YWAM Liberia CenterFirst of all we want to thank you for your interest in YWAM Liberia. We need friends and we are glad that you are a friend.

2010 has seen another new start of YWAM Liberia. After a year of rest in 2009 we were glad to open our new base in Chocolate City on Feb 18 of this year. Our base is a rented building of 3 bedrooms, an office, a kitchen and a living room / dining area. It is not perfect, but a pretty good start.

We are happy as well about the arrival of long term staff Christian Kopjar from Germany, who joined us in February to serve mainly in the area of Community De-velopment. Currently it is Christian and Jamil Kromah, our national director, serving as full time staff, assisted by Jamil's wife Yeayea. Soon we will be joined by Musu and Alfred Varney. They intend to pioneer a new YWAM base in Ganta.

Our current situation can be described as a good mix of challenges and opportunities. So here are just a few insights into our daily life:

CHALLENGES

• Staff: We need more people! There is plenty of work to be done, but we are just a small team. We are trying to cooperate with locals, but it is a challenge to find trustworthy and reliable people in this country.


• Rain: The rainy season has started. If you have nev-er been to a tropical country you will not be able to imagine this. Just lots and lots of water everywhere. Well, actually we are thankful that our base is almost completely dry inside. And I can sleep a lot better during the night because the temperature has dropped due to the rain.


• Security: About a month ago we had armed robbers trying to break into our base at 2am. They didn't succeed (Thank you, Lord!), but severely damaged the door. As a result we had to replace both front and back door with new iron doors.


• Communication: Are you still waiting for a reply to your last email? We know this is a problem. The internet around here is expensive, but very slow. Also both Jamil and Christian were having some trouble with their computers recently. If you need an answer quickly, please call!


• Transportation: We don't have a car. We are dreaming of one, but for now we can't afford it. So we are using public busses and taxis. This is chal-lenging. Especially at night. Just imagine: You are standing next to the road, with your backpack, 3-4 plastic bags with fruit from the market and your umbrella, it is raining, and there are about twenty other people trying to get the same seat in the taxi as you.


• Finances: For more details, see "funding needs". First of all we are starting with an empty base. We needed to make a few investments there. Then we had some unforeseen expenses like the iron doors. And most of all we are understaffed. More staff contributions would certainly ease our financial situation. Both Jamil and Christian have been paying their monthly contributions faithfully and would also be happy about personal gifts to sustain their work with YWAM.

OPPORTUNITIES

• Youth: There are many young people in this country who are very open to any kind of help. Because of the war we see a whole generation without school education. Many of them don't know what to do with their life. Of course this creates many problems such as alcohol and drug abuse. For us however it is an invitation to reach out to them. We got in contact with many of them during the Soccer World Cup event, and we are starting a follow-up program to strengthen our relationships and to begin the discipleship process. We meet on a weekly basis to play games together, discuss social topics and share stories from the bible. We are also planning to offer training in Community Development, Administration and Business skills.


• Kids: There are not many parents here who provide a good Christian education for their kids. But the children are eager to learn. They long to have someone who pays attention to them. We are planning to start a weekly program for the kids of our community at the beginning of August, trying to develop a Christian character as well as solid bible knowledge in these kids. And of course we will give them a fun time!


• Churches: There are lots of churches around our base. So far we have not even been able to visit all of them. But I am very happy with the friendships we are establishing. Just this morning, as we were leaving the house going towards the internet café one pastor stopped in his car, offering us a free ride. In the car we explained to him what our ministry is about. He was very interested and told us he would probably send some of his young people to out next DTS. We hope to maintain these good contacts by hosting a monthly prayer breakfast with many pastors of the area. We believe if the churches of Chocolate City really work together we can bring transformation to the area.


• The World Cup Event: From June 11 to July 11 we showed all the soccer games in one of the local churches. At-tracting 100-250 young guys each day we were able to share testimonies, tell bible stories, teach about discipleship and invite them to the Lord.


• Schools and offices: Liberia claims to be a Christian country. We know that most Liberians however are not living as the bible tells us to. However schools and offices are still very open to welcome us to conduct devotions and bible lessons during their break time. This "Office Fellowship Ministry" is also just about to start as we are sending out letters to various schools and companies.
  Also we are planning to set up Math's and Language competitions for the schools, as a means to both build relationships with the school leaders as well as measuring the current skill level of the students.


• Gardening: We don't like the rain. But the plants do! And there is plenty of rain in this country. So plants grow like crazy. Unfortunately many people in Monrovia do not regard gardening as a useful way to improve their life. We don't have much land, but we want to use what we have, planting some tomato, some herbs, maybe some other vegetables or fruit.


•  New land: As you may know we already own some land at Robertsfield Highway, which is in-tended to host a new, big base in the future. At the moment we don't have any finances, so we cannot build anything there yet. What we will do is plant trees and other slow growing plants like pineapple. So when we start our new base there in a few years we will be able to harvest some fruit!

ANNOUNCEMENT

• UPCOMING DTS ! In January we will start our first DTS on our new base! Flyers and application forms can now be re-quested from us ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ). Currently we can still accept both staff and students.
  

FUNDING NEEDS

>>> For bank details please contact us:  

YWAM Liberia, P.O.Box 2046, Monrovia, Liberia

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Phone: +231 660 5099 / +231 880 555 256

Please feel free to share this news letter with other friends. Thank you so much again for identifying with us. We hope to stay in contact with you. May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you richly!