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Note #8166 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

'I was hungry, and you fed me'
04136
March 15, 2004

'I was hungry, and you fed me'

Liberian envoy visits Arkansas to thank Presbyterians face-to-face

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - Liberia's ambassador to the United States visited Batesville,
Arkansas recently to thank Presbyterians there for helping to feed the people
of his war-torn, famine-stricken African country.

Responding to an appeal from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA)
(http://www.pcusa.org/pda/), churches in the Presbytery of Arkansas
(http://www.presbyteryofarkansas.org/) raised nearly $15,000 for Liberia in
just five weeks, according to the Rev. David Gill, the chair of the
presbytery's mission committee.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) had a partner in the effort - the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church, which also pitched in about $15,000, Gill said.

The money was used to buy about 176,000 pounds of rice to feed more than
30,000 of the hundreds of thousands of Liberians who suffer from extreme
hunger and malnutrition.

Ambassador Porte, who also is moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Liberia
(PCL), expressed his nation's gratitude during a Presbytery of Arkansas
meeting last month. He said the shipment helped feed more than 30,000
Liberians.

"It helped a good deal," Porte said during the meeting at
Presbyterian-related
Lyon College (http://www.lyon.edu/) in Batesville. "The country is pulling
itself out of a 14-year civil war. The entire fabric of the country was
destroyed."

More than 350,000 people have been killed in the war, he said - one-tenth of
the population.

Many more "have been eating grass and leaves" to stay alive, said Claudia
Marsh, director of church relations at Lyon College.

She said Presbyterians are "so grateful that while he was over in the United
States he (Porte) wanted to come and thank the Presbytery of Arkansas
personally."

The ambassador said he was in Liberia in December when the five truckloads of
rice arrived, and saw how it was distributed through churches and civic
institutions.

The rice, grown in Dewitt, AR, was shipped to Liberia in October, on the
recommendation of a PDA team that had visited the country to assess the
severity of the famine.

When the PDA team got back to the United States, members called around to
several presbyteries asking for help for Liberia. Gill's response was to
spearhead the fund-raising effort.

"Pulling together Presbyterians in Arkansas to send rice to Liberian families
was one of those projects that brings life at both ends," said Gill, the
mission chair, who also is executive director of the presbytery's Ferncliff
Presbyterian Camp and Conference Center. "Our churches were moved by the need
and energized by the challenge from the national office. We were honored to
be asked."

	Gill said the Presbytery of the Pines, which has congregations in
Arkansas and northern Louisiana, also raised some money in support of the
effort. And PDA paid $20,000 for shipping, according to Susan Ryan, the PDA
coordinator.

PDA contributed $270,000 in humanitarian aid to Liberia in 2003.

This isn't the first time the Arkansas Presbyterians have dispatched
truckloads of rice to a starving people. They helped feed the people of
Honduras and Nicaragua after a hurricane several years ago.

"I think it's characteristic of this presbytery and the kind of things that
this presbytery is doing in ministry and mission," said the Rev. Bill Branch,
general presbyter of the Presbytery of Arkansas. "I think this presbytery is
very responsive to needs of people, and able to do rather creative kinds of
things."

When he learned of the presbytery's plans to donate the rice to his country,
Porte told an audience of about 300, what came to mind were the words, "God,
thank you."

He said the people of Liberia also are appreciative.

"They were gratified and overwhelmed," said Porte, who planned the Arkansas
visit after learning that Liberia's president was coming to the United
States. "It was a help not only to the church, but to the government. I want
to express appreciation toward the Presbyterian Church."

Porte said he was speaking for the 14 Presbyterian churches in Liberia and
their 3,000 members in saying: "This was a blessing. I couldn't be more
thankful."

While the president of Liberia was meeting with President Bush, Porte was
conversing with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Just before he set out for Arkansas.

"The church is trying desperately to assist our government in making a
difference," Porte said. "We need all the help we can get. Our churches are
down; we need housing for our people. The situation is desperate. Any
assistance goes a long way in strengthening Liberia."

(Editor's note: The Batesville, AR, Daily Guard gathered information for this
story.)

This story is available with the picture at
http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/oldnews/2004/04136.htm

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