Every country strives for the establishment of its own army. We all know why. Among many reasons, such an establishment is a mark of sovereignty of the nation.Since Liberia’s 14-year civil crisis, our National Army—amongst other para-military groups—is being reestablished, reorganized, and retrained.
Second Lieutenant Dessaline Felix Allison is among the first recruits of the new army. He serves as the Acting Chief of Chaplains of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL). He and our Campus Crusade National Director, Mr. Edwin Dunbar, had been discussing about our ministry’s engagement with the AFL. In February of last year, my wife Wola and I were privileged to team up with Dr. Dolphus of Mississippi, USA to speak to the men and women in arms. I presented our motivational seminar titled Family Priority. Soon after, Lt. Allison made arrangements for FamilyLife to conduct phase one of our HomeBuilders Facilitator’s Training. Forty-five of the 50 officers were present for the one-day training. This training was part of the Chaplaincy’s preparations to assimilate families of the soldiers into the military bases. Those trained in the use of our materials were to be leaders of small group studies on the bases.
On September 22, 2010, Lt. Allison made a long awaited visit to our office. We reviewed the HomeBuilders Facilitator’s Training conducted in February. They now have 35 HomeBuilders groups meeting on the different military bases spread across the country. They had also planned a Family Emphasis Training for Soldiers and their families. He wanted us be a part of the roll-out. He then invited us to visit the weekly study group of officers of the AFL main base.
Wola and I were there recently with the intent to do our very interactive Family Priority session with them to motivate them to convert one of their weekly officers’ Bible studies into a HomeBuilders discussion. For some reason, the laptop and the projector were incommunicado. So instead, I led an extemporaneous discussion on the need to learn what marriage is all about. It was warm and engaging. The 28 officers and the wives who attended did not want it to end, but we had to. Upon arrival at home, we reconnected to test the equipment; the laptop and projector were perfectly speaking. The message was clear: The devil may have intended evil (as his name implies—d + EVIL), but God wanted us do something other than what we had planned.
