Testimony

Liberia: A generation of Bassa Christian Missionaries slowly leaving us; Who will replace them?

James Fasuekoi

By James Kokulo Fasuekoi|Editor-Publisher writes from Monrovia, Liberia

During Global Ekklesia’s 3rd anniversary celebration here in Monrovia, last October, one of Grand Bassa’s known praying mothers, Missionary Manideh Chindah Garway was asked to open the ceremony in prayer.

And there was a reason why she had been chosen to perform this role at the eleventh hour.

A widow, Manideh Chindah Garway, until recently, had been a part of a generation of a prayer band of missionaries from Worldwide Missions Church (WMC), based in Buchanan, Grand Bassa. 

Besides, Manideh had been our praying partner when the deadly COVID 19 struck the U.S. and the rest of the world, and I fell ill, prompting my wife Martha Fasuekoi to resign her scientific job and care for me.

Before her recent passing, Missionary Manideh Chindah Garway, sits in her hospital bed at the JFK Hospital, with foster daughter, Sis. Marvoi Karnga-Momo, seated left, following the amputation of her leg. The two had a story of their own when Sis. Marvoi got seriously ill years ago-with no real cause found-thus leading Mot. Chindah into fasting and prayer till she got healed.

“Maa Chindah,” as the entire Bassa Community and beyond refer to her, belonged to a Community of Prayers not only rooted in WMC but in Bassa traditions-that is, they pray in Bassa Language, and not western, and God hears their prayers.

After first arriving to Buchanan from her parental home of Rivercess, formally a “territory” of Liberia, some 45 years ago, Maa Chindah joined Worldwide Missions Church, from where she along with her peers learned to offer healing prayers for sick people.

Eventually, most people they prayed over got healed through the grace and power of God. 

However, the healing power came with a price: each “Praying Woman,” (as Missionaries are called in Liberia), had to sacrifice even more; this came in the form of forsaking worldly pleasures and devoting time to prayer.   

On the day of Ekklesia’s anniversary, when Maa Chindah approached about offering the opening prayer, she appeared somewhat hesitant.  

“I don’t know how to pray in English, oh,” she murmured to me, gripping her clutches, as I passed the microphone to her, before a crowd of national journalists, writers, editors, artists and physicians who had joined our foundation’s staff  for the event.

“You can go ahead and pray in Bassa…God, our creator, hears all the languages,” I whispered. 

Mother Chindah Garway passed away last July 2, 2025, after a brief illness. She was 70.

According to her lifesketch, Maa Chindah was born August 22, 1955, in today’s Rivercess County.     

Her funeral rite took place August 9, 2025, in Buchanan, and it befitted that of a Christian Missionary, one who sacrificed for the Body of Christ and her own community for much of her life. She was interred at Big Joe’s Town cemetery near Buchanan.

In Bassa tradition people not only celebrate life, the birth of a new born but they also celebrate death; depending on the roles the deceased played in society, a big feast can be hosted in the person’s honor for days, or even weeks, a period people would eat, dance, and reflect on the deceased’s life lived here. 

Not only that; the Bassas also come to the funeral with gifts of attractive purses, presenting them to the deceased’s family, to help with the funeral expenses. Relatives, acquaintances, and also associations including religious and social groups the deceased affiliated with all go in to make these tributes.  

For Manideh Chindah’s funeral rites, a huge cow was slaughtered and shared within the community, a common practice among the Bassa here, with each carrying a piece. The practice is a form of a “thank you” gesture to those from afar and near, attending such an event.

Maa Chindah was head of Worldwide Missions National Prayer Band, from where she became national president for the church’s missionary branch till the time of her demise. She took over this position from late church elder, Mother Hawa Krangan, former head of Worldwide Missions Church prayer band who died in July 2024. 

Prior to taking over from late prayer warrior, “Maa Hawa,” Chindah had worked with Mother Krangan as her Armor bearer for many years, she told Global Ekklesia last year.

Maa Hawa, she said, had privately consulted with her concerning serving in the referenced capacity and both prayed about it before Hawa’s passing. 

This process entails the passing on God’s “given blessings” to Chinda, through the laying-on of hands, a liturgy that London-based Congolese preacher, Apostle Alidor Mvula calls “the transfer of legacy” in his new book.

Footnote: Many thanks and appreciations most especially to Maa Chindah’s foster daughter, Sis. Marvoi Karnga (who flew to Liberia from the USA for funeral services), the Worldwide Missions Church, Elder-Sis. Mary Karnga-Dahn & the entire Rev. Dr. Karnga Family, of which Maa Chindah was a part; Mother Chindah’s children, friends and families.