Liberia food they say is “SWEET” Not like sugar sweet but the food has a distinctive taste. A taste you could easily come to enjoy; but after a week or so,most visitors crave for some home food. Well, we found a King Burger on Broad Street Downtown Monrovia and our team was pleased to take a break andchow down on some burger and fries.

In April 2016 I met with the Community Leaders of Harrisburg to discuss the possibility of a new Agricultural High School in the area. The idea wasmet with such joy and relief of many of the parents. They were happy that they would not have to worry about extra food, housing andtransportation for the children living away from home in Monrovia for school.
One father said, “this is the best news I have heard, my daughter will enter high school next year, maybe I only have to worry about the addedexpenses for one year.” The School will served the surrounding communities of over 800 high school students during the day, and train farmers inmechanized farming in the evening. This training process for farmers is going to be very intensive.
Our Partner farmers from the East Ohio Conference will be teaching our Liberian Partner farmers soil management, irrigation, planting methods,crop management, marketing, distribution, food processing, sales, inventory, plant management, farm equipment repair and more. This will be awelcome addition to all surrounding communities, providing new needed employment, empowerment and much job security.
So, also in April, we laid the foundation for the High School in Harrisburg.

Rev. James Modesco Saiker, Pastor of St. John United Methodist Church in Harrisburg, Liberia was involved in a fatal accident on August 8th2016. He was a dedicated family man and he served the Lord with all his abilities: Leadership, Motivation, Singing, Preaching, and BuildingRelationships in the Community and with Farmer-to-Farmer; an Outreach Ministry of the Celebration and Henrietta United Methodist churches ofthe East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. He was on his way home from the University of Liberia where he was to receive aBachelor Degree in Education when his motorbike was struck by a truck.
We will all miss him dearly. He was a people person; he embraced the Farmer-to-Farmer goals and objectives 100%; if the men were clearing anarea to plant crops, he would be in the lead with his cutlass clearing the busheOur love and support to his wife Rita and children.
He was on his way home

Praise God! Our guest house in Harrisburg is completed, right in the middle of Raymond Camp. We have accommodations for up to fourteen persons. Andwe are ready to host Work Teams from around the world. Come and help us build lives for God through Vocational/Education Training. We welcomeexperienced as well as no experience, persons as long as you are willing to help make disciples for the transformation of the world. We have staff ready toprepare your breakfast, lunch, and dinner; the total cost of the trip is $3100 including round trip airfare. Our next trip is on November 1st, 2019, we have threeseats open, but filling up fast.
Contact Pryde Bass
216-401-4663
prydebass@yahoo.com

On my first trip to Liberia, I was asked to preach at St John UMC. It was a packed house, literally standing room only. As the service was ending, they brought in about 50 kids who had not been able to fit in the Sanctuary for a blessing. They had been listening outside through the windows. I was asked to lay hands on each child, offering a personal blessing for each one of them. As I began, I realized that the Bible in my hands was in the way and I needed to set it down somewhere.
Patience Laubaw, a young girl about 11 years old, was one of the children who happened to be in front of me at the time. I handed the bible to her and asked if she would hold it for me. She held it, her arms crossed over it, with a look of awe on her face as if it was the most precious treasure ever entrusted to her.
As I was doing the blessings God started bugging me, “Give her the Bible.” I’m arguing in my head, “God, I’m not giving it to her, that is the Bible my mom and dad gave me out of their joy when I first started ministry, leather cover, embossed in gold letters – “Reverend Raymond E. Ake”, I can’t give away that Bible.”
“Give her the Bible”. So I did, and she carried it around all day with that look of shocked awe on her face. Later I found out 2 things: it was one of only 4 Bibles in the whole church other than the Pastor’s, and . . . Patience can’t read.

Patience can’t read, because she didn’t go to school. She didn’t go to school, because her mom is a single parent who can’t afford the expense of sending all her children to school. Patience, the oldest girl, stays home to help mom with the rest of the children while her brothers go to school.
God, of course, being God, had only begun bugging me, and I vow in my heart that she WILL learn to read! I learn from the principal of the Public School that it costs about $55 a year to cover all the expenses: uniform, pencils, and paper, gym clothes, fees, etc. By now, God has explained a couple of other things to my heart: I will pay for her education all the way through college if she chooses to go, and that there are LOTS of other girls who have tremendous potential, but unable to attend because of money and their sex.
This happened in 2013 and I told this story on the stage of our Annual Conference in Lakeside that year as part of the 3C’s mission report inviting others to join me. As our time up front-ended, and we went on break, a pastor rushed up to the stage, thrust $50 in my hand, and said “Here, take this for another girl. I have to give this to you.” That was the first gift for what we call “Girls of Promise” .
Currently, we have 12 girls receiving ‘endowed’ scholarships. We don’t start a girl now until we have enough funds, or the pledges in place, to carry her all the way through the current Harrisburg system. I can’t imagine saying after a year or two, “Sorry, no more school for you, we are out of money.” More people are offering scholarships and more girls are getting a chance to go to school.

e, of course, don’t know who has the potential and which families have the most need, so we empowered a local team consisting of the Pastor of St John UMC, a representative of the community, and the Principal of the school to identify the girls. Our “Girls” attend the Harrisburg Public School, the Lutheran School, and the St John School.
Currently, school goes through the 9th grade. Farmer-to-Farmer is working to facilitate the construction of an Ag/Tech High School in the community, and hope to extend the scholarship program to include not only High School, but University if possible