“Liberia, All Is Not Lost”

United Methodist Director of Evangelism in Liberia, Reverend B. Matthew Williams, has assured Liberians that, though everything seems gloomy, the country is subject to God’s plan of restoration. 

In his Sermon for the First Sunday in October at New Hope United Methodist Church in Paynesville, a congregation he pastors, Rev. Williams recounted the nation’s falling economy characterized by inflation, the depressing political instability in government evident by corruption and insecurity, and the rambling opposition that could be viewed as alternatives, which, he said, are all indications of a society deeply in trouble.  

“Despite all these discouraging factors confronting the nation, all is not lost for Liberia,” the United Methodist Pastor assured.  

He unveiled a three part roadmap: national repentance, consecration and restoration; dwelling on biblical scriptures from Joel 2:12-19 and John 5:1-9. Rev. Williams, who serves his denomination as Director of Evangelism and Missions, picked up on repentance as the need for Liberians, including the government, to change their acts and deeds incompatible to the will and purposes of God.  He spoke specifically on the troubling news of ritualistic killings and the tragic scenes of mutilated human bodies reportedly lying in street corners and trending on social media as an indication of evil in the land. 

“An act of true repentance entails, according to the text, returning to God with our whole hearts, with fasting, weeping, and mourning”, the UMC Prelate asserted and called on the nation to take concrete actions to avert evil acts, instead of justifying and responding to these unacceptable doings as normal practices. 

On the common practice of urinating in the streets, Rev. Williams said such indecent acts depict a sign of an uncivilized group of people; a description, he claims, is not God’s intent for the nation. He said, Liberia needs a complete paradigm shift from selfish, greedy and filthy mindset to a tidy nation building mentality. 

He specifically referenced the attitude of leaders of the country concentrating on personal wealth acquisition to the detriment of the whole nation. His reference points to the fact that leaders get richer during their tenures of service, while the nation gets poorer, even after they have left the leadership stage. 

For him, once Liberians submit themselves to God’s cleansing, the nation will experience consecration and subsequent restoration as was the case of the sick man who lay at the pool of Bethesda for 38 years, unassisted by any man except the visit of Jesus Christ, which made all the difference in the man’s life.