One of the highlights of our trip to Liberia in March this year was seeing the impact of Christian schooling on the children. They were so positive, eager to learn and hungry to know Jesus better – attitudes that were noticeably lacking in the government school we visited. I have been visiting Liberia for 9 years and in that time children who were 7 are now young adults of 16! It made me realise the importance of Christian education for the wider mission of the Kingdom of God.
As a consequence we have funded the building of two new schools and additional classrooms for a third – not bad value for a sum of around £16,000!
These three schools have a combined student population of 332 this term. This is in addition to our school in Chocolate City which has more than 100 students.
All our schools charge fees, but they are set very low (typically US$50 per year). Even so, many of the families cannot even afford this, so two-thirds of the students pay nothing. Most schools will not allow non-paying students to attend, but our pastors are full of compassion and take non-paying students.
None of our pastors take a salary from the school, instead they sacrificially subsidise students from their own meagre resources. The teachers also give their time sacrificially, but they need to live and require our help. We are working towards the schools becoming self-funding, but at present they depend on our help to pay the teachers allowances.
