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Jld&Ua ^(vuMveunBuchanan , Liber ia , Wes t Afr ica

February, 1974

Dear Christian friends.

Greetings and a belated Happy New Year from St . Louis, the North Pole ofthe Midwest, where unusual cold and the worst snowstorms in forty years have a Ilowed

us to catch up on all the winter wemissed in three years. Whenwe left Liberia, thechildren were lookingforward toChristmas at Grandpa's in Pennsylvania and playing

in the snow. As it turned out, we were snowbound in St, Louis for Christmas.

- V We enjoyed our Christmas hereand had friendsin for Chris tmasdinner.

After the roads cleared, we drove to

Kentucky to visit Wayne's family.

- While there, we visited the Rush Branch

- ^ Christian Church, Wayne's homechurch,

' ' r and theWatscn'sChape IChrislian ChurchHB-- ^|h| in Casey County, where a good number- ^ gathered to see our pictures of Liberia .

Ron Ayers has been avisitorinour hcwTie twice in the past few weeks.

Beverly was baptized just before we left Uberia . has spent three years in Liberia .

He helped get the work started and taught three full years, longer than any of themissionaries yet involved. He is presently attending Lincoln Christian Seminary.Hisinterest in Liberia came through the influence of Gerald Gibson, CampusMinister

at the University of Illinois, and ByronTarr,a Liberian who was studying at theuniversity. If it is the Lord's will, Ron will return to Liberia after getting more

Beverly was baptized jusl- before we left Liberia .



who had hoped to go to Liberia this yeor to take Ron's place. Some personalresponsibiliHes have interfered and he will not be able to go until next year. 1alsomet Doug Rader from Crescent City, Illinois. Doug wants to go to Liberia as soon aspossible. He is in the process of raising funds and getting his visa. We are prayingthat this can be done soon enough for him to be in Liberia by the time school begins

in Morch. Doug has a junior college degree and has spent three years at LincolnChristian College.

Some Liberian friends gave us a farewell dinner [usf workers we put On the field . We couldbefore we left. easily double the number of%students we

teach if we had the teachers. The Liberian churches are increasing their demands on

our time and talents. Thiswill continue as we gain the respect andconfidence of thenational Christ ians. In the future, our best Bible college students will come from

these churches, so it is important that we cultivate this growing relationship.

There is another importantmatterof prayer to share with you. Since RonAyerscame home, the Shawsarealone in the work, except for two Peace CorpsVolunteers.

Mrs. Shaw (Anna) has been having health problems and is undera doctor's care.There is always some danger to health In the tropics. The Shaws plan to stay untilJuly, but Anna particularly needs our prayers for her good health.

December Is graduation time for Liberian schools. This past December 1st the



The LiberianpeopleconHnueto showtheir good faithand interest intheschool.Work began recently on a second building to provide classrooms for the school. The

first building was not large enough to provide the classrooms we needed because

there were more students than even the Liberians planned for. For three years wehave met in the SundaySchool rooms of the World-WideMissionChurch. These new

rooms will allow us to move to the permanent campus. Both of these buildings have

been financed by the Liberian Christians.

Most missions require many years to reach this stage of cooperation with the

national Christians. Some never do. We must respond to this cooperation by doingour part. The Liberian churches have never asked us to do for them when they can

do for themselves. They continue to beg for teachers to help train their own people

to do for themselves. Liberia isone of the most open and "ripe" mission fields in theworld today, yet the response of our people has been disappointing, especially inmatter of sending recruits.

/s X Since the Clicks, our forwardingK agents, have moved to Linn, Missouri,

Iw e feel that we need someone here inthe St. Louis area to help keep the '

people of this area infomied about

Liberia . We haveasked FredandWanita

Douglas to serve ai information Agents

The Liberian man who boughf our bed carries if away about Liberia and the progress of theon his head past our carand our neighbor's house. WOrk which they Can pass along to

interested congregations and individuals in this area. Fred is an elder in the HallsFerry congregation and has been close to us and our work all along.

Westill have a fewdatesopen for speaking and reporting. We would be happyto come to your church.



Missionaries: Wayne Meece FamilyForwarding Agents: M/M Patrick G . Click

P .O . Box 437Linn, Missouri 65051

HALLS FERRY CHRISTIAN CHURCH

12105 Old Halls Ferry Road

Florissant, Missouri 63033

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FINANCIAL REPORT

September to December, 1973

AnonymousAlverda Christ ian Church

AnonymousCentral Chris t ian Church

Chris tview Chris t ian Church

Colchester Chris t ian Church

First Christian Church (Florissant)

First Christian Church (Havre De Grace)

FirstChristian Church (Ferguson)FirstChristian Church (Ijovington, N .M.)First Christian Church (Carnegie)FirstChristian Church (Gillespie)Harvey's Point Christian ChurchHalls Ferry Christian ChurchJeromesville Church of Christ

Ladies' Group, Johnston City, III.Modesto Chris t ian Church

Memorial Christian Church

North Tacoma Christian Church

Ok lahoma Church of Christ

Pontoon Beach Church of Christ

Palmyra Christian ChurchPine Flats Christian Church

Sailor SpringsChristian ChurchSouth Fork Christian Church

Western Buckeye Christian Camp

15

50

1500

5

150

75

55

15

50

250

100

236

100

1896

5

40

350

40

80

35

200

65

50

164

20

323

$5,872

.00

.00

.00

.00

.00

.00

.45

.00

.00

.00

.07

.26

.0 0

.90

.35

.00

.00

.00

.00

.00

.00

.98

.00

.10

.00

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.83



jUde^ ^(mUtieu/vBuchanan , L ib er ia , W e st Afr ica

July, 1974



Dear Christian Friends,

By the time you receive this we will be on our way to Liberia for our secondterm ofmissionary work. We are to depart from St. Louis about noon on July 8.We change planes at New York and will arrive in Liberia Tuesday morning, July9 about 9:40 a .m. At this writing, we are in the middle of that hectic time ofpacking, shuffling and rearranging that must always come before any r'.cvs. Weare all anxious to get back to our work and friends in Liberia. This year home hasbeen good for us, especially the children who have enjoyed their school work.They all three have done well in school here this year and have been ahead of

their class in some subjects. Timothy was on the honor roll for the first time in hisschool experience. This qualified him to free tickets to see the St. Louis Cardinalsqs a "Straight-A" student.

A lot of progress has been made in the work in Liberia during our absence .A new building is now nearing completion and should be ready for occupancy byour arrival. This will enable us to move to the campus for the first time. We have

been using the classrooms ofa church during the first three years of our work in Liberia. These new buildings were built by the Liberian Christians and representtheir part of the work of Liberia Christian College. With more room we cGi> nowaccept more students and better serve the community and our Lord. School is stillin progress in Liberia; in fact we will bereturning to teach thesecond semester andwill get involved in this immediately. Wayne is not sure yet what his classes willbe. That will be a surprise when he arrives.

There has been a hint that the President of Liberia will come to Buchanan to

dedicate the new buildings for us. This is all very much uncertain yet, but if hedoes come, it will be a great honor for the school and create much useful and goodpublicity for Liberia Christian College.

We have set two goals for this term in Liberia . First, we want to upgrade thehigh school program to the point thatWayne and the missionaries will not be so tied

down and can devote much more time to the college program . The high school isnecessary to provide quality students for the college program, but does take a lotof time. With more and better Liberian teachers in this program, we can devote our

time and energy to the college . At present, the college is operatingat a much reduced level .



In Liberia, restoration is still a movement, not a position. The Christians

are still seeking new knowledge of God. In the beginning of our work they said,"If we are doing anything wrong, show us the scripture and we will stop; if we arenot doingsomething we should be, show us the scripture and wewill begin to doit."

In a recent letter from Liberia, this promise was seen fulfilled. It had been thecustom among some of the churches to require new converts to wait several weeks

or even months forbaptism and to take "baptismal classes." The simple facts of theActsconversions had been brought to light on several occasions until a change tookplace. One of the Liberian Christian leaders, Abba Kamga, describes the event."When your teaching of the solid truth of the Bible was confimied by the firing

messages of Bro.Gerald Gibson, (Gibson wasvisiting Liberia again)a greatchangetook place. We reached a decision that in accordance with the Bible, and not

the teachings of man's opinions or cultures, any person whoaccepts the Lord JesusChrist as his personaIsaviour should be baptized even in the samehour if possible."Brother Karnga continued his letter with this request, "We need your prayers sothatthe will of the Lord may be done as wehave more changes to make for the glory ofthe Lord." For these and other reasons we are encouraged in our efforts to help

these national churches to see "the way of the Lord more prefectly."We are happy that the Douglases will join the Clicks to help infomi the

churches of the work. The Clicks are our forwarding agents and all gifts should besent to them at Box437, Linn, Mo. 65051. The Douglases will be ourinfoimation

agents and will be kept informed of the latest developments from Liberia. Theylive at 503-A Douglas Road, Florissant, Mo. 63034. Both the Clicks and the

Douglases will be available for speaking dates on a limited basis.Letters are such an encouragement to us, and we do beg to hear from all ofour supporters. All letters should be sent air mail to the following address:

Wayne MeeceLiberia Christian College

Lamco-Buchanan

Robertsfield

Liberia, West AfricaAll packages that might need to pass through customs should be sent to:

Liberia Christian CollegeP .O . Box 39




P .O . Box 437

Linn, Missouri 65051


12105 Old Halls Ferry Rood


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Your continuing prayers are an everimportant part of our work. Please con

tinue to pray. Travel expense back toLiberia Is much higher than we expected;gifts designated for that purpose would be

helpful at this time.

We look forward to giving you thef irst news from Liberia within another month

Until then, God bless you.

The Meeces



jUd&Ua ^(vdUianBuchanan , Libe r i a , Wes t Afr ipa

September, 1974

Dear Christian Friends,

Exactly one month ago today we arrived back in Liberia . Our return to the countryand the work has been a good experience for the Meeces. We found everything ingood order and the work progressing nicely. The Shaws had already left before wearrived, and in their absence, Doug Rader had been in charge. Doug is the latestaddition to the staff here and is fitting into the program very well. He is a native ofCrescent City, Illinois, near Chicago. He has attended LincolnChristianCollege forthree years and plans to finish his education after his yearof service here.

Weare livirg in the same house as before, mainly because we will benear the school,the market and stores in town, and the Lamco school where the children will attend.Also we are back among all our old friends and th^children's playmates. From talk

ing with the principal of the Lamco International School, it lool^ like we will haveno problems getting the children back in school there. This was a matterof someconcern for us because we were outsiders and there might not be room for them . Wethank the Lord for this small but important gift.

We spent much of this first month getting ready for our work and getting settled in our

house again. Wayne has been busy building furniture again. He has made bunk bedsfor the boys and a single bed for Beverly. Greta and the children, with some helpfrom Wayne and Doug Rader, have painted three rooms and a hall to brighten up thehouse a little. We will do some more painting a little later. We don't want to haveall our new things at once and have nothing to enjoy later. We will be very com



wait for jobs have had to return to the famns and raise their own rice again. Fairnincome was so poor that a man could afford to wait in employment lines for sixmonths

of the year if he could just get a little work and a small wage. As a result, hundredsof men had left the rural villages and were filling employment lines., living off relatives and hoping to get a job. Now their relatives cannot afford to feed them, andthey must return to the farms to raise food. The surplus they now can sell in the markets for a more reasonable price.

The prices on imported foods, cannedgoods, cloth, vehicles,etc.,

has gone upalso.The mattress for the children's beds now cost $45.00 for the same art ic le that cost

$25.00 last year. The price of food has risen at about the same rate. As a result,we are eating more native food this time. Meat is particularly hard to get; eggs arealmost non-existent and $1.40 per dozen when you can get them. Even the fresh fishthatwe loved somuch the first term are hard to get now. The fishing boat is no longerrunning. Gasprices ($.85 per gallon) and government regulations have put him out of

business. We can get a few fish from the small canoes, but they are high and not veryregular.

I am particularly satisfied with the growth of the junior and senior high schools.Enrollment has grown every year, and we nowhave over 130 students. Our Liberianteachers in the lower grades are doing well. Two of them graduated from our high

school last year, and two others are attending the college.

The college program isnotmaking good progress. The only holdback is lack ofqualifiedteachers. Wayne and Doug Rader alone are not able to offer enough classes in Bible,and the Peace Corps volunteers cannot carry all the load in the secular subjects.Wayne is having to teach English to the college as well as the high school. If thecollege is ever to prosper, we must have more teachers. College enrollment in 1973reached a high of twenty-one. This semester we will be fortunate to have fifteenstudents. We lay this problem before you, our partners, in prayer and support. Letus pray together that God will open the door for someone to come to help us.



class will grow to twenty or thirty within a few weeks. Wayne has been invited tothe training conference for ministers, elders, and deacons in the Bible Faith Christian

ChurchAugust 17 and 18. We will give you a reporton this later, but weexpect goodthings to come from it,

The prices of European and Japanese made cars have almost doubled in the past fouryears. The French Peugot like we bought in 1970 for about $2,600 nowcosts over$5,000. So Wayne has been doing some car shopping. He first found a Fiat 500,second hand, which he bought for $350. It is very small, and the Liberians all laughat us running around in it. The kids named it "Marpo" after the little boy in Liberianfirst grade readers (theequivalent of Dick of Dick and Jane stories). After a fewdaysthe name got changed to "Mopar" (more power) and the reason was obvious. Its greatestvirtue is economy. Wayne had considered a motorbike to get to school and leaveGreta the car. "Mopar" is cheaper, safer, and has a roof to keep off the rain. Inthe meantime we have bought a new Fiat 125p for a family car. It is to be delivered

to us next week. After that we will have to decide the fate of "Mopar." The Liberiansall say we must sell it because it is too small. Wayne likes it and enjoys playingmechan ic w it h i t .

We are all in good health and are enjoying ourselves. It looks like our return to <Liberia will not be as much a shock to our bodies as the first t ime. It took us all

several days to get over "jet lag," but we are on a good schedule now.

Please continue to pray for us. Let ushear from you by letter soon.

Love to all .




P .O . Box 437

Linn, Missouri 65051

HALLS FERRYCHRISTIAN CHURCH



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President Tolbert of Liberia and President Jawora of Gambia visit

Buchanan For the IndependenceDaycelebration July 26. TheMeeceswere invited to a luncheon with the presidents.

Ourhouse newly paintedorangew!tha red roof, blue foundoHon and

a lavender front porch. "Mopar" is yellow.



Jui^nUi ^^nUtiojnBuchanan , L ib er ia , W e st Afr ica

October, ; :l 97^

Dea r F r i e n d s .

We are sorry tha t our f i r s t two newsle t ters were delayed, andhope that we can keep the news coming regular ly . We do apprec i a t e the suppor t o f a l l our f r i ends in th e U.S. and want tokeep you as well informed about our work as possib le .

The t h i r d month o f work s i n c e our r e tu rn to L ib e r i a is now behind us. Our ninth grade and twelfth grade students are gett ing ready to take the nat ional examinat ion . This i s an im

por t an t event fo r them because t h i s t e s t i s the major f ac to r

in determining whether they pass. We will also begin plansfor the graduation programs for the twelf th grade. This wil ltak e p lace the f i r s t week o f December, when th e Libef ian schoolyear ends .

Our col lege program continues to st ruggle mainly because we dohot have enough teachers to f i l l out the program. We have tens tuden t s t h i s year which i s much smal ler than our enro l lmentin 1972 and 73. Many of the f i r s t s tudents were e i the r unableto do the work or were not serious about school and droppedout . The s tudents we have now are good s tudents and a re de

pendable. Two young men working with us are t raining •for ' theministry and we hope that they will be our f i r s t Bible collegegraduates . Our other s tudents are school t eachers , businesspeople and various occupations. They are a ll taking Bibleclasses along with the other subjects they study. Our Bible



helping his people. He 1s also a man of considerable ability.Several times he has turned down pol i t ica l appointments tha twould be a promotion to him because he wanted to be.free ofpolitics to help with his church work and Liberia ChristianCol lege .

While a t Lincoln Chris t ian College, he ta lked with Max WardRandall and Gerald Gibson about coming to the U.S. to study.He was given a scholarship at Lincoln for one year for himand h is wife . If t r anspor ta t ion and l iving cos t s in the U.Svcan be accounted fo r , and arrangements for h is family to becared fo r here can be worked ou t , he wil l come to Lincoln perhaps next year to study one year. He is so important to thework he re t h a t we cou ld not do withou t him fo r much longert h a n that.

We ask that you pray with us about th is because we feel thatth e f u t u r e o f th e work he re must r e s t wi th men l i k e him who

a re dedica ted to th e Lord and t h e i r own people- I t would be

easy to find dozens of people to come study in the US^S., but

a man with such zeal to se rve th e Lord and do something tor e a c h Af r i c a f o r Ch r i s t is r a r e i n d e e d .

These l a s t fews weeks have brought considerable t ragedy to

some o f our Liber ian bro the r s . Two weeks ago we receivedword t ha t little Sidney Tarr , son of Byron and Anna Tar r , was

almost drowned when he f e l l in to a swimming pool near t h e i rhome in Monrovia. At t h i s wri t ing , the l i t t l e boy^ f ive years

o ld , i s s t i l l in a coma and i s not r ea l l y expected to l i v e .Doctors fear t h a t bra in damage i s severe , and i f he l ives hewil l be a complete inva l id . The chi ld has been near deathsevera l t imes but has cont inued to amaze tb e doc to rs by recover ing each t ime. Wayne has spent two days with Byron and

Anna, t ry ing to be of soijie help and comfort . Li t t l e Sidneyi s a twin . He and h is boo the r , S tan ley , were born whi le Byron

and Anna were s tuden t s a t th e Unive rs i ty o f I l l i n o i s in 19d9.-The t ragedy i s deepened In t ha t h is mother was In the hosp i t a l

having j us t given bi r th to a th i rd son when the accidenthappened,

Byron Tarr was the man who provided the con tac t through Gerald



collegues who rarely see such devotion to Christ in high placesPray with us for them; ask the Lord t o guide and comfort inthis t i m e of s o r r o w .

Fur ther sadness came today when we learned t h a t one o f our highschool graduates from l a s t year, George Logan, was found deadi n t h e Lamco h a r b o r . He worked t h e r e as a customs i n s p e c t o r

and had evident ly f a l l e n ' f r o m a ship and drowned. He has beenmissing for three days» We dismissed school today and ours t u d e n t s went t o e s c o r t t h e body t o t h e grave . ! l earnedl a t e r t h a t they helped dig the grave and bui ld the c o f f i n .

The c h i l d r e n a r e enjoying school t h i s year a t t h e Lamco I n t e r

nat ional School, They have a heavy school s che du le w ithc l a s s e s both morning and af ternoon, and Tim even goes on Saturday. Wayne's schedule i s f u l l a l s o , beginning a t 7:30 and notending some days u n t i l 8:00 in the evening with a shor t breakin the middle o f the day. Greta i s teac hin g B ible In j u n i o r

high and has a Sunday School c l a s s In th e afte rn oo n everySunday, We feel more s e t t l e d here than we did the year we were

in the S t a t e s , I t was an e njo ya ble y ea r, but now we feel mores e t t l e d and a t home with a more normal family l i f e a g a i n .

Wri te t o u s . L e t t e r s have been few and f a r between, and r a d i o

c o n t a c t with t h e S t a t e s i s not good now.

Love t o all.



Missionaries: Wayne Meece Family

Forwarding Agents: M/M Patrick G . ClickP .O . Box 437

Unn, Missouri 65051




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Jld&iUi 0o^efcBuchanan , L ib er ia , W e st Afr ica

November 197^

Dear Chr i s t i an Fr iends ,

Greet ings from Liber ia where the hot , dry season i s coming upon

us^as th e ra ins decrease . Brigh t sunny days are more common now

and we not ice th e heat much more. The year home and the coldwinter wi l l make t h i s dry season a lo t more uncomforatble fo r us

Today,Nov.4, i s Thanksg iv ing Day .in Liberia . I t i s a nat ional

holiday se t as ide to give thanks to God fo r the bless ings of af r ee nat ion and to remember the sac r i f i c e o f th e ear ly pioneers

who first settled i n L i b e r i a . I am s u r e th e i d e a came f rom Amer

i can , but the Liberian people have at tached t he i r own meaningsto the day. I t i s a ra ther qu ie t holiday here . There i s l no t

much feas t ing l ike we have in America mostly because th e peoplej u s t cannot afford a l l t h a t ex<tif:a food. We have also noticeclt ha t most holidays in Liberia are not of much i n t e re s t to thet r i ba l people . Chris tmas i s the one big exceptiono All thecommercial ism o f ' c i v i l i z a t i on ' i s here and i s much a pa r t o f

Ch r i s tm a s i n L i b e r i a .

We are making preparat ions fo r g ra du atio n. Our second annualcommencement exerc i ses wi l l take place on the 1 s t o f December.Our high school seniors have taken the national examination,

and i f they a l l pass , we will g raduate n inete en seniors t h i syearc There will also be one graduate from the co l lege . GeorgeInnis , one of our or ig ina l s tudents from the co l l ege , f i r s t year ,wil l be granted a ju nio r c olle ge degree. We will t e l l you moreabout Mro Inn is next month, bu t we a re proud t ha t we have

P lnan ci el r epo r t Aug. to Nov.17 1974



Alve rda Ch r l a t l a n Church

Co l c h e s t e r Ch r i s t i a n Church

Chr i s tv iew Chr l s t i e n ChurchF i r s t Chr is t ian Church(Oll l08ple)Fi r s t Chrlst ien Church(Carnegie)Ha l l s P e r r y Chr i s t i a n Church

J e r one s v l l e Church o f Ch r i s t

Kentucky Chr is t ian Colleg e

Modes to Qi r i s t i an ChurchMetnor i s l Ch r i s t i a n Church

Oklahoi r .a CSiurch o f Ch r i s t

Pon toon B ea ch C hu rc h o f Ch r i s t

Pine F l a t s Ch r l a t l a n Church

Sla t e Val ley Chr i s t i an Oiurch

Tower H i ll C h r i st ia n Church

Oiuroh of Cbris t(weston)

Expenditures AugustTr an spo r t a t i o n

Olobe Dem.PublishingBe l l Telephone

Kofa i l O i l

S h e l l oil

Liv ing Exp.

Off ice Exp.(postage,Misc. i tems)Expendi tures Sep t .

Living Exp.SctransportatlonBlue cross medical ins^Aug.Sept.Oot.)Off ice Exp.

Kas te rcharge

Expend i tu res Oc t .

Blue cross medlcel (Nov.Dec.)

SLCC Prin t ingLiving Exp.& t ranspor ta t ionOff ice Exp.

Expend i t u r e s Nov.

Living Exp.Office Exp.(misc.items,shipping)

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2093.U55.88

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311.0.00

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19 . 10

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138.00

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There has been l i t t l e change in the condi t ion of l i t t l e Sidney Tarr who has been in a coma since he fel l in a swimmingpool and almost droundo He is s t i l l alive, and his physical

condi t ion has not changedmuch

in the l a s t month. Thedoctors gave up hope of asving his l i fe , but to everyone'ssurpr i se , he has survived. The grea tes t fear i s tha t therehas been permanent and massive brain damagec Byron and AnnaTarr continue to need your prayers .

Brother Abba Karnga's vis i t to the U.S. has brought us agrea t deal of encouraging news about new r ec ru i t s for thework. At leas t two new couples have indicated t he i r in te rest in the work and we hope that one of the couples willtry to come within the next year. At th is writing we haveno def in i te commitment direct ly from them, so we will notuse the ir names at th is time. Please pray with us that theLord wi11 open doors and provide the way for theme

Wayne and Anna Shaw are now back in the s tates , and Wayne iss:tudying at Ozarks Bible College, Anna was not in good healthwhen she left and continues to have trouble with a kidney in-

-—fectipn that troubled her much here. They have told us thatthey want to^return to Liberia i f Anna's health problemcan be solved. We share this with you as a matter of prayer.

Pat Click tel ls me that he has been able to solve our printing problem, so we hope that we can have the newslet tercomming each month now with regularity. We have been usingour ham radio set to keep in touch with Mr, Click, ourforwarding agent , and also our f r iends in the S t. Louisarea.

We deeply appreciate the prayers and support of our manyfriends. Continue to be prayer partners with uso

Love to a l1 ,



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oCdenca^ ^((nUtiA»v ^oUe^Buchanan , Libe r ia , W e s t Afr ica

D ecem b er 1 97 4

Dear Fr i end s i n Chr i s t ,

Thi s has been th e "week t h a t was" , and nex t week l ooks l i k e it w i l l

be j u s t a s f u l l o f exc i tmen t a s t h i s one has been . T h is week beganwith ou r second annua l commencement fo r th e h igh sc ho ol and th e first

fo r th e c o l l e g e .

We a re very proud o f th e progre ss t h a t has been made in th e high

schoo l program. We now f e e l t h a t a f t e r fou r y ea rs th e h ig h sc ho ol

program is f i rmly e s t ab l i shed and recognized and t h a t now we can

beg in to focus more a t t e n t i on on th e co l l ege program which is l ag ing

beh ine because o f l a ck o f t e a che r s , and s t ud en t i n t e r e s t , e s p e c i a l l y

qua l i f i ed ones . With more g radua t e s from th e high school coming

each yea r now, we w i l l soon see th e latter problem so lved , and we

t r u s t th e Lord to open th e way fo r more he lp in th e t e ach ing program.

M or e about that later.

Commencement t h i s yea r was a b ig ev en t . We even made th e head l ine s

in th e na t iona l da i l y newspaper . The Liber ian S t a r . Senato r Joshua

L. Harmon, th e sen ato r from Grand Bassa County , was th e speaker fo r

Commencement and th e Honerab le Joseph M. N. Gbadyu, Superv i so r o f

schoo ls fo r th e county p re se nte d th e diploma to th e first gradua te

o f Libe r i a Chr i s t i an Col lege .

There were f ou r t e en s t ud en t s i n th e high s choo l g radua t i ng c l a s s t h i s

yea r ( f i f t e en last yea r ) . There were f iv e o th er s who d id no t gradua te because o f low g rades in school and on th e na t iona l exam. We

were proud t h a t th e Va led ic to r i an fo r th e c l a s s , Bobby Joe , scored

among th e h ig he st o f all th e s tuden t s in th e co\antry who t ook th e

exam t h i s yea r . There were more than 500 people in a t t endance a t

The Liberian people te l l a story about the duck and the chicken. They say



t h a t everybody l i k e s chicken eg gs b ec au se th e chicken always makes noi se

and shows pr ide in the egg it produces, but the duck jus t lays i t s egg and

goes away say ing nothing and showing no pride in what i t has done, so everybody

l ikes chicken eggs, but nobody eats duck eggs. The application i s simple;

if you t ake p r id e in what you do, o thers wi l l t ake no t i ce o f it and l i ke it

too . We a re proud tha t L ib e ria Ch r is ti an Colleg e h as now graduated i t s f i r s ts tuden t , and ( i f you wi l l excuse me fo r mixing me tapho rs ) I be l i eve we have

not , in the American idiom, " la id an egg". George Innis was granted an

Associate of Science Degree, which i s a two-year junior col lege degree with

a broad genera l curriculiam and, in h is case , a major in Bib le . Mr. Inn i s

i s an older man in h is ear ly f i f t i e s and opera tes a drug s tore in town. His

gradua t ion has brought a l o t o f a t t e n t i on to th e school and has d emons tra te d

that

we meanbusiness.

In addit ion to a l l the school ac t iv i t i e s , we have had house guests a l l week.

Mrs. Esther Howard from World-Wide Missions In te rna t iona l o f Cal i forn ia , has

been staying with us this week. The Liberian people asked i f we would help

them with t h i s because they have di f f i cu l ty prepar ing American food which

they fee l a "new stranger" must have. We are happy to help them with t h i s . '

In addi t ion , we have been feeding another missionary couple here to see

Mrs. Howard and on a sho r t vaca t ion . They were with us fo r meals fo r th ree

day s .

I f the Lord i s wil l ing , tomorrow we wil l begin a t r i p in to the bush and

wil l be there for eight days. We wil l drive about 180 miles to a vi l lageca l led Doedin, deep in the i n t e r io r and one o f the few places in Liberia

where the high f o r e s t i s still s tanding. We have been to ld t h a t t he re

a re e lephan ts t he re as wel l as o the r l a rge r fo r e s t an imals . We wi l l bet eaching and preach ing fo r th e annual conferences o f th e World-Wide Mission

o f Liberia . This group i s th e s t ronges t supporter o f Liber ia Chris t ian

College, and they have allowed us to use the i r school-church b uild in g as

a meeting place for the high school and college for four years now without

cha rg e .

I have been ask ed to t e ach c la s s e s to th e o l d e r men and church l e a d e r s onthe subjec t o f stew ardship. B rother Abba Karnga, the most able leader o f

th i s group, has told me tha t he believes t ha t a strong stewardship program

i s one o f th e g r e a t needs o f th e church in L ibe r i a .

School i s over for t h i s yea r except for grade cards which cannot



be passed out yet because the President i s coming to town and we

are t o hold grade cards so the students have to stay in town to

march for him. The dry season months of December, January and

February will be taken up with preparing and moving to the campusThere a r e a few jobs t o be completed and then we w i l l be able t o

have school t h e r e next y e a r .

There was good news from home t h i s week. We have a new r e c r u i t ,

William Ayers, a black man from the Christian Church in Youngs-town, Ohio. Mr. Ayers i s a n a t i v e o f L ib e r i a , b u t he went t o

t h e U.S. a s a t e e n a g e r and has l i v e d t h e r e s in c e . He h a s a l o t

o f experience as a teacher suid w i l l be able to help a great deal

i n our educat ion program. More about him l a t e r .

We are very optomistic about next year. The Lord i s r e a l l y open

ing doors and moving in a wonderful way.

We s e n d o u r g r e e t i n g s f o r C h r i s t m a s and t h e New Year . You c a n

f e e l s o r r y f o r us a s we w i l l be f a r from home, b u t we w il l f e e l

s o r r y f o r you a s we enjoy t h e beach and t h e sun on Chris tmasDay. God b l e s s you very much f o r your prayers and support .

Love i n C h r i s t ,

T h e M e e c e s

Pictures

1 . Mr. George I n n i s i s p re se nte d th e f i r s t degree from L i b e r i a

C h r i s t i a n College, by Joseph Gbadyu.

2, Senator Harmon, Commencement s p e a k e r .

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LiberiaChristianCollege-1974-Liberia.pdf

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Transcript of LiberiaChristianCollege-1974-Liberia.pdf