Students help feed Liberian children

Forty-seven Sisters students with one big idea and many small creative projects will feed more than 300 orphans in the civil war-ravaged African country of Liberia this year.

The K-8 students at Sisters Christian Academy (SCA) are raising funds for the second year in a row to collaborate with Mike Parker, pastor of All Nations Ministries, to bring food and medicine to children.

By mid-February they hope to have raised enough to feed more than 300 malnourished kids from three different orphanages in the coastal west African country of Liberia. They hope to provide the orphans with two square meals a day, consisting of beans, rice and cooking oil, for four solid months. The funds will also provide six months' worth of vitamins and 3 months' worth of medicine to treat malaria and foot fungal diseases rampant in their barefoot communities.

"Food is something all kids can relate to," said Barby Martin, principal and Latin teacher at SCA.

Imagine a child living homeless in the African forest without shoes, starving to the point that he is forced to peel off and eat the soft bark from a tree to find nourishment.

This stark image, through a powerful slideshow chapel presented by Mark Parker's ministry, prompted the students at Sisters Christian Academy to take action.

"We have raised $628 so far," said Martin. "Our goal is to raise $2,800 by mid-February. I know we can do it."

A flying paper airplane is tacked to the gymnasium wall at the school to give the kids a sense of their earning progress. As the kids reach their goal, sacks of rice are piled upward below the plane to represent the food to be provided for the Liberian orphans. The rice, beans and cooking oil will be purchased in Liberia rather than flown over from the U.S., according to Parker, who will be going there at the end of the month in order to help the country's economy.

But raising $2,800 is no easy task for anyone.

The kids at SCA found a variety of creative projects to help raise money for the effort.

"We encouraged the kids to brainstorm different ideas," said Martin, "and they came up with some good ones. This is not like saying, 'Hey Mom, can I have some money to donate?' but rather 'What can I do?' The kids make a sacrifice."

The K-1 students have been collecting cans and bottles in their effort to earn money for the project. In addition, their teacher Tara Davis initiated an Indoor Yard Sale for the second year in a row to raise money for the Liberian orphans. This sale will be held again this year at the school on January 16.

The second and third grade classes, organized by teacher Gwen Phillipsen, began the new year with a creative project called "Penny Per." Students were encouraged every day of the calendar to count items in their own home and donate a "penny per" item.

The kids' reaction has been fabulous, according to Parker, who has two daughters at the school.

"My second grade daughter came home the first day and completed the whole calendar at once," said Parker. She counted items such as the number of light bulbs in her home and the miles driven that day, according to Parker, and she brought pennies from her own savings to school the next day.

The middle school students have worked toward the goal as well. Some have earned money by picking up rocks in their yards and even donating birthday money toward the cause. No matter how small the task seems, even in this economy, the combined effort is getting them nearer their goal.

"The economy continues to challenge us," said Martin, "but even in our worst we are better off than them in so many ways, and that can be a positive thing for kids to realize."

Mike Parker has devoted his ministry, based in Sisters, to reaching out and helping the people of Liberia. Twenty percent of the people living in the civil war-ravaged country are starving, and approximately 80 percent of Liberians are unemployed. Parker's trip in February will be his fourth time to the country.

"We don't want to follow the "One and Done" practice of so many traditional Western evangelists," said Parker. "Our ministry is committed to a place between three and five years."

Last year, a related ministry from Minneapolis was able to return to the orphanages in Liberia and report back to Parker and the SCA school kids about the orphans' wellbeing. According to Parker, the food and medicine greatly improved the orphans' lives.

"The social and spiritual issue of this project have taught us as staff in many ways," said Martin. "Most importantly, we want to give our kids a sense beyond the world they live in. After taking part in something like this, you just can't grow up and turn a blind-eye to the needs of others."

The SCA rummage sale for Liberia will be held at the school on Saturday, January 16 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Donate by calling Jeri Weber at 541-549-4133.