Woman’s trip to Liberia reinforces work by Tecumseh United Methodist Church

By DEB WUETHRICH

Raisin Township resident Jan Shuster has been on mission trips before, visiting Piedras Negras, Mexico, four times as part of a medical team, but she never expected to travel 6,000 miles to visit a country that has been called “the poorest of the poor.” In September of this year, however, that’s exactly what she did when an opportunity arose, traveling on a fact-finding mission to Liberia with a group from Edenton Street United Methodist Church based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Jan is also a member of Tecumseh United Methodist Church (TUMC) which partners with the Philip A. Robert Church in Liberia. TUMC provides financial assistance and supplies for the small, rural church, helped rebuild a school destroyed during Liberia’s 14-year civil war, and currently is rebuilding the church. While she spent a good deal of the time visiting Edenton programs, Jan also was able to travel to Philip A. Robert Church for a couple of hours and got to meet Rev. Sam Whornee, its pastor, and the congregation.

“It was an interesting drive,” she said of traveling there first from the capital city of Monrovia, then to Buchanan, and then to a small village on roads that were filled with ruts. Her trip also came during the rainy season, which didn’t help the roadways.
“It was in a very rural area — in the bush — but on what they considered a main road,” she said. She said the members were mostly older people, but some children also were there, and they were chanting and clapping their hands in greeting. “Even though they were clapping and singing, their faces were so sad,” Jan said, noting that this image stays on her mind. “They have been through so much. But they were very grateful that someone from the United States would come to their small village.”

While there, Jan said the children all wanted to touch her skin because they weren’t used to many white faces, and they enjoyed having their pictures taken and being shown the results. The congregation also presented her with a dress and head wrap and helped her put it on following the church service. With the dress, she became a layperson of the church and was given the name “Decontee,” meaning “everything has time.” The people chose that name, Jan said, because they felt it was time for the Americans to visit their village and time to rebuild their lives.

“The oldest person in the village spoke and said he never thought in his lifetime that he’d ever see someone from the United States come there,” Jan said, noting that she had been told that such personal contact helps give the people hope. “They were very thankful and gracious for the money our church had sent to help them repair their school because they hadn’t been able to use it without a roof.” She also gave them $520 in cash that her church had sent and in return, was presented with fresh vegetables and fruit. She said it was sad to learn that the church once had 300 members, but after being burned by rebels during the war, people had left their homes for other areas thinking they would be safer.
The Methodist Church’s first presence in Liberia came in 1832 when a sickly missionary named Melville Cox accepted a challenge to go there and build a church. Jan said she got to visit that church and even to do some symbolic rebuilding of the church by unearthing some bricks. She likens the rebuilding of the country to what happened with Hurricane Katrina — it will take time. Some of the other programs she visited included a school for the deaf and a training facility where young people learned trades such as baking, woodworking, tailoring and cosmetology.

“They will tell you that they have to build their way to self-sufficiency,” she said. She found the people to be very enterprising, operating businesses from wheelbarrows and under umbrellas, operating from generators since there is no electricity. She even found a booth where cell phones could be charged and was able to call her children while there.
Among the stories that touch her heart are those of child soldiers who were pulled into the war and are now in their 20s, carrying the guilt of some of their actions, even in their own towns. She said the book, “A Long Way Gone,” by Ishmael Beah describes a similar experience, and “The House at Sugar Beach” by Helene Cooper also would help readers understand the Liberian situation.

Jan said the experience deepened her own faith after observing the spirit of the hard-working Liberian people who found it important to dress up for services and treated Sunday as a Holy Day in much the way she recalled as a young girl in this country. “They have nothing, and yet they have great faith,” she said. “I feel a responsibility to work even harder for scholarships for the children and to talk to as many people as I can who might want to help.”

For more information about the partnership with Philip A. Robert Church or to make a donation, contact the Tecumseh United Methodist Church at 423-2523.