Education in Liberia

A student at J.V. Government School

Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began... Helen Keller (emphasis mine)

One of the places where I spent most of my time while in Liberia was at the John Wesley School. This K-12 academy is one of the best in Central Liberia -- if not all of Liberia. It is wholy run and supported by the church. The churches in Liberia (Catholic and Protestant) run more schools than the government. The Methodist Church alone runs more high schools (9-12 grades) than the government. And as many schools as there are, there simply are not enough.

I visited a few different schools while there. J.V. Government School is quite literally falling down -- there are not walls between many of the nine different classrooms. I can't even imagine how classes can be held in there. How the students would be able to focus and the teachers be able to teach. It felt hopeless just being there. I had a chance to speak with a member of Congress and he explained that the country desperately wants to reestablish education, but they have bigger fish to fry first. There are no roads to get to the schools. There are no jobs; therefore, no one to tax. Anyone familiar with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs may remember that feeling safe and physically cared for (i.e. having a roof and food to eat) comes before a student is able to learn. It comes before the government can provide education, too.

J.V. Government School, behind

I'm having trouble tracking down up-to-date statistics, but I'd like to pass on what I have found as well as what I heard while I was in the country. Right around half of the adult population is literate -- that means only one out of every two adults is able to read and write in English or their tribal language. Less than half of school-aged children actually attend a school. Kids are in and out of school all the time because they all charge tuition -- even the government schools. When the money is there, they are enrolled. No money, no school.

John Wesley is in a unique situation because of the amount of American support it receives. Most of the students at John Wesley are attending for free or are on a scholarship. The free students are attending at the personal expense of the principal and the D.S. of the church: two very Godly men who are stretched as far as their means will allow. Children traveled from huge distances and sleep in the classrooms at night so they can attend. The school has a huge emphasis on finding certified teachers to fill the classrooms.

6th grade at John Wesley

It is my prayer to spread the word about education in Liberia and give others a chance to literally change the world by educating a child. To get children off the streets and into classrooms. To give them books to read and food to eat and a hope for themselves and their families. So that they can break the cycle of poverty and help Liberia to heal.

Children selling dried fish in Weala

If you are interested in helping, please email me privately at sandjpreston08 @ live.com (no spaces). I have tons of details that are more appropriate for private communication than a public blog.

Women of Prayer

When I was in Liberia, I had the pleasure of working with a fabulous group of women: the Deaconesses of the Liberian Methodist Church. These are super special women in the church. They go through something like a three-year training program to do their job. What is their job?

To Pray.

They wake up at 3am and they pray. They stayed up until midnight or later with us during our ministry to pray. They set up prayer boundaries around us -- physical walls of prayer. They went into the communities where the crusades would be to pray. They are honored in their home churches because they pray -- day in, day out, in constant communion with the Lord. Whoa.

Preparing the water for baptism

I could always tell when there was a deaconess nearby because a peace would settle upon the area. If I felt spiritually vulnerable out in the villages, all I'd have to do was spot a deaconess and be comforted. I tried to keep one of these amazing ladies in my eyesight at all times. They are just filled with the Holy Spirit in a powerful way.

Praying for those who were just baptized

The craziest thing about these ladies is that they wear white from head to toe -- turban to flip-flop -- whenever they are performing their official duties. Let me tell you one thing about Liberia: It is a dirty, dusty country. I wore white one day (and only one day) and was filthy within an hour. God must be protecting their clothing as well as their souls!

Since getting back, I've been curious. What would the Church in America look like if we had a dedicated core of women who consistantly prayed for salvation and protection? Women who gathered together with the firm belief that God is a God who answers prayer? Women who were willing to stand apart from the community and intercess on its behalf? Can you picture it?

The Liberian "Secret" Handshake

Rev. Mondolo and Dr. Ross performing the Liberian handshake

There's a secret handshake in Liberia and the entire country is in on it.

It's the kind of thing you'd expect to see around a high school -- grab, bump, grab, snap -- but it's grown men and respected women on the community who are doing it. Even children are practicing to get the perfect audible snap.


Whever we arrived somewhere, there would be a line of people waiting to shake our hands. The same line would re-form whenever it was time to leave. The fingers on my right hand started to hurt after not very long at all.

The handshake is so important to the people of Liberia. I've been doing a lot of reading, but all I can find is theories about its history. One of the best is that it comes from the days of the slave trade: traders would break the middle fingers of the men and women they had taken as a symbol of their power and the new slave's submission. The Liberian handshake requires an intact finger; it is a celebration of freedom (as is much of Liberian culture).


Let me tell you a little secret -- even after 2 weeks of practicing, I am completely incapable of making the snap happen. It is much harder than it looks! My dear husband, however, perfected it early on in the trip and won the respect of the local men as a result. He would shake their hands, get the snap to work, and the whole group of men would cheer and slap him on the back. It was funny to watch -- I think my husband may actually be more Liberian than American!

The handshake is just one way that we felt truly honored the whole time we were in the country. At one point, the women I would shake hands with started touching their hearts after we had (tried to) snapped. When I asked one of my Liberian friends what it meant, she said, "They're accepting you into their heart as a friend." My eyes teared up because these people who had never met me before treated me so lovingly. They demonstrated a kind of openness we don't often find in America. Everyone called each other "brother" or "sister." The children called all the women in our group "mama," especially once we started taking them under our wings to sponsor their school fees. In Liberia, there is a feeling of community fellowship that even extends to crazy white people like me.

Handshake carving we brought home

Being treated as a sister and a mama to the Liberians has impacted my heart. It fills me with a passion to do something for them, even with our limited resources. It seems like such a small thing to part with $80 to pay an entire year's worth of education for a child, but those little steps will change the face of the nation. I'm not sure yet why God showed me this nation, but I know beyond a doubt it won't be the last time I make the long trek to Liberia.

Where to start with Liberia?

I've been really struggling with how to describe my trip to you -- and to all the groups at church who've asked me to speak. So many experiences were just beyond words! I'll do the best I can to tie it all together into a story, but if you have specific questions PLEASE let me know so I can target them! Maybe you'll even trigger a memory that will become a whole post!

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I guess the best place to start is at the beginning: Why did we go to Africa?

Missions have always been one of our "wouldn't it be nice if..." conversations. The weekend after I met Shaune way back in 2006, I attended a massive missions conference called Urbana, which is sponsored by Intervaristy Christian Fellowship. I came home with a burning passion for the children of Africa. I was ready to sign up and go THEN! Well, God had other plans and I ended up marrying my Shaune instead. Then, missions came up while we were driving home from our honeymoon last Christmas. It turns out he's had a long passion for the disadvantaged, too. After that conversation we went so far as to contact a couple missions companies and discuss signing up for a long term (3-5 year) commitment.

That never panned out. Part of the hesitation on both our side and the side of the organizations is that while we've done a lot of domestic work, we'd never done missions abroad. They told us to hold on and try some short term trips through our church before making such a serious decision, which we did. We decided to join the team from our church going to Guatemala on a medical trip. Then I got pregnant.

As any of you who've been following for a while already know, God's timing didn't line up with our timing, and we lost the baby. The very next weekend, our pastor began talking about the trip to Liberia in January. It covered what was supposed to be the due date for our little one. Almost impulsively, I convinced Shaune that we needed to go. It felt right. That, and I didn't want to be home full of sorrow that week.

So we signed up, wrote a scary large check, and began fundraising for the rest. God provided in miraculous ways that I'm still trying to wrap my mind around. Even up to the very end. Three days before we left, we opened the mailbox to find another check that just covered the last bit of carry-with cash we needed that we were going to have to pull from a savings account.

We went to Africa out of impulse, out of a long desire, and because God paved the way. What we received was blessing imaginable.

Ashley and I, with "our" African twins

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There's one other question I think I know the answer to already (tho I may find out I'm wrong): What's the most important thing I walked away from Liberia with?

Liberia left me without a doubt of the power of God, as well as the fact that there is still a spiritual war waging. Before I left, I believed in the Holy Spirit the same way I believe in the stars and distant planets. I know they're there, I've seen pictures from telescopes, I've heard scientists talk about them. I've even taught about them myself! But it's not the same as walking on the surface of Mars. Spiritually, God took me to Mars in Liberia.

For the first time in my life, I knew the Holy Spirit as a separate entity in the Trinity who walks beside us. I saw things with my own eyes that if I had seen in America, I would have cynically believed it was staged. I personally saw the power of prayer, healing people and making them new. I also saw the powers of darkness be conquered by prayer. I will never be able to doubt again.

Prayer walking to claim the ground on Sunday Morning

"There's no place like Home"

We made it home from Liberia! I have so much to share with you... expect many posts over the next few days, weeks, maybe even years ;-)

I've never seen such abject poverty before in my life. Even our little apartment is shockingly glamourous in Liberian standards. Electricity? Running water? Nutritious food? It's unheard of there. Even the Bishop of Liberia only has electricity a few hours a day and no flush toilets (I know because we got to visit his house! wee!!)

A woman bathing her child outside our "hotel"

But even in their poverty, these are the happiest, most spiritual people I have ever met. I was shocked by their level of joy. We prayed, we marched, we danced, we sang... we even clapped our hands for Jesus! The children especially were fountains of hope. They were so excited to hold our hands and show us our houses. Every moment was a game. Their favorite game was for us to take their picture then turn the camera around and show them. Many have never seen their own faces except reflected in the river.

Circle Game in Salala

Praise be to the Lord! Our mission was beyond what one would consider "successful." Out of our three missionary crusades, we had results that made my heart sing for joy:

• In Salala, over 100 people came to faith in Jesus. 34 were baptized during the crusade and another 20 requested further instruction.


• In Totota, 39 souls were baptized and 147 names were given for follow-up.


• In Rubber Camp #7, 44 people were baptized. During the Celebration Service, local men volunteered their homes and services to help during the construction of the new church start and provide for the new (non-salaried) pastor.

Oh my goodness, I have so much I could share with you. My heart is just so excited and full of hope and ideas. Thank you so much for your prayers while we were gone! More tomorrow... now it is time to sleep!

Our "son" Tonia. We are sponsoring his school fees.

A Trip of a Lifetime

'Twas the night before Africa, and all through the house,
Jenny was trying to find that last perfect blouse.
The suitcases were stacked in the hallway with care
And silent prayers that every necessity was there.
The bed was a wreck since the pillows were packed
And Shaune started to wonder if his brain had cracked.

When deep in their hearts there arose such a thought
This packing, this chaos, it was not for naught!
It was for the children that this, we pursued
Our joy is not dependent on anyone's mood!
We're off to give glory to God up above
To show the people of Liberia His radical love.
To the slums and the bushes, to the jungles we'll go
Who we'll met and we'll see, only Jesus shall know.

So we humbly request that you keep us in prayer,
On the flights, in the vans -- the whole time we're there.
Pray that hearts will be changed and that churches are planted
And that nothing we learn will be taken for granted.
I hope you'll remember me by this simple rhyme
Once we depart on on our trip of a lifetime.

We'll be gone for two full weeks! I'll see you all after the 28th with many stories and many photographs to share. God Bless you all until then!

10 Days to Africa

Oh my, oh my, oh my! We leave for Africa in 10 days! I'm scrambling around to gather and pack everything we'll need, as well as the missions items that will be left in Kakata (like the ridiculously huge 90's "laptops.") Darn the airlines for changing baggage regulations -- again.

Just a teaser photograph:

And in 10 days, I'll be able to show you picture of me and my team there, instead of some I've stolen from the ministry's web site!