CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF SERVING AS HITHMI
This is where it started on the campus of Liberia International Christian College, on the edge of bush. In May of 2012 with prayer and encouragement from many people, especially the First Evangelical Presbyterian Church family Travis and Gina made a whirlwind trip to Liberia, to have a "look around" to see if there was a need for agriculture development and a way to share Christ. That five day trip has continued to last for 10 years. The Champions, such as you reading this email, have grown right along with the mission. The daily work of the mission happens because the team of Liberians are willing to share with us their talents, their knowledge, and their ideas, just as eagerly as they are willing to learn as much as possible from the Missionaries on the ground and the visitors to the ARC. The Glenn and Sebald families are equally committed to see that the love of Christ is shared, demonstrated, and grows along with agriculture development on the campus of LICC and across Liberia. The Board led by Gary Adams, President, Shelley Lea, VP, Charlotte Long, Matt Crawford, and Travis Sheets, have a heart to see the love of Christ shared through agriculture development grow through local leadership.
This year changes have been made to the operations at the ARC and more will unfold, some known and some yet to be determined but on the radar. You will have to keep reading these updates to stay current on what is happening.
Thank you for being a Champion, a Partner, and Prayer Warrior for Hope In The Harvest Missions International, your support means more than words can express. If you would like to make a donation to support the work in Liberia please click the link below to donate now:
MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS
March was a very difficult month on the emotions and spirit of the team at the ARC.
As many of you know Michael Dahn, pictured above in the yellow shirt, has faced extreme hardships over the past 18 months. This year alone his daughter was brutally raped and left for dead. His son Mackson struggled through illness and sickness never diagnosed. Michael suffered from a malaria that "dropped" him and left a cut on his head. It was towards the end of March when Mackson passed away in the night. While we rejoice that Mackson now has relief from his earthly sickness our heart just breaks for Michael and his family.
Just a few days after burying small Mackson the team suffers yet another tragic loss of a young life and son. Mackson, one of the first ARC members hired back in 2012, lost his son Dominik to some internal infection. Please surround these families in prayer for comfort and peace in their time of grief. Please up lift the Sebalds and the Glenns are they work through these difficult situations along with the rest of the team.
Farming God's Way In The Bush
The was some discussion when the board budgeted $50,000.00 for a used vehicle in Liberia. No one on the board had ever spent that much for their vehicle (tractors not included) and would the HITHMI Champions understand such an expense? The answer to that question was a resounding "YES" the need for a newer Land Cruiser to travel the "Bush" roads in Liberia was never questioned. For his recent trip Pastor Bill did not hesitate to recruit one of the best drivers the mission knows, Mark Kolleh, to be his travel companion for this two day trip to Maryland to the village of Weleken. Mark certainly had his work cut out for him between the driving or mudding through the Bush and fixing one flat tire they made it successfully and on time to share Farming God's Way with Pastor Wilson and his community. During the week long stay, Pastor Bill conducted training in three different areas and shared with over 180 people.
80 FARMERS TRAINED AT THE ARC
4H Liberia returned back to the ARC for a week of training on sustainable agriculture. What is really exciting to see is Meshach, who works for 4H Liberia and is a senior Agriculture student at LICC, led the 5 day workshop. During these five days over 80 farmers were trained with some theory and a lot of practical.
KONAH'S COMMUNICATION
The month of March kept us very busy at the ARC, on the fields of farmers, and conducting training in communities. We saw over 409 people visit the ARC. We trained over 70 people in Farming God's Way. It is a beautiful opportunity to share Christ in many ways with varieties of people.
Prayers:
Please be in prayer for our team as we have struggled with loss and death in a very hard way. We cry for our team members and their families in their sadness.
We also pray for the people in Ukraine many who know no home now.
We ask that you cover our friend Peter Tozay in prayer (pictured below) he announced his retirement from our work. Many of you know Peter's story and his journey to the ARC. He enrolled in the School of Agriculture in 2013 and became a work study student working night security. He was soon hired to the ARC security team. In 2016 Dr. Corey Pope recognized that Peter had a lot of insight and knowledge using a microscope, managing a lab, and had animal pharmacy experience. When the Dr. James Milstead Science Lab was built Peter became the Lab Technician. About two years ago Peter purchased land and began to make a farm, now he wants to spend more time on his farm. He will be missed as we see the newly hired mid managers take on his work.
Also I ask for pray for me as I was invited to join CARITAS group in Monrovia on Tuesday the 5th of April, 2022 for a meeting. I pray that from what I learn and share Liberia could collaborate in order to improve the agriculture sector in Liberia.
We never grow tired of telling you thank you for your generous support of our work. This year we celebrate 10 years and we look to another 10 plus years to grow Christ in the hearts of Liberians as we grow in our agriculture.
Praises:
We continue to celebrate that more people come to the ARC for training, knowledge, and rest (visiting missionaries). We are thankful to offer such a place for many people to see Christ being lived out in school, workers, teachers, and all.
We are very grateful to God for seeing the Glenns returned safely to Liberia and to their home. They inspire us all to be and do more.
To you our friends, we appreciate God for what He is doing and what He will do through the ARC in Liberia and how you give much to see that His work continues as we work. We pray for you and your families to be safe and protected.
EXPLORATORY TRIP TO PERU - THERE IS STILL ROOM
Hans Vargas and Travis Sheets will be leading a exploratory trip to Moyobamba Peru, August 13th - 20th. Are you interested in meeting will locals to learn about the development opportunities for agriculture, or maybe meeting with Pastors to offer encouragement to them in their work, or maybe doing some small renovation/construction projects, this trip is for you. Contact Hans below and ask to be included on the information email.