St. Mark's Welcomes Liberian Missionary Bette McCrandall

Bette McCrandall was our guest at LUNCH N' FELLOWSHIP on September 23rd at noon in Fellowship Hall. Who is Bette McCrandall? She is our missionary to the Lutheran Church in Liberia, which is the companion synod to our own Upper Susquehanna Synod.

Ms. McCrandall lived through the devastating and bloody civil war years that plagued Liberia in the 1990's. She has served as our missionary in Liberia for more than 20 years and has been in Liberia since the 1970's.

Guests from St. Mark's and the surrounding area greeted Ms. McCrandall and enjoyed a chicken and roasted potatoes lunch prepared by David Walz. After lunch Ms. McCrandall spoke of the good and the bad of her mission - the growth of the Lutheran Church in Africa and the horrors of civil war.

Of course, the Lutheran Church has been active in Liberia for nearly 150 years, supporting hospitals and schools and spreading the word of Jesus Christ. The civil war and chaos that came with it devastated the country and the institutions established by the Church, which were looted and destroyed. Mass murder, such as the killing of over 600 men, women and children seeking refuge in St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Monrovia, became common.

The good news that Bette McCrandall conveyed is that the last outbreak of violence occurred in 2004. Recovery is underway, and with recovery comes new strength in the Lutheran Church. The horror of civil war and the Lutheran presence with aid, has brought more Liberians into the Lutheran church.

Recently, more young people are being trained to serve as pastors.  More "modern" churches are being built in Liberia to serve the rural areas, where folks are flocking to the existing facilities to worship.

The church has also spread to other African nations.  Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana now have places where Lutherans worship.  To some degree, this is an outcropping of the war - Liberian refugees established churches in their places of exile, and those churches brought in the local population.  Currently, the Liberian Church is supporting a missionary pastor in Guinea, however, it is expected that a Guinean pastor now receiving training in Liberia will soon return to serve his native land.

Bette also discussed the schools established by Lutherans.  During the war, the government schools stopped functioning, so the Church began to open schools.  Presently, the Church operates 46 school units for young children.  Older individuals will be served by LTI, a technical school.

Another important function of the Church in Liberia is to work for reconciliation among the civilians and the former combatants.  This has proved difficult given the atrocities committed during the war.

At the conclusion of her remarks, Pastor Elkin presented Ms. McCrandall with a gift of funds from the St. Mark's congregation, and wished her well in her continued Liberian service.