8.26.2010

Tubmanburg Visit

We recently visited the Tubmanburg cental prison in Bomi County. They have started an adult school there and asked us if we could provide them with t-shirts for the school uniform. We were able to provide these and everyone was very happy!

We preached, did one on one evangelism and distributed the gifts. It was a successful day.



Mark Koffa (in the orange) was able to speak to these 3 men individually and they all repented and accepted Christ. We will be visiting back with them for discipleship and also to get them bibles.


Sample of the t-shirts.




8.24.2010

Timothy Surgery

I am happy to announce that Timothy has had his surgey. The operation was on Friday and was as success! The surgeon says that he will not have a problem with that leg again. We are so happy for him. Thank you all for your help!

8.18.2010

Still waiting.....

Visited with Timothy yesterday and found him crying and in pain. The surgeon has been ill and not able to get him in yet. Please keep him in prayer that he would be able to get in for the surgery soon.

8.13.2010

Timothy update

This is Timothy. Many of you have been asking about how he is doing. Here is a quick update!


When I went to visit Timothy today I was expecting to find him recovering from surgery, instead I found him moving around on his crutches, happy and smiling! His surgery was scheduled for today but the surgeon was ill so they have postponed him until Monday. Please continue to pray for him. I will update with more when the surgery is complete.

8.09.2010

Got Bibles!

We received an invitation to go for a special visit on the LOGOS HOPE. LOGOS HOPE is a huge ship that is touring various ports around the world doing evangelism and many wonderful programs. They have a wonderful book store on board and we were sooooo blessed to be able to buy 4 boxes of New Testaments. We have been completely out of Bibles, so this was wonderful! We are beginning to work on the shipment of a container (which will have Bibles) but it will be at least a few months before that happens. YAY!!! Thank you to LOGOS HOPE!


7.13.2010

Workshop/Crusade at CBCMI - Yamah Town


We recently hosted an evening evangelistic crusade and a 2 day pastoral/leadership workshop at the Christian Bible Church Mission International Fendell branch (Yamah Town). This church is about 35 minutes outside the city limits. We had a wonderful time and the pastors really enjoyed the teaching. Our focus was on some things specifically related to issues in the church here in Liberia.


Our daughter Macey was the MC for the day workshops.



Some of the attendees of the workshop.



Pastor Joseph Richards, our resident pastor, spoke for all of the events.



The evening service with the small bulbs we string up and run off of our small generator. I am sure you can imagine how HOT it can get with all of the people packed inside these small buildings. You can see how Pastor was sweating!


Evening service again. This is Emmanuel, one of our part time musicians.



This is Alex, also one of our part-time musicians. These guys are very special to us and we LOVE them! They travel with us to all of our events.

7.10.2010


Last week we hosted a pastoral workshop at our home. Greg did some wonderful teaching on unity in the body of Christ. He was specifically targeting the issue of churches of different denominations not being unified. We should put aside the differences in the small areas and work together and love each other based upon the foundation of Christ and being one body together. It was a great time. The teaching was excellent and the pastors seemed to really absorb the lesson.


7.01.2010

Special Worship Service at Gbarnga Central Prison

We recently had the privilege of doing something new at one of the prisons that we minister in. For the first time we were able to bring our equipment and bless the staff and inmates with a special worship service. As far as we know this is the first time anyone has done this in a prison here in Liberia. It was a huge blessing to us all and we hope to repeat this in many other prisons. Greg and the music team led music, Pastor Richards spoke and I was the MC. It was wonderful. We were also able to give the prisoners some food and flip flops. The conditions inside the cells can be very filthy and many of the men don't have anything to put on their feet.


Singing time!




Pastor Richards preparing to distribute the flip flops (we call them shower slippers here).



Setting up the equipment.



Pst. Richards and I waiting for the service to begin.

6.25.2010

Kakata Prison Release




During a recent visit to Kakata central prison we found it to be a special day! Many of the people who were waiting in prison finally had their day in court! There are a lot of people in the prisons who really don't deserve to be there and you could feel the joy in the place that day.Waiting for the public defender to return and see who would be released.



Mixture of sadness and excitement watching their fellow inmates load up in the truck for release.



There were about 20 men released this day. It was a very interesting experience to see it all happen. Please pray with us for these men that God would move in their lives and we would not see them back in prison again.

6.17.2010

Another Happy Birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday to Mathias Vision Bogdan!!!! His first birthday was yesterday, June 23. Matty has spent the majority of his life here in Liberia so I wanted to do a special blog in honor of his unique first year of life.




It all started at our home in Phoenix, Arizona June 23, 2009!


Then he landed in Liberia on August 17 at just 7 weeks old!


First trip our to Buchanan, August 2009.


Then out to Margibi county August 2009



Back to Buchanan Sept. 2009


Ganta Oct.2009 with Pastor and Mrs. Valentine



First time to visit Gbarnga Prison Oct.2009




Sanniquelli prison Dec.2009




Full Gospel Orphanage Ganta Dec.2009



Relaxing at home on Christmas




Bondiway Prison, Harbel Dec. 2009





Gbarnga Dec.2009



Gbarnga Prison March 2010



Relaxing at home for Easter



Lorhn, Margibi County April 2010






Kakata Central Prison April 2010





Ganta, March 2010



Sanniquelli Prison, Nimba County March 2010



Margibi June 2010



What!?! All of this travel made him very tired.....



We love you Birthday Boy!

Matty celebrated his first birthday yesterday back in Gbarnga Central Prison for a special worship service. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to him. It was fun!

6.09.2010

TV update

The recent television show was a big success. We received a very unique letter from a contributor and wanted to share it here with you! It is a clear picture of how the Lord prompts His people in His time. The show was hosted by Vanessa's parents which is why the letter is addressed "Grandparents".

The writers name has been omitted for privacy purposes.

Dear Grandparents,

Would you believe it, your program is off now and I can’t remember your names, though I watch KTLN every night, (oh the joy of being 83).

When I was 5 or 6 years old, I stole 25 cents from my grandmother…no one ever knew. I felt badly and determined I would give her $100 when I went to work, but she passed away before I did it. That was the only thing I ever stole.

Recently, I promised the Lord I would give the $100 at His prompting to His choice. Tonight, He reminded me of that promise so I am sending it for the Liberian project.

Love in Christ,

A friend

6.01.2010

Tune In Tonight at 9PM!

Greg Bogdan will be the guest on a television program called TLN NOW! this evening, June 1, 2010. The program will start at 9:00PM CST and runs for 1 hour. It can be seen on the following broadcast channels:

TLN Chicago (also includes Rockford, IL and Western Indiana): - Comcast 138
KTLN TV (San Francisco - check local listings for cable and satellite): - Channel 25
KEEN TV (Las Vegas, NV): - Channel 17
Live Streaming via internet: - www.tln.com

As the Director of Spirit Liberia, Greg will be talking about our mission in Liberia, why we are there, and what our goals and plans are for the future. It will be an exciting show. We will be showing pictures and videos from Liberia as well so be sure to tune in and tell others to check it out!

The program can be seen across the world via the internetlive on www.tln.com so no excuses for missing it. Check it out!

5.31.2010

Lorhn 2, pictures, pictures, pictures!!!

The second day in Lorhn was wonderful. We spent time relaxing with the people, eating and just enjoying the day. In the afternoon, when the men came from their farms we had a soccer game! It was so much fun. Our guys played against the local team. In the evening we had a wonderful outreach service and had many people repent and accept Jesus as their personal savior. This included one of the town elders! What an exciting evening!




Mark, who is on our staff, is from Lorhn. His mother, father and many other family members still live there. It has been a real blessing to make such a positive impact in the lives of these special people. This is Mark's dad.





I had the pleasure of cooking lunch for my family with the other women in this African kitchen. It was really a fun and unique experience! I cooked Kidney beans with beef and rice. It was good!!This is Hannah, Mark's sister. She was a huge blessing to me and helped out in the kitchen a LOT!


These are some pictures of kids in the village. There are a LOT of them!!!
When we finished the beans there was a lot left over. We gave it to the little ones.

As you can see, they finished every last bite!




All of the guys enjoying some Dumboy. This is a traditional African food.


Everyone sitting around enjoying the day.


Beautiful view of Mt. Gibi.
Walking to the soccer field.

Enjoying some roasted corn while watching the activities :-)



All of us fans supporting our team! No one scored....no winner, no loser. This was a good thing :-) Just for fun!
Lorhn's local team in their new uniforms!

Our team along with some other guys from the community filling in.


The last post on Lorhn will be next! We are also working on a farm project here with a local organization focused on the rehabilitation of former child soldiers.