Liberia Crusade 2010

We arrived at Roberts International Airport at 1 am in the morning, after the connecting flight from Casablanca and Dubai.

The trip including all of the connections was over 48 hrs travel. The nation of Liberia has been devastated by Civil war and as such all travel is extremely difficult, with only one flight a week in from Casablanca and all of the local airlines doing a milk run on unscheduled days.

Upon our arrival at the airport we were met by a government official who gave us our visas and helped us through immigration. The airport was not anything like you would imagine more - like a farmhouse - with low ceilings, and poorly lit areas for baggage collection and customs clearance.

Pastor Prince Reeves and a security detail were waiting for us. Once we had passed the security, we were met with bug smiles and were almost immediately in a vehicle, which was escorted by a security detail to the hotel.

The airport looked to have been partially rebuilt with high perimeter walls and barbed wire fences around the building. The roads, were in state of disrepair and there were UN trucks driving all over the place. It looked exactly as you would expect to see in a devastated African country.

We arrived at the hotel, which had 2 security checkpoints, and guards all around the walls and guards roaming in the premises.

Pastor Reeves showed us the room and came in for a while to go over the details of the crusade and pray for the meetings. It was 4 am before we got to sleep and our first meeting was scheduled for 7 am.

The second day we were met by Pastor Prince Reeves, and dressed in suits and ties, we were off to the meet the news media. We were on the 9 am talk show promoting all of the meetings and sharing a little about Reach Out For Christ. The radio interviews were very successful as we went over the allotted time for the show. As we were sharing what God is doing in the rest of the world.

After the media interviews, we had a quick tour through the town of Monrovia - where we got to see the infrastructure, or lack thereof, all of the main buildings had been burnt down in the war - and have not been repaired.

The traffic is heavy, as all of the streets are filled with huge holes and often closed down to only one skinny lane - which all of the vehicles are trying to squeeze through. There are hundreds of UN trucks running all over the place, and there is a very strong UN presence.

After the trip to town, we went to the hotel to get ready for the welcoming service at the church. When we arrived we were welcomed with traditional praise and worship, which involved dancing and leaping! Pastor Steve and myself were dressed in traditional dress and fitted in as the locals. Pastor Steve shared his testimony with the church and we were off to the hotel for a night’s rest!

We went to the local church where the praise was very lively and all the people were dressed in bright colours and with big smiles. Pastors Steve taught on the power of our words, which was very well received with Pastor Prince inviting the entire crusade volunteers out for prayer, and Pastor Steve prayed for them all.

The night of the first meeting was on and there was a little rain in the afternoon, which helped to keep all of the dust down. We arrived at the soccer ground where people had started to gather since 4pm. We were welcomed on the stage and Pastor Steve taught the crowd, which had grown to about two thousand people.

Pastor Steve gave an altar call and approximately one hundred and fifty people came forward to get born again. Straight after Pastor Steve prayed for them all so as they could receive the Holy Ghost. We saw a few more people join the ones who had just been saved and get filled with the Spirit of God.

Pastor Steve gave a call for ladies with breast tumours to come forward and three came onto the stage. Pastor Steve prayed for them and had a word for the deaf to come forward. A young boy about eight years of age who was born deaf came forward with his mum and Pastor Steve ministered to the child. God healed him instantly.

That set it for the evening and all the sick came forward. Pastor Steve to ministered to them all in the Name of Jesus. The first evening was a great success.

In the morning we had a meeting with the Minister for Land and Mines. He is a Christian as are most of the government officials. The meeting was encouraging and to see the plans for the country was very exciting.

When we arrived at the crusade the second evening, there was the praise team dancing - and the crowd was considerably larger than the previous evening. The praise team asked all the people that were not there the previous evening to raise their hands so as we could welcome them. More than half of the crowd were there for the first time- which made the number who attended about four thousand.

Pastor Steve taught on receiving from Jesus and how close we are to the return of the Lord. Pastor Steve made an altar call and we saw about one hundred people come forward for salvation, continue on to get filled with The Holy Sprit. The new converts gave their names to the local pastors so they could be encouraged and invited to church in the future.

Paster Steve began to minister to the sick. Not long after a completely blind, who was well known in the community was completely healed, the local TV cameras captured the whole miracle on camera.

As the man started to scream that he could see, the crowd overran the ushers and stormed the area where Pastor Steve was ministering. The crowd took a while to calm down as the musicians were all singing and dancing and praising God for the miracle.

As Pastor Steve continued ministering to the sick we saw a few deaf people hear and many others healed. One young man who had his throat injured in the war and could not speak, was healed and gave his testimony as we continued ministering to the sick!

The crowd at the crusade the third evening had doubled again to about ten thousand. Pastor Prince introduced Pastor Steve and the crowd was very excited to hear the word of God. Pastor Steve taught on how the word will heal you and then made an altar call. About one hundred people responded and their names were given to the local pastors for follow up.

Pastor Steve received a word of knowledge for people who had cancer to come forward and ministered to them. The crowd was very excited and everyone came rushing up for prayer.

Pastor Steve continued on ministering to all the sick and we saw some great miracles - a number of deaf were healed and a large number of people with stomach problems were healed. The crowd were very excited and the crusade was an enormous success.

We left early in the morning for Grand Bassa County. Which is in the interior of the country.

We saw a number of road works on the way as the government improving the transport system. We travelled on tar surface for about an hour and a half and then went off road on a bumpy, dirt track for another two and a half hours. We saw a number of small villages, where vehicles rarely venture to.

Upon arrival, the locals welcomed us and the praise and worship began. The locals were dancing and singing and praising God. Pastor Steve preached and gave an altar call for everyone to be born again.

A large number of people responded and gave their lives to Jesus. Pastor Steve began to minister to the sick and a man who had great difficulty walking, started to walk without his stick - and the crowd went wild. Pastor Steve continued ministering to the sick and a few people with poor eyesight were healed and a many more were healed from stomach ailments.

On the last day we went to the church where the local leaders were assembled for a time of thanks giving and to be taught. Pastor Steve prayed for all the leaders and the message was a word in season for all who were there.

The pastors were very encouraged and gave testimonies as to how they had never seen how simple it was to be healed. The crusade and trip was a great success. We would like to thank every one for their prayer and support.

Yours in Christ

Mike Cook