By Vicki Brown*
December 15, 2009 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)

The Gbarnga School of Theology in Monrovia, Liberia, is reaching out to help the country heal the wounds from a long civil war even as it struggles to rebuild its own campus.

The university, occupied by rebel forces during the war, was among the institutions damaged in the conflict that left hundreds of thousands of people dead and devastated the country's economy.

“The devastation on the campus is of monumental proportions and The United Methodist Church in Liberia cannot rebuild it on its own,” said the Rev. Yatta Rosyln Young, dean of the seminary.

The seminary, with about 100 students, is at the center of the religious community that trains ministers and Christian educators of the United Methodist, Episcopal, Lutheran and Pentecostal churches in Liberia.

The Rev. Ken Carter Jr., senior pastor of Providence United Methodist Church in Charlotte, N.C., and chair of the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry’s Division of Ordained Ministry, said he was stunned by the condition of the school when he visited this year.

“They are really rebuilding the school. It was decimated by the war, and there is a need for infrastructure and housing for faculty,” Carter said. He said his personal project – with the help of his church – will be to help rebuild the library.

“We need textbooks for the disciplines we have at the school – general theology, religious education, sacred theology and basic agriculture,” Young said.

“I use a manual typewriter, and I recently received a used computer from a friend. That is the only computer on the campus,” she said, adding that the school needs Internet connections as well.

Despite the scars the war left on the campus, the faculty immediately added counseling to its class offerings after peace was restored.

“This is what sacred theology is all about,” Young said. “We are equipping church workers with clinical pastoral education to let them be able to assist their traumatized members.”

‘They just want to have peace’

Carter said Liberians he spoke with had expected the United States to intervene in their civil war because of the country’s role in founding Liberia. Modern-day Liberia was founded by the American Colonization Society in 1821-22 as a place for freed U.S. slaves to emigrate to Africa, where it was believed they would have greater freedom and equality.

“I never met anyone in Liberia who wanted to leave. They just want to have peace,” Carter said.

The United Methodist Church and the seminary can have an important role in the healing process, the pastor said.

“A lot of young people in Liberia have been child soldiers. They have to be reintegrated into society,” Carter said.

And that takes resources.

Carter noted that while there are 700 churches in the Liberian Annual Conference with two pastors each, many of those are local pastors. One district superintendent told him no pastor in his district even makes $1 a day.

Apart from a few individuals, and one or two churches that have opted to assist with textbooks, the school has not established a sister relationship with a church or conference in the United States or anywhere else, Young said.

Studying by candlelight

The Rev. Isaac Dowah’s studies were interrupted by the war, but he now is completing his final year of study in the basic theology program.

But he said study is difficult at Gbarnga because everything was looted.

“All our books and computers were taken away. Moreover, students have to go on a book hunt if they have a little assignment to do. Before the war, this was not the case. Students got all their major books on the first day of school.”

Lack of electricity creates problems, too, he said. “The majority of students cannot afford a personal power generator, so they are studying by candlelight, which can strain their eyesight.”

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The Revitalization of the Gbarnga Mission and School of Theology/United Methodist University is a designated Advance Special project, Advance #3020679. Donations of books, computers or other items can be sent to: the Rev. Yatta Roslyn Young, Dean, Gbarnga School of Theology/United Methodist University, Liberia Annual Conference, The United Methodist Church, 13th St., Sinkor, P.O. Box 1010, 1000 Monrovia 10 Liberia.

*Brown is associate editor and writer, Office of Interpretation, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

News media contact: David Briggs, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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