History of Liberia

The first time that I heard of Liberia was on a History Channel special about 5 years ago that detailed the story of US officials in the US Embassy trying to escape Liberia once the civil war reached the capital city of Monrovia.  The images of the civil war captured in that documentary were some of the worst I had ever seen and opened my eyes to a new level of violence and brutality.

Little did I know that 5 years later God would open a door to a mission adventure to Liberia that would awaken my mind to the fascinating and complex history between America and Liberia and awaken my heart to the power of God's redemptive and healing hand on a nation, a community and the human heart.  The trip redefined Liberia for me and the capacity for a people to walk in humility, genuineness and out of their brokenness an overflowing hunger and thirst for the things of God.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Matthew 5:3-6

Profile

Location: Laying on the Atlantic in the southern part of West Africa, Liberia is bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast. 

Size: Covers approximately 43,000 sq miles which is about the size of Tennessee

Population: 3,476,608

Capital: Monrovia (named after American President James Monroe)

Government:  Republic

President: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (2006)

Monetary Unit: Liberian and US dollar

Flag: The Liberian flag bears close resemblance to the flag of the United States, showing the ex-American slave origins of the country.

Language: National language is English

Climate and Geography:  Liberia has a hot equatorial climate with most rainfall arriving in summer with harsh harmattan winds in the dry season. Liberia's populated Pepper Coast is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the sparsely populated inland is forested, later opening to a plateau of drier grasslands.    

Early History

The history of Liberia is unique among African nations because of its relationship with the United States. It is one of only two countries in Africa, along with Ethiopia, without roots in the European Scramble for Africa. It was founded and colonized by freed American slaves in 1822, on the premise that former American slaves would have greater freedom and equality there.

Slaves freed from slave ships were also sent there instead of being repatriated to their countries of origin. These colonists formed an elite group in Liberian society, and, in 1847, they founded the Republic of Liberia, establishing a government modeled on that of the United States, naming Monrovia, their capital city, after James Monroe. The name of the country is a derivation of liberty, Liberia.

The English-speaking Americo-Liberians, descendants of former American slaves, make up only 5% of the population, but have historically dominated the intellectual and ruling class. The government of Africa's first republic was modeled after that of the United States, and Joseph Jenkins Roberts of Virginia was elected the first president. Ironically, Liberia's constitution denied indigenous Liberians equal to the lighter-skinned American immigrants and their descendants. Due to it's roots in the United States, Liberia considered itself to be the 51st state and US leaders were always meaningfully involved behind the scenes of the Liberian government and played an ugly role in the ensuing violence of the last quarter-century.

Civil Wars

After close to 160 years of oppressive rule by the Americo-Liberians, a military coup was staged in 1980 and the country entered a period of political and economic instability and two successive civil wars that left 250,000 people dead (that is 1 in 8 dead) and devastated Liberia's economy and infrastructure. The two civil wars that followed the military coup, one from 1989-1996 and the other from 1999-2003, are considered to be some of Africa's bloodiest civil wars and pioneered the use of child soldiers. Children as young as 4-years-old were forced to fight, and forced to kill their own families (among other atrocities) in order to assure their allegiance and utter dependence on the warlords. The children were fed drugs (injected with cocaine, smoked pot laced with PCP and opium) to facilitate their violent actions and make them easier to control. As the warlords worked their way through the countryside toward the capital on the coast, villages were raided, children were taken from their families and collected to be soldiers, and the rest of the family members were raped, terrorized, displaced and killed.

There are now two generations of Liberians raised on violence who remain ostracized from society, many drug-addicted, and without a place to call home. Liberia is filled with victims of violence and most of the perpetrators including the child soldiers, are victims as well. Those who barely endured the war are now trying to repair the damage that has been done. 

The streets are filled with children without a home (their parents are dead), drug addicts , trauma victims and amputees ( vicious tools of the civil wars) in a country that has little support from a government  that struggles to provide basic services to the Liberian people.  

Rebuilding

The war ended in 2003, but the consequences of these violent civil wars are still very present in Liberia today.  The civil wars devastated the country’s infrastructure and power grid, and left most people broken, displaced and struggling to survive. Currently, nearly 60% of the population is 18 years and under and only 50% of the children attend school.  Amidst these struggles, things are getting better – much better and the Liberian people are hopeful, determined and committed to building a better life and a better future. 

What I seen in Liberia are a people committed to progress, diligent, sincere and a people whose hearts are fertile ground for the gosple of Jesus Christ.  We want to partner with the heart of God to equip the children and a growing Liberian church to lock into the Scriptures, seeking God, discipling believers to maturity in Christ, empowered by the Spirit and walking in God's missionary vision for the unreached people of Liberia and the world.