Saturday

Today we went to Marshall Town to visit the Clara McCorkle memorial church. We had to drive east about 1 ½ hours to get to a small fishing village where we met the pastor Bro. Zwen who would be leading the way to the church. The only way to get to the church was via a canoe. It made me a bit nervous when Bro. Garza got in and had to scoop out water in a small bucket :-/ Once all of us were in and on our way it began to pour rain and the wind really picked up so the ride was a bit nerve wracking especially when we got to the mouth of the river where it dumps into the ocean and things got real choppy. Once we were there Bro. Zwen carried Bro. Garza and I from the boat to the land. Bishop Stewart chose to take off his shoes and walk himself to shore. We made our way up a trail in the dense cover for about 100 yards before we came into a clearing where there was a small village. The people were excited to see us and welcomed us when we arrived. Their native language is Bassah and most of them spoke no English. At the far end of the village was the Clara McCorkle memorial church. It is mostly completed and the man in charge of construction, Bro. David, said it would be done within the next 30 to 40 days. It is by far the largest and most well built building in the village. Bishop Stewart said that farther inland there is a main village where there are many more Bassah people that come to the church. The Clara McCorkle church is the only church on the island. After visiting for about 30 minutes we made our way back to the canoe where we began our return trip. The boat captain took us past another island that is inhabited by gorillas. Bishop Stewart said that the primates on the island were placed there by pharmaceutical researchers so that they could do experimental research on them and study them. The Liberians believe that the Gorillas are so full of chemicals that there is no way you could step foot on the island, in fact during the war the rebel soldiers refused to step foot on the island for fear of being killed by the gorillas. Once back at the fishing village the locals brought out all kinds of fish to try to sell to us before we left. There was a big display of fish but for some reason no one could really tell us when they had been caught so we passed on the purchase. It was a great trip and we believe that God will use and is using Pastor Zwen in a mighty way to reach the Bassah people on the island.

Friday

Once again Bro Garza did a fabulous job teaching to the men at the conference. He had all of the men excited about God and His Word. He taught (actually I personally thought he was preaching!) on a topic he called “Come and See.” There was a great move towards prayer at the conclusion of the time together.

Afterwards we went to Monrovia to finalize our check in for the plane flight home and to do a little shopping (trust me it didn’t take long, were Men!). When we were done we made our way to the compound and had a great dinner made by Mother Stewart.

A large crowd was waiting for us as we arrived to the conference site and when we got out of the truck and went inside everyone followed and church started. Worship was upbeat and exciting. In the middle of worship several of the National leaders ushered Bro Garza and I out of the service to dress us in the ceremonial African attire. The entire congregation welcomed us back into the conference worshiping and praising God. The church was full once again and there were many outside like the night before. I preached on being like Jesus and displaying His Character. At the conclusion of the service Brothers and Sisters were worshiping and shouting around the altar accepting the challenge to step up and be Christ like and take that which Christ has given unto them. After about 20 minutes I redirected everyone and had the Pastors come to the front of the altar and their saints stand behind them. There was a tremendous move of the Spirit of God throughout the entire building. Men, women and children were weeping and getting a hold of God. This went on for about another 20 to 25 minutes before God redirected us into celebration and everyone danced and worship for almost 30 minutes. It was AWESOME!!! Bro Garza was down front with several brothers joined arm in arm and dancing around in circles. I was on the platform with the delegation from Sierra Leon dancing back and forth. The building was so loud with the sound of worship that you could not hear the musicians. I thought that they had turned the sound system up all the way but finally realized that it was the worship of the people that literally reverberated throughout the church building and it was almost deafening!

God is great! There were 4 filled with the Holy Ghost and two that desired to be baptized when the night was over with. The ministers from Liberia and Sierra Leon were all so thankful for what God had done in the midst of His people… God is Wonderful!!
Bro Garza, Bishop, Mother Stewart and I were completely soaked with sweat and exhausted when we got into the truck to go home. We talked about the Word of God and how much God loves his children! We had a great dinner and are going to fall into our beds!!!

God bless and thank you so much for all of your prayers. You do not know how much they have meant to us on this trip. The church here in Liberia was so deeply honored that you would be praying for them during this time. The Conference was a tremendous success!!!

Thursday Day & PM Service

Bro. Garza did a tremendous job today teaching the men. There were about 40 men there for the teaching session. He spoke on having a relationship with the Word of God and allowing it to direct you. He closed the session with a powerful time of prayer and many of the brothers thanked him for sharing the Word with them and encouraging them. Afterwards we rushed back to the Stewarts for dinner and a quick clean up before heading off back to the Conference site.
Upon arrival the service had already begun with prayer. The national youth director was leading the service and he did a tremendous job in leading the people in prayer, worship and giving. The church was packed from wall to wall with numerous people outside of the building. Bishop Stewart estimated that there were about 300 people in attendance. The service was shorter in preliminaries than Wednesday nights so we pretty much got straight to the preaching. About 10 people raised their hands signifying they had never received the Holy Ghost and that they wanted to receive it at the conclusion of the preaching. I spoke about the responsibility for us to have faith and for God to supply the power. I gave several examples of people who took a step of faith and how God responded with great power. Once again without invitation everyone came rushing to the altar with faith overflowing and the place exploded with men, women, and young people speaking in tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance. Numerous people came forward believing God for a miraculous healing in their body. The level of faith in the people was tremendous and you could feel the Holy Spirit move and flow throughout the building. Those who were outside rushed in also and the entire church was standing room only with people reaching out to God. There were several that Bro Garza and I was praying with who received the Holy Ghost and I saw numerous others throughout the building praying with those who had raised their hands. I am looking forward to receiving the report in tomorrow’s service of how many were healed and filled with the Holy Spirit for the first time.

Intruders in the Night!

At 1:30 this morning there was a knock on my room door that startled me awake. I opened the door and there stood Bro. Garza with eyes the size of Coke bottles! “Are you awake” he said? “Well I am now, what’s up?” “You have to come check this out” as he lead me to his room. There in the corner was the biggest Spider I have ever seen in my life! “It was crawling across my chest headed for my throat” Bro. Garza said “I grabbed him and had to hold him back from sinking his fangs into my vein.” Obviously an over exaggeration! He was working on his lesson when he saw it come out from under his bed. He had to hit it 3 times with his shoe before it died!!! We spent the next hour searching every nook and cranny of our rooms for more monstrous intruders. Finally when I lay down to go back to bed every little thing that I felt I wondered if it was a spider.
This morning Bishop Stewart left early for the Men’s Conference site. Bro Garza and I slept in till about 10:00 then went and had breakfast with Mother Stewart. We will be leaving around 1:00pm as Bro Garza is scheduled to speak at 2:00.

Wednesday Evening Service

The road to the Men’s Conference site was HORRIBLE!!! Those are the words of Bro. Stewart. It took us more than an hour to travel what should have taken 30 minutes due to huge pot-holes and flooded roads. The Conference site is at the Barnersville First Apostolic United Pentecostal Church. We arrived just in time to start at 6:00pm. Church began with prayer and the people began to make their way in to the sanctuary. There were about 125 men and 25 women packed into the church building. There were four delegates from Sierra Leon (which means “Den of Lions”) that came in and it was the first meeting that the two countries had together. Bro. Benda snapped pictures to commemorate the historic meeting. Another first for the Men’s conference was to have a speaker they called an “International Evangelist” I had to look around to figure out who they were talking about.

The worship service was lively and upbeat as they usually are here in Liberia and several brethren took turns to greet the congregation. I preached about "Preserving the Glory of God" and God moved in a mighty way during the preaching of His Word. Many made their way to the altar and bowed before God in consecration and repentance even before an invitation was even given. Every man and woman in the place was on their face crying out for God. God truly loves His people and desires to use them in a mighty way. Many lingered around the altar for about 20 to 30 minutes before we closed by rising to our feet to magnify and glorify God for His wonderful goodness. Worship unto God went on for about another 20 minutes with both men and women dancing before the Lord in the Spirit.
When we left my shirt was completely soaked with sweat (now I know how Pastor Wilmoth felt). Once back at the Stewarts we ate a late dinner and everyone is heading to Bed.

Thank God for His goodness and His love for His people. Bro. Garza will be teaching tomorrow at 2:00pm be sure to lift him up in your prayers. Also, please be praying for miracles and healing to be poured out in the Thursday evening service.

God Bless and Goodnight!

P.S. Sorry for the dark pictures... There are only two light bulbs in the whole church...

Wednesday AM

Tuesday night for dinner Sis. Stewart had a U.N. Colonel who is from the same village she is from in Ethiopia over for dinner. His name is Shireke and he is a member of the muslim faith. She has been witnessing to him about Jesus name baptism and the infilling of the Holy Ghost. He is extremely hungry for the gospel and see's the necessity of baptism and the Holy Ghost. There are other people in his command who are telling him that the only way to baptize is in the titles (father, son, holy ghost) so it has created some confusion in him and he has many questions. At the conclusion of dinner he spoke these profound words "When I first came to mother Stewart I was blind, but now I see the light!" Praise God! Please pray for Shireke that he will follow through with Baptism before he flies back to Ethiopia next Friday.

Last night it poured rain once again, this time for most of the night. The picture at right was taken from the Stewarts balcony looking down into the compound.

This morning at breakfast Bishop Stewart told us many stories of tragedies that took place during the war and how many are still effected by the memories and struggles of post-war rebuilding.

The conference will start tonight at 6:00 pm (That's 11:00 am California time). Bishop Stewart says that services will be outside under a tent and that many of the saints are making their way from the interior regions of Liberia to attend the Conference. The night services will be open for everyone to attend but the day sessions are for the men only. We are believing God for a mighty outpouring of His Spirit to open this conference!

Hey Boston! There are all kinds of lizards here in Liberia. This one pictured was hanging out on the stairs right outside of my room. I saw one that was twice as big as this one but he ran off before I could get a picture of Him :-(

We are getting ready to head into downtown Monrovia to do some errands with the Bishop and then it will be off to the Conference.

Once again thanks for your prayers for Revival in Liberia!

Tuesday Morning

The rain poured down several times in the night so heavy that I thought for sure the roof was coming in. After a great night sleep for myself (Bro. Garza was up most of the night unable to adjust to the time difference) I woke up around 10:00 am and had a great breakfast with Bishop and Sis. Stewart. The last time the Hope Center team was here there were 3 Alligator skins tacked up on the wall. Well here (to the right) is what Bishop calls small meat! He is about 1 1/2 feet long and in the process of becoming Big Meat! For a little guy he has a big nasty attitude, which he displayed as he sunk his teeth into the stick we were using to move him to get a better picture!
Well I need to go wake up sleeping beauty (Bro. Garza) it's just past 2:00pm and he is still sleeping.

The compound is beginning to fill up with brethern who are making their way to Monrovia for the men's conference.