Kuwaa Mission Prayer Letter

July & August 2025

Prayers ascending for the students and staff of the Dick and Doris Thompson Memorial Day Care Center and Elementary School!  This month, we give thanks to God for the Day Care Center and elementary school in the Fassama Township, Belle District, Gbapolu County.

The Dick and Doris Thompson Memorial Day Care Center and Elementary School is named in honor of the Thompsons, whose ministry and Liberian home were located near Fassama in the 1970s.  Reports from the community are that the school is one of the leading schools in Fassama in the Kuwaa Region of Liberia.  The school began in 2023.  In the first year, there were 29 students.  We are so pleased to report that the student body of the school has grown from 29 students to 90 students this school year.  The student body is currently made up of 58 girls and 32 boys. 

The Kuwaa mission, with the support of your prayers and financial contributions, makes a difference in the lives of the people of Fassama.  The children are learning to read, to do mathematics, and other things which will help them and their community as they grow up. Reading and writing in English are good things. But the unique thing about this Fassama school is that it addresses one of the most difficult challenges we face today in Liberia and the rest of Africa – we are forgetting our mother tongue.

The English language, the official, commercial, and social language of Liberia, is slowly and effectively forcing the Liberian languages into extinction. The disappearance of African languages has become alarming enough to claim the attention of reputable international media like the BBC and American Public Radio. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates that about 40% of the world’s languages are endangered. Most of these are African languages. Sadly, the Kuwaa or Belle language is among those heading toward extinction. All the factors leading to this extinction fit the Kuwaa situation. One factor that has had the most impactful negative effect on the heart language was the prohibition of the use of indigenous languages in school. While that had its plus side in making all Liberians be able to communicate with each other in a shared language, it helped immensely in relegating the heart language with all of its cultural values. Today, most of our children and grandchildren do not speak the Kuwaa language, even children in the villages.

Dick and Doris, after whom the Fassama school is named, were one of the two couples that the Lutheran Bible Translators assigned to the Kuwaa region in the 1970s to help translate the Bible into the Kuwaa language and produce Kuwaa literature that would help preserve the Kuwaa language. The good news is that there is now a Kuwaa version of the New Testament, and progress is being made on the Old Testament translation. Despite this progress, however, we cannot be content with this accomplishment; we need people who can read the language.  

This is why a class in the Kuwaa language at the Dick and Doris Thompson Memorial Elementary School is a thing that calls for celebration!

This move is so impactful that actions are being taken to extend the system across the district, even in public schools. The district and county education officers have shown their support for the idea by selecting pilot sites and including Kuwaa teacher training in the upcoming September 2025 educational training workshop. Please keep the Dick and Doris Thompson Memorial Day Care Center and Elementary School in your prayers.  Financial Contributions can be sent to The Kuwaa Mission at the address below, with Dick and Doris Thompson School in the memo line of your check.        

 

 

 

 

 

  Prayer: Most gracious God, we thank you for the many gifts you bestow upon your people. We thank you especially for the gift of language. You attached value to every language. We have not followed your lead. Forgive us and bless our effort to recover what we have lost. Bless those who work with us to make this happen. We have prayed 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.

Donate

Kuwaa Mission – 6620 E. 11th Ave.  Anchorage, AK  99504

www.kuwaamission.org                          Facebook: Kuwaa-Mission

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