Liberia, West Africa Relief
Life in Liberia has been more than difficult. After nearly two decades of war and corruption the nation needs help. The people of Liberia are not only hungry for God, but many of them are hungry from a lack of food. Their markets and vendors are poorly stocked. It is not uncommon to see many vendors with only one or two cans of food for their entire inventory. As food is scarce, the prices are high. Demand and inflation are exceeding the people and their needs. The average Liberian family brings in only $11.00 per month. That puts 80% of the population below the poverty line of Africa. This level of income is shocking considering rice now sells for over $50.00 a bag.
The situation in the nation grew so bad that reports of cannibalism were coming from within the capitol city. The United Nations (UN) has come and given much aid to the nation, but most of the impact of these contributions are never felt at the level of the common man. In all reality, the presence of the UN has caused inflation to increase at unprecedented levels. That's one of the reasons we began working with Feed The Hungry (FTH) on this project over a year ago.
Because of the generosity of FTH and many of their supporters, we were able to ship eight full sized containers jammed with much needed food. Thousands of pounds of rice, dried fruits, concentrated soup mix and flour arrived nearly a month before our crusade. With the help of some very dedicated and honest pastors we were able to gather over 200 churches in the city to act as distribution sites. This method assured us that the food would reach the people and empower the pastors.
Our job as international evangelists is not only preaching the gospel. We have a deep desire to see thousands of souls that come to Christ, and as a result of our crusades, to become part of a local church. It's under the leadership of a good pastor that these precious people will be discipled. It's in the local church where they will find their destiny and learn to walk out the plan God has for their lives. That's why this type of outreach following a crusade is so vital.
On the last night of the crusade the people received information about the distribution centers, which were located at the churches. This allowed them to find the center (church) closest to them. The week following the crusade the cooperating churches were converted into distribution centers. Each person received a wonderful food package and they also received one-on-one personal ministry from the pastor or leaders. This program creates a bridge from the conversion experience to the local church for discipleship. It is one of the most effective tools we've ever used to bring the masses from the crusades into the local church. By the time I left Liberia over 45,000 had already registered to come to the churches. That's apostolic, that's powerful! Thank you Feed the Hungry! Thank you friends and partners! Together we are making a difference!
The Follow-Up process has been remarkably successful!
Ministerial Testimony: Rev. John MacMarley & Evelyn Manlay; Monrovia, Liberia
With the terrible suffering and daily increased rate of starvation that Liberian's experienced in and around Monrovia in recent times, the life-saving and soul winning initiatives by KLM International and Feed The Hungry, were a tremendous relief to the war-affected, impoverished, and starving population of Monrovia and its environs.
By December 2004, rice, which is the staple food of Liberia, could hardly be found on the local market. As a result, the price of rice has skyrocketed. By February 15th of this year, one could hardly find good rice in the local market. For the interiors and areas outside of Monrovia, most families were now returning to eating wild roots. Malnutrition and starvation have become very evident in the country.
When people heard about the crusade and relief effort in Monrovia, pastors and church leaders from every part of Liberia came to Monrovia to participate in the crusade and leadership seminar. The pastors and leadership conference had an average attendance of 1,576 pastors, ministers and church workers. During the crusade, there were 59,977 recorded salvations and 58,743 recorded rededication of lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
The follow-up process has been remarkably successful. Churches in and around Monrovia that participated in the crusade have been reporting tremendous increase in their discipleship and food distribution program. Up to present, churches have reported a turn out of over 135,860 people at their churches participating in the discipleship and food ration distribution program.
There have been a lot of praise reports from churches about increases in church attendance. Pastors and church members are very happy and thankful that the brethrens in the USA were generous in sending a consignment of relief items valued over $95,000.00 and $7,000.00 in cash to help in distributing the relief. To God be the glory! From the Pastors and churches of Liberia, Thank you!