March Prayer Letter

I again traveled to Liberia and Kuwaa Chiefdom in the Belle District in mid-January and returned home in early February.  This was a shorter trip than normal but I still feel that I accomplished a lot for the mission and the Kuwaa people. Rev. Dr. Daniel Seyenkulo, a founder of the KM and now the Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Liberia, accompanied me and his wife, Rev. Linda Seyenkulo to the village of Belle Yelleh.  Belle Yelleh was home for much of Liberia’s history as the location for a very notorious prison.  There was no road in and the only planes that went there were government planes carrying prisoners in, very few got out!  However today there are two car roads in and no airstrip!  The road we travelled required a river crossing in a hand powered ferry. This is the first village in the Belle District to receive a cell phone tower and phone connection to the rest of the world!! Solar powered cell phone tower with battery backup We had very productive meetings with the people in town and they recommitted themselves to helping the KM with wells and whatever else that we may request.  We then travelled back to Monrovia to allow the Bishop to complete a days’ worth of paperwork before we flew into another area of the Belle District curtesy of Samaritans Purse and their helicopter.  Here we visited with the people in Fassama, by far the largest village in the district, and then rode motorbikes to Belle Baloma for a visit there.  Fassama School class being address by the Bishop The only pastor for the Belle District and the Kuwaa Chiefdom lives in Belle Baloma and has been doing an excellent job.  During our visit the people spoke very highly of the Rev. Paye and all that he has done for the district. The only functioning night school is being conducted in Belle Baloma but there are hopes for a similar system in all the other villages  – we just need the solar system for each village.  This would be about $1200 per village; they have the student interest (usually older people who need to work during the day) and people who can teach.  Please consider talking with your congregations and friends to see if you can “adopt” a school and get them the badly needed solar system. Belle Baloma School with the Lutheran Church in the background Rev. Paye led the drive to get this school building rebuilt while maintaining the roof structure.  This 9 room school building is complete but still needs blackboards, additional doors, chairs, desks and the solar system.  Unfortunately most schools in the district are not near as nice as the ones in Belle Baloma and Fassama. The people in both Fassama and Belle Baloma were very receptive to the message from the bishop and also recommitted themselves to helping the KM as needed.  Both villages want to be connected to the phone system.  They volunteered, and said if it was possible to get the 30’ long 4” diameter steel pipe tower to Belle Yelleh, to carry it to their villages.  This is at least an 8 hour hike over two tall mountains, and it’s not an easy hike as I’ve done it!! Rev. Paye on the left being honored with the receipt of a “white chicken”.  This shows the towns deep appreciation for all he has done.  Unfortunately he recently lost his wife to cancer.  In her honor the entire district shut down for a day and people travelled across the district to come and pay their respects. So all in all it was a great trip.  This year we also conducted a Children’s Bible School for 130 kids as well as a Community Led Total Sanitation program both in Kondesu.  We conducted an health education class for young women in four villages for the Days for Girls program and distributed about 150 re-useable sanitary kits to young girls just beginning their menstrual periods. Thank you all for your continued support, Stan Olsen:  Acting CEO 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: 

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 monthly update letter.  

Shop like you normally do on Amazon but make a small contribution to the Kuwaa Mission with every purchase.  Please consider adding the Kuwaa Mission.   

February Prayer Letter

COFFEE CLATCH 4 KUWAA

The main priorities of the Kuwaa Mission are to help rebuild the infrastructure of the remote Kuwaa chiefdom. We are accomplishing this with your support, with grants and with the help of the villagers themselves. 
While we are working in on these projects, we are also assisting the people personally where we see a need. 

Coffee Clatch 4 Kuwaa is a brochure we distribute at women’s groups.   We share how we are assisting women with Days4Girls kits, hygiene classes and Bible study.
 
 
Our Liberian partner is Korto.  Church groups are making kits.  Note: Wacky cake was easily made in our village home as it took NO eggs!
Moist and easy!

IF you have an interest in hearing about how we are helping Kuwaa women notify us on our website:
www.kuwaamission.orgDiane Stelling
Board Advisory

Download Images:

Coffee Clatch 1Coffee Clatch 2Wacky Cake

PS: if you are in southern Calif contact me at: Kuwaa5Diane@sbcglobal.net 

2020 Liberia Trip Report

Submitted by: Stan Olsen

I had a long but uneventful flight to Liberia with a night layover in Ghana.  This way I ended up much more refreshed on arrival in Liberia than usual. A longtime friend and a driver from the Lutheran Church in Liberia (LCL) were on time to meet me and we had a good visit on the 30 mile drive to Monrovia.  The airport is an old US Air Force base constructed during our presence in Liberia during the Cold War. Voice of America had a very strong radio station at that time just outside of town.

The next two days were spent buying medicines, signing contracts, meetings with the Bishop of the LCL, the Right Reverend Doctor Daniel Jensen Seyenkulo, a good friend.  The days were also spent confirming the trip by road that starts on Friday (Jan. 24) to the village of Belle Yelleh.

Taking a hand powered ferry across the St. Paul river on the way to Belle Yelleh

Typical scene on the roads “upcountry” in Liberia.  We had to pull this pickup out before we could continue!

Our meetings with the people in Belle Yelleh were very successful thanks in large part to the roles played by the Bishop and our well contractor.  The village people were very thankful that we had travelled so far to meet them and fully agreed to meet all our requests that they fully help carry water, sand, and gravel as well as house and feed the workers.  It was a great meeting and all of us felt it was successful and worth the 8 hour trip over rough roads and a hand powered ferry crossing of the St. Paul River.

Rev. Dr. Daniel Bishop Seyenkulo with his wife Rev. Linda Seyenkulo

First cell phone tower in the Belle District of Liberia.  One can now call anywhere in the work from the “bush”.

The villages are in the process of getting cell phone coverage for the first time.  Belle Yelleh already has service and there are people trying to get coverage in Fassama and Belle Baloma.  Belle Yelleh received their tower and antennae by a vehicle from the cell phone company. Due to the poor condition of the road to Fassama the company is not willing to bring the tower (a 30’ long 4” diameter steel pipe).  The people in both Fassama and Baloma said they would carry the tower from Belle Yelleh to their villages – about a 6-8 hour walk. This is not a KM project but we are trying figure out how to assist logistically to accomplish this objective.  When I first came to Liberia there was not even a motorbike road between the villages and now they almost have phone coverage whereby they could call anywhere in the world!!!

After traveling back over the road and the repeat ferry crossing we arrived back in Monrovia the next day.  Two days later we flew into Fassama in Samaritan’s Purse helicopter for a meeting that day with the village representatives.  The following day we took motorbikes and met with the people in Belle Baloma. The people expressed their gratitude that we had come to see them, expressed their needs and also promised to help us fully with our work.  The meetings were very successful with all the people agreeing to fully cooperate with the Kuwaa Mission to help us meet our goals of meeting their needs.Classroom in Fassama

Well construction is well underway, the Children’s Bible School program in Kondesu attracted over 150 kids, the Community Led Sanitation Program was also conducted in Kondesu along with one Days for Girls program.  We also conducted a Days for Girls program in Gatema, Gorwoma and Gbeyanki.

New well in Belle Balloma

Happy baby in Belle Balloma

It was a wonderful trip, I got many things accomplished, met many old friends and reconfirmed that the work of the Kuwaa Mission is going strong and that the Kuwaa  people trust us and continue to look to us for assistance. It was great to hear them confirm their willingness to do their part in the programs.

Thank you all for your support that enables us to help all the people in the Kuwaa area.

December 2019 Prayer Letter

As 2019 draws to a close and I sit here on Thanksgiving Day and I realize how much I, and we as the Kuwaa Mission, have to be thankful for:

  • The Kuwaa Mission is ALIVE and WELL!!!
  • We have wonderful individual and church partners across the United States
  • We have a strong prayer support group
  • We have a strong financial support base
  • That we have accomplished so very much over the past 10 years (see the August 2019 Prayer Letter for detailed information)
  • That we have a strong viable partnership with the Lutheran Church in Liberia
  • That we have a solid financial base (although we can always use additional funds to meet our programming needs!!)
  • That we have two strong, capable and trustworthy contractors in Liberia who do our Well construction, Children’s Bible School, Sanitation and Days for Girls programs
  • That we have a very committed and dedicated board of directors whose time is totally volunteered and received no monetary compensation
  • That we have developed a strong working relationship with Samaritan’s Purse field staff in Liberia
  • That we have a positive relationship with people of many faiths in the Kuwaa area
  • That we have a good business relationship with many of the commercial businesses in Monrovia from building supply firms to pharmacies to various small transportation entities
  • That we have a good relationship with the Ministry of Health in Liberia
  • That we have established a relationship of trust and mutual expectations with the Kuwaa People in Liberia

As with all volunteer organizations, indeed all organizations, we are currently looking at our past accomplishments and our future hopes and dreams and the best way to meet those ideals, all based on the expressed wishes and needs of the Kuwaa People.  Our relationship with the Lutheran Church of Liberia helps us focus on the best way for us to meet those needs in a culturally sensitive and acceptable method.  As your year draws to a close please take time to examine what you are thankful for and how God has blessed your life.  Yes, we all have experiences and trials that we undoubtedly wished had turned out differently, but we have been so very blessed as individuals, churches, and citizens.

Thank you for your support and I pray that you will continue your prayer and financial support in the months and years to follow.

Stan Olsen,

CEO


Word Version                           PDF Version

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: 

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 monthly update letter.  

 

Shop like you normally do on Amazon but make a small contribution to the Kuwaa Mission with every purchase.  Please consider adding the Kuwaa Mission.   

November 2019 Prayer Letter

Oh, give thanks unto the Lord because he is good, and his love endures forever (Psalm 107:1) When things aren’t going right, or when they aren’t going in the direction, we feel they should be going, we wonder what’s the matter with God. After all, he promises to take care of us, but he doesn’t tell us how he will do it. He also promises all of those who believe in him that he will love us. He adds that his love will grow and continue to grow. Ah, but there is a catch to this. We have to remain faithful to him even when things don’t appear to be going in the right direction. So, what’s the answer to our problem? We are to pray to him asking him to clear up any doubts might have, and then praise him for he is Lord who knows what he is doing. We are to trust the Lord! And we are to trust him that he knows what he is doing. When we look at what he is doing with a new perspective, we will see what he is doing is good and right.  There is something else we need to explore when we question where God is and what he’s doing – me, myself, and I. I am just as guilty as the next person. For instance, I have questioned why the Kuwaa Mission is about ready to stop operation. But then God shows me that he’s still at work helping the Mission to evangelize the Kuwaa people and to help them rebuild their infrastructures. However, in order to do this, we need manpower over here and over there. ½ of the problem is solved. Four people whom we have given scholarships to, have now graduated and are ready to go to work beside Pastor Paye. They are Joedoe Boy Wanley, Edward Payne, Jr., David Garwolo, and Youngor Wanley.                 Oh, give thanks to God because He is paving the way to evangelize the Kuwaa people. God will use Pastor Payer and these. Four Ordained Evangelists mightily. Now we need to step forward and become mighty for the Lord. The Mission is in desperate need of Board members and individuals who would be willing to go Liberia to help supervise the workers doing infrastructure upgrading, to help in VBS, and help teachers in teaching Biblical truths. If you would be willing to serve in either capacity, please let Pastor Carol George know of your interest. Thanksgiving is almost here! Therefore, let us thank the Lord because he is good and his love endures forever. We are thankful for the individuals who served on the Board and especially for Stan Olsen (Project Supervisor, plus lots) and Todd Thompson (Website and Prayer letter distribution) May God help us continue with our mission work.  May he raise up more workers to extend his kingdom. May he hear our mighty thanksgivings. Amen

Word Version                            PDF Version

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: 

Kuwaa Mission, PO Box 90513, Anchorage, AK 99509

www.kuwaamission.org                          Facebook: Kuwaa-Mission

Shop like you normally do on Amazon but make a small contribution to the Kuwaa Mission with every purchase.  Please consider adding the Kuwaa Mission.