Poverty

For those of you who do not know about the history of Liberia, I highly highly encourage you to read up on it. I admit that even though I knew that they had just emerged from a civil war, until coming here I did not understand the full extent of the devastation of the war. After being here a week I have only just begun to understand it. Since the war only ended four years ago, many of the patients seen on the ship have been victims of gruesome crimes, and nearly everyone has lost loved ones to the fighting.

The poverty is unimaginable. 85% of Liberians are unemployed - especially in Monrovia - and 80% are living in poverty. The city has been ravaged. Buildings are bombed out, the only electricity here (in the capital city) is generator-driven, and UNMIL (UN Missions In Liberia) officers patrol the streets constantly in efforts to keep peace that currently seems a bit shaky. Many of the people go without food regularly, and one woman I was talking to commented on the lack of animals in and around the capital with the explanation that they had all been eaten by the starving citizens. From what I gather there is not a lot of economic disparity among Liberians - everyone is poor.

The condition of the Liberians has been tough for me to grapple with over the past week, and I haven't even interacted with that many locals yet. I take hope in knowing that God IS sovereign even in a place like this. God is ever-present even in times of trouble and unchangeable even in times of uncertainty. And this is what matters. As C.S. Lewis puts it, "all that can be shaken will be shaken and only the unshakable remains." Praise the LORD, He does not look at the external but considers instead what is within us. I really like Psalm 10 lately:

"The LORD is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry."
Psalm 10:16-17