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Violence leaves most Liberian churches damaged, official says

8/14/2003 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn.

For related coverage, see UMNS #405.

By United Methodist News Service

As a semblance of peace returns to the capital of Liberia, a United Methodist official in Monrovia reports that most of the churches there have been heavily damaged by the recent violence and that many people - including his family - have little or no food.

Edwin Clarke Jr., an assistant to United Methodist Bishop John Innis, said Aug. 14 that he plans to begin assessing the damages done to the congregations in Monrovia within a few days.

"By next week, we will want to do a complete survey, if God's willing and if the peacekeepers can deploy throughout Monrovia," he said in a telephone interview.

Hours earlier, rebel forces began withdrawing from Monrovia as Nigerian-led peacekeepers and a limited force of U.S. Marines moved into the capital. The country's president, former warlord Charles Taylor, went into exile in Nigeria earlier in the week and was succeeded by his former vice president, Moses Blah. The new president flew to the West African country of Ghana Aug. 14 for peace talks with rebel leaders.

Monrovia had been under siege by the rebels for two months. Clarke said that some 2,000 people had been killed in the past 20 days.

First United Methodist Church in Monrovia - a church almost as old as Liberia itself - was among those damaged, Clarke said. "The roof has been riddled with bullets, and one of the rockets fell behind the church and damaged the office of the two pastors."

A rocket also damaged the roof of A.P. Camphor United Methodist Church in nearby Claratown, he said.

Because of the recent violence, both churches, along with Georgia Patten United Methodist Church in Monrovia, haven't had services in several weeks or longer, according to Clarke.

Because of the violence, Bishop Innis had been unable to return to Monrovia from Ghana, where he had fled when the fighting intensified. Instead, Innis went to the United States Aug. 4 to seek help from congregations there.

In the northeastern town of Ganta, the church's hospital was looted and the school was damaged, Clarke said. Both will have to be rebuilt or rehabilitated, he said.

United Methodist facilities are housing many internally displaced people in Monrovia. More than 1,000 people are staying at a United Methodist high school, another 500 to 600 are at the Liberia Annual Conference's central office, and an unknown number are at the United Methodist university, Clarke said.

Clarke's home was looted by rebels in June. He, his wife, Lorraine, and two small daughters are staying at a friend's house in Paynesville, several miles from Monrovia. They ran out of rice about 10 days ago and have been living on limited food, primarily plantains and potatoes - "if we can find them," he said.

His family is "holding up," he said, but the hunger has been particularly hard on his girls. "They are crying, especially the 4-years-old one. She's the one who's always hungry."

Clarke asked that United Methodists outside Liberia keep the country in prayer. "Just ask the church to pray for us, and if they can do anything for us, we will surely appreciate it."

The United Methodist Committee on Relief is responding to Liberia's crisis. Contributions may be designated for UMCOR's Liberia Emergency, Advance #150300, and dropped in church collection plates or sent to UMCOR, 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit-card donors can go online to http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/Liberia.stm or call (800) 554-8583.

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