The money was used to buy about
176,000 pounds of rice to feed more than 30,000 of the hundreds
of thousands of Liberians who suffer from extreme hunger and malnutrition.
Ambassador Porte, who also is moderator of the Presbyterian Church
of Liberia (PCL), expressed his nation’s gratitude during
a Presbytery of Arkansas meeting last month. He said the shipment
helped feed more than 30,000 Liberians.
“It helped a good deal,” Porte said during the meeting
at Presbyterian-related
Lyon College in Batesville.
“The country is pulling itself out of a 14-year civil war.
The entire fabric of the country was destroyed.”
More than 350,000 people have been killed in the war, he said
— one-tenth of the population.
Many more “have been eating grass and leaves” to
stay alive, said Claudia Marsh, director of church relations at
Lyon College.
She said Presbyterians are “so grateful that while he was
over in the United States he (Porte) wanted to come and thank
the Presbytery of Arkansas personally.”
The ambassador said he was in Liberia in December when the five
truckloads of rice arrived, and saw how it was distributed through
churches and civic institutions.
The rice, grown in Dewitt, AR, was shipped to Liberia in October,
on the recommendation of a PDA team that had visited the country
to assess the severity of the famine.
When the PDA team got back to the United States, members called
around to several presbyteries asking for help for Liberia. Gill’s
response was to spearhead the fund-raising effort.
“Pulling together Presbyterians in Arkansas to send rice
to Liberian families was one of those projects that brings life
at both ends,” said Gill, the mission chair, who also is
executive director of the presbytery’s Ferncliff Presbyterian
Camp and Conference Center. “Our churches were moved by
the need and energized by the challenge from the national office.
We were honored to be asked.”
Gill said the Presbytery of the Pines, which has congregations
in Arkansas and northern Louisiana, also raised some money in
support of the effort. And PDA paid $20,000 for shipping, according
to Susan Ryan, the PDA coordinator.
PDA contributed $270,000 in humanitarian aid to Liberia in 2003.
This isn’t the first time the Arkansas Presbyterians have
dispatched truckloads of rice to a starving people. They helped
feed the people of Honduras and Nicaragua after a hurricane several
years ago.
“I think it’s characteristic of this presbytery and
the kind of things that this presbytery is doing in ministry and
mission,” said the Rev. Bill Branch, general presbyter of
the Presbytery of Arkansas. “I think this presbytery is
very responsive to needs of people, and able to do rather creative
kinds of things.”
When he learned of the presbytery’s plans to donate the
rice to his country, Porte told an audience of about 300, what
came to mind were the words, “God, thank you.”
He said the people of Liberia also are appreciative.
“They were gratified and overwhelmed,” said Porte,
who planned the Arkansas visit after learning that Liberia’s
president was coming to the United States. “It was a help
not only to the church, but to the government. I want to express
appreciation toward the Presbyterian Church.”
Porte said he was speaking for the 14 Presbyterian churches in
Liberia and their 3,000 members in saying: “This was a blessing.
I couldn't be more thankful.”
While the president of Liberia was meeting with President Bush,
Porte was conversing with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Just before he set out
for Arkansas.
“The church is trying desperately to assist our government
in making a difference,” Porte said. “We need all
the help we can get. Our churches are down; we need housing for
our people. The situation is desperate. Any assistance goes a
long way in strengthening Liberia.”
(Editor’s note: The Batesville, AR, Daily Guard
gathered information for this story.) |
