp and a huge pot of plov from Natasha Simonenko.  Liese spent most of Tuesday morning with Natasha going around the local market and shops to purchase all the food.

During the meal I sat at the "Christian" table, the place where a group of elderly charismatic ladies sit.  I had never really talked with them and was interested in how they became Christians.  But something about them told me they probably went to the Orthodox church years and years ago so I asked them if they had ever attended an Orthodox church.  They all looked at me for a second as they processed the question (it was a little weird to ask) and then answered with a resounding "of course, we all did". They said that now that they have been in churches that teach the bible in modern Russian (as opposed to old Slavonic use in the Orthodox church) they understand the bible more.  Now when they are at a funeral or a baptism they understand what the priest is talking about; but before when they would attend services they had no idea what was going on or what the priest was saying.  They told me that they've noticed over the last 10 years as other churches have grown in our area that the priests have started to take more time to explain the scripture, traditions, and rituals of the Orthodox church to people.

I asked about churches in our area and they said that during the Soviet Union Kaharlyk didn't have a single Orthodox church, it had been burned down and nobody wanted to rebuild it.  The priest in the area still baptized the children of people who would bring them to him, but he did it without registering with the state.  There were times when the KGB would come to one of the ladies and ask her to fill out a list of all the baptisms that the priest did because she lived near him (she didn't do it, and didn't tell the priest that the KGB was making lists but did warn him to be careful).  In the West we usually only hear about Protestant believers that were persecuted by the Soviet state and it was interesting to hear about Orthodox priests who didn't register as agents of the state lived in fear of the KGB coming in the night to recruit or arrest them.  

The Kaharlyk Orthodox church began to meet in a house by the lake as soon as the Soviet Union collapsed.  That is when these ladies started going to church, they had been taught the orthodox faith by their grandmothers but hadn't practiced their faith aside from baptizing their children.


I couldn't get the specifics of why they started going to other churches, but it was interesting to hear a bit of the local history from people that don't go to our church.

Join us in praying for Orphans on November 6th

Sunday the 6th of November is Orphan Sunday.  Our church is going to have a special service about God's heart towards orphans and what our heart towards orphans should be.

A few weeks ago we showed a video in our church from the alliance Ukraine Without Orphans that showed a picture of what the churches in Ukraine could do if one family in each church adopted an orphan.  There are 30,000 registered churches in Ukraine and 30,000 orphans. 

There are many more children in the care of the state, children that have been taken from their parents or whose parents can not afford to care for them.  These children live in orphanages, or boarding schools for most of the year.  The organization A Home for Every Orphan gives the statistics that upon leaving these orphanages and boarding schools

"roughly 10% of these teens will commit suicide, 40% of the girls will succumb to a life of prostitution, 40% will abuse drugs and another 40% will get involved in crime to varying degrees." 

A friend recently posted these statistics from Ukraine's Ministry of Statistics about what happens to children when they graduate from orphanages: 

- only 25% find full time jobs
- only 1% go on to get a college degree
- 1 in 5 end up homeless
- 1 in 7 try to commit suicide
- 50% will be arrested for a crime.

Join us in praying for the orphans of Ukraine, for the children who live in orphanages and boarding schools.  Join us in praying that God would provide homes for the orphans through churches in Ukraine and that God would use the Christians in Ukraine to change the statistics.

Global Mission Mondays: Sierra Leone

Tonight at our church's prayer meeting we will be praying for the people of Sierra Leone.  Sierra Leone has a population of about 6 million people and is home to fifteen ethnic groups, each with its own language and customs.

Between 1991 and 2002 the Sierra Leone Civil War devastated the country leaving more than 75,000 people dead, much of the country's infrastructure and over two million people displaced in neighboring countries.  The civil war broke out mainly due to government corruption,  mismanagement of diamond resources and abuse of power.  Sierra Leone is known for its blood diamonds that were mined and sold to diamond conglomerates during the civil war, in order to buy the weapons that fueled the atrocities of the civil war.  Since 2007 the government has generally stabilized. 

Sierra Leone is a predominantly Muslim nation (60-70%), though with a large Christian minority (20-30%). Sierra Leone is ranked as one of the most religiously tolerant nations in the world.

Although English is the official language of Sierra Leone, the Krio language (derived from English and several indigenous African languages) is the most widely spoken language across the country, spoken as a first language by about 10%, but understood by 95%.

About two-thirds of the population engages in subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 52.5% of national income. The government is trying to increase food and cash crop production and upgrade small farmer skills. The government works with several foreign donors to operate integrated rural development and agricultural projects.  The country has relied on mining, especially diamonds, for its economic base; it is among the top 10 diamond producing nations in the world, and mineral exports remain the main foreign currency earner. Despite this natural wealth, over 70% of its people live in poverty.

Public health in Sierra Leone is generally poor and in 2007 the country had the highest level of child mortality in the world and and a life expectancy of 41 years.  One in eight women risks dying during pregnancy or childbirth, the death rate of children under 5 is 19 per 100 births. 

[information from wikipedia]

Summer 2011 newsletter

Our ministry video

This video was made for us by the guys at the Halle Project to give a picture of life in Kaharlyk, our church, and our ministry.

Church retreat

Last weekend our church went to a retreat in Chernigov that we organized with churches from Chernigov, Nezhyn, and Priluki.

The theme of the retreat was The Gospel in the Center of Your Life.  Each of the speakers did a great job talking about what the gospel is (and is not), how the gospel transforms community, how the gospel transforms us, and how the gospel compels us to missions.  I got to speak on the last topic and I'll be sharing some of my thoughts on this blog soon.

About 40 people from our church went and everyone I talked to really enjoyed the teaching and just being able to go set time aside to seek God.  Our worship band played a couple times and I was proud of how much they have grown, not as much as musicians even though they are better, but in the way they lead the group in worship, the songs they chose, and their attitude in it all.

Here are some pictures that I took from various people's facebook pages.  I figured since they tagged us in them they wouldn't mind. 

Our worship team doing their thing.

Wayne Zschech speaking about the gospel transforming community.

Joking around with Olya Velichko from Chernigov.

Liese with Tanya, Oksana, and Lyuda from our church.

Me speaking about the gospel compelling us to missions.

Global Missions Mondays: Guinea-Bissau

Tonight at our prayer meeting we will be praying for the country of Guinea-Bissau, a country of 1.6 million people in West Africa. 

Guinea-Bissau was ruled by Portugal from the 16th century until 1956 when the PAIGC began an armed rebellion that culminated in independence in 1973.   Historically Guinea-Bissau is part of the Slave Coast of Africa, a formerly densely populated region of Africa from which more than 2 million slaves were exported by the Portuguese, French, and British.  After independence Guinea-Bissau has had military coups, instability, assassinations of leaders, and military unrest.

The GDP per capita is one of the lowest in the world and more than two thirds of the country live below the poverty level.  Guinea-Bissau is a transport point for drug trafficking into Europe from South America.  Health care is a huge problem with less than 5 doctors per 100,000 people.  

The population of Guinea-Bissau is ethnically diverse and has many distinct languages, customs, and social structures.  The main religion is African animism, 35% are Muslim, 10% Christian - though animism is often mixed with all religions.  Foreign missionaries operate in the country without restriction.

[information from wikipedia]

Global Mission Mondays: Guinea

Tonight at our church's prayer meeting we will be praying for the country of Guinea.  

Guinea is a natural resource rich country of 10 million people made up of 24 ethnic groups.  French is the official language of Guinea.

Since Guinea declared its independence from France in 1958 it has had autocratic rule in which one person possesses unlimited power.  This has contributed to making Guinea one of the poorest countries in the world.

The literacy rate of Guinea is one of the lowest in the world: in 2003 it was estimated that only 29.5% of adults were literate.  While school is mandatory many children, particularly girls, are kept out of school in order to assist their parents with domestic work or agriculture. Agriculture employs 80% of the nation's labor force.

Islam is the majority religion. Approximately 85% of the population is Muslim, while 8% is Christian, and 7% holds traditional animist beliefs.

Fall in rural Ukraine

I went out to the village of Sloboda today to lead a bible study at the rehab center, but when I got there I found that a group of guys who had finished the program last year had come to help dig potatoes.  So no bible study but I was glad to see the guys and catch up with them a little.  I took some pictures and then came home.