Several churches in the Black River Association in Kennett, Missouri, have begun assisting a ministry to children in the western African nation of Liberia. The ministry is called Calvary Love Ministries. The association has sponsored mission trips several times and plans to continue to support the Liberian ministry.
Paul Reams, the associational mission strategist, explained that the Calvary Love organization ministers primarily to orphans — many who do not have parents or whose parents could not provide for them. There are about 30 children there.
Calvary Love Ministries also has a Christian school with 200 students from area villages and a Sunday worship service with about 70 attendees. They are in a small village located a couple hours from the Liberian capital of Monrovia. Liberia is a very poor country. Many do not have enough food and water.
Surviving on one bowl of rice
One of the Black River pastors, Matthew Kamper of Ely Baptist Church, Kennett, said many of the children are subsisting on bowls of rice —sometimes two per day and sometimes just one. He said an annual income for many in the nation would equal about $350 U.S. dollars.
The teams that have been traveling to Liberia from Black River Association have arranged to drill a well to provide clean water and they have recently constructed a chicken coop and supplied the center with chickens to provide eggs and poultry to eat and to sell to people in other nearby villages. In addition to that, First Baptist Church Senath has funded a solar panel array and a set of batteries in order to provide electricity for the center.
And they see spiritual impact as well. Many Liberians have an identification with Christianity since they were founded as a colony for returning freed African slaves from America in 1822. But they do not often have the heart knowledge of Jesus, being more of a cultural identification. Reams said they are alleviating human need but also bringing Jesus Christ to the orphans and the villagers nearby.
Pastor Kamper said, “We are making disciples of the poorest of the poor, and since Christ has called us to make those disciples, it just happens to be among orphans who are also in great need. That is ‘pure and undefiled religion’ (to take care of orphans as it says in the Book of James).”
He added, “We are hoping though our efforts that we can change the face of the country of Liberia for the future and individuals’ sake for the Kingdom of God.”
Kamper said they would see groups of Muslim Liberian men gathering in the evening for their prayer calls. They shared Bibles with the people in the villages and gave them to the school children to read to their parents (who often do not read). Most people in Liberia speak English along with a dialect called Bassa.
Broken heart
Another mission trip participant was Chancellor Wayne and his wife Melissa of Kennett. Wayne is a chiropractor and Melissa is a schoolteacher. They had the vision to build the chicken coop and supply the compound with chickens to raise. He said they will be able to provide a meal with eggs each day to the orphans and students. And when the initial flock of 45 chickens increases, they will be able to harvest poultry and have even more protein to supplement their meals of rice.
He said the villagers grow crops of cassava as well as plantains. He was happy the well was able to be drilled a year or so ago because the old well was only 35 feet deep, and it had a sheen of oil on the top of the water. The well drilled in 2023 extends down 150 feet into the sand and provides pure, clean water. The children can fill their water bottles each morning.
Reams said one or two things broke his heart as he traveled to the African nation the latter part of March.
He and Wayne were repairing a sign for the children’s center and school and a grandfather stopped by carrying a tiny baby. Reams said it was so tiny it looked like it been born prematurely. But it was a 7-month-old baby girl. The grandfather freely offered the baby to the men. He said, “You can take her so she can have more food.” Reams said they were offered many children as they went into the villages during the trip. They were not able to take the baby, but it was an example of how poor and desperate the people are in that part of the world.
He also said, “The condition of the people in the community was a touching thing. You see the kids, the needs, hungering for attention, the need for male role models. The communities are just covered with trash and desperation. God’s people there are hurting and need Jesus.”
The association is in this project for the long haul. They have developed a five-year plan to assist the Liberian Christians.
It was begun because of the youth minister at Ely Baptist Church, Kennett, pastor Akinlade Caulcrick, Jr. (who goes by “A.C.”). He and his parents emigrated to the U.S. from Ghana. His father, who is known as Pastor Joel, is the founder and director of the Calvary Love children’s home and school. When Pastor A.C began youth ministry at Kennett, it seemed like a logical thing for the Black River Association churches to help him take relief and the Gospel back to Liberia where his parents lead the children’s ministry.
Reams has been the associational mission strategist for a little more than a year, and he said he’s been on many mission trips to several nations and many parts of the U.S. as he has served as a pastor of churches in Arkansas and Texas.
For more information, you can contact Reams at: 68blackriver@gmail.com or 573-888-3867.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Richard Nations and originally published by the Pathway.
