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Ganta Mission Station seeks operating funds
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A UMNS file photo by Dean Snyder and Jane Malone
Workers make school furniture in a temporary woodshop at Ganta Mission Station.
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| Workers
make school furniture in a temporary woodshop at the United Methodist
Church's Ganta Mission Station in Liberia, while the mission's woodshop,
destroyed in a 2003 bombing raid by rebel troops, is being rebuilt.
Ex-combatants, including some who participated in destroying the
mission, are learning trades there. Operating funds for the mission are
nearly exhausted and donations may be made through the United Methodist
board of Global Ministries Advance Special Program. A UMNS file photo by
Dean Snyder and Jane Malone. Photo #06-689. Accompanies UMNS story
#367. 6/16/06 |
June 16, 2006
By United Methodist News Service
The United Methodist-related Ganta Mission Station in Liberia needs funding assistance for its general operations.
General funds have nearly been exhausted, according to the Rev.
Herbert Zigbuo, a missionary for the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries, who is assigned as superintendent for the mission station.
Ganta Mission reopened in 2004 after Liberia’s civil war and is slowly
rebuilding its ministries and facilities.
“Along with donated funds, we are able to raise local funds through
our charges for services provided through our carpentry and mechanic
shops, our guesthouse and our mission station cafeteria,” Zigbuo said.
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A UMNS file photo by Dean Snyder and Jane Malone
Employees of Ganta Mission and Hospital attend Miller McAllister United Methodist Church on the mission grounds.
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| Completed
in 1956, Miller McAllister United Methodist Church, on the grounds of
Ganta Mission Station in Liberia, houses a congregation with 450
members. The congregation includes employees of Ganta Mission and
Hospital as well as residents of the Ganta area. The ashes of George W.
Harley, who founded Ganta Mission in 1926, are buried beneath a stone
monument to the right of the church entrance. A UMNS file photo by Dean
Snyder and Jane Malone. Photo #06-690. Accompanies UMNS story #367.
6/16/06 |
“The locally generated funds subsidize our monthly payroll. We are in
need of funds to allow us continue this revitalization effort.”
Located on a 600-acre campus, the mission station addresses the
medical, educational and spiritual needs of poor, rural, subsistence
farming families in northeastern Liberia.
The campus includes Ganta Hospital, a nursing school and a facility
for leprosy and tuberculosis patients. Christian-based education is
offered at an elementary through senior high-level vocational school,
and the agricultural program helps farmers learn skills aimed at
increasing crop and livestock yields.
The mission station’s maintenance unit, which has a staff of 90,
oversees the grounds, roads, water and power system, school, hospital,
28 residence houses, church and various shops, including mechanics,
carpentry and building construction.
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A UMNS file photo by Dean Snyder and Jane Malone
Workers rebuild the roof of a woodshop devastated by a 2003 bombing raid on the Ganta Mission.
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| Workers
rebuild the roof of a woodshop devastated by a 2003 bombing raid on the
United Methodist Church's Ganta Mission and Hospital in Liberia. The
wood-working equipment was stolen by looters. Before the war, the
woodshop was used to build and repair furniture, providing employment to
Ganta residents and income to help support the mission. Operating funds
for the mission are nearly exhausted and donations may be made through
the United Methodist board of Global Ministries Advance Special Program.
A UMNS file photo by Dean Snyder and Jane Malone. Photo #06-691.
Accompanies UMNS story #367. 6/16/06 |
Students and ex-combatants learn job training skills through the carpentry and mechanic shops.
Zigbuo said donations are particularly needed to purchase fuel to
operate the generators; building supplies to continue the renovation of
the residential areas and institutions; tools and equipment for use in
the shops; and spare parts to maintain the mission’s vehicles.
Contributions can be made through the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries Advance Special Program. The specific fund is Ganta
United Methodist Mission Station, #14369T. Donations can be dropped in
church collection plates or mailed to Advance GCFA, P.O. Box 9068, GPO
New York, NY 10087-9068.
Credit-card donations can be made online through the Advance at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/give/advance/ or by calling toll-free (888) 252-6174.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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