The Principal/Administrator of the Haywood Mission Institute in Old Road, Bishop Leo M. Simpson, recently turned seventy-four years old on December 15, 2023. He was born in a village called Borkeza, Lofa County, in 1949.
Bishop Simpson, responding to a reporter’s question of what he made up of his birth anniversary, said he was grateful to God who kept and has been gracious to him over the years.
He said as he clocked seventy plus years, associated with aches and pains, he never forgot the Lord’s tender love, long life, protection, favor, and blessing which, according to him, are worth more than silver and gold.
Bishop Simpson said old age is a blessing and not a curse, in keeping with the Bible, and it comes with wisdom and guidance, that the young people will learn from the fountain of knowledge.
The bishop attributed his strength over the years to carry on to the grace and mercy of God, in spite of aches and pains within the territory of getting older.
He said he is sound in mind, spirit alive, and that comes with wisdom with the leading of God, without which a man will plan and not achieve that plan and purpose going forward in life.
The Liberian clergyman and educator emphasized that he is grateful once again to God, where he is in life’s journey at age seventy-four. When quizzed to reflect on the important memorable years in Ministry and education, he responded, “I got to know Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior in December 1970, and was baptized in the Atlantic Ocean in the Borough of New Kru Town, Bushrod Island, an experience I would fast forward to the United States.”
Another memorable event, according to him, was the first day that he sat in an organized classroom, in his village of Borkeza, in Lofa County, leading to college education, and is grateful to have been given birth to, adding, “Had I not been born, I would not have been baptized of water in Jesus’s name.”
According to the Haywood Mission Principal/Administrator, and also head of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World Inc. (P.A.W) in Liberia, these two events will go a long way as long as he lives.
Bishop Simpson got married in 1972 to Myra E. Simpson, and the union is blessed with two wonderful children, a boy and girl, residing in the United States.
He thanked the staffs and students of H.M.I that surprised him with the playing of a live band at the entrance to his office to wish him a happy birthday, something, he said, brought tears of joy to him.
He said they presented him with a copy of the King James large print Bible, photos, and a statement of gratitude of love for always being there for them in their educational sojourn, and spiritual guidance.
