The Kuwaa Mission is praying for the three new Kuwaa Parish evangelists selected for training over the next two years. Comfort Kollie, Sarah Jeogbor, and Aloysius Korboi Joedoe, the three candidates, arrived at the Lewis T. Bowers Lay Leaders & Ministerial Training Center (LTB-LLMTC) campus on Sunday, August 11, 2024. The three are the Kuwaa Mission-sponsored evangelists for ministry among their people in the Kuwaa Parish of the Lutheran Church in Liberia. Comfort, Sarah, and Aloysius traveled by motorbikes for over thirteen hours through the rain, mud, and cold to get to the center for training – the training that will prepare them for service to their people.       Unlike in previous years, when the Mission had more men than women, this batch of candidates is comprised of two women and one man. This scenario is an encouraging sign for ministry in the Kuwaa region! Our young people are not only exposed to men in leadership in the church, but they also see women who are close to their age in leadership roles. We are deeply grateful to the Kuwaa Mission and her supporters for the profound impact they are making on the Kuwaa people through the training of men and women with a deep understanding of Bible interpretation. Thanks to the Kuwaa Mission, ten of the sixteen Kuwaa towns now have at least one trained evangelist, a testament to our collective efforts. We pray that every Kuwaa town will soon have at least one trained evangelist! We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Tebah Nyanku of Konjade and Mr. Joshua Mulbah of Kalata, the Kuwaa Mission’s dedicated foot soldiers, for their relentless work in finding our new evangelists. Their efforts, along with the support of the trained evangelists in the parish, have encouraged our three new candidates. We are told there were more volunteers for the training, but most couldn’t come due to the Mission’s limited capacity. Like those who came before them, Comfort, Sarah, and Aloysius are making significant sacrifices to be trained for ministry to their people. When asked about the level of sacrifice they are making, Aloysius, the only married one among these candidates, humbly shared his perspective: “No sacrifice we make can equal the sacrifice Jesus made for us. We are happy to be doing something for the good of the Gospel.” We admire their dedication.                

Prayer: God of the Kuwaa people, we thank you again for the three willing servants you have blessed us with. We pray that you remove every obstacle so their learning may be smooth and joyful. Bless your mission, the Kuwaa Mission, and all those who work to make it viable. We pray in Jesus’ name with thanksgiving! Amen!

Jensen Seyenkulo COO, Kuwaa Mission

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This month’s prayer letter comes from Mrs. Korpo Barsay. Korpo facilitates several Mission activities, including Days-4-Girls, Community-Led Sanitation Training, Vacation Bible School, and Community Tea for Elderly Women. She started work with the Mission in 2013 as an assistant to Cindy Ellis Bye (Sombee). Since then, Korpo has worked with every local and international leader who has served the Mission on the field. Besides Cindy, those leaders include Stan, Rev. Paye, and me. Today, she works directly with the COO of the Kuwaa Mission. Korpo recently returned from the district, where she conducted three of her four activities before returning to the Capital City of Liberia, Monrovia. She will tell her own story. Dear Kuwaa Mission friends and family, My name is Korpo Barsay. Most of you do not know me. You may not have heard of me, but I have worked with the Kuwaa Mission for over eleven years. It has been a blessing to be a part of this team, no matter who the leader has been. My joy in serving this Mission comes from the fact that the Kuwaa Mission has made my dream of serving my people and making a difference a reality! I can see what difference this Mission is making, and thinking I am a part of it all is beyond my imagination! Thank you for what you are doing for my people and me! I work in several areas of the Kuwaa Mission’s ministries. Following are some of the ways that the Kuwaa Mission enables me to make a difference in the lives of my people:    

1. Vacation Bible School – We travel up to the region once a year and conduct something like Sunday School. We plan to do these activities during the long academic break between June and August. There have been times when we couldn’t get up to the region due to the heavy downpour of rain. We have been amazed at how accommodating the school authorities have been at such times. They will allow us to conduct our classes even on school days. It shows us the appreciation these towns have for what the Kuwaa Mission does among them. Another exciting thing about these VBS sessions is that there is no discrimination; all children of all denominations and all religions, including Muslims, participate! It is just amazing!
2. Days-4-Girls – This program is intended to help young women who are experiencing monthly changes in their bodies and want to be in school. The Days-4-Girls program is the most challenging part of my team’s work, especially since we must make our own kits. But I enjoy doing it very much because you can immediately see the work’s impact. Sadly, we skipped the Days-4-Girls activities this year due to some problem with delivery. As is true for the postponement or cancellation of any of these programs, it was tough for me as I saw young women who badly needed these services get turned away because we couldn’t provide those needs. This experience has encouraged us to manufacture our own kits. We have done it before; we can do it again!
3. Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) Training—I am so grateful to the Kuwaa Mission for introducing me to this approach to health and sanitation training. Clean drinking water is essential and so is the air we breath. As we work together to provide clean drinking water from the wells, we work together to clean environments for clean air. Since we live and work in communities, the CLTS system presents something familiar. Seeing how it is quickly owned by the community leaders and expanded upon has been exciting. I only wish that the enthusiasm would be sustained. Although that is not the case in most communities, some of the towns have impressed me by keeping their communities clean for a really long time.
4. Tea for the Elderly Women – As far as I can tell, this concept was created by our dear friend, Cindy Ellis Bye (Sombee). She came up with the idea to be inclusive. This activity aims to include the older women who are too old for the Days-4-Girls kits and too tired to run and compete for notebooks, crayons, and candies with the Vacation Bible School children.  It is working! This activity is the last stage of my work every time I’m in these Belle towns, but it is certainly not the least. It is the most relaxing and the most fun for me. The idea is that since excluding the adult women from all the other activities creates a sense of resentment towards the Mission, climaxing the three-to-four-day events with activity as small assharing a cup of tea will work wonders. It has for all those involved, including myself.

How can I thank the Kuwaa Mission? Words are not enough. Please accept my many thanks, Kuwaa Mission! May God bless the work that you do! Prayer: Lord, thank you for your servant, Korpo Barsay, and her work with your people. Provide for her every need, O God! Increase her zeal for your work and give her joy in doing what you call her to. We also pray that those who partner with the Mission may find joy in the partnership and in every aspect of their service to you and your people. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen!

Your contributions to the Kuwaa Mission are tax-deductible.  We are a 501c3 non-profit organization.  Our tax ID number is 27-5458111. Donations can be given in two ways:  A Check to the mission address or PayPal on our Website:  D

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This month’s Kuwaa Mission Prayer Letter comes from one of the three Kuwaa Mission-sponsored evangelists at the Louis T. Bowers Lay Leaders and Ministers Training Center (LTB-LLMTC) in Totota, Bong County, Liberia. Prince Kollie completed his training at the training center in February of this year. He wrote this letter of thanks before the graduation ceremony.

Like his classmates and all others before him, Prince volunteered to travel several hundred miles away from home and family to be better prepared to minister to his people. This venture was a dream come true for Prince, thanks to the Kuwaa Mission. The decision to travel away from home and family for nine weeks at a time, four times in two years, is a testimony to his faith. He did not only travel away from his family; he, like his colleagues, abandoned his farming activities at crucial periods in the farming season, exposing his family to the possibility of experiencing hunger. (We thank God that some congregations provide minimum farming help to their evangelists while they are at school).    

Prince writes: Dear Kuwaa Mission and Friends of Kuwaa Mission, I thank God for all of you! I am Evangelist Prince K. Kollie from Marvordor Town, a member of St. Peter Lutheran Church, Kuwaa Parish. I am married. My wife and I brought five children into this world, but we also have other children living with us who are children of our relatives. They are our children, too.

Growing up in my little town, I never thought of becoming anything in the church. I can only say it was the call of God that led me to become an evangelist. Because of my little education, I was asked to read the Bible to my friends several times. Before long, I started reading in church during worship services. Then, I started to love the Bible stories. So, I started reading the Bible stories so that I could teach them in Sunday school. And the congregation started to call on me more and more to read and tell the Bible stories. God started to speak to me through these stories because I just loved them, and I loved telling them! It was hard to leave home for Totota in one way, but in another, it was easy. I wanted to help my wife produce food for the family. It was hard to leave her alone with the children. However, being trained for the Gospel Ministry is something I have dreamed of for a long time. I thank God for calling me, and I thank you, Kuwaa Mission, for helping me become a better interpreter of God’s Word. May God bless you, and God bless your work among us! Amen!    

Prayer: God, thank you for your servant, Prince Kollie. We thank you for providing for him and his family during his studies. As he returns home, he still depends on you to provide for him and his family. We pray that you show up for him and all those you have called among the Kuwaa people to serve their people. Show up for them. Show up also for those who help make the Kuwaa Mission work possible. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Your contributions to the Kuwaa Mission are tax-deductible.  We are a 501c3 non-profit organization.  Our tax ID number is 27-5458111. Donations can be given in two ways:  A Check to the mission address or PayPal on our Website:  D

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Reports reaching us from voters who had traveled home to cast their votes in the last general and presidential elections led us to plan a quick visit to the Kuwaa region. The roads, they said, were impassable; only strong four-wheel vehicles could make it through. They added that the region was reverting to the old practice of taking pregnant women and other patients in hammocks to the nearest possible health facility in search of treatment. We planned to take some essential medicines and materials to the Community Health Assistants (CHAs) and Traditionally Trained Midwives (TTMs) to enable them to attend to their patients in their communities.  

We informed you in an earlier prayer letter that the purpose of the CHA program was to enable the government to reach the sick in remote parts of the country with medical assistance. We also informed you that although the government had trained the CHAs, it had yet to live up to its commitment to provide the necessary medicines to help the CHAs function effectively. This situation led the Kuwaa Mission Board to approve the supply of medicines to these CHAs to help as much as possible. Equipped with a few of the recommended essential medicines and other supplies for the CHAs and TTMs, we left Monrovia on November 9. 

Our destination was Belleh Baloma. Our goal was to arrive in Baloma the same day and have the CHAs and TTMs from three towns meet us two days later. Unfortunately, it did not work out as planned; we got stuck in the mud. The dependable Toyota Land Cruiser successfully fought and conquered every obstacle we faced on our way, but it could not overcome the deep mud we encountered after Goleta. We could not get out of the mud no matter what we tried. At around 11:00 P.M., we split the team up, half walking to Kalata to get help while the other half remaining with the vehicle and the materials. We finally got the vehicle out of the mud with the help we obtained from Kalata the next day. However, the extreme stress on the vehicle’s old engine proved too much. It refused to start. Without any means to communicate by phone or any other means, the vehicle remained in the mud for ten days while we tried to get help with mechanics and parts from Monrovia to help us get out of the forest.

We were determined to accomplish our mission. Therefore, while the vehicle sat in the bush, we invited the CHAs and TTMs from Baloma, Kalata, and Kenata to meet in Kenata. However, because of some miscommunication, the team from Baloma did not show up. Nevertheless, the Kalata team walked to Kenata and, with the Kenata team, received and divided the medicines and other supplies among the three towns. The teams expressed extreme gratitude to the Kuwaa Mission for their assistance and remembering them. It was a proud moment for me as a member of the Kuwaa Mission!  

Finally, we returned from the Kuwaa area in time for the run-off election for the office of President of Liberia, featuring current President George Manneh Weah and contender former Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai.  As of the writing of this prayer letter, Joseph Boakai has been declared the winner of this election and will be inaugurated as President of Liberia in January 2024.  Recognizing the significance of the second peaceful transition of power since the end of the Liberian civil war, President Weah graciously conceded and uttered these words: “Tonight, as we acknowledge the results, let us also recognize that the true winners of these elections are the people of Liberia. Through your peaceful and orderly exercise of your constitutional right to vote, you have again demonstrated your commitment to the democratic principles that bind us together as a nation.”

Prayer: God of peace, we thank you for the peaceful way this significant decision was made in Liberia. This election makes it possible for the ministry of the Kuwaa Mission to continue to make an impact. We pray, O Lord, that the Boakai government will see the Kuwaa Mission as a partner in ministering to your people. Amen!  

Your contributions to the Kuwaa Mission are tax-deductible.  We are a 501c3 non-profit organization.  Our tax ID number is 27-5458111. Donations can be given in two ways:  A Check to the mission address or PayPal on our Website:  D

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Christmas Gift Ideas from the Kuwaa Mission The Kuwaa Mission is excited to provide opportunities to participate in the great adventure of serving God’s people in Kuwaa (Belleh) land, Liberia. The Kuwaa people are a small tribe in Liberia living in one of Liberia’s remotest parts. Being small, remote, and isolated, the Kuwaa people were neglected by the Government and Non-governmental Organizations for many years. However, thanks to the Kuwaa Mission, which began work among the Kuwaa in 2008, the Kuwaa people are once more receiving the attention they have craved for many years. You can help augment the ministry of the Kuwaa Mission in the region this Christmas season. Your donations are tax-deductible. Here are some ways you can help:

1.  Donate $250 to help provide half (½) of what is needed to repair a hand pump andrehabilitate a well to provide safe drinking water for village dwellers. Your donation of $250, 50% of the cost, will help recondition one of the ten wells that are the Kuwaa Mission’s target for 2024. This amount will go toward purchasing materials, transportation, and labor.  

2.  Your $150 donation will help supply essential medicines to one Community Health Assistant for six months. Your donation will cover transportation, the purchase of essential medicines for village dwellers, and incentives for Community Health Assistants.

3.  Your donation of $50 will equip a team of midwives with the materials they need to enable them to help with safe and healthy deliveries. The midwives need gloves, towels, buckets, large bowls, razor blades, and bandages, among other things.

4.  Your $25.00 will make possible one week of Bible-reading on the radio for the entire Kuwaa region.

5.  Donate $250, and you will be funding one-fourth (¼) of what is needed to conduct a Vacation Bible School for the two targeted villages in the Kuwaa region. Your donation will help cover the cost of traveling, teaching materials, snacks, notebooks, writing utensils, and honorariums for teachers.

6.  With your donation of $100, you will help cover one-fourth (¼) of what is needed to conduct Health and sanitation training in the two villages that the Kuwaa Mission has targeted for 2024.

7.  Your $250 will provide 25% of the amount the Mission needs to help the clinic work in Kondesu in 2024. This amount will help subsidize medication, provide incentives for healthcare workers, and transport equipment and medical supplies.  

8.  A donation of $200 will cover the training cost of one of the four evangelists expected to enter the Lay Training Center to be prepared to share the Good News of Jesus Christ in the region. This amount will cover registration, school fees, transportation, and a small allowance for one session of a two-year, four-session program (i.e., the entire cost to train one evangelist for two years is $800.

9.  Your $10 donation will place a Bible in the hands of an evangelist.       

10.  A donation of $100 will help with the cost of running the Days-for-Girls Program. This program helps young girls experiencing their monthly menstruation stay in school. (Note: sometimes girls have stayed out of school during this time due to inadequate or the lack of supplies.)

Your contributions to the Kuwaa Mission are tax-deductible.  We are a 501c3 non-profit organization.  Our tax ID number is 27-5458111. Donations can be given in two ways:  A Check to the mission address or PayPal on our Website:  D

Donate

Kuwaa Mission, PO Box 90513, Anchorage, AK 99509

www.kuwaamission.org                          Facebook: Kuwaa-Mission

Please subscribe to our mailing list if you want to receive our update letters.