Churches in Liberia are paving the way for villages to unite and work toward a brighter future.

Few resources make it to River Gee County, Liberia, except those required to export the area’s minerals to other countries. There’s no pavement here, just a rutted and often muddy road that leads to impoverished villages.

For decades, Samaritan’s Purse has worked in Jesus’ Name in River Gee to provide safe water, maternal and child health resources, literacy training, church construction assistance, and more. Our teams are especially devoted to strengthening communities through church mobilisation.

Mercy Temple Church of God is one of our partners that is seeing God work in powerful ways. The congregation recently dedicated a new building—a celebration and a testament to God’s blessing, including the community’s newfound strength.

Samaritan’s Purse provided the zinc roof and support pillars, as well as materials for installing latrines. But everything else was furnished by church members, who collected materials from the land. To have their building supplies locally sourced is not simply an ideal in these parts. It’s a necessity for communities that are still fighting to rebuild after a crippling civil war that ended nearly 20 years ago.

“Villages are realising that they can’t wait on someone from the outside to restore them,” said Daniel Ruiz, Samaritan’s Purse country director. “We want them to see local churches, and ultimately the Lord Jesus Christ, as the source of future peace and stability in their region.”

Richard, a longtime church member, is both a fisherman and a farmer. He checks his traps each morning to see the catch of the previous day. He supports his family from this, in combination with the cassava, corn, and other crops he plants and harvests. As he earns income, he also supports Mercy Temple, giving a percentage of the Lord’s provision.

Mercy temple church celebrated God’s provision of a new worship space

His canoe has also proven invaluable to the church’s construction project. “We wanted to provide what we were able to provide. I would paddle out into the river, shovel the sand into my canoe, and paddle back. All the men did,” he said. For many days and weeks, while foregoing their work on farms and fishing, the men canoed out and shovelled.

A brigade of 30 women, led by Rozetta, the pastor’s wife, carried buckets of sand and water from the river to the top of the hill. The sand was used to create the foundation and flooring. Water from the River Gee was mixed with the red dirt all around them to form sun-baked bricks for the walls.

“It was hard and tiring work,” Rozetta said. “But it was joyful work and God sustained us.”

Church members gathered sand from the river to create the foundation and flooring of the new building

In another area of River Gee, tensions over scarce resources had resulted in villages refusing to associate with each other, much less work together. This included some churches that had decided long ago to draw hard lines around denominational affiliation.

But after our community development training, churches began stepping up and leading the way in facilitating cooperation and unity across tribal and village lines. Twelve churches worked together to initiate the repair of a primary road. People across at least five villages came together to place stones in the large ruts and then carry buckets of dirt to fill in the spaces.

Community gatherings are more common now in remote parts of Liberia

Motorbikes now zip up and down the road, and when the rains come, the soil no longer gives way. “In the past, people would not have worked together like this,” said Regina, one of our church mobilisation project coordinators. “They would have said ‘This is not my village.’

But today they see the road as a project to benefit all the villages.” The 12 churches in this area are even holding special times of worship together, which is helping to create a deeper connection among the communities.

We’re also seeing churches and villages work together to maintain water wells and pumps installed by Samaritan’s Purse. Our team is providing training on routine care and maintenance, which not only allows for a longer operational life for these critical water projects, but also fosters community involvement and ownership.

Clean Water Projects Are Creating Healthier, Brighter Futures.

God is creating opportunities for the Gospel to be shared as our staff members lead trainings and invest time in discipleship. In one village, Weah had been resistant to the Gospel for a long time. He stopped going to church with his wife and two sons and was often drunk.

But after seeing God’s love demonstrated through our team that provided a household water filter, and hearing them share about eternal salvation through Jesus, he repented and came to faith in Christ.

“I felt far from God. I realised I was not ready to meet Jesus— but now I am,” he said. “I have received Jesus into my life.”

Whether it’s constructing a well, leading community development training, or partnering to build a house of worship, the work of Samaritan’s Purse in Liberia is pointing people to our Lord and Saviour.

Liberians are coming to faith in Christ, including Weah (far left).

Will you lift up the following prayer requests?

For churches in Liberia to serve as a bright light for the Gospel in River Gee and throughout the country.

For communities to continue overcoming divisions and tensions, uniting for the sake of building a brighter future.

That healing and restoration would come to villages that still bear the scars of the nation’s painful civil war.

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 1:22-23, ESV

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