The Difference a School Has Made! (Photo report of Liberia Trip Jan 2009: Part 5 of 6)

My second (and last) week in Liberia was spent in Paynesville near Monrovia...

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...with Sam and Tabitha Walker (both former students of mine!)

and their children: Caleb, Sandi, and Praise!

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.A flat tire on the way to church Sunday morning seemed to be taken quite in stride, but finally...

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...we arrived at the Pillar church in Caldwell,

where Sam serves as pastor.

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The building is a simple structure with woven mat walls and a thin metal roof supported on rough poles... but as a weekly meeting place for a small group of joyful Christians, it is adequate (for now)!
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Sam had asked me to be the speaker of the day. Thinking about the young people in my audience and the great challenges facing their country, I chose to speak in "Liberian English" and talk about the boy Samuel in the Bible. Despite the spiritually dark times in which he lived, he responded to God's unexpected call in the night and so became a difference-maker in Israel!

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As a boy, LUTHER TARPEH walked every day from his small fishing village to the Pillar school in River Cess. There he first heard about Christ and later dedicated his life to him. During the war, he attended seminary in Nigeria where he earned a master's degree in theology and where he met his wife Christine. They have 3 children and today live in Monrovia where they both teach at the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary. Luther is Field Director for Pillar operations in Liberia and pastors the Pillar church at Harbel. He also hosts a weekly call-in radio program on a Monrovia station!
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Today over a million people (28% of Liberia's population) live in Monrovia, the capital city. Here Luther (far right) has opened The Restoration Center, a home where "street boys" left homeless by the recent war are currently finding new hope. Mentored by resident seminary students, these teenagers now have the opportunity to attend local schools while learning about the God who loves them and has the power through Christ to transform their troubled lives.
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ROBERT SAYDEE (far right) remembers when, back in the 1970s, he too lived on the streets of Monrovia. In desperation his aunt sent him to the Pillar school in River Cess, and it was there that he later found Christ. Today he is a college graduate and lives with his wife Sarah and two children in New Jersey. He is IT manager for the Pillar ministry complex at Zarephath. No wonder he promotes foreign missions through Christian schools and sees potential in every "street boy" in this photo!
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Before the war, EMMETT KAYE attended the Pillar school in River Cess where his father was a teacher. Today Emmett is pursuing a degree in business and is active in the Pillar church. He and his wife live in Monrovia and have one son, Emmett Jr.
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.Befor the war, ENOCH GAADYEZON attended junior and senior high at the Pillar school in River Cess. He and his wife Christiana have 3 children. They live in River Cess County where he is principal of a Christian school and serves as pastor of the local church.
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When DANIEL TARPEH (no relation to Luther) was a student years ago at the Pillar school in River Cess, he came down the river each day in his dugout canoe. Today he is completing his Bible school training in Monrovia, and the children's ministry that he started a few years ago is growing into a small church fellowship! He and his wife Ellen have 9 children, one of whom (Joanna, bottom left) is deaf.
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The day I visited Daniel and his family, members of his church came over to meet me. They were proud to stand in front of the simple "church" they had helped him build and which is now a blessing to them and their children.
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SAM WALKER was already a student at the Pillar school in River Cess in the 1980s when TABITHA arrived from another Christian school... and (as they say) the rest is history! After high school, Sam earned an undergraduate degree in Christian education from the accredited Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary in Monrovia. Today he pastors the growing Pillar church at Caldwell outside Monrovia.
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. In the 1970s, my friend GABRIEL TEQUAH was a student at the Pillar school in River Cess. After rededicating his life to the Lord as a young adult, he returned to teach at the school he had once attended. Then he went on to earn a degree in Christian education from Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary, followed by a master's degree from West Africa Theological Seminary in Nigeria. An excellent teacher, he now seeks to help young people genuinely discover the Truth that he knows can transform their lives. He and his wife MARTHA, who also attended the Pillar school in River Cess, now live in Buchanan where Gabriel is principal of the Pillar school that we visited. They have 3 children.
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