Maundy Thursday is celebrated as part of Holy Week, when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet and gave them the mandate to love one another. He says in John 15:11-12 that by loving each other, His joy will be in us, and our joy will be complete:

“¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹²My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

I want to relay a story about an experience that I had this past February in the Kuwaa village of Lowuma, Liberia. I spent 4 months in Liberia last year and 3 weeks in the village of Lowuma as a volunteer for the Kuwaa Mission (see www.kuwaamission.org) to help bring them safe drinking water.  They only had a stream for a water source, and of course, that stream carries life-threatening diseases. I was the only white person around, so I really developed bonds with the villagers. They fed me, gave me a place to sleep, brought me bath water, cared for me, and befriended me.

I lived with the family of Abaku A. Bility: wife Fanta , son Seikou (5 yrs old), daughter Fatumata (2 yrs), and son Boikei (1 month old). Seikou became my friend, although we couldn’t communicate well due to the language barrier.  He would bring me a chair to sit on while I was watching the well work, and he brought my Liberian slippers (flip-flops), when I took off my shoes.

Mamade (left) with the catfish he caught, and Seikou (right).

He would sit on my lap and ask me to play the harmonica, which he called my cell phone.  Seikou had a friend  named Mamade, about 10 yrs old. He would wash my clothes at the stream, and he loved to fish.  He often brought catfish for Abaku’s sister Fatumata to cook for me in a peanut soup.

This year, I returned to Liberia to continue the well work for the Kuwaa Mission.  I left Billings on a cold Saturday morning in February and arrived in Liberia on a hot Sunday evening. Thanks to the generosity of Samaritan’s Purse, I flew by helicopter to the village of Kondesu. Several days later, I walked the 4 hour trail to Lowuma.  The heat was insufferable.  By the time I reached the village, I was suffering from heat exhaustion. I had stopped sweating, and my skin was hot to the touch. My body had not yet acclimated to the heat of Liberia, and we had walked during the heat of the day.  Only prayers and my desire to see my friends and family in Lowuma kept me going. 

The trail enters the village at the soccer field.  On Sunday evenings, it is common for the kids and young adults to play soccer, or football, as most of the world calls it.  There were several people playing a game, and Mamade was one of them.  When he saw me approaching the village, he ran out to meet me and grabbed my hand.  What a delight to see him again!  To look down and see that huge smile and shining eyes looking up at me!  We walked to Abaku’s house, and I sat on the bench outside.  It was a relief to sit and rest after the long hot walk, tripping over tree branches, crossing streams on logs, and running through ant trails.  I was exhausted, dripping in sweat, and filthy dirty.

As I sat on the bench, Mamade kneeled down before me.  He took off my tennis shoes and socks, and he tenderly wiped the dirt off my feet with my socks.  Tears flooded my eyes, and I thought of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet on Maundy Thursday.  Mamade was caring for me so tenderly.  His love for me was tangible.  Seikou ran and got my slippers (flip-flops), and I rested.  My joy was complete.

Love one another, just as Jesus first loved us.  This way, His joy will be in us, and our joy will be complete.