See the site personal-spiritual-growth.com for 'helps' with your own missionary endeavors for Jesus Christ. The site is moving up in the rankings because of the number of visits it has received. George would say, "Blessed again, I had help."
Monday, August 15, 2011
Ron Smith in the Northwest
I returned from Cameroon after a four-day wait in Douala for a plane. After a couple weeks at home in Lamoni, I flew to the Northwest. I preached at the Salem, Oregon branch yesterday (Sunday) morning. In the afternoon, I accompanied several of the Saints on a wonderful picnic at the Silver Falls State Park to the south of Silverton. As we were walking back to our cars, we met a large Ukrainian family singing Christian songs such as "Our God is an awesome God" in Russian. We joined them and had a super time singing in our respective languages songs of praise to the Lord. It turned out that three of the principal members of the group work in the same Walmart as the pastors mother, and they know each other! In the evening, many of the members gathered to hear testimonies of the Lord's work in these days. George and Jeanette Thomas were there, and we had a wonderful time sharing for a couple of hours. Tomorrow (Tuesday) the Vancouver Reunion begins in Washington, and I will be going there to share in campfires and any way that I can. I am looking forward to George and Jeanette being there too.
Steve DeVera & Bill Leutzinger at Maine Reunion
Seventies Steve DeVera & Bill Leutzinger traveled to provide ministry at the first Maine Reunion of the group led by Seventy Gary Wilson. It was a small gathering of about fourty Saints, yet, the Lord blessed them richly. Two adults, one who attended the reunion and one who was just visiting, were so moved upon by the Spirit that they were baptized. The sister visiting received an additional special blessing during her baptism of the Holy Ghost where she felt more hands on her head than those of the elders physically present. The reunion was a marvelous, uplifting experience for all.
Jim & Patrick McKay's Missionary Travels in California
Yesterday, Sunday Aug. 7 we put on a presentation here in Chico, California. The Book of Mormon, a Dynamic Unfolding Model of Revelation and a Harbinger of Things To Some. The group was small, but some individuals were new faces that we hope will find a place in the restoration branch here. The message was well received. We received quite a blessing when I went to pay the funeral home director the agreed upon fee of $300, which was a discount from the normal $500 for two hours of usage, he told me there would be no charge. Is the Lord mindful of us in all of our needs? I'll let you answer. We continue to move throughout the state, meeting today with a family in the Oroville area to help strengthen what we have established over the past two summers. We rejoice in your prayerful support and ask for continued prayers for the remaining 4 weeks that are before us. We have each now preached twice in the Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonites). We look forward to eventually working our way back to Southern California. We still need doors opened to share the Book of Mormon presentation in their churches in both Modesto and the Los Angeles areas. We have had a door open in the Rancho Cucamonga area of the Community of Christ, that will allow us to give this presentation in their congregation.
Exciting News!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Summer Missionary trips
Seventies Bill Leutzinger and Steve De Vera will be traveling to Maine to bring ministry for several weeks.
Seventies Patrick and Jim Mckay will travel to California for 6 weeks.
Elders Micah and Jonah Bates are traveling to Chile.
Seventies Elias Martinez (From Mexico) and Gary Metzger will travel to Peru / Brazil.
Seventies Patrick and Jim Mckay will travel to California for 6 weeks.
Elders Micah and Jonah Bates are traveling to Chile.
Seventies Elias Martinez (From Mexico) and Gary Metzger will travel to Peru / Brazil.
Please keep them and all other missionaries in your prayers this summer.
Mission to Cameroon
Seventies Hensley Mbanaso and Ron Smith will be traveling to Cameroon from July 7 - 28. Please keep them in your prayers.
Monday, June 6, 2011
JCRB Global Internet Broadcast Features Seventy
The Joint Conference of Restoration Branches produced a Global Internet Broadcast on June 5th, 2011 that featured the Seventy. If you were unable to watch live, the recording is now up at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/15196662
It is technically well done and, more importantly, focuses on the work of Jesus Christ and His gospel. Please share as the Spirit leads that we all might bring glory to the Lord of the Vineyard through our joint labors unto Him.
It is technically well done and, more importantly, focuses on the work of Jesus Christ and His gospel. Please share as the Spirit leads that we all might bring glory to the Lord of the Vineyard through our joint labors unto Him.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Two New Seventy Ordained
Gary Metzger and Hugh Caldwell accepted their call to Seventy and were ordained at the April 2011 JCRB International Conference. Go to http://restorationseventy.org/ and click About Us to select these names from the dropdown list to read more about these men. The Seventy welcome these new brothers to their ranks, and are happy to have more laborers in the vineyard for the Lord of the harvest.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Work Opens in Chile & Argentina - Seventy Gary Metzger & Nathan Sherer
For 10 days, Seventy Nathan Sherer and Elder Gary Metzger provided ministry to open up the work for the restoration in Chile and Argentina. We visited three elders who were former members of the Community of Christ in Santiago, Chile. We found our contact there, Reinaldo Hernández, through Facebook, pointed out to us by our new contact in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On Saturday evening, March 12th, we met with these 3 men and answered their questions and testified of the work of the Holy Spirit and the organization of the conference. Reinaldo had already baptized his mother and sister, and the other two elders were busily engaged in ministry as well. We stayed in Reinaldo's home and he provided for our needs as the gospel indicates. We left them with great hopes. Two of the Elders have written us since and let us know that they and their groups will be joining us. That gives us Two Elders and Six members in Chile.
On Sunday we ministered to many in Reinaldo's family and shared in class and testimony. Reinaldo's mom, who is a member, invited her entire family to hear a class by us. We discussed the Kingdom of God and what it was. We were talking about how to become a citizen and read What Peter had to say on the day of Pentecost to the people that were gathered there. Nathan read Acts 2:38 where it says that Baptism is for the remission of sins. Reinaldo's aunt, Nancy, shared how terrible it was for a church to baptize innocent children, implying that they are sinful at birth. It was a great opportunity to share the Book of Mormon witness. The Spirit of God ministered to many of his family. Every house we went into they wanted us to bless it. We blessed three different houses.
Monday the 14th we traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina to visit with Pablo Salvato, a contact we have had for over 5 years. He had a spiritual dream in which he saw himself in a tall building, looking down and seeing a man standing on the waters of a river motioning for him to come. Pablo knew that this man was sent of God to lead him to the other side and escape destruction. In March of last year, he recognized Gary Metzger's face on Facebook and immediately asked for baptism in response to God's revelation from years earlier.
Pablo's wife, Elena, has been studying with Pablo at home for many years now, but never expressed a desire in being part of the work. During Tuesday afternoon, we felt led that we should sing. Elena shared that she had received ministry from an angel about two weeks prior to our visit and that he sang her a hymn and told her to receive a blessing three times. Later that evening, Elena shared with us that she has been sick with a problem in her blood for about 11 years. At the end of our sharing, it was 1:00am and there is a campfire-like song that speaks of seeking the Lord at 1:00am for him to resolve our problems. That song was sung and we prayed. We also agreed administer to her for a blessing later.
On Wednesday we continued classes and spoke to some personal issues that were bothering Pablo. That night Pablo had a dream. He saw himself naked before the Lord, and then the Lord gave him white clothes. He understood that his dream meant that in his present condition that he was naked and ashamed, but would receive robes of righteousness with his baptism.
The next day, we performed the laying on of hands for Elena's healing and then had Pablo's baptism. To our joy afterwards, Elena told us that she also desired to be baptized! She had asked for years for people to come to her house and pray for her, and no one had done so. She had promised the Lord when someone would, that she would unite with them in the work. She also knew that when the angel had come to her two weeks before and told her to receive the blessing that he meant more than just a physical blessing, but also meant that receiving us and the gospel were part of that as well. So both were baptized that day, and after classes in the afternoon about members' duties, they were confirmed as the first two members of the church in Argentina!
Seventy Frank Frye had also made contact with a man in northern Argentina over a year ago. This person heard we were coming and was able to join us for classes on Saturday and Sunday and to ask us questions to clear up his understanding of the differences between the Mormon Church and the Restoration. The truth was difficult for him, but he left with much to consider and great desires to join us.
We finished our stay in Argentina with a communion service with our new members and prayed for God's blessings on His work.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Randy Vick West Africa Winter 2011 - BACK IN THIS TROPICAL PARADOX
Taxiing toward the terminal, all I see are UN aircraft and I'm thinking Africa Sky is probably the only commercial airline using Spriggs-Payne. The sight of those UN aircraft reminds me of all the flights I made out of this airport, as UN Regional Police Commander, when I had to visit my international and Liberian police officers in Zwedru, the capital of Grand Gedeh, Fishtown, the capital of River Gee, Harper, the capital of Maryland, Bartlesville, the capital of Grand Kru and sometimes Greenville, the capital of Sinoe, although I usually made that trip by road. My headquarters was located in Buchanan, the capital of Grand Bassa, and I always went by road to visit Cestos City, the capital of River Cess. When I needed to fly I would have to drive from Buchanan north, 155 km, to Monrovia to catch a flight south, sometimes on the same type of aircraft I'm flying today, although reconfigured for transporting troops and cargo. Most often though I would fly on Ukrainian helicopters. While not as reliable, the helicopters always flew much lower, affording a better view of the scenery below.
I am in the first seat in economy and there are no business class passengers, so I am the first to disembark on the tarmac and walk to the terminal, where I'm directed to a Customs Officer. He thumbs through my passport and with a look of disdain, tells me to follow him into a back office. There I'm confronted by a very large and very stern looking woman seated at a desk who orders me to sit, and I sit. She thumbs through my passport and then thumbs through it again, finally asking me what we're going to do about the problem of me not having a visa. I am polite, but not friendly as I direct her attention to the three year Liberian visa that takes up one whole page of my passport. She stamps and signs my passport and hands it to me without saying a word or even looking at me. (I learn later from a Lebanese man who has lived in Liberia for 40 years, that I only got away with that because I am an American and because I stood up to her. He told me he always has to slip $20.00 US into his passport to get through customs.)
I always wear my documents pouch around my neck when arriving in Liberia, with a US flag and an old UN Police ID card prominently displayed. No one ever notices that the ID card is expired. As I claim my luggage, a Customs Officer directs me to place it on the counter and open it for inspection, and I have no problem with that. As I'm unlocking it, a Liberian police officer standing nearby, speaks rather harshly to the Customs Officer, pointing out my "police" ID and the Customs Officer apologizes and immediately sends me on my way.
Making my way out the front door of the terminal I am prepared to repel the onslaught of taxi drivers and find a place in the shade to wait for Bro. Stephen, since my flight arrived so early. As the taxi drivers rush me, I hear Bro. Stephen calling out to me. It is always a joy to see his smiling face when arriving back in Liberia, but especially so today when I assumed I would have a long wait. Turns out he has been waiting for some time as he wanted to be sure he would not be late. He has borrowed a friend's car and has one of his "sons" Joshua with him. I've known Bro. Stephen for several years now, but I had never met his son Joshua. Then I realize, like Bro. Eric and Sr. Pam in Kenya, Bro. Stephen and Sr. Sarah take in young men as their sons, to help guide and mentor them. Bro. Stephen tells me my Liberian son, Milton, is coming from Buchanan to greet me at the airport and he calls him and learns that he is only blocks away. We make arrangments to rendezvous with him on Monrovia's main arterial street, UN Drive, and its another joyous reunion.
The movement of the car, with the windows down, brings a breeze which is a welcome relief from the heat, until we reach the crush of humanity that is Red Light in Paynesville, Monrovia's largest suburb. I realize there may be a market somewhere in the world that is more crowded, although I've never seen it, but I'm willing to bet there are none more chaotic. Its an amazing obstacle course as Bro. Stephen maneuvers through the mass of human foot traffic, as well as motorized and non-motorized vehicles of every size and description, including trucks, cars, motorbikes, bicycles, wheelbarrows, push carts, etc. He manages and soon we turn on the winding, dirt streets of Kabah Town, a suburb of Paynesville, and finally to Soul Clinic, the community within Kabah Town where Bro. Stephen lives. Arriving at his home, I am greeted warmly by Sis Sarah and two of their children, Ophelia and Garpaulyondeh. Wooden chairs are brought to a shady spot and even though I'm sweating profusely, it's good to sit in the shade in this calm and quiet atmosphere away from all the hustle and bustle.
All too soon its time for Milton to go to his cousin's where he'll stay the night and Bro. Stephen has to take the car back to his friend. We've decided that I'll travel to Buchanan tomorrow with Milton as he has to be back at his UN post at 1 PM. Bro. Stephen will also accompany us and go to his rubber farm in Compound 3 in Grand Bassa County. Most Liberians have a difficult time thinking of, or planning for the future, but not so Bro. Stephen. He has planted a rubber tree farm on his family's property in Gardee Town in east central Grand Bassa County. Rubber farming is a big source of income in Liberia and if his farm does well, when it starts producing in 8 to 10 more years, his children will be provided for, but in the meantime it requires a lot of maintenance. So we'll be traveling together in a taxi, and it will be good to have traveling companions that are friends and not strangers.
When it is just Sis Sarah, the kids and I, she serves a delicious meal of tuna fish sandwiches. I always appreciate whatever is provided as I know it's a sacrifice for them and they always make the extra sacrifice of including meat in the meal. Following dinner I have a rare opportunity to observe a slice of everyday life in the Gardee family, and separated from Sis Sarah and her children by the darkness, it's almost as if I'm not here. In the darkness, Sis Sarah is sitting in the dirt on the ground next to the bench we used for our dinner table. She turns on the tiny flashlight feature of her cell phone, puts on an old pair of glasses with twisted frames and seriously scratched lenses, and begins to grade the papers of her 1st and 2nd grade students from that day's school session. She uses this opportunity to teach her own children who are gathered around her in the darkness. I sit there in silence appreciating the scene before me, so far removed from my own life of leisure and comfort and every modern convenience.
When Bro. Stephen returns I have an opportunity for a cold bucket bath and after all my previous experiences with bucket baths, I am still amazed at how shockingly cold the water can be and how quickly I break a sweat after completing my bath. But this will be the norm for the next three weeks, so I have to get used to it.
Bro. Stephen and I will share a mosquito net tonight and it will be good to have a defense against those little critters who have already scored several hits just since my bath.
We behave like we're at a slumber party as we talk late into the night sharing things of the gospel and of the work in Liberia. Bro. Stephen is such a dedicated man of the gospel it's a pleasure to visit with him about the work. Even after dozing off for awhile and being awakened by the heat, we begin a whole new conversation, and finally it cools down just enough to allow a little sleep before dawn.
We get an early start for Buchanan, and before the heat of the day arrives, the breeze through the open windows of the moving taxi is refreshing. When we get to Smell No Taste Town*, just before Roberts International Airport, we stop at the Liberia National Police depot, where Bro. Stephen's wrecked car is parked. He was hit nearly head on a few months ago and could very well have been killed, but walked away with cuts and bruises, even though they had to use an axe to chop him out of the car. Sadly, he had new tires on his car at the time of the accident and strangely, parked right in front of the police station, the tires have disappeared. Even after stealing his tires, or allowing them to be stolen, the Substation Commander starts giving him a hard time for not introducing me, as I have walked over to the car and started taking pictures. Bro. Stephen confronts the police officers, five or six of them are sitting there in front of the depot, mentioning his missing tires and they won't even look at him, but stare at the ground. Milton and I continue our inspection and photographing of the car and Bro. Stephen learns the police are worried, thinking I'm an American lawyer who's going to take his case. Sadly, their temporary stress is the only satisfaction Bro. Stephen will get in this case. They already took bribes to find in the other driver's favor, even though the first police officer Bro. Stephen encountered, told him not to worry, that the other guy was at fault and they would have to buy him another car. That was before the owner of the other car bribed the people in the system and Bro. Stephen is not only out a car, but is in the process of paying a large restitution. The owner of the other car fired his driver knowing he was at fault. Milton finally encourages Bro. Stephen to leave the conversation with the police and we are on our way.
We stop at the supermarket in Harbel, on the giant Firestone Rubber Plantation, where you can buy American brand products if you don't mind paying $3.00 US for a can of Pringles, and I don't. A can of Pringles will last me for a week, as I will munch just a little now and then to remind me of home. I also have a small bag of Cheetos, given to me by a friend in America and I'll make them last even longer. I'm able to buy an assortment of little nic-nac toys for the kids at Hope. There are little plastic cars, little carousel noise toys and little saxophones that are whistles, all filled with a very small amount of candy. Something most of our kids wouldn't take a second look at, but I know the children at Hope will be thrilled.
We travel through villages, such as Eye To Eye, that I have been through dozens of times over the years and I still enjoy the sights and scenery and these villages haven't changed a bit. Mud and bamboo huts with thatch roofs and people sitting in their open air kitchens watching the world go by. The best part of this drive is always the fresh fruit vendors along the way. I finally ask the driver to stop in St. John River Town where I buy fresh bananas, 3 for $10.00. The sweetest, best tasting bananas in the world and worth more than $3.00 a piece don't you think? That's $3.00 LD, (Liberian Dollar), which comes to less than 5 cents, US.
The Chinese are doing well, rebuilding the Monrovia to Buchanan highway, although they've not made as much progress in the early days of this year's dry season as I had hoped. The drive is so much easier now than in those early days of 2004. The trip that took us 3 ½ bone jarring hours in a good 4 wheel drive SUV, now takes us about 2 ½ hours in a taxi and when the highway is complete, I'm sure the trip can be made in an 1 ½ hours. That will certainly lead to more development of the tourist business in Buchanan.
As I've always done, I note the three major landmarks along the way, to judge our progress on the drive to Hope. There's the Farmington River, the Mecklin River and the St. John River. Finally, we are approaching Hope Restoration Youth Home and my excitement is building.
*Smell No Taste Town was given its name during World War II, when a U.S. Army Camp was built near the airport. The locals could smell the food being cooked in the camp, but never had the opportunity to eat it.
Randy Vick West Africa Winter 2011 - BOUND FOR HOPE
BOUND FOR HOPE 2011
When you travel missionary style, you take the cheapest airfare possible and though you save a considerable amount of money you pay the price in other ways.
I am traveling to Monrovia, Liberia from Kansas City, USA, via Atlanta, USA, New York City, USA and Accra, Ghana. KC to Atlanta is a couple of hours with a couple of hours layover, then a couple of hours to NYC with a couple of hours layover. A very nice gesture by a lady, business class passenger, on my flight from KC. Just prior to take off she approaches the gentleman sitting next to me, a Staff Sgt in the U.S. Army, and offers to let him have her business class seat. In an equally nice gesture he asks her to give her seat to one of two younger servicemen on the flight, one in the Air Force and one in the Army. I'm not sure how she makes her choice, but the young soldier makes his way forward to business class.
My flight is 40 minutes late leaving Atlanta, because as we are taxiing for takeoff, a passenger who they say has a history of heart trouble, is having trouble, and we return to our gate where paramedics are waiting. A lady leaves the plane under her own power and I pray she is ok. My layover in NYC is shortened by half, but I will make up for it in Accra with a 7 ½ hour layover. The 10 1/2 hour transatlantic flight is uneventful, although I am freezing and exhausted as I step out of the airplane into the open air of Kotoka International Airport. Even at 8 AM the heat is quite a shock. Breathing in the moist tropical air is like inhaling nectar after the Midwest winter we've had.
One never knows what to expect when traveling in underdeveloped countries, but you take it as it comes. I'm assuming this airport must be better organized than the airport at Monrovia, as Ghana has been stable for many years now and with its Atlantic coastline, it is becoming a tourist destination for Europeans.
Boarding a bus on the tarmac we are driven to the arrivals hall, and a bit of air conditioning. Just a bit, but it makes quite a difference. I see a small man standing beneath a sign that reads TRANSIT and figure I'd better take a shot. A pleasant young man, he assures me that if I wait with him for a few more expected passengers, he will guide us all through the process. The next passenger I meet is a gentleman who is also going on to Monrovia, I hear him say, so I strike up a conversation. An African-American who works for the State Department, we have something in common as he will be working for State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, or INL and I worked for INL in Afghanistan. He is on his way to Monrovia to begin a one year assignment and I have to admit I'm a bit envious. I am surprised to learn that we will not be flying on to Monrovia together however, as he has a morning connection on Nigerian Atlantic, on a real jet and I'm traveling the missionary way. I will be on an Ethiopian Airlines, propellor driven Dash 8 late this afternoon, actually operated by Africa Sky Airlines. When our young guide gathers his band of merry followers we begin our airport journey at customs. The customs officer wants assurance from me that I will not leave the airport, as I do not have a Ghanaian visa. Then its off to collect our baggage, and I'm very thankful to see my suitcase on the conveyor belt as I was not sure it had made the switch in New York due to our late arrival. As our little baggage train convoy winds through the airport, we are waved through numerous official checkpoints, with help from our guide, and we are finally out the door, across the parking lot, around the corner and up a very long ramp. The heat and humidity are taking their toll now and I am thankful for the person who thought of putting wheels on luggage. Finally we reach the summit and are back inside the semi-air conditioned airport at the Departures hall, where my luggage is inspected and stamped by customs and now I wait.
My ticket counter will not open for several hours so I find a somewhat quiet corner and park myself on a steel airport bench. The Delta flight from New York had the worst seats I've ever sat on in a commercial airliner. Vinyl and no cushion and this steel bench is no relief for my pained backside.
Then out of nowhere a lady appears pushing a ticket counter on wheels. She finds a spot in the middle of the terminal and its check in time for Africa Sky Airlines. Once I've checked my luggage I locate an internet café and drop a line to my family letting them know I've made it this far. Not sure when I'll next see the internet.
Time to board and 20 of us walk down a flight of stairs to the tarmac where we board a bus for our plane. When our two male flight attendants give our preflight safety briefing it's a little different. The flight attendant standing directly in front of me, notices the lady across the aisle from me is not paying attention and he reprimands her and she dutifully watches him closely for the rest of the briefing. Give Africa Sky Airlines credit, this is a very small plane, but the flight attendants serve a rather tasty meal, although two days of nothing but airplane food might have reduced my expectations.
We're west bound, flying almost the same airspace over Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia we flew when eastbound into Accra. Thankfully the flight is uneventful and we land at Spriggs-Payne Airport in downtown Monrovia, rather than Roberts International Airport, which is 40 km outside the city. Not sure how they managed it but we've arrived an hour ahead of our scheduled arrival time.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Liberia Mission Trip, Nov 2010, Doug Patterson
Mission Trip to Liberia
November 2-23, 2010
The main purpose and objective of this mission is to contact several former branches of the RLDS church in Sinoe County. There are nine known groups that are still active in Sinoe but at one time there were as many as eighteen or nineteen in Sinoe County alone. These Branches were established between the years of 1986 - 1989. Our plans were to respond to their request to meet. They have an interest in joining with the Restoration movement. They refused to continue with the RLDS after they learned about changes, including the name. Their own statements were, “We will continue to worship independent of the Church.”
They continued to worship, even through the fourteen years of tribal and civil war; some having to hide in the bush for weeks, months and even years, just to survive; living off the land. For some the only source of food was palm cabbage, which is the inner pulp wood of a certain palm tree; eating nothing but that for months at a time; never spending more than a week in one place, for fear of being hunted down. Through all of this, their faith and reliance upon the Lord, gave them strength to endure.
Upon arriving in Liberia, I am greeted with the aftermath of the rainy season. It has destroyed nearly all the roads that are not paved and that’s most of the roads here. The rain continues to pour each day, for weeks after it normally would have stopped. It is hard to believe that these roads, which were easily passable in May of this year, were nearly impassable for a four-wheel-drive truck in good working condition. The roads in Monrovia are the worst the locals have seen in years and I wonder what adventure we will find on our journey to Sinoe.
I arrive in Liberia on Wednesday and Elder Stephen Gardee and I are to travel on Thursday to Sinoe County. Thursday, the 4th of Nov, is a national holiday, equal to our Thanksgiving so there is nowhere to exchange money, nor are there any trucks going to Sinoe, so our plans have changed. We visit some of the church members from the Pipeline Branch.
Friday our journey begins, as we leave Stephen’s home in Soul Clinic, a community in Paynesville, a suburb of Monrovia, about 8:00 AM. It takes us nearly two hours to reach the area where the trucks load goods and passengers for the East. By 10:00 AM we buy our tickets and our driver tells us when we are loaded we can leave and he assures us it will not be a long wait. Then we learn that no truck will leave until all are loaded so they can travel in a caravan, to be of assistance to each other, if needed.
By 4:00 PM we are on the road and our driver states we need to stop for fuel. I wonder why that hasn’t been taken care of earlier today. However, we don’t stop at a gas station, we stop at a mechanics garage. He says we have a small problem to take care of before we leave and it will take only a few minutes, but our small problem is a very serious one. They pull out the front axle as the four- wheel-drive is not working. Considering the road conditions, a working four-wheel-drive is a necessity.
By 8:30 PM they finish working on the truck, fill it with fuel and as we pull onto the road, a loud grinding noise is coming from the axle they have just repaired. Instead of returning to the garage, which is only 50 feet behind us, we continue on for 5 miles before our driver finally decides to stop and fix it. We spend 2 hours alongside the road fixing the problem, with almost no tools. By midnight we find ourselves in Buchanan. Because of all the problems and many difficulties we have, it takes us twenty hours for a two hour trip. Some passengers unload, while others replace them and by 1:00 AM we continue towards Sinoe.
The trip from Buchanan to Teah Town, in Sinoe, is about a 5 hour trip, on good road, something I have never been privileged to see in Sinoe. I have only heard about how good the road was before. As we travel through Grand Bassa County, the road is very rough but passable. The more tropical area of the trip begins at River Cess County. As we find more rivers and mud holes, we realize that all their work on the 4 wheel drive didn’t help. We struggle through every mud hole with our two-wheel-drive. At the deepest and longest mud holes, all the passengers get out and walk.
By 5: 30 AM our driver needs some sleep. We stop at a village where he lays on the ground and sleeps for one hour, before we continue toward our destination. Each mud hole brings the concern, ‘will this one claim our truck?’ Ruts in the road can be as deep as 7 feet and the mud holes as long as three football fields. Finally, at 8:30 PM, we arrive at Teah Town, in Sinoe County; a trip expected to take five hours actually takes nineteen and a half hours.
As we approach Teah Town, we see Elder Gabriel Toby. Each time he heard a truck, he would go to the road to see if it was us. Our truck was easily heard from quite a distance, as a mud hole in River Cess County had claimed ownership of our muffler. It was good to see the saints of Teah Town again. I had seen some of them during the National Conference, but it had been nearly five years since I last visited Teah Town. After some visiting, we were provided a hot meal, a bath to wash off the pounds of Sinoe dirt from our tired bodies, and finally a bed.
Today is Sunday and we make preparations for worship. I find they are not partaking of sacrament regularly. They don’t feel they should partake of sacrament if they don’t have bread and grape juice or a proper communion tray. I speak to them of the importance and meaning of Sacrament. I ask if they have something we can use for the bread and wine. Today the sacrament emblems are roasted cassava and coconut water. The communion tray is a willow, which is a hand woven tray. I was asked to teach the class and to bring the spoken word. The rest of the day is spent in visiting, learning new songs in their Kru language and teaching them new hymns.
The rest of the week has been planned out by Elder Toby and we have several places to visit. Touldee Town will be our first place to visit. Priest Morris Peal, of Teah Town has been visiting this place for several weeks. From Teah Town it is a four and a half hour motorbike ride; which is not an option for the saints in this area as the cost for travel there is much too expensive.
Morris takes the bush road; a hunting road that winds through the jungle. It is called a road, but it’s really a trail that men use to hunt animals; over rivers, climbing over and under fallen trees and this trail takes about three hours on foot. I was willing to take this path, however the rain was still pouring down off and on all day and it was decided to take the bikes.
Several times the rain comes so hard; we have to find shelter at houses along the road. The road is so treacherous, completely impassable by truck. Twice we almost lose the bike because of the rain, mud and the ruts. To save money we travel three men on one bike; including our overnight bags and scriptures.
By the time we arrive at Touldee Town it is nearly dark. The people had been told we were coming and had gathered earlier in the day. Towards the evening they begin returning to their homes as they have given up on us coming today. Upon our arrival they send out boys to all the people, to tell them we have come. They tell us it will be awhile before all will return. They prepare a bath and a meal for us and by the time our meal is finished, everyone has returned.
There are many questions asked about our church; such as, our doctrine, baptism, priesthood, etc. We have several questions ourselves. How many people in their group? How long have they been meeting together and how many wish to be baptized? There are 21 who want to join. We have several classes and during the classes each of our questions are answered.
Elder Toby shares with them about polygamy. I speak on the marriage covenant; speaking also about fornication, adultery and polygamy as well as comparing the baptismal covenant to a marriage covenant. The hour is late; Brother Gabriel states that those who want to be baptized should come early in the morning to be interviewed. They understand their marital status will be questioned. By morning only a dozen return for baptism and after the priesthood speaks to each one, there are only five who are ready for baptism.
Elder Gardee is in charge of the baptismal service, while I bring the spoken word. Elder Gabriel Toby and Priest Morris Peal perform the baptisms. Afterwards, we confirm them members of the body of Christ, giving them the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Discussion after the service is about the formation of a branch and they conduct a business meeting, where Priest Morris Peal is chosen as their Pastor. They decide to hold another business meeting later to elect other officers for their branch, to give them time to pray for direction for leadership. Since several of their people were unable to join, they have to rethink who would hold various positions in the branch.
We leave after the meeting and as we begin our journey to Teah Town, we experience the same difficulties as the day before; rain, mud and ruts. One particular place on the main road is now impassable even for motorbikes. Our driver decides to drive up the embankment, without giving us the opportunity to get off the bike. Near the top, about ten feet above the road, he loses control of the bike and the bike falls over and slides down the side of the hill. Two of us are injured, but not seriously, as several people come to our assistance. With their help we are able to retrieve the motorbike and continue our trip back to Teah Town. We spend the rest of the afternoon sharing testimonies and teaching classes or new hymns.
The next morning we travel to Swens Town. There are four groups of members in this area; Swens Town, Tweh Town, Sargbeh Town and Pratt Farm. Each of these groups are former branches of the RLDS Church. They were established between the years of 1986 through 1989.
We have classes and discussions about the Church, answering their questions about why we left the RLDS; questions about the COC and the JCRB. After our questions are answered, we realize each of these groups are connected. Their priesthood were all baptized and ordained by the same men. We look for any internal problems that might prohibit them joining with the JCRB. The subjects of women in the priesthood, polygamy and marriage are discussed and we find nothing that would prevent them from joining with the JCRB.
They hold a business meeting and out of that meeting comes several questions about the authority of the JCRB, such as; Why do we feel we have the authority and the COC no longer has it? After their questions are answered to their satisfaction, they continue their meeting and their final decision is to join. From these four groups, one hundred and one new members join the Restoration. Our meetings go late into the evening, so we spend the night at Swens Town.
The next morning we begin our journey back to Teah Town, stopping at Greenville where we are able to exchange money for our trip back to Buchanan. Brother Gabriel Toby has a radio ministry as well as church announcements broadcast in several dialects. We stop at the radio station for him to take care of this responsibility. While in Greenville, we hear that Elder Samuel Swen’s daughter has passed away and we stop to visit with his family, offering comfort for their loss.
From Greenville we head to Koons Town. Elder Andrew Smith serves as the Pastor of the Koons Town Restoration Branch, but for the last several months he has not been able to fulfill his duties. His wife has been sick off and on for several months; hospitalized several times. Not only has this affected his family financially, but as a farmer, getting his crops planted and harvested has been difficult. To find Andrew’s home we must travel one and a half miles off the main road on a side road, then walk down a path through the bush, and over several rivers for another one and a half miles.
Andrew and his family are the only occupants in this village in the bush. There is no road to his village and there never has been. Everyone left the village during one of the tribal wars. Andrew and his family were the only ones who returned after the war and with the village being so remote and with no road for access, it is unlikely others will return. We find Bro. Andrew working in his cassava field. We had hoped to find his wife there too, but she is back in the hospital in Greenville. We have a good visit with Andrew and two of his sons.
We have run out of drinking water, which can be a critical situation in this heat. We have a mile and one half walk ahead of us. Brother Andrew sends his boys to cut down some coconuts for us and the unripe coconuts provide us with much needed water. After our visit, we head out of the bush to the side road, where our bike drivers are to be waiting for us. We get to our meeting point on time, but there are no motorcycles. We start to walk towards the main road, hoping our drivers will arrive soon, but unfortunately they never show up. We walk one and a half miles in the bush, two miles on the side road, and one mile on the main road to a village where we catch a bike.
Brother Gabriel and I return to Teah Town, while Brother Stephen walks back to Greenville to find transportation for us back to Buchanan. The rest of the evening we spend time sharing testimonies, teaching classes and learning Kru songs. Late into the evening Brother Stephen arrives to report he was unable to secure a ride, but he will return to Greenville in the morning and try again.
It’s Friday morning and Bros. Stephen and Gabriel go to Greenville, more than 30 km. Bro. Stephen will try to arrange our transportation while Bro. Gabriel will attend the funeral of Samuel Swen’s daughter. While waiting, I visit with the Saints of Teah Town; visiting each home, taking pictures and telling them goodbye. Three of the young men have been working in the bush and they return with an eight foot Cobra snake. Two days earlier I had nearly stepped on one while going into the bush and while I couldn’t see its head, I realize now the body was the same as this one.
Stephen arrives back at Teah Town about mid morning, with transportation, but when the driver sees I am a white man, he refuses to carry us and refuses to explain. Stephen speculates he is not legally authorized to carry passengers and while he would make exceptions for native brothers he is not willing to take a chance transporting a white man, (international). This was not a regular transport truck, but an NGO {Non Governmental Organization} truck.
Poor Bro. Stephen again begins the long walk back to Greenville and I carry our luggage back to the house. By noon, Stephen returns with a Land Cruiser, already loaded with passengers and our bags are loaded and tied on top of the truck. The passengers make room for two more people to squeeze in and we’re on the road by 1:30 PM. We hope to arrive in Buchanan by 6 or 7 PM as it should be a 5 to 6 hour trip.
This leg of our trip however, is short lived. In less than two hours we find the road is blocked by a large truck, loaded with goods for Sinoe, stuck on the opposite side of the bridge we need to cross. The mud on both sides of the bridge is so deep it is impossible to get to the bridge. This truck has been stuck since 6 PM the night before. Several men are working on getting the truck unstuck, while others are working on the bridge, which is nothing more than half dozen logs laid across the stream. The logs have not survived their usefulness, some having rotted away while others are broken, leaving huge gaps between the other logs.
We wait all day, hoping they will get everything fixed, but by late afternoon it is obvious we will not pass this bridge tonight. Stephen and I walk to a village about a mile and a half away. At the first house we ask if there is a place we can spend the night and they invite us to stay there. We leave money for them to buy rice to feed us and their family and return to the bridge to watch the progress, or lack thereof.
As evening comes, we take our bags and walk back to the village where we are served rice with cassava greens and some kind of meat. They heat water for our bath and the bathing “room” is nothing more than the yard between 2 homes with the darkness our only shower curtain and its not doing a real good job. After bathing, we are led to a room with a bed complete with mosquito net. Though the bed is not comfortable, it certainly is better than sleeping on the ground by the truck, and becoming victims of mosquitoes, spiders and snakes.
Saturday morning arrives and we thank our hosts and walk back to the bridge where two dozen vehicles now litter the area. Hour after hour men labor, covered in mud and sweat and finally the time comes to try to get the first truck across. The first is the one that has been there the longest, but he fails. Not only does he get stuck again but the truck nearly tips over. It isn’t until another large truck arrives, equipped with a winch, that we have success.
By 12:30 PM we find ourselves traveling down the road, but still have a very long road ahead of us. We’re not far from Teah Town, but our hope is to arrive in Buchanan before services start at the Buchanan Restoration Branch on Sunday. We continue to struggle through each mud hole and we discover that our truck’s four-wheel-drive is not operating. Each time we come to a deep mud hole, all the passengers must disembark and we walk. Many times there are several bad places close together requiring us to to walk one to two miles. We easily walk this distance before the truck can catch up with us.
By early evening we arrive at Jarpa Town in River Cess County. We had stopped several times so the driver could add brake fluid and now we stop so he can fix the brakes. The front wheel is removed so they can get better access to the brake line. The brake line is removed and replaced with one that looks as bad as the one they removed and it doesn’t even fit correctly. After one and a half hours, we reload and head up the steep hill out of town.
Our truck has not been running very well and every hill is a difficult climb. As we near the top of this hill, the truck loses most of its power. Suddenly, a huge amount of smoke is coming out from under the truck. The driver stomps the brakes and there are none. The truck rolls to a stop, then begins rolling backwards down the hill. The two conductors jump off the top of the truck where they have been riding, to look for a rock or stick to put under the tire. The driver can’t turn off the motor as the keys have fallen out of the ignition and he cannot find them. The smoke is so thick in the truck it is difficult to see my hand in front of my face. In the back of the truck, the passengers are all enclosed in a smoke filled death trap and we can only wonder when it will burst into flames.
Panic ensues with women screaming and people climbing over each other to get out. I am in the middle and several people are climbing over me. I try to calm them, but they’re not listening to me. My greatest fear for them is that they are jumping out the rear door while the truck is still rolling backwards. By now I need air desperately and I am able to stick my head out the window only to breathe in a huge amount of smoke. The smoke has not only filled the truck but it has settled around the truck like a cloud. There was a crippled woman and her granddaughter sitting across from me but I have no idea if they have gotten out, but I know the woman has no way of getting out by herself. I have remained behind to help her, but now I realize if I don’t get air soon, I won’t be any help to anyone. The truck has now stopped and I climb out the back door, but have to run 20 feet before finding fresh air.
I take one quick breath and run back to the truck where I find one of the conductors is helping the crippled woman get out and she and her granddaughter are soon safe. They lay on the road for about half hour and I know they suffered smoke inhalation so I watch them to make sure they recover.
Finally the truck engine dies and when they are able to open the hood to look for the source of the smoke someone says it is the engine oil that is burning. They check the oil and find nothing on the dipstick. The driver says there is nothing left in the motor and one of the conductors crawls under the truck and removes the drain plug. He comes out from under the truck covered in hot oil, leaving the rest of it running out on the ground. I guess he sees no need to replace the plug. He states there is still oil in the motor, but by the time we realize what he has done, all the oil has drained out.
Brother Stephen and I also look for the source of the problem and find it was not the oil, but rather diesel fuel leaking out on the exhaust pipe. For some unknown reason, other than the grace of God, it did not ignite and catch the truck on fire. They send someone back to the town we have just left, to buy oil.
Stephen decides we don’t need to ride on this truck any longer and we collect our bags and walk up the hill towards some houses. A young man named Nathaniel recognizes Stephen as he is a distant relative of Stephen’s wife, Sarah, and he lives close by. He takes us to a house nearby where we can set in the shade. He and Stephen go to look for a motor bike. Stephen wants to arrange for us to leave early in the morning as he says it is too dangerous to ride on a motor bike on this road after dark.
His friend arranges for us to spend the night at the house beside the road and we put our luggage in the room designated for us. Stephen hears a motor bike coming and they go out to talk to them. At the same time there is a truck passing that is also going towards Buchanan. Stephen stops him and asks for ride and the driver agrees to take us. We load up and two hours later we are setting in front of Sister Ettas’ Super Market in Buchanan. We call her and she picks us up at 10:45 PM.
Etta awakens Jannet, one of the children from Hope Restoration Youth Home, who is staying with her and she prepares supper for us as we visit past midnight before going to bed.
Sunday morning we are surprised by twenty of the children from Hope who have walked more than five miles to Buchanan to go to church. After joyous greetings, we walk a mile to church. Priest Artus teaches class and then Pastor Wilfred Myers presides over the worship service, with Elder Prince Gohlanda, from Gardours Town RB, and President of District A, bringing a very inspiring message to the saints. Afterwards, we visit some of the Buchanan Saints before returning to Etta’s home. Throughout the afternoon we spend time with the youth from Hope.
The next few days are spent in assessing the needs at HRYH. We have sixty-four children living on campus, with some of the staff. The children attend school daily and are taught not only academics, but a bible based religion class by one of our teachers, with Elder Wilfred Myers visiting the home on a regular basis to teach the Restored Gospel. The children are very gifted in singing as well as scripture memorization. Over forty of these children are baptized members of our Church and are a mission of Buchanan Restoration Branch.
While in Buchanan I see a member of the Zoewulum Restoration Branch, Elder Isaac Lorblah. We visit about his branch and their needs and arrangements are made to send two priesthood to Zoewulum to visit them and begin preparations for the National Conference scheduled to be held there sometime in January. Brother Stephen suggests sending Buchanan priesthood because of our time constraints as we have lost precious time traveling from Sinoe County. The road to Zoewulum is impassable by car so our only option this time of year is a twelve hour motor bike ride, one way.
Saturday Stephen and I make preparations to return to Monrovia. Monrovia has two branches; Pipeline Branch, which has moved from the Pipeline community and now meets in Wayne's Town, a new community in the Monrovia suburb of Paynesville, under the leadership of Elder Darlington Beh and Soul Clinic Branch, located in the Soul Clinic community also in Paynesville.
On Sunday we visit the Pipeline Branch where I am asked to teach the adult class. Several people attending are non-members and are in pre baptismal class. I teach a class on the twelve steps of establishing a Covenant. Brother Darlington asks if I will bring the message for the day and I speak about the Mysteries of the Kingdom, and why Christ used parables to create these mysteries. After visiting with the Pipeline Branch, we find some non-active members, bringing some encouragement to them, sharing testimonies and classes.
Sunday night several members gather at Stephen and Sarah Gardee’s home where I share several classes. Many ask about what is happening within the Church and I have the opportunity to share about the General Conference. Questions are asked about the Church being set in order. What does the future hold for the Church? Someone asks about the growth of the Church in America and other parts of the world. There is a great desire among these people to feel connected to others within the Church and to feel they are a part of Gods great plan in this Latter Day.
Monday morning I am surprised with a visit from Semion Kaiyea; a young man who has endured many struggles in life. He has suffered with two hip surgeries and is able to move about, but not without difficulty, walking with the assistance of a cane. He is attending school and has a small business to help support himself. He has certainly changed from the weak boy who came to America on a medical visa--who had nearly given up, because of his disease and pain--to a vibrant young man full of life.
By noon I say my good-byes with mixed emotions, leaving my brothers and sisters behind, as opposed to the anticipation of seeing my family again. We load into the car and head for the airport 40 km away.
Seventy Doug Patterson
November 2-23, 2010
The main purpose and objective of this mission is to contact several former branches of the RLDS church in Sinoe County. There are nine known groups that are still active in Sinoe but at one time there were as many as eighteen or nineteen in Sinoe County alone. These Branches were established between the years of 1986 - 1989. Our plans were to respond to their request to meet. They have an interest in joining with the Restoration movement. They refused to continue with the RLDS after they learned about changes, including the name. Their own statements were, “We will continue to worship independent of the Church.”
They continued to worship, even through the fourteen years of tribal and civil war; some having to hide in the bush for weeks, months and even years, just to survive; living off the land. For some the only source of food was palm cabbage, which is the inner pulp wood of a certain palm tree; eating nothing but that for months at a time; never spending more than a week in one place, for fear of being hunted down. Through all of this, their faith and reliance upon the Lord, gave them strength to endure.
Upon arriving in Liberia, I am greeted with the aftermath of the rainy season. It has destroyed nearly all the roads that are not paved and that’s most of the roads here. The rain continues to pour each day, for weeks after it normally would have stopped. It is hard to believe that these roads, which were easily passable in May of this year, were nearly impassable for a four-wheel-drive truck in good working condition. The roads in Monrovia are the worst the locals have seen in years and I wonder what adventure we will find on our journey to Sinoe.
I arrive in Liberia on Wednesday and Elder Stephen Gardee and I are to travel on Thursday to Sinoe County. Thursday, the 4th of Nov, is a national holiday, equal to our Thanksgiving so there is nowhere to exchange money, nor are there any trucks going to Sinoe, so our plans have changed. We visit some of the church members from the Pipeline Branch.
Friday our journey begins, as we leave Stephen’s home in Soul Clinic, a community in Paynesville, a suburb of Monrovia, about 8:00 AM. It takes us nearly two hours to reach the area where the trucks load goods and passengers for the East. By 10:00 AM we buy our tickets and our driver tells us when we are loaded we can leave and he assures us it will not be a long wait. Then we learn that no truck will leave until all are loaded so they can travel in a caravan, to be of assistance to each other, if needed.
By 4:00 PM we are on the road and our driver states we need to stop for fuel. I wonder why that hasn’t been taken care of earlier today. However, we don’t stop at a gas station, we stop at a mechanics garage. He says we have a small problem to take care of before we leave and it will take only a few minutes, but our small problem is a very serious one. They pull out the front axle as the four- wheel-drive is not working. Considering the road conditions, a working four-wheel-drive is a necessity.
By 8:30 PM they finish working on the truck, fill it with fuel and as we pull onto the road, a loud grinding noise is coming from the axle they have just repaired. Instead of returning to the garage, which is only 50 feet behind us, we continue on for 5 miles before our driver finally decides to stop and fix it. We spend 2 hours alongside the road fixing the problem, with almost no tools. By midnight we find ourselves in Buchanan. Because of all the problems and many difficulties we have, it takes us twenty hours for a two hour trip. Some passengers unload, while others replace them and by 1:00 AM we continue towards Sinoe.
The trip from Buchanan to Teah Town, in Sinoe, is about a 5 hour trip, on good road, something I have never been privileged to see in Sinoe. I have only heard about how good the road was before. As we travel through Grand Bassa County, the road is very rough but passable. The more tropical area of the trip begins at River Cess County. As we find more rivers and mud holes, we realize that all their work on the 4 wheel drive didn’t help. We struggle through every mud hole with our two-wheel-drive. At the deepest and longest mud holes, all the passengers get out and walk.
By 5: 30 AM our driver needs some sleep. We stop at a village where he lays on the ground and sleeps for one hour, before we continue toward our destination. Each mud hole brings the concern, ‘will this one claim our truck?’ Ruts in the road can be as deep as 7 feet and the mud holes as long as three football fields. Finally, at 8:30 PM, we arrive at Teah Town, in Sinoe County; a trip expected to take five hours actually takes nineteen and a half hours.
As we approach Teah Town, we see Elder Gabriel Toby. Each time he heard a truck, he would go to the road to see if it was us. Our truck was easily heard from quite a distance, as a mud hole in River Cess County had claimed ownership of our muffler. It was good to see the saints of Teah Town again. I had seen some of them during the National Conference, but it had been nearly five years since I last visited Teah Town. After some visiting, we were provided a hot meal, a bath to wash off the pounds of Sinoe dirt from our tired bodies, and finally a bed.
Today is Sunday and we make preparations for worship. I find they are not partaking of sacrament regularly. They don’t feel they should partake of sacrament if they don’t have bread and grape juice or a proper communion tray. I speak to them of the importance and meaning of Sacrament. I ask if they have something we can use for the bread and wine. Today the sacrament emblems are roasted cassava and coconut water. The communion tray is a willow, which is a hand woven tray. I was asked to teach the class and to bring the spoken word. The rest of the day is spent in visiting, learning new songs in their Kru language and teaching them new hymns.
The rest of the week has been planned out by Elder Toby and we have several places to visit. Touldee Town will be our first place to visit. Priest Morris Peal, of Teah Town has been visiting this place for several weeks. From Teah Town it is a four and a half hour motorbike ride; which is not an option for the saints in this area as the cost for travel there is much too expensive.
Morris takes the bush road; a hunting road that winds through the jungle. It is called a road, but it’s really a trail that men use to hunt animals; over rivers, climbing over and under fallen trees and this trail takes about three hours on foot. I was willing to take this path, however the rain was still pouring down off and on all day and it was decided to take the bikes.
Several times the rain comes so hard; we have to find shelter at houses along the road. The road is so treacherous, completely impassable by truck. Twice we almost lose the bike because of the rain, mud and the ruts. To save money we travel three men on one bike; including our overnight bags and scriptures.
By the time we arrive at Touldee Town it is nearly dark. The people had been told we were coming and had gathered earlier in the day. Towards the evening they begin returning to their homes as they have given up on us coming today. Upon our arrival they send out boys to all the people, to tell them we have come. They tell us it will be awhile before all will return. They prepare a bath and a meal for us and by the time our meal is finished, everyone has returned.
There are many questions asked about our church; such as, our doctrine, baptism, priesthood, etc. We have several questions ourselves. How many people in their group? How long have they been meeting together and how many wish to be baptized? There are 21 who want to join. We have several classes and during the classes each of our questions are answered.
Elder Toby shares with them about polygamy. I speak on the marriage covenant; speaking also about fornication, adultery and polygamy as well as comparing the baptismal covenant to a marriage covenant. The hour is late; Brother Gabriel states that those who want to be baptized should come early in the morning to be interviewed. They understand their marital status will be questioned. By morning only a dozen return for baptism and after the priesthood speaks to each one, there are only five who are ready for baptism.
Elder Gardee is in charge of the baptismal service, while I bring the spoken word. Elder Gabriel Toby and Priest Morris Peal perform the baptisms. Afterwards, we confirm them members of the body of Christ, giving them the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Discussion after the service is about the formation of a branch and they conduct a business meeting, where Priest Morris Peal is chosen as their Pastor. They decide to hold another business meeting later to elect other officers for their branch, to give them time to pray for direction for leadership. Since several of their people were unable to join, they have to rethink who would hold various positions in the branch.
We leave after the meeting and as we begin our journey to Teah Town, we experience the same difficulties as the day before; rain, mud and ruts. One particular place on the main road is now impassable even for motorbikes. Our driver decides to drive up the embankment, without giving us the opportunity to get off the bike. Near the top, about ten feet above the road, he loses control of the bike and the bike falls over and slides down the side of the hill. Two of us are injured, but not seriously, as several people come to our assistance. With their help we are able to retrieve the motorbike and continue our trip back to Teah Town. We spend the rest of the afternoon sharing testimonies and teaching classes or new hymns.
The next morning we travel to Swens Town. There are four groups of members in this area; Swens Town, Tweh Town, Sargbeh Town and Pratt Farm. Each of these groups are former branches of the RLDS Church. They were established between the years of 1986 through 1989.
We have classes and discussions about the Church, answering their questions about why we left the RLDS; questions about the COC and the JCRB. After our questions are answered, we realize each of these groups are connected. Their priesthood were all baptized and ordained by the same men. We look for any internal problems that might prohibit them joining with the JCRB. The subjects of women in the priesthood, polygamy and marriage are discussed and we find nothing that would prevent them from joining with the JCRB.
They hold a business meeting and out of that meeting comes several questions about the authority of the JCRB, such as; Why do we feel we have the authority and the COC no longer has it? After their questions are answered to their satisfaction, they continue their meeting and their final decision is to join. From these four groups, one hundred and one new members join the Restoration. Our meetings go late into the evening, so we spend the night at Swens Town.
The next morning we begin our journey back to Teah Town, stopping at Greenville where we are able to exchange money for our trip back to Buchanan. Brother Gabriel Toby has a radio ministry as well as church announcements broadcast in several dialects. We stop at the radio station for him to take care of this responsibility. While in Greenville, we hear that Elder Samuel Swen’s daughter has passed away and we stop to visit with his family, offering comfort for their loss.
From Greenville we head to Koons Town. Elder Andrew Smith serves as the Pastor of the Koons Town Restoration Branch, but for the last several months he has not been able to fulfill his duties. His wife has been sick off and on for several months; hospitalized several times. Not only has this affected his family financially, but as a farmer, getting his crops planted and harvested has been difficult. To find Andrew’s home we must travel one and a half miles off the main road on a side road, then walk down a path through the bush, and over several rivers for another one and a half miles.
Andrew and his family are the only occupants in this village in the bush. There is no road to his village and there never has been. Everyone left the village during one of the tribal wars. Andrew and his family were the only ones who returned after the war and with the village being so remote and with no road for access, it is unlikely others will return. We find Bro. Andrew working in his cassava field. We had hoped to find his wife there too, but she is back in the hospital in Greenville. We have a good visit with Andrew and two of his sons.
We have run out of drinking water, which can be a critical situation in this heat. We have a mile and one half walk ahead of us. Brother Andrew sends his boys to cut down some coconuts for us and the unripe coconuts provide us with much needed water. After our visit, we head out of the bush to the side road, where our bike drivers are to be waiting for us. We get to our meeting point on time, but there are no motorcycles. We start to walk towards the main road, hoping our drivers will arrive soon, but unfortunately they never show up. We walk one and a half miles in the bush, two miles on the side road, and one mile on the main road to a village where we catch a bike.
Brother Gabriel and I return to Teah Town, while Brother Stephen walks back to Greenville to find transportation for us back to Buchanan. The rest of the evening we spend time sharing testimonies, teaching classes and learning Kru songs. Late into the evening Brother Stephen arrives to report he was unable to secure a ride, but he will return to Greenville in the morning and try again.
It’s Friday morning and Bros. Stephen and Gabriel go to Greenville, more than 30 km. Bro. Stephen will try to arrange our transportation while Bro. Gabriel will attend the funeral of Samuel Swen’s daughter. While waiting, I visit with the Saints of Teah Town; visiting each home, taking pictures and telling them goodbye. Three of the young men have been working in the bush and they return with an eight foot Cobra snake. Two days earlier I had nearly stepped on one while going into the bush and while I couldn’t see its head, I realize now the body was the same as this one.
Stephen arrives back at Teah Town about mid morning, with transportation, but when the driver sees I am a white man, he refuses to carry us and refuses to explain. Stephen speculates he is not legally authorized to carry passengers and while he would make exceptions for native brothers he is not willing to take a chance transporting a white man, (international). This was not a regular transport truck, but an NGO {Non Governmental Organization} truck.
Poor Bro. Stephen again begins the long walk back to Greenville and I carry our luggage back to the house. By noon, Stephen returns with a Land Cruiser, already loaded with passengers and our bags are loaded and tied on top of the truck. The passengers make room for two more people to squeeze in and we’re on the road by 1:30 PM. We hope to arrive in Buchanan by 6 or 7 PM as it should be a 5 to 6 hour trip.
This leg of our trip however, is short lived. In less than two hours we find the road is blocked by a large truck, loaded with goods for Sinoe, stuck on the opposite side of the bridge we need to cross. The mud on both sides of the bridge is so deep it is impossible to get to the bridge. This truck has been stuck since 6 PM the night before. Several men are working on getting the truck unstuck, while others are working on the bridge, which is nothing more than half dozen logs laid across the stream. The logs have not survived their usefulness, some having rotted away while others are broken, leaving huge gaps between the other logs.
We wait all day, hoping they will get everything fixed, but by late afternoon it is obvious we will not pass this bridge tonight. Stephen and I walk to a village about a mile and a half away. At the first house we ask if there is a place we can spend the night and they invite us to stay there. We leave money for them to buy rice to feed us and their family and return to the bridge to watch the progress, or lack thereof.
As evening comes, we take our bags and walk back to the village where we are served rice with cassava greens and some kind of meat. They heat water for our bath and the bathing “room” is nothing more than the yard between 2 homes with the darkness our only shower curtain and its not doing a real good job. After bathing, we are led to a room with a bed complete with mosquito net. Though the bed is not comfortable, it certainly is better than sleeping on the ground by the truck, and becoming victims of mosquitoes, spiders and snakes.
Saturday morning arrives and we thank our hosts and walk back to the bridge where two dozen vehicles now litter the area. Hour after hour men labor, covered in mud and sweat and finally the time comes to try to get the first truck across. The first is the one that has been there the longest, but he fails. Not only does he get stuck again but the truck nearly tips over. It isn’t until another large truck arrives, equipped with a winch, that we have success.
By 12:30 PM we find ourselves traveling down the road, but still have a very long road ahead of us. We’re not far from Teah Town, but our hope is to arrive in Buchanan before services start at the Buchanan Restoration Branch on Sunday. We continue to struggle through each mud hole and we discover that our truck’s four-wheel-drive is not operating. Each time we come to a deep mud hole, all the passengers must disembark and we walk. Many times there are several bad places close together requiring us to to walk one to two miles. We easily walk this distance before the truck can catch up with us.
By early evening we arrive at Jarpa Town in River Cess County. We had stopped several times so the driver could add brake fluid and now we stop so he can fix the brakes. The front wheel is removed so they can get better access to the brake line. The brake line is removed and replaced with one that looks as bad as the one they removed and it doesn’t even fit correctly. After one and a half hours, we reload and head up the steep hill out of town.
Our truck has not been running very well and every hill is a difficult climb. As we near the top of this hill, the truck loses most of its power. Suddenly, a huge amount of smoke is coming out from under the truck. The driver stomps the brakes and there are none. The truck rolls to a stop, then begins rolling backwards down the hill. The two conductors jump off the top of the truck where they have been riding, to look for a rock or stick to put under the tire. The driver can’t turn off the motor as the keys have fallen out of the ignition and he cannot find them. The smoke is so thick in the truck it is difficult to see my hand in front of my face. In the back of the truck, the passengers are all enclosed in a smoke filled death trap and we can only wonder when it will burst into flames.
Panic ensues with women screaming and people climbing over each other to get out. I am in the middle and several people are climbing over me. I try to calm them, but they’re not listening to me. My greatest fear for them is that they are jumping out the rear door while the truck is still rolling backwards. By now I need air desperately and I am able to stick my head out the window only to breathe in a huge amount of smoke. The smoke has not only filled the truck but it has settled around the truck like a cloud. There was a crippled woman and her granddaughter sitting across from me but I have no idea if they have gotten out, but I know the woman has no way of getting out by herself. I have remained behind to help her, but now I realize if I don’t get air soon, I won’t be any help to anyone. The truck has now stopped and I climb out the back door, but have to run 20 feet before finding fresh air.
I take one quick breath and run back to the truck where I find one of the conductors is helping the crippled woman get out and she and her granddaughter are soon safe. They lay on the road for about half hour and I know they suffered smoke inhalation so I watch them to make sure they recover.
Finally the truck engine dies and when they are able to open the hood to look for the source of the smoke someone says it is the engine oil that is burning. They check the oil and find nothing on the dipstick. The driver says there is nothing left in the motor and one of the conductors crawls under the truck and removes the drain plug. He comes out from under the truck covered in hot oil, leaving the rest of it running out on the ground. I guess he sees no need to replace the plug. He states there is still oil in the motor, but by the time we realize what he has done, all the oil has drained out.
Brother Stephen and I also look for the source of the problem and find it was not the oil, but rather diesel fuel leaking out on the exhaust pipe. For some unknown reason, other than the grace of God, it did not ignite and catch the truck on fire. They send someone back to the town we have just left, to buy oil.
Stephen decides we don’t need to ride on this truck any longer and we collect our bags and walk up the hill towards some houses. A young man named Nathaniel recognizes Stephen as he is a distant relative of Stephen’s wife, Sarah, and he lives close by. He takes us to a house nearby where we can set in the shade. He and Stephen go to look for a motor bike. Stephen wants to arrange for us to leave early in the morning as he says it is too dangerous to ride on a motor bike on this road after dark.
His friend arranges for us to spend the night at the house beside the road and we put our luggage in the room designated for us. Stephen hears a motor bike coming and they go out to talk to them. At the same time there is a truck passing that is also going towards Buchanan. Stephen stops him and asks for ride and the driver agrees to take us. We load up and two hours later we are setting in front of Sister Ettas’ Super Market in Buchanan. We call her and she picks us up at 10:45 PM.
Etta awakens Jannet, one of the children from Hope Restoration Youth Home, who is staying with her and she prepares supper for us as we visit past midnight before going to bed.
Sunday morning we are surprised by twenty of the children from Hope who have walked more than five miles to Buchanan to go to church. After joyous greetings, we walk a mile to church. Priest Artus teaches class and then Pastor Wilfred Myers presides over the worship service, with Elder Prince Gohlanda, from Gardours Town RB, and President of District A, bringing a very inspiring message to the saints. Afterwards, we visit some of the Buchanan Saints before returning to Etta’s home. Throughout the afternoon we spend time with the youth from Hope.
The next few days are spent in assessing the needs at HRYH. We have sixty-four children living on campus, with some of the staff. The children attend school daily and are taught not only academics, but a bible based religion class by one of our teachers, with Elder Wilfred Myers visiting the home on a regular basis to teach the Restored Gospel. The children are very gifted in singing as well as scripture memorization. Over forty of these children are baptized members of our Church and are a mission of Buchanan Restoration Branch.
While in Buchanan I see a member of the Zoewulum Restoration Branch, Elder Isaac Lorblah. We visit about his branch and their needs and arrangements are made to send two priesthood to Zoewulum to visit them and begin preparations for the National Conference scheduled to be held there sometime in January. Brother Stephen suggests sending Buchanan priesthood because of our time constraints as we have lost precious time traveling from Sinoe County. The road to Zoewulum is impassable by car so our only option this time of year is a twelve hour motor bike ride, one way.
Saturday Stephen and I make preparations to return to Monrovia. Monrovia has two branches; Pipeline Branch, which has moved from the Pipeline community and now meets in Wayne's Town, a new community in the Monrovia suburb of Paynesville, under the leadership of Elder Darlington Beh and Soul Clinic Branch, located in the Soul Clinic community also in Paynesville.
On Sunday we visit the Pipeline Branch where I am asked to teach the adult class. Several people attending are non-members and are in pre baptismal class. I teach a class on the twelve steps of establishing a Covenant. Brother Darlington asks if I will bring the message for the day and I speak about the Mysteries of the Kingdom, and why Christ used parables to create these mysteries. After visiting with the Pipeline Branch, we find some non-active members, bringing some encouragement to them, sharing testimonies and classes.
Sunday night several members gather at Stephen and Sarah Gardee’s home where I share several classes. Many ask about what is happening within the Church and I have the opportunity to share about the General Conference. Questions are asked about the Church being set in order. What does the future hold for the Church? Someone asks about the growth of the Church in America and other parts of the world. There is a great desire among these people to feel connected to others within the Church and to feel they are a part of Gods great plan in this Latter Day.
Monday morning I am surprised with a visit from Semion Kaiyea; a young man who has endured many struggles in life. He has suffered with two hip surgeries and is able to move about, but not without difficulty, walking with the assistance of a cane. He is attending school and has a small business to help support himself. He has certainly changed from the weak boy who came to America on a medical visa--who had nearly given up, because of his disease and pain--to a vibrant young man full of life.
By noon I say my good-byes with mixed emotions, leaving my brothers and sisters behind, as opposed to the anticipation of seeing my family again. We load into the car and head for the airport 40 km away.
Seventy Doug Patterson
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