On August 25, 2019, Rev. Dr. Karyn Carlo visited Bo Waterside in Great Mount County in Liberia. Rev. Dr. Carlo is on a short-term mission teaching assignment at the Seminary in Monrovia. She is a Special Assistant to Rev. Leslie Turley, (Area Director to Southeast Asia and Japan) and to  Rev. Dr. Charles Jones (Area Director to Europe, the Middle East & Liberia).

If you would like to read more about Rev. Dr. Carlo’s journey in Liberia, please follow her on https://www.facebook.com/KarynCarloLiberia/?ti=as

Here are her reflections:

“Today I had the privilege of travelling to the western “end” of Liberia on the small river that serves as the border of Sierra Leone, in a town aptly named Bo Waterside in Great Mount County. There I visited the church community known as Bo-Waterside Baptist Fellowship in DeVos village. It was a joyous occasion as this was their 8^th anniversary as a church. On this day I had the honor of preaching the Word. God laid it in my heart to explore Isaiah 58:9 “Remove the Yoke From Among You.” This text comes to us from the 6^th century BCE when the people of Judah are first returning from the Babylonian exile. As is often the case with all of us, even when their external oppressors no longer posed a threat, they still had to overcome internal oppression or the “yokes” among them. As a visitor to Liberia, I cited some of the “yokes” I had witnessed namely poverty, corruption, social oppression, and ecological destruction and expressed my appreciation for the many ways in which this fellowship is actively working to remove these “yokes” from their region of rural Liberia.

After church I had the opportunity to enjoy some delicious jollof rice and fried chicken, courtesy of their culinary ministry, while I chatted with the church leaders. They were excited to tell me more about their plans to remove the “yoke” of poverty from their people via vocational education and more. When asked what other “yokes” they might remove, I expressed my feelings as a visitor to Liberia upon realizing the 7 out of 10 people, particularly in rural areas, cannot read. I observed that they all were literate and many had already taught their children to read. Together we wondered whether a literacy program might help the rural poor to become empowered to rise up and improve their standard of living. This idea was enthusiastically received by all. Before returning to Monrovia, I expressed my desire to re-visit them on their 10^th anniversary, taking the liberty of inviting myself to the celebration to see the progress they will undoubtedly have made by then in removing the “yokes” from so many necks as God has commanded us all to do.”