By Grace Q. Bryant
The Liberian Initiative for Feeding Everyone ( LIFE- Liberia) has signed a memorandum of understanding between the Ecumenical collaborating partnership Churches of Liberia.
The signing ceremony which was held at the Lutheran Compound on 13th Street brought together Lutherans, Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptist Churches and Council of Churches.
Giving an overview of the LIFE- Liberia, the Bishop of Lutheran Church in Liberia, Rev. Dr. D. Jensen Seyenkulo said that the project was named the Liberian Initiative for Feeding Everyone—or LIFE-Liberia—by a rural LCL pastor. It aims to reduce dependence on rice imports by focusing on the objectives in rural areas and increasing lowland rice cultivation with a semi-mechanized method that reduces drudge work.
He added that they are collaborating with abandoned idle industrial processors to improve investment in and boost processing and marketing of Liberian rice. These processors remove the husks from the rice grains—readying them for consumption—and are able to do it faster and in larger quantities than removing husks by hand.
” We are too precious to allow someone determine when we will eat, how much we will eat and what we will eat; we can do it ourselves,” he noted.
He stated further that they will engage the Liberian government, development partners and such private-sector actors as businesses, churches and mosques to concert efforts in increasing rice production.
“In this life, we are blessed as what the prophet said that the old man will bread and where there is no prophecy, the people perish,” Rev. Seyenkulo said.
According to Bishop Seyenkulo, “When the war came, the church saved the lives of ordinary Liberians and when government broke down , the church did not break down, so the church can only break down by God, adding that the church helped Liberians until the end of the war.
“We will not sit back and allow other nations feed us, we can feed ourselves, adding that we are old enough to feed ourselves and we will not allow others to control our destiny,” he averred.
Bishop Seyenkulo explained that the church did not bring Bible along but bought education to give life through education and the church built hospitals.
“The church is interested in agriculture because a sound mind is in sound body.One will be able to listen to the gospels when there is a preaching,” he expressed.
“Many countries around Africa will learn from us and they will send people to Liberia and see what the Lutherans, Methodists, Episcopalians and Baptists are doing and therefore copy their experiences and breakthrough,” Bishop Seyenkulo said.
Rev. Seyenkulo also expressed thanks and appreciation to the four churches to make the work and those who were not part of the technical team but work underground.
LIFE-Liberia has the potential to turn a nightmare of food scarcity into the dream of God’s kingdom, with God’s people in Liberia becoming self-sufficient in their food production. Seyenkulo and the staff of LIFE-Liberia continue to pray for God’s guidance of, and blessings on, their work.
For his part, the president of Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention, Rev. Samuel Reeves said if there is no Liberia without the church and therefore the church gives birth to the Republic of Liberia.
“After the church gives birth to a child it is about time now the church feeds the child, adding that the Lord allows this young man with the vision to show up in his home town and his way. We are proud that you came up with this vision,” Rev. Reeves added.
“As the government spends over 200,000 Million dollars to import rice, we want to challenge the government instead of wasting 3 million dollars to Legislature to have parties all around; now it is time to invest in life,” Rev. Reeves indicated.
The Vice President of Students Affairs at the University of Liberia, Moses Zinnah has disclosed that the government cannot do this initiative, adding that the government can only set the pace to get things straight.