Thank you for your continued prayers and financial support for EMA. 

Some exciting have things happened in the past two months, and we know that our God will continue to pour out His wisdom, love, and resources as we seek His guidance in all things.  We rejoice with Meanu Kayea, EMA Board Member, who accompanied a group from his church to Liberia where they were able to see first-hand the work they support. We rejoice that Steve Ackley, EMA Board Member, also had the opportunity to spend three weeks in Liberia checking on technology projects.  We also weep with those who weep. Clip Kiffen, a founding member of EMA, had to say goodbye to his wife of 51 years. We ask that you keep Clip in your prayers as he learns to walk this new road with God.
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This month we come to you with a critical need. The ELWA campus has historically relied on generating most of its own electricity.  The Liberian Electric Company (LEC) generates power, but service is inconsistent and expensive.  There have been many many occasions when a life altering procedure at the hospital is interrupted by a power outage. The doctors and nurses cannot see to continue. When there is no power, there is no water as pumps and water filtration systems shut down. Keep in mind that temperatures at ELWA, being close to the equator, are consistently between 80* and 100* with 100% humidity. No power means no fans to move the air.  As we prepare this newsletter the ELWA campus has had intermittent to no power for four days. 

​We are prayerfully asking you to consider helping us raise funds to build a new powerhouse.  The current structure was built in the 1950’s. At that time ELWA consisted of a small radio station, and a few employees, so the building was constructed to house one, or two generators. The current ELWA campus includes many houses -- homes for SIM, Mission Aviation Fellowship, and Samaritans' Purse personnel-- as well as a large hospital (thank you to Samaritan's Purse), a radio station, high school, elementary school, a church, and a large office complex for Samaritan’s Purse employees.  To provide power for the ELWA campus, four generators now live in the powerhouse resulting in very little room to work on or repair the generators when they go down, which is frequent. A new building is desperately needed to protect generators from the weather and to create room for the mechanics to work on and maintain the equipment. The building also needs a set of security cameras. 
 
Do you know of a skilled diesel mechanic with a heart to serve God on the mission field? ELWA mechanics need additional diesel training so they can keep the generators operational. If you, or someone you know is interested in finding out more about this opportunity, please reach out to, Steve Kejr at [email protected]

​Are you finally experiencing some warm days where you are?
As we are heading out of Spring and moving into Summer, Liberia is preparing for rainy season. 

According to the web site Climates to Travel, rainfall along the coast of Liberia “is very abundant and exceeds 3,000 mm or 118 inches per year.” That's almost 10 feet of rain per year.  However, “the real monsoon arrives in May and lasts until October.”

Imagine the damage all that rain will do to a house. Add to that the salt air that blows in from the ocean mixing with the rain. The houses in Liberia have windows that are  permanently open because the average temperature is 90 degrees outside, and there is no air conditioning in most of the homes. You can see from the photos that eves are extra wide so rain doesn't blow into the house, but the moisture still pours in.   

​During our February visit we saw first-hand the amount of work that is needed on these homes.
 
Would you prayerfully consider helping us with the cost of the repairs to these homes?  As Darryl mentioned, more help is needed, and some missionaries are already on their way. We need to get the ELWA staff into repaired homes of their own.  

Meet the McKnight Family

This month, we would like to introduce you to Gary & Elizabeth McKnight. Did you know the African church is the largest growing church in the world? However, there is a severe shortage of trained pastors. This is where the McKnights come in. 

Gary and Elizabeth move to Liberia this August to serve at ESWA (Evangelical Seminary of West Africa). They will live on the ELWA compound, in the old Schindler house, which was just remodeled. 

Gary & Elizabeth are eager and passionate to train pastors at the seminary. Not only that, they hope to use their home to strengthen relationships with the ESWA students. They look forward to times of meaningful conversations, meals, and fellowship in their new home. 

We are thankful to provide housing for families like the McKnights. So we launched our "Missionary Housing" campaign. Our goal is to raise $40,000 to support and care for more families like the McKnights. Also, we have some exciting news! Any financial gift given to our "Missionary Housing Campaign" will be a MATCHED donation.

If you would like to support more missionaries like the McKnights with missionary housing, please click "Give Now" button below. You can give one-time or recurring. 

Basketball Court & Youth Discipleship Update
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We are excited to share the "Basketball Court & Youth Discipleship" fundraising campaign is now underway! Meanu Kayea, who grew up on the ELWA compound and who's dad was an integral part of ELWA, has a passion for sports ministry and building a new basketball court, as an outreach to the community.

In June, we met with contractors, scoped out locations, and researched available supplies. We plan to build one regulation-size court with 6 hoops that will accommodate two 75% basketball courts! Our current plan is to have the courts ready to use this year. We are excited about the impact of this ministry for the youth of Liberia.

As a sister organization to SIM and ELWA Ministries Liberia, ELWA Ministries Association USA (EMAUSA) partners with SIM in spreading the Gospel in word and deed in Liberia. EMAUSA’s leadership team had a recent video Zoom call with Nicholas Piaget and we shared our hearts for the mission in Liberia. Together we identified many important projects that EMAUSA could support with fundraising efforts in the U.S. to support these initiatives.
Missionary HousingOne great need expressed by Nicholas is for missionary housing. There are several needed ELWA missionaries who are scheduled to join ELWA staff, but at this time there is no housing available for them. Several houses that were built in the 1950s have fallen into disrepair.  These homes must be renovated to accommodate these missionaries. Nicholas Piaget asked EMAUSA to assist in raising funds to rebuild these homes. 

ELWA Missionary Housing Repairs:  $40,000 needed
Basketball CourtEMAUSA had plans to renovate the gym but an inspection report showed that the structure was not safe enough to pursue that project.  Alternatively we have developed a plan to build an outdoor basketball court for the sports ministry.  ELWA/SIM has designated a plot of land on the High School grounds for an outdoor basketball court.  The much bigger project to build an all-new gym may still be developed in the future.  See a report from Meanu Kayea below for more details about how the basketball court will be used.

New Outdoor Basketball Court:  $25,000 needed
ICM Church RoofEMAUSA would also like to continue to support the building of the International Church of Monrovia (ICM) on ELWA Campus. The foundation, walls and roof girders are completed but there is still much to be done including completing the roof. 

International Church of Monrovia on ELWA Campus “Raise the Roof “Fundraiser:  $30,000 needed
ScholarshipsLiberian children continue to receive an education as a result of EMAUSA's support.  
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Scholarships:  $36,000 needed for the 2023-24 school year