By Elizabeth Crosby, sector manager for health programs in Liberia
Last week I went out to see some of our Community Health Evangelism trainings. About half of our communities are in Muslim areas and the other half are in Christian ones. However, both are heavily influenced by traditional African religions.
In a village called Ngalahun, we studied a Bible lesson called “A Woman’s Worth” based on the life of Hannah. In an area where women are often not valued, this lesson was an important one.
Our primary message was about the value a woman has in God’s eyes. The facilitator emphasized that Hannah went to God herself, not through her husband or another man, and God heard her. We should all go to God, and God alone, for salvation. A lot of people in Liberia, even Christians, still hold fast to the charms and practices of traditional religions.
After hearing that Hannah gave Samuel back to God, and that she trusted in God alone not only to conceive a child but also to protect him, one lady decided to do the same with her family. She shared her testimony with the group about first trusting in traditional practices, but it did not help. She then she trusted in God alone, and God gave her a healthy child.
After the training, we asked some of the women what they had been learning. We were particularly delighted to hear some of them relate information back to us from the lessons we gave, and to not only mention it, but share specific, accurate details.
Before leaving, we walked around the village and saw that it was clean and well cared for, including Samaritan’s Purse projects like the latrines and fishponds. Our community development facilitators are doing good work here. It was a very encouraging experience.
