The HODGSONS... Then and Now!

In the 1980s our family lived in Liberia in River Cess County at Po River Beach. The last 7 miles to our rather remote location were traveled SLOWLY by motorcycle along a bumpy trail that wound across sandy coastal savanna, through wet rain forest, over slippery stick-and-log "bridges", and up and down steep hills severely eroded by Liberia's heavy rainfall! This picture was taken in early 1989 as we were getting ready to start "the trip". There seemed to be only one "seating plan" that worked for us: First Dad and Mom would get on, then Andrea (2 years) would squeeze in between us, next Nathaniel (4) would scramble up right behind the handle bars, and finally Stephanie (6) would try to get comfortable on the gas tank in front of Dad! We all agreed that not having to walk 2 1/2 hours in the hot sun (or sometimes in the pouring rain) was well worth any discomforts of the ride! In fact, Nathaniel found the trip so relaxing that he would often fold his arms across the handle bars, put his head down, and fall fast asleep! (Did I mention that our overnight bag was usually secured over the taillight and that a few other belongings in plastic bags were slung from both handle bars?)
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Eighteen years later in January 2007, Paula and I were back in Liberia for a visit and we crossed the Cess River by boat, as we had done so many times before! We were on our way to Po River Beach where we had taught for 10 years before the war and where we had built so many family memories! This time, however, there was no motorcycle on the other side of the river and we had to walk!
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In January of this year, I was back in Liberia again, this time with an American team, to visit the land in Buchanan that had recently been purchased for a new Pillar school campus. This freshly-planted property stake seemed to mark the beginning of an exciting new venture in Christian school education for Liberia!
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The natural beauty and quiet solitude of this place would seem to make it an ideal setting for a school. So far, however, there is not a single building on the land... but hopefully this will soon change!
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Students from the overcrowded Pillar school facilities in town joined the Pillar visitors from the States to view this spacious new property. No doubt they were anticipating the day when this relaxing scene would mean that they were taking a welcome break from their busy classes!

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Paula and I are seriously considering the possibility of making an extended working visit to Liberia (perhaps as early as this summer) in order to help get the first building project on this land organized and underway! We will keep you posted, right here on this blog!

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PROJECT BUCHANAN is being funded by interested groups and individuals whose tax-deductible donations are being channeled through special Pillar Missions accounts and go in their entirety to the project! If you are interested in learning more about PROJECT BUCHANAN or would like to know how you can help to make this new school campus a reality for postwar Liberia, email me at: ghodgson2003@yahoo.com

A Better Life for Liberia's Young People! (Photo report of Liberia Trip Jan 2009: Part 6 of 6)

Rie McGroarty, who teaches in a Pillar school in the United States, thoroughly enjoyed her brief visit to Liberia. She was able to interact easily with teachers and students, because all education in Liberia is in English. Now that the war is over, there are many opportunites for English-speaking educators to help.
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In addition to maintaining a challenging academic curriculum,

an effective Christian school also places great importance on:

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... 1) INFORMATION from God's word!

The student listens as the Bible is taught faithfully at all grade levels.
.. ... 2) FORMATION of a Biblical worldview!

God's word starts to "make sense", offering reasonable answers to the basic questions of life that the student is asking.
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...3) TRANSFORMATION of heart!
It is hoped that the student, after considering the price that was paid on the cross, will make the personal decision to commit his/her life to Christ!
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This shy little girl needs Christ...

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. ...and so does this cute little boy!

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Mischievous little Terry needs Christ...

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...and so does Praise, who comes from a Christian home!

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This little boy must be educated in the use of technology;

but to walk life's path successfully and get to heaven,

he too must have Christ!

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POTENTIAL FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE...

...in this world and the next!

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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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Property for a New School Campus! (Photo report of Liberia Trip Jan 2009: Part 4 of 6)

About mid-morning, all the students and the faculty escorted the visitors further up the road to the new school property.
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Buchanan is just 6 degrees north of the equator!

The tropical sun is unrelenting, and the humidity here near the ocean is high year round.
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This is just a portion of the 10.6 acres (4.3 ha) recently acquired for the development of a new Pillar school campus in Buchanan!
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Though annual rainfall here exceeds 150 inches (380 cm), the sandy soil supports only low forest or scrub, often interspersed with areas of grassland known as "coastal savanna".
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The Little Bee-Eater is a breeding visitor to Liberia during the dry season (Nov-May). This pair (near the school's new property) was watching for insects from a low branch. Their nest, a burrow in the sandy soil, must have been somewhere in the area.
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That's better... a nice close-up of the Little Bee-Eater! Its leafy-green upperparts enable it to blend into its habitat surprisingly well!
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The new property is a peninsula of high ground, surrounded by beautiful mangrove wetlands! These slow-moving backwaters drain into the St.John River, which flows into the ocean not far away.
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After exploring the property...
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...and inspecting the water's edge,...
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...we came back up the slope...
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...and formed a big circle...
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...as Luther Tarpeh, Pillar Field Director for Liberia, officiated in a ground-breaking ceremony!
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After both Liberians and American visitors had helped to "turn the sod"...
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...we posed for a "ground-breakers" group photo! (There I am... back row, third from the left!)
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Rob Cruver had brought a satellite phone with him, which he used to make on-site reports back to WAWZ, the Pillar's Christian radio station in New Jersey.
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After hearing one of Rob's reports, a radio listener called in to make a generous contribution toward the development of this new Christian school campus at Buchanan in Liberia!
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Pillar Junior & Senior High and Chapel! (Photo report of Liberia Trip Jan 2009: Part 3 of 6)

This hand-written poster of classroom rules included the following warning:

"NO PLAYING WITH PHONE IN CLASS!"

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Low-cost cell phones are now used everywhere in Liberia and have greatly improved communications around the country.

(At night a cell phone also serves well as a flashlight to light up the trail ahead, should there be a snake to avoid!)

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This young lady wanted her picture taken

(with her family's cell phone, of course)!

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During the 1990s, this building for high school classes was built on the property next to the elementary school in Jacob's house.

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There is still some finishing work to be done...

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For example, there are still no railings on the steps leading

to the three upstairs classrooms. Downstairs there

is a small auditorium for student chapels.

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The high school classes were inside, waiting to see us!

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This newer building is more spacious, but the classrooms are often quite dark because the latticed concrete window construction (which cuts out the light) is necessary for greater security of the building, especially at night. Even if electricity were available for better lighting, it is unlikely that the school would be able to afford it.
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We were happy to learn that there are no less than 39 students in each of the junior and senior high classes this year!
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Robert Saydee encouraged this student to stay in school and acquire a good education.

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As an after-school job, this Pillar student rents a motorcycle and provides "taxi service" around Buchanan!
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A short chapel service was convened, in which there was some great singing by both the elementary and junior/senior high divisions of the school!

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.A small generator was fired up to provide enough electricity for a few ceiling lights and the PA system.

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As each visitor from the United States spoke briefly, the students listened attentively...
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...and watched us closely too!

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Boy: "Are you OK with him taking your picture?"

Girl: "I think so! This is a special day at our school!"

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