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Liberian church members voice support for Johnson-Sirleaf

Nov. 14, 2005

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Mary Miller*

MONROVIA, Liberia (UMNS) - United Methodists throughout this West
African country are expressing support for Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who
appears to have won the Nov. 8 presidential run-off election.

While final results have not yet been announced, Johnson-Sirleaf was
firmly in the lead with 59 percent of the vote, after 90 percent of the
votes cast had been tabulated. If she is confirmed the winner, she will
be Africa's first female head of state.

Many United Methodists around the country worked hard to galvanize
support for the former finance minister, whom they felt was the most
capable person to lead the country.

"She is our daughter.  She grew up in this church, and we know how she
was raised," said the Rev. Erlene Thompson of First United Methodist
Church in Monrovia, where Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is an active member.

Thompson, a childhood friend of Johnson-Sirleaf, feels confident that
her former playmate has the skills required to rebuild Liberia after
years of civil war, which have left the country in ruins and even its
capital city without electricity or running water. While the
transitional government put in place by the Comprehensive Peace Accords
of 2003 has maintained a fragile peace, it has contributed little to
revitalizing the country.

Keeping the peace is in the forefront of everyone's minds right now,
especially since George Weah, the opposing candidate in the presidential
run-off, is alleging electoral fraud and has asked the National
Elections Commission to stop the tallying process.

In Monrovia on Nov. 11, hundreds of Weah supporters marched on a route
that included the offices of the National Election Commission and the
U.S. Embassy, chanting, "No Weah, no peace." Weah, a former
international soccer star and hero to many Liberian youth, has urged his
supporters to remain calm but is demanding a full investigation of the
election.

While sensitive to the developments around town, Thompson believes Weah
will eventually accept the results, and she has confidence
Johnson-Sirleaf will make reconciliation her first priority.  "She will
reach out to the youth and heal their wounds.  She will be a mother to
them."

Rudolph Merab, the lay leader for the Liberian Annual Conference of the
United Methodist Church, said the church will be there to support
Johnson-Sirleaf.

"The church has to adopt a posture that will allow the country to grow,"
he said, "and just because someone is popular doesn't mean he is a
capable leader." Merab described the churches as "foot soldiers" during
the run-off campaign period, when members went door to door encouraging
people to vote for Liberia as a nation rather than on ethnic or partisan
lines.

"We worked hard because we knew everything was at stake," Merab said.

Yet Liberian United Methodists recognize that Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf will
need a lot of help to rebuild the country and to reconcile long-standing
tensions between communities.  Thompson reported that the United
Methodist Church in Liberia has always been at the forefront of
reconciliation and development efforts and having Johnson-Sirleaf as
president will lend support to the church's work.

"Ellen believes in educating the youth and building health clinics,"
Thompson said. "She will help all the churches, of every denomination,
develop Liberia."

Many believe the fact that Johnson-Sirleaf is a United Methodist gives
the church a special mandate to ensure that she receives the support she
needs as well as lives up to her campaign promises.

"She is still a human being," commented Richmond Dupre, lay leader of
First United Methodist Church. "We as a church will continue to pray
that God will endow her with wisdom."

He noted that if for some reason Johnson-Sirleaf falters on her
promises, he will be the first to ask the bishop to remind her of her
commitments. "She is a humble person, and the church will find every
possible way to engage her because the job ahead of her is
overwhelming," Dupre said.

Bishop John Innis has been involved in the reconciliation efforts, and
during the United Methodist Council of Bishops' Oct. 30-Nov. 4 meeting,
he asked his colleagues to pray for Liberia during the elections.

Liberian United Methodists are developing ways to work with a
Johnson-Sirleaf administration as well as to be independent from it. The
Liberian Annual Conference has created the Liberian United Methodist
Empowerment Foundation to help the church's work in education, health
and agricultural development as well as to support clergy throughout the
country.

The fund is intended to help build the capacity of ordinary Liberians
through livelihood support projects and training, among other things.
The foundation is building an endowment fund, which receives support
through the denomination's Advance for Christ and His Church giving
program (Advance Special #000382-3RA).

"People here depend on the government for everything" said Merab, the
foundation's co-chairman. While stressing that the church will work with
Johnson-Sirleaf wherever possible, he noted that "it's important for the
church to be in a position of independence from the government."

"The United Methodist Church will stand strong, preaching the message of
the gospel, if the leader goes wrong," commented Rev. Weh Weah Betieh,
pastor of First United Methodist Church in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County.
"The church is not separate from politics - even Jesus was a
politician."

*Miller is assistant program coordinator for the Democracy Program at
the Carter Center.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

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