Testimony

Pastor in remote Liberian town pleads for fruit punch to encourage kids stay in his outdoor Bible study class

James Fasuekoi

What do you do in a rural town or village where there aren’t “After-School” programs for children of farmers? One pastor found a way to deal with this predicament but now needs Kool-Aid for kids in his Bible class.

By James Kokulo Fasuekoi|Editor-Publisher

A kid from Rev. Sackie’s Bible class waits to be served.

When I first ran into Rev. Dougbapeh Sackie in late October 2024, in one central Liberian town named Kelebei, situated in the middle of the jungle, he sat on a flat stool-surrounded by children, as he tasted and churned fruit punch before serving it to the kids.

More than 50 children stood by holding plastic bottles of all colors and sizes, eagerly waiting to be served. Their ages range from 2 to 12. Although most have reached school-age, they aren’t yet in school because their parents can’t afford the uniforms, including shoes, let alone the tuition.

With no assistant to help control the kids, Rev. Sackie had to move back and forth, trying to stop confrontations among the kids. Some kids pushed back their peers to stay ahead in the line as Sackie got ready to share the drink. Other kids fought their way back into the queue thus making things difficult for Sackie.

THE BIG TASTE! Rev. Sackie takes a taste while the kids wait on.

Until recently, Sackie said he pastored a local church but later slowed down to give attention to his children ministry in Kelebei, a remote and underdeveloped area with electricity, pump water, or an after-school program for kids. Rev. Sackie’s Bible lesson has opened a window of opportunity for education for kids living here.

His regular outdoor Bible study class is helping keep the town’s impoverished kids engaged. And after sharing the Word of God with them, he serves the kids with fruit punch or Kool-Aid. No snacks are provided because the means aren’t there in this town where a single piece of lollipop can make a child’s day.

But first, these children of mainly farmers and hunters must go in and participate in Sackie’s Bible studies before partaking of the fruit punch. Now, kids are lining up to join the class and want their parents to take them in, especially for the two-year-olds who live distances away.   

“Many more children keep coming for Bible class since I started,” said Rev. Sackie. He said they preferred to attend the Bible class with their peers and get fruit punch rather than stay at home.

Another child at the Bible school pleads with his teacher to serve him.

Each of the kids is entitled to a cup of fruit punch after every section. They all carry used plastic bottles and cans to collect their treats. On the day of my visit, the average number of students turn-out was between 55-60. This was October 29, and we had driven through town, after an assessment trip to the St. Paul River.

Moments before departure Rev. Sackie whispered to me that he was running short on fruit punch and worried about the increase in students’ turn out.

He pleaded with Global Ekklesia to send out a “message” especially to Christians worldwide requesting for help with Kool-Aid for Rev. Dougbapeh Sackie’s Children Ministry in Kelebei.

Rev. Sackie interacts with the children while he stirs Kool-Aid.

Questioned regarding whether he has ever requested the kids’ parents to assist with fruit punch or “money” to buy Kool-Aid he answered, “Yes.” However, he added that the kids’ mothers have said they can’t afford it. 

Kelebei is one of Sanoyea District’s largest towns and sits in the midst of a green vegetation, fertile for cocoa and coffee production. This is in addition to other natural features such as large rivers, one of which is the St. Paul, the size of the Mississippi in Minnesota.

Commodities here too, are quite cheaper due to its remoteness, compared to towns and villages along Monrovia-Gbarnga Highway that runs through the middle of the country. Charges for services at the town’s only motel remain all-time low.

On our recent trip to Kelebei, prior to my departure to the U.S., for example, I was charged U.S. $10.00 (the highest) for a single night stay at Kelebei’s motel. Some of our staff from President Joseph Boakai’s charity who made the trip took rooms at U.S. $5.00 per night and the services were decent too. 

Kelebei’s single motel seen in background where we stayed during our March trip. Like much of Liberia, national development has eluded this area for decades and Amb. Joseph Boakai’s attempts to initially bring in development ran into hurdles, associated with corruption among local officials.

It’s worth noting that some of Liberia’s most influential government officials-from senator to vice president-hailed from Sanoyea District, a region which forms part of Bong County’s breadbasket. Former Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor is one of those ex-officials. 

Yet, the region has for long suffered utter neglect in terms of developmental needs. This is even compounded by corruption found within Kelebei’s local leadership itself which from all indications, is partly responsible for keeping this place backward-the same way it did to the rest of the country in years past.

Conditions of the main road from the highway town of Totota to Kelebei for instance, remain bumpy and dangerous throughout the year due apparently to lack of maintenance. During last summer, our foundation’s four-wheel vehicle was forced to return to Totota midway into our journey to Kelebei because of horrible road.

Amb. Joseph Boakai’s charity JNB Foundation in 2017, donated and launched a modern ferry boat to help ferry travelers across the St. Paul River in this region. The first by any politician in probably 50 years, the move was intended to open up this area which has no electricity, with residents still getting drinking water from nearby streams.

However, about U.S. $ 1.6 million raised from the ferryboat business between 2017-2025, disappeared along the way without Kelebei’s officials ever giving accountability, according to the head of the JNB Foundation, Mr. Jackson George Jr. who returned to Liberia early 2024 to run the charity. 

This sort of neglect and corruption have no doubt negatively impacted life as a whole in the region, thereby making things difficult for both parents and their kids, many of whom now attend Sackie’s Bible class.

Editor’s Note: Global Ekklesia doesn’t accept “material” or “cash” assistance on anyone’s behalf. Rather, we play a middle-man’s role to get help to needy people by helping to connect both parties. We also do a follow up publication once the help has been provided except where such provider requests anonymity. Also, after our last publication, a Liberian Florida woman reached us to find out if the Tubmanburg coconut-selling single mom of three, still needed help! We say thank you first of all for wanting to help out. Meantime, we are still in the process of dispatching someone to locate her and shall let you know of any further development.