By far the biggest church I've been to in West Africa, Bethel has over 2,000 people every week. I was not involved with the main service at all; instead I spoke to the youth service (11-18yrs) who meet in a separate area of the church. Just two of us (the lady sitting to my left pictured above) were involved with that, while the two females on my right in the picture above did a children program, and Randy preached in the main service. My experiences at different churches in different countries every week are always memorable in their own respective ways and this was certainly no different. Because the Liberian Civil War only ceased recently, many people are still suffering mentally and definitely physically (large number of young amputees). There were about 60 youths who were gathered in a fairly large cement room under the main sanctuary for a time of worship and prayer. I'm not going to even try explaining what it's like to speak about "struggles" to people who regularly saw murder (especially their family members in front of them), rape, torture, constant warfare, and immense violence just a few years ago as a regular daily occurrence. Not to mention those in attendance who at one time were child soldiers themselves. Nonetheless, God worked as He always works so faithfully, and I was really able to connect with them and share my heart on a personal level. Their youth pastor asked me to return again next week to talk to the guys one-on-one about decisions, consequences, forgiveness and moving forward. Even though it is impossible for me to fathom the kind of hurt these Liberians are struggling with, I'm looking forward to spending another morning with them. Besides, I feel like they teach me more than they realize simply by their questions about life and personal desires and goals to transform Monrovia into a place of peace and harmony.
