Captain’s Corner Nathaniel Koliyah
In
this second issue of the Providence Pilgrim, my message to my fellow
Liberians and friends of Liberia is the need of Christian
maturity. Defining Christian maturity in a sermon on the 23rd Psalm,
Pastor Eric Molicki told the congregation of Trinity Presbyterian
Church that “…maturity in the Christian life is never
about growing more independent. In fact just the opposite. The more we
grow and understand who God is, the more we grow and understand what
He’s done for us, the more we become dependent upon Him.”
Before making this profound fundamental statement, Pastor Molicki was
quick to point out that the 23rd Psalm is misunderstood as a Psalm of
sorrow or death. Rather, the 23rd Psalm is a Psalm of confidence in
God. Oh, how I wished that many Liberians were privileged to hear this
sermon expositing the true meaning of the Psalm and this is why.
I was one of the Liberians who was lucky enough to flee the country
when the civil war was raging. I heard many sad stories, one of which
pertains to the misunderstanding and misapplication of the 23rd Psalm.
It was told that when the rebels had made life and death decisions for
their captives, those on the death role were made to recite the 23rd
Psalm as their final words. After this, there was no turning back, as
the rebels killed them. Oh, how I wish this weren’t true.
Thank God the war is over! However, as one analyst put it-
“…the absence of war does not mean the existence of
peace.” I am inclined to believe that Liberians and friends of
Liberia should cling to the true meaning and teaching of the 23rd
Psalm, now and forevermore, for the obvious reasons.
It is believed that King David authored the 23rd Psalm at one of the
difficult times of his life. In spite of his challenges, David declared
his confidence in God. Liberians and Liberia have been ravaged by
a fifteen year, devastating civil war. Even though the war is
over it leaves behind huge challenges. Challenges that are humanly
impossible to meet: rape victims may be next door neighbors to
their abusers; orphans may see murderers of their parents; homeless
will see their homes occupied by soldiers; the future of the
child-soldier remains uncertain, to name a few. Given these
problems, Liberians and friends of Liberia need to cling to the Lord as
Liberia’s Shepherd. There are many ways this is done.
One way we at Trinity exercise this Christian maturity is by prayers
and supplications. Will Liberians and friends of Liberia pray for
Liberia? Shall we with David declare “the LORD is
(Liberia’s) Shepherd” Amen.
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Fourth Annual Liberian Dinner
Trinity
Presbyterian Church of Providence, Rhode
Island proudly celebrated the fourth
Annual
Liberian Fellowship Dinner this year on October 15th. In addition to
Trinity members, those in attendance included staff of the
International Institute of Rhode Island, friends and other
well-wishers. In addition to dining on sumptuous Liberian, and American
cuisine, the evening included scripture, viewing excerpts of a
documentary, and prayer. Pastor Sherwood’s homily on Psalm 87 was
followed by a condensed version of “Liberia, An Uncivil War”. The
documentary sketched causes and players of the war, as well as scenes
of the war’s end. We encourage continued prayer echoing themes of
prayers at the dinner: for Liberia’s youth, especially the
‘child-soldiers’; the election and its consequences; good governance;
forgiveness and reconciliation among Liberians; the Church in a time
of restoration, healing, and recovery for Liberia.
Provided below are excerpted comments from a few participants who
kindly sent written responses (others gave verbal words of
encouragement):
From the beautiful, indigenous clothes to the scrumptious Liberian
meals, … a wonderful event... it helped me to understand further the
dear people who have emigrated here. … refugees for months…Their faith
in God is solid and true – tested in the fire of suffering. I thank
God for their friendship and their testimonies of God’s faithfulness.
…Almost every night now, Nathan and Nicholas, our two sons (5 and 2
years old), pray for the people of Liberia as well as for the Liberians
who are here in America. … the Liberians here have impacted our family in many ways, and have broadened our vision of the world! (Alice Molicki, high school math teacher, now full-time mother of 2)
“great time of fellowship. …wished we had had more time to talk about
the different foods…what other sorts of food they would eat in Liberia.
… But, my heart was disturbed. … I was angered by the enormous waste
that corruption; crime, mismanagement and a decade of war had wrought
upon the country. …what I left being reminded of was the brokenness of
man and the inherent difficulties in societies which those broken men
create. …The people of Liberian need reconciliation… They need peace,
peace between men, but they desperately need the foundation of true
peace between God and man that only Christ can bring. Since the dinner
my prayers for Liberia have been far deeper, more frequent, informed,
and by the grace of God those prayers will be used to bring
reconciliation to Liberia.”-(Rob Cox, associate pastor of Trinity)
“…the selections from this documentary revealed how little I really
knew. It made me ashamed, of my own ignorance, of our government’s
non-response and finally of the inhumanity with which we can treat
other humans. This is true as much for the West turning it eyes away as
it is for the callous and vicious Liberian killers themselves. … Christ
looked at others with compassion and then acted...he saw pain and
suffering as an opportunity for God’s glory to be revealed...have we
done/can we do the same?” (Randall Van Schepen, Asst. Professor Roger Williams)
It was a lovely feast with incredible food and a loving atmosphere. It
was a blessing to be able to spend a highly educational evening with a
joyous and welcoming community and to be able to come together in
closing to send out thoughts, prayers, wishes and hope collectively to
mid-election Liberia. The staff and volunteers from the Refuge
Resettlement Department of International Institute-RI found the event
highly informational and the film and discussions helped crystallize
our understanding of the Liberian civil war. (Laurie Wood, Internat’l Institute of RI.)
Trinity began the Liberian Fellowship Dinner in 2002 as a time of
prayer and supplication for Liberian brothers and sisters and the
nation and people of Liberia. When Liberians began worshipping at
Trinity around 2001, the congregation quickly became aware of their
circumstances, especially a cruel civil war that continued to trouble
their country. The congregation decided to actively identify with their
Liberian members in prayer and sharing. The Liberian Fellowship Dinner
is one setting where the congregation of Trinity and invited
worshippers focus exclusively on Liberia. We hope to see all of you at
the next Liberian Fellowship Dinner in October 2006 at 72 Clifford
Street, Providence.
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Thanksgiving Baskets Distributed on Behalf of Trinity
An
objective of the Liberian Outreach Team is to encourage members of the
Liberian and West African community in Providence to be involved in a
gospel preaching church. We are using such occasions as Thanksgiving
and Christmas to minister to physical needs of Liberian friends and
neighbors of some members of Trinity. We hope to use these and other
opportunities throughout the year to assist these families and to
encourage them to become or continue being involved in a
gospel-preaching church. It is with these tokens of our concern that we
want to extend a welcome to these families to fellowship with us here
at Trinity. Thanks to all of you who have contributed directly to this
outreach. The food distributed at Thanksgiving fed more than 60 people.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Joshua Milton Blahyi , ex-General
-Diana Smith
Joshua, his children & sister-in-law
In
my research on the [Liberian civil war] I came across the warlord
widely known as “General Butt-Naked”, because he and all
his soldiers fought nude for more power. I remember my passing cynicism
when I read that he claimed to have found Christ and then became a
preacher. Then I heard he was coming to camp. The next day
…I … met a small group of people, who looked like they
were in a Bible study. My host brother wasn’t there,
and I only recognized one man, the General himself. Not knowing
exactly how to introduce myself, I awkwardly and rather bluntly asked,
“Are you the General?” “Ex-General,” the
man said with a tentative smile. And so I sat down.
I had walked into a book-review session; they were editing his
autobiography. I was invited to join in the editing process and
so have since spent a large portion of my free time editing the 200
page book. It is a powerful story of a man who was the fetish
priest of his tribe, who was initiated and controlled by their
ancestral god.
From the age of 11 he performed monthly human sacrifices, always
offering the souls of the people captured to nya-na-o-weh, who in turn
made him impenetrable to bullets and took him on a ‘soul
journey’ for four hours every night. It was at his
command that he fought nude.
So many times in [reading] the book I had to
suspend my disbelief that these spiritual warfare, having physical
realities in the way described, actually happen in our world, and I
wonder how very ignorant I really am to the spirit world. Eating
certain foods, walking barefoot, saying careless words; the list of
things that made people vulnerable made me very grateful how much the
Lord protects his innocent (and ignorant) children. The General
was eventually brought to salvation through the concerted prayer and
radical boldness of the Evangelical Soul Winning Ministries –
those people are intense! I wish we were all as bold in the Spirit of
the Lord to confront the evil in our world today.
Brother Joshua has a new name now, and appears
very low key, always wearing shorts and football (soccer)
jerseys. … During one review session when (I thought)
rather boldly asked if he was making any retribution or what he planned
to do to correct for his ways, his answer was encouraging. He
said he had returned everything that he had stolen, but that there was
no way to replace the value of human life. He said although he
knew he was forgiven by God and made right in Him, he always apologized
profusely for his actions and the other warlords like his own.
Then he admitted that the decision to forgive was always in the hands
of the victims, and he couldn’t make them forgive him. He
said that it was necessary for him to face court, but that he hoped
that he wouldn’t have to be imprisoned as that would curtail any
good that could come out of his life.
Just as I’m still editing the book, I’m still processing
how I feel about the rather abstract idea of Justice in this particular
situation. It was very interesting to be in a discussion about
whether Liberia would choose a Peace and Reconciliation Commission like
South Africa or a War Tribunal like Rwanda with one who clearly will be
called to either one. It makes interesting food for thought
…
Diana Smith is a junior at Wheaton College. She recently completed
her internship at Buduburum, a Liberian refugee camp in Ghana.
Liberia: Elections Update
Liberia
has held an historic election, with another first for Africa- a woman
president. On the 23rd of November, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her vice
president Joseph Boakai were declared to have won the run-off
election held November 8. 
Nonetheless there are lingering questions. In a field
of over 20 candidates, did George Weah receive the highest percentage
of popular vote because he was a celebrity? Or because his wealth was
not obtained from the people of Liberia? Were the voters foolish to
vote for one with so little formal education? Were some voters making a
statement to the educated ruling class that has historically served
them so poorly?
Was Ellen carried in the run-off vote by alliances with
former leaders and military elite? Or was it a case of technology-
with Liberia’s neglected highway infrastructure a helicopter was better
than a Hummer? Will Ellen’s admission and apologies for her role in the
civil war impact how her government deals with Taylor and other
villains of the civil war? Will the new government be able to
personally resist the riches offered by Liberia’s mines and forests?
Will the “Iron Lady” properly handle pressures from the EU and the USA?
This
newsletter plans to provide a more in depth discussion of the election
as a subsequent supplement. Although the questions may linger for
months and years, we must hope and continually pray that this
opportunity to rebuild Liberia will not be squandered or lost. Pray
that a new standard of integrity and service will be firmly established
with this new government. - Sam Clark
Providence Pilgrim is a publication of the Liberian Outreach Team of Trinity Presbyterian Church, PCA.
Captain Nathaniel Koliyah
Editor Beth Clark
Outreach Team- Sam Clark, Rob Cox, Christic Marblow, Gabriel Wehjla