Global Outreach to Liberia
OUTREACH TO THE CHURCH AND PEOPLE OF LIBERIA, WEST AFRICA
"Go ye into all the world and make disciples..."
St. James Episcopal Church, Bradley Beach and St. Michael the Archangel, Wall Township EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF NEW JERSEY
By: The Rev. Dr. James T. Yarsiah
The affiliated parishes of St. James Episcopal Church, Bradley Beach and St. Michael the Archangel Episcopal Church, Wall Township have embarked on a new ministry, “The Global Outreach Ministry to Liberia.” This new ministry is an expansion of the current Mission and Outreach at both parishes. In May 2021, the Rev. Dr. James T. Yarsiah, Priest-In-Charge of the affiliated parishes, launched this new ministry. The global outreach effort is the first of its kind in the Diocese of New Jersey and is expected to continue. In an effort to give back, James and Ophelia, his wife, led an initiative in 2006 that engaged several churches, institutions and friends in the Diocese of South Carolina and beyond, in donating materials and relief supplies that were shipped to Liberia by the “Global Outreach Ministry to Liberia;” to assist women, children, the elderly, schools, orphanages, churches, etc. The current shipment brings to ten the total number of containers shipped from the USA to Liberia since the Global Outreach Ministry was founded. The Liberian church and people suffered terrible losses during the 14-year brutal Liberian civil war (1989-2003) that destroyed lives and properties.
On August 7th, 2021, we loaded a forty-foot shipping container with donated materials and relief supplies, bound for the Freeport of Monrovia, Liberia. According to the shippers, Missionary Expediters, the relief container is expected to arrive at the end of September or early October. The monetary value of the contents is estimated at more than $25,000 United States Dollars.
Contents of the container include, but are not limited to, several boxes of school and office supplies, PPE’s (disinfecting wipes, face masks, hand sanitizers and gloves), back packs, children’s books, science textbooks, educational games, toys, balls (basket, soccer and volley), flip-flops, hygienic materials, Rita Rolls and sleeping bags, wheel chairs, walkers, metal chairs, college math books, Bibles, theological books, used clergy vestments, choir and acolyte robes, church linens and ornaments, used Prayer Books, and a drum set. Others include relief materials, dry food items, clothes, shoes, socks, beddings, blankets and assorted materials. This shipment as well as previous shipments have been a community effort.
Donations were received from parishioners of our affiliated parishes of St. James and St. Michael’s. Several Episcopal churches including Trinity Episcopal Church, Woodbridge, New Jersey, St. Philip’s Chapel, Voorhees College, Denmark, South Carolina, the St. Andrew’s Mission Church, West Ashley, Charleston, SC and the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Summerville, SC, made donations. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK/USA), located in Cowan, Tennessee, donated church materials and theological books. Several boxes of sleeping bags were donated by Mr. and Mrs. Loui Broockfor of Charleston, SC, and Dr. Joel Cunningham, former Vice Chancellor of the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, donated college math books. Other donations came from personal friends in other parts of the US. Friends at Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal) in Nashville, Tennessee collaborated with our affiliated parishes to help defray the cost for trucking and shipping. Individuals, who asked to remain anonymous, donated their time and trucks to pick up many of the items from different locations. Parishioners from our affiliated parishes helped to pack and load boxes of donated materials. Our affiliated parishes thank all donors and assure them that their donations will make a huge difference in the lives of people in the churches, schools, orphanages, and communities in Liberia.
A partial list of targeted beneficiaries includes, the St. James Episcopal Church and School, Hoffman Station, Harper, Maryland County - Southeastern Liberia, St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church and Outreach School, SKT, Bong County – Central Liberia, the Episcopal Elementary and High School (Fr. Yarsiahs' alma mater), Robertsport, Cape Mt. County – Northwestern Liberia, the Cuttington University (Episcopal), Suacoco, Bong County – Central Liberia, and the Seth C. Edwards Memorial Theological Institute, located in Monrovia, the Capital City of Liberia. Other beneficiaries will include the Foundation for the Rights of Women and Girls, orphanages, Episcopal and non-Episcopal schools, churches and the Liberian Group of 77 (a Government of Liberia institution for the crippled and lamed).
In preparation for our next shipment in 2022/23, our affiliated parishes have received donated textbooks from the Wall Township School District and are opened to other donations. Parishes and Mission churches in the Diocese of New Jersey are encouraged to donate used Prayer Books, 1982 and/or 1982 Hymnals, clergy vestments, clerical shirts, robes, church materials and ornaments, etc, that they may not need, but can be used elsewhere. Those interested in helping may contact Fr. James T. Yarsiah at jtyarsiah@gmail.com or call 732-681-1863/stmichaelnj@gmail.com (St. Michael’s) or 732-775-5414/saintjamesbb@gmail.com (St. James). Donations can be shipped or dropped off at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, 2015 Allenwood Road, NJ 07719. A detailed list of needed items is posted on our websites, at www.saintjamesbb.com and www.stmichaelswall.com.
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LIST OF MATERIALS TO BENEFIT THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF LIBERIA & LIBERIANS (Used and/or New)
1. Chasbules
2. Stoles
3. Clerical shirts
4. Clergy Cassocks & Cassock albs
5. Rabats
6. Collars
7. Surplices
8. Cinctures/girdles
9. Dalmatics
10. Birettas
11. Copes
12. Choir Robes
13. Acolyte Robes
14. Altar linens
15. Burse,
16. Corporals
17. Purificators
18. Holy water vat/Aspergillum
19. Sprinklers
20. Altar bells
21. Censers & Boats
22. Gospel books & altar books (BCP)
23. Holy water sprinklers
24. Altar candle sticks
25. Processional & other crucifixes
26. Chalices
27. Paten
28. Flagon
29. Ciboria
30. Host Box
31. Offering plates & candles
32. Cruets
33. Frontals/Hangings
34. Candle lighters
35. Books of Common Prayer (1979)
36. Hymnals (1940 & 1982)
37. Christian & Religious films
38. Children books & Bibles
39. Bibles (Good News & RSV)
40. General Sunday school materials & visual aids
NON-CHURCH ITEMS NEEDED (Used and/or New)
1. Piano
2. Organ
3. Keyboard
4. Computers & Printers
5. Photocopy machines
6. Toys & games for children
7. Film projectors for Sunday schools
8. New & used clothes (all sizes & both sexes)
9. Footwear (all sizes & both sexes)
10. Non-perishable food
11. Blankets & beddings
12. Toothbrushes & toothpaste
13. Underwear (both sexes)
14. Pain killers (varieties)
15. Wheel chairs & Walkers
16. Canes
17. Electric Generator
In addition to the above listed items, we will appreciate other donations that will be useful to the Episcopal Diocese and the people of Liberia.
Thanks for your prayers and support.
Rev Fr. James T. Yarsiah, Priest-In-Charge
jtyarsiah@gmail.com 843-810-3500
St. James Episcopal Church, Bradley Beach – saintjamesbb@gmail.com/732-775-5414
St. Michael the Archangel, Wall Township
stmichaelnj@gmail.com/732-681-1863
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey
