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For we
do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your
servants for Jesus' sake. 2 Cor. 4:5
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Dear Friends of Service to Servants,
Who do you
love? God, of course. Certainly my wife, son and daughters come
immediately to my mind. My parents
and two brothers also are among those I love the most. (It is one of my greatest pleasures to
have people meet my family. They are
incredible people.) I also love each
of the people on our board of directors... another group of truly great
people.
Yet what about
people you've never met? Some
self-righteous folks asked Christ about the greatest commandments and He
gave two: 1) Love God and 2) Love your neighbor. As they nitpicked about who a neighbor was, Christ gave the story of the Good
Samaritan as an example of love shown to a stranger. He went further in this story to show
that the love He was speaking of involved action, time and sacrifice.
As I remember the
story of the Good Samaritan, I am reminded of each of you. You sacrifice your time, talents, prayers
and finances to come to the aid of "neighbors" that you've never
met. And you do it in the name of
Christ.
So thanks for being
such a good neighbor to the people of Liberia.
Your neighbor,
Rodney
Edwards
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August's
Featured Ministry
This month's featured ministry is The Lord's
Prayer Ministry. We were introduced
to this ministry by Ridge Burns and Dion Quinn of God's Kids www.godskids.org
while on a joint mission last
February. The leader of The Lord's
Prayer is John K. Kpewoan. John is a
native Liberian who spent several years in Canada during the war era. His heart has always been for his fellow
countrymen and especially for the children of Liberia.
The Lord's Prayer Ministry includes an
orphanage with approximately 60 children, a school for the children who
live onsite and a church which John leads as pastor. John also has agricultural efforts
underway such as raising various crops, pigs and chickens. He has a desire to create
self-sufficiency for the ministry and also to help the other orphanages
that God's Kids supports in the areas of proper orphanage management,
agricultural production, etc.
Perhaps the highest compliment that The
Lord's Prayer Ministry received was when Ridge Burns told me, "This is
probably the best run orphanage in the entire country."
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Education
and Training
Effective Strategic Planning Goes a Long Way: The Economics of
Education & Training Ministry in Liberia
One thing Liberia does not lack is
multiplicity of opportunities for ministry. Those NGO's (Non-governmental
organizations) that are exclusively committed to digging wells to provide
safe water supply have ample opportunities to serve the people of Liberia for
a long time. Those who are committed primarily to educational development
may serve even longer. Orphanage developers and proprietors have similar
opportunities. Whichever service area one turns this reality lurks. On the
one hand, the nation's social order and services were broken and devastated
by a long civil war. On the other hand, resources are not in unlimited
supply to fix them all. The question then becomes, how does a
ministry of Education & Training, such as Service To Servants (STS)
provides, actually become effective in such a situation?
The answer is: strategy. Strategy is a predetermined
method or set of methods that we formulate to aid us in optimizing our
effectiveness and/or the use of available resources as we face challenges
or the implementation of goals. Because our world is not lacking in
opportunities and challenges but is lacking in resources, we must find
better ways to make ends meet resources (such as in budgeting), or by
deciding between the urgent and the important in the
application of effort and resources. In sum, we must organize our
priorities and attend to them in order of importance based on real needs
and available resources. And because STS is fully committed to a ministry
of Education & Training in Liberia, we are currently asking the hard
questions to develop a strategic approach to attending to our great
challenges in Liberia in education and training: Which needs both inside
and outside the Church is the Lord leading us to service? How might we
effectively service those needs over the next 5 to 10 years? We are
developing a sound strategic framework that clearly identifies our ministry
priorities in Liberia, in alignment with our vision, as we seek to optimize
the value of the dollars donors provide the Education & Training
ministry, and as we hold ourselves accountable before the Lord as good
stewards. In the Liberian context, this is real, good economics. Please
pray with us for much wisdom and understanding as we develop this strategic
framework.
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Logistical
Services
 School Supplies
Needed for September 13th Container
In the U.S. August is the month for
fantastic savings on school supplies.
We are seeing boxes of 10 pencils at 10 cents per box, 70 page
composition books at 10 cents each and crayons and other school supplies at
incredibly low prices as well. Last
year you sent more than 3,000 composition books to Liberian Christian
schools so that the children could have paper to complete their school
work. This makes a huge difference
in the quality of their education.
If you would like to purchase school products for the September
container we would love to send them over for you. You can purchase and ship the supplies to
us, send the money to us and we'll have someone buy them locally or, if you
are close to Suwannee, Florida, take them to Suwannee Baptist Church within
the next 2 weeks and I will pick them up while there.
As this is written, the May 15th
container is working its way through the Freeport of Monrovia. I arrived, 30 days late, about 1 week ago
due to a dockworkers strike in a French port where
it was being transferred between ships.
God knew that was going to happen and didn't seem too worried so
we're learning not to worry also.
Due to a lack of cargo, we delayed the
August 15th container shipment until September 13th. It is our responsibility to be good
stewards of God's resources and sending a half empty container to Liberia
didn't seem like good stewardship to us.
Very soon after delaying the ship date we received a single delivery
of goods that amounted to almost 25% of the entire capacity. Near the same time we received a request
to ship a vehicle. So we are now
nearing capacity (there's still some room however).
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Financial
Integrity
God is Pleased with Integrity
Ezra, it is
believed, wrote most or all of the Chronicles we find in scripture. At one point he is speaking to God about
the building of a temple. Pay close
attention to what he says as he speaks with God.
O LORD our God, as for all this abundance
that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it
comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. I know, my God, that you test the heart
and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given
willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how
willingly your people who are here have given to you. O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac
and Israel,
keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their
hearts loyal to you. (I Chronicles 29:16-18 NIV)
There are a couple of truths in the above
verses that apply perfectly to what STS believes about integrity. First, we are committed to integrity as a
ministry and to teaching integrity to others because God is "pleased
with integrity." If for no
other reason than it pleases God, we should care about integrity. Second, when people understand God's
desire for integrity in their lives, they have a desire in their hearts to
serve you. So we know that God has
called us to model and teach the God pleasing character trait of integrity. Thank you for helping us be an organization of integrity that teaches others
about integrity.
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Business
Development
Crossroads Community Church
Serves Liberia
Although a minority of Monrovia has received access to
electrical power, the majority of the city and the entire remainder of the
country remain without power save diesel generators. This lack of power can be especially
difficult for orphanages and schools.
Crossroads Community Church
of Lawrenceville, Georgia (www.crossroadsconnect.com)
understands this need and has invested significantly in the One of One
Hundred investment fund to ensure that a generator sales and repair
business can be started. This
business will provide job skills and employment in a country with an
unemployment rate exceeding 80%. It
will also provide the ability to supply a number of orphanages in the area
with a generator to provide electricity during the evening hours.
It is humbling to be entrusted with Kingdom
funds by a church that is on the cutting edge of reaching people in their
community and around the world.
Crossroads has as their "Crazy Vision":
- One Church
- One Church
of Many
Locations
- One Church Serving Many Churches
- One Church Serving Many Countries
- One Church Igniting a Revolution in the Next Generation
It is our privilege to serve Crossroads Community Church
in Serving Many Countries which, in turn, will Ignite a Revolution in the
Next Generation.
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Serving with STS
Robert Cuppah
Chief Operating
Officer
Sinkor, Liberia
Board of Directors
Dave Bearchell
Lawrenceville, GA
Chuck Clark
Treasurer
Murfreesboro, TN
Gayla Edwards
Bell Buckle, TN
Rodney Edwards
Bell Buckle, TN
Matt Elsberry
Flowery Branch, GA
Beccy Lanier
Prayer Leader
Lawrenceville, GA
Dr. Richard Morris
Beaver Falls, PA
Marnie Farness
Newsletter Editor
Vancouver, WA
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"If
we are faithful to God in little things, we shall gain experience and
strength that will be helpful to us in the more serious trials of
life."
Hudson Taylor
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