Gbarnga Central Prison, Bong County

On the way back home from Ganta we always make time to visit the Gbarnga Central Prison. They are always very excited to see us and beg us to make our visits more often. This prison is about 4 hours away.



Matty in the car. He was still smiling after the hours of driving! He had Mark and Pastor Richards to entertain him in the back. The were actually entertaining all of us while entertaining him!



Mark and Shad unloading some gifts and the cameras, tracts etc.


Prison information board. There were 103 prisoners this day with about 30 in for Muder and 8 for rape. The rest was everything from bad debt to drugs, to armed robbery.


Pst. Richards speaking to some of the cells.

Shad ministering in a different area.

Pastor Richards, Matty, me and Shad in the entry/office area.
The guys at this prison LOVE to sing! We are planning a praise and worship time here in late June or early July. Please pray that it would really make an impact on the lives of these men and women.

Let There Be Light!!!

Well, I guess it would be better said, let there be ELECTRICITY! We cannot thank all of you enough that gave towards the generator. We were able to purchase the 15kw generator. It was installed this week and is working wonderfully.

I talked with Kylee today and she said that she is so used to not sleeping with air-conditioning (almost been a year now), that she had to put on a sweater last night. I asked her why she didn't just turn it off and she said that she wouldn't dare...she was so excited to be able to sleep with air-conditioning now.

As the director of Spirit Liberia, as well as the proud father and husband of my family in Liberia, I cannot thank you enough for your support! I do not take it lightly and I do not take it for granted. I stopped specifically tonight and prayed for each of you who gave so that we could improve our living conditions and effectiveness as a ministry.

When we chose to start Spirit Liberia back in 2007, we made a commitment not to quit, no matter what the consequences. We knew that God was calling us to a new way of thinking, a new way of living, and a new way of believing. This past year has brought many difficulties. We have had trials that we would have never expected, and days and weeks that seemed to last forever. But God has remained consistent just as He promised. He has remained faithful to provide for us as He sees fit. He called us to obedience, but He continues to remind us that He has not called us to sacrifice more than necessary.

We have learned over the past year that we do not NEED air-conditioning to live. We do not need lights and a refrigerator, or even a hair dryer and iron (well - some of us may feel differently about this!). But these blessings come as a reminder that we have a loving God, loving friends and family, and we can look to tomorrow knowing that God is in control and actively protecting, guiding, and providing. What an incredible God we serve.

THANK YOU!!!

The new generator

Sanniquelli Prison, Nimba County

We had a great visit at the Sanniquellie prison. It has taken me a long time to get this post up due to major difficulty getting the pictures to load. Sanniquellie is deep inside Nimba county (about 7 hours from our office) and is a very unique and beautiful part of Liberia.


Entering the prison with Matty on my back. I put him there to limit the people trying to hold him :-)



Shad and myself and Matty with some of the prison staff, including the superintendent.


Pastor Richards preaching inside the yard.


Some of the inmates, notice the elderly man. His story is very sad and it seems that he is in prison due to some people trying to steal his land. This type of retaliation is common here.

Shad preaching to the individual cells. Some of the inmates are not allowed into the yard due to bad behavior/aggression.




Pst. Richards speaking to the inmates in the yard.
Farina we gave as a gesture of kindness to feed the prisoners. Farina is a milled product made from dried cassava. Cassava is a starchy root that is commonly eaten here in Africa.
The inmates listening as Pst. read through the gospel tract with them that Spirit Liberia has produced in Liberian English.

Mark (the one always behind the camera) and Matty having a great time together!
On this day there were about 107 prisoners in this prison. 7 of them were women and all of the women were in prison for murder. I have noticed that nearly ALL of the women we find in prison are there for murder. Murder and rape are the top crimes at all prisons with usually 20-30 people in for each. The next highest is robbery. Ministering to these people is a special calling. The conditions are rough but God is blessing us, the inmates, the staff and the country through our reaching out to this most desperate population.

Generator Again...

I have good news to bring you this morning! As of this morning, we have raised about 1/2 of the $4,000 needed for the generator. We are getting close! Please take a few moments and click on the thermometer to the right and give what you can if you have not yet. We really appreciate everyones help!

Update on Generator

Picture of the family last night without generator...need help...





Go to www.spiritliberia.org/urgentneed-generator2010.html to help!

Spirit Liberia Needs Your Support

For many of you who follow this blog, you have seen the hand of God at work on a regular basis with our ministry. Lives have been touched, futures changed, and hearts restored.

Had it not been for the support of many of you reading this blog, our ministry would have never been able to continue functioning. As you can imagine this year has proven to be difficult. Fund-raising across America is at an all-time low. People are struggling and in turn ministries are struggling to continue to function and accomplish their goals.

We praise God that we have not been drastically affected. We have, in fact, been continuing to function strong and have continued to see blessing after blessing.

I am writing this today to you to ask for your prayers and financial support for a very important project. Spirit Liberia has an immediate need for electricity at our facility in Monrovia! As you can imagine life in Liberia is difficult. But add to that difficulty living with limited to no electricity and you can imagine how much more stress, anxiety, and struggle it puts on life.

Our facilities are used for our main offices, meetings and pastoral care, community projects, and also living quarters for our family. We have been trying to function with a 5.5kw generator. For those of you who know anything about generators (which did not include me until recently!!!) this is way, way, way too small. It cannot manage the electrical current needed to run a missions compound.

To give you an idea of what we are up against, here are some of our realities of electricity right now:

- We only use electricity for a few hours in the morning and evening when getting ready for the day and ready for bed in the evening once it gets dark.
- We cannot run more than one air-conditioner in the master bedroom. This means that most days we spend in the heat of Liberia with little to no relief (believe me when I say that part of being effective in ministry is having the few hours in the evening of air-conditioning!)
- We cannot run the air-conditioner and a hair-dryer, coffee pot, or iron.
- The generator currently breaks at least twice a week. When it is down there is NO electricity until it is fixed.
- We also cannot pump water to our cisterns when it is broke, which means we get to pull water in buckets by hand and take them to the house.
- We do not have communication with our internet when it is down.
- There is no refrigeration when the generator is not working.
- There is no light and by agreement with our landlord we are not to use candles in the house – spend a day or two in Liberia and realize when it is dark it is a different darkness than we experience in most of America!

These are just a few of the realities of not having a large enough generator.
So here is the good news! A church in Phoenix has donated $5,000 towards us getting a 15kw generator. We need to raise an additional $4,000 minimum to get this purchased and installed. Once installed we will be able to have more consistent electricity and we will also be able to run it more often, truly aiding in making us more effective for ministry and aid in Liberia!

Please donate today online by clicking here or send donations via mail to:

Spirit Liberia, Inc.
2219 W. Melinda Lane, Suite B
Phoenix, AZ 85027

Thank you for your support and prayers!

Congratulations!

On behalf of the entire Spirit Liberia family we want to send a big CONGRATULATIONS to Morris Matadi and Brocks Pokai from the Initiative for the Development of Former Child Soldiers. They have reached their funding goal and IDEFOCS will be represented by Director, Morris Matadi at the Unreasonable Institute leadership workshops in Colorado. Good work guys! We are happy for you!