A Brief History Lesson

I just returned from watching a documentary on the recent history of Liberia. Wow.

Fourteen years of civil war, beginning in 1989. I had just begun elementary school in 1989.

Charles Taylor. Anyone who has watched the movie Lord of War has seen a thinly veiled reference of him. His court date for for crimes against humanity is in a few weeks.

A peace agreement was reached in October 2003. I had just begun a year of service in La Villita, Chicago.

The first free elections were held in October 2005. I had just begun working as a youth pastor.

I have just begun the final stretch of this sail and will soon arrive in Liberia. A few days later the president of the country will come and visit us.

Try to wrap you mind around this present reality. Each year the Human Development Index ranks the world's countries according to their degree of development. Niger sits on the bottom of this list as number 177. Liberia hasn't made the list yet, because there isn't yet much to report. About 70% of the people in the country live off of less than one American dollar each day. About 80% of the population is currently unemployed. Monrovia used to be a war zone four years ago. The remaining bullet holes are a vivid reminder of this. There is need for food, clean drinking water, basic health care... an infrastructure.

The UN has established security with a peacekeeping force of about 17,000 troops. The United States has helped fund a large portion of this operation. In addition, I heard on the news a few months ago that we have forgiven Liberia whatever financial debt it owed the U.S. Now, the country was organized in 1847 when some liberated American slaves sailed to Africa to form this nation. I am told that to this day the people feel a close connection with America, like they are the 51st state.

Because of the security the UN provides, there is a community of Non-Government Organizations present who are serving with the people. Oxfam, Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and World Vision are a few familiar groups that Mercy Ships serves with in Liberia. I hear that they are doing beautiful things there and look forward to witnessing it firsthand.

I share all of the grim challenges of the country not to belittle it in any way but to articulate a few of the ways that it is different from back home. I would not want anyone to describe my home in this manner, especially someone who has never stepped foot there. I mean all of this in respect acknowledging that I have a great deal to learn. I simply hope to share what I learned tonight.