Report from Liberia (Tuesday, February 19th)

Tuesday, February 19, 2013 – Greetings from Ganta: I got up at 6:30 am this morning, read my Bible, spent some time in prayer, and then took my shower and prepared to meet Ernie and Darryl at 7:30 for breakfast. I had talked with the hotel manager yesterday about the restaurant not opening until 8 am and that was somewhat of a problem for us. He told me that he would see to it that they would open at 7:30 for the rest of the week instead of 8 am. But, as things often go here, the young man forgot to talk with the cook. The waitresses did show up at 7:30 am but the cook did not arrive until 8 am. So, until the cook showed up all we could get was some coffee while we waited for the cook. Oh, well?

We got to the church a little later than we wanted to, but it was not a problem because they were still having their morning worship time. It only took me about 10 minutes to set up my projector, sound system, and laptop. But within a minute or two I realized we had a major problem. The picture from my projector would come on and then go off, come on, then go off. As I was trying to figure out what was wrong, a warning light on my projector came on. I immediately unplugged it because I didn't want to blow the bulb (especially because I don't have a spare one with me). I checked with some of the people and asked if anyone else was having problems with their electricity. I found out that their copier machine wouldn't work and that Darryl's TV monitor would not power up as well. I knew then that something was wrong with their generator. So, I spent the entire first class (2 hours) without power while they were attempting to get the generator going (Darryl never did get power). I guess this is why they say we need to be flexible? I was able to adjust very quickly and went on with my lesson. I did have to slow down somewhat and did not cover as much material as I had wanted to, but it seemed that everyone got a lot out of the teaching and discussions that we had.

During the break between the first and second class, the power came back on and I was back in business! However, their copy machine was "fried" and so no more handouts. Once again, I had to make a few more adjustments. The last two classes did go alright. The last class was a little bit of a struggle for me in that about one half of the class did not speak English and were able to read or write in English. To overcome that, I had a man and a lady take turns interpreting for me, which slowed things down even further.

We finished right at 4:15 pm, packed up our stuff and headed back to the hotel to eat something and rest. We then went back to the evening service at 6:30 pm and guessed that we would probably stay until 9 pm or so.

Wow!! What an incredible service! It is hard to describe the celebration that they had. There were several churches represented and all of them got to have a group from their church get up and sing. During the entire worship time, the people danced, and clapped, and praised God. After we had worshipped for about an hour, Pastor Freeman got up to introduce the speaker for the evening – Ernie Perry. What a surprise! Ernie did not know in advance that he was supposed to preach. As he was getting up and walking over to take the microphone from the Pastor, I was praying that the Lord would give him the words that these people needed to hear. Ernie took the mike, paused for a few seconds, and then launched into one of the finest sermons I've ever heard. He challenged them to not just go through the "motions" of being a Christian but to truly give their heart and soul to Christ. It was when he was nearing the close of the sermon and said, "I'm not so sure how to finish this" that I started to worry a little. But, Ernie paused for a few seconds and then gave such a powerful conclusion and invitation that you could almost hear a pin drop. Ernie then turned the mike over to Pastor Freeman who asked those who have never accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior to do so tonight and to slip out of their seats and come forward. At first one or two came forward. Then it was another three. Then two more came who were followed by four more – a total of 11 people came forward to give their lives to Christ! The Pastor then asked several of the pastors to come forward and take these 11 to the school next door where they would pray with them and get their confession of faith. Then the Pastor asked if there were any who needed to recommit their lives to Christ to now come forward.  When he did this, a total of eight (8) people came forward and rededicated their lives. Wow! What a service – seventeen decisions! I think the Lord used Ernie in a mighty way tonight! As they say here, "Hallelujah!"; "Praise the Lord".

What a way to end a day! Tomorrow, we will go back to the church for our third day of teaching. I wonder what new challenges we will encounter then? Thanks for all your prayers and for your encouraging posts on the blog. Please keep on praying. I know that both Ernie and I are starting to get a little tired and we will be out late again tomorrow evening. Ernie hasn't been sleeping too well and as for me, the heat is starting to take its toll (mid-90s today). I suspect Darryl is getting tired too, but thus far he is hanging tough.

Blessings!

Fred