Among the white Americans who made it possible for African Americans to settle in Liberia was Emily Tubman of Augusta, Georgia and Frankfurt, Kentucky. Eventually gaining prominence as a philanthropist among the American Disciples of Christ, Mrs. Tubman gave 69 of her slaves the choice to go to Africa in the 1830s and the story goes that she even accompanied them on the first leg of the journey lest they be captured and sold back into slavery. Two of those who chose to go to Africa by way of Mrs. Tubman’s largesse were William Shadrach and Sylvia Ann Elizabeth Tubman. Their grandson, William Vaccanarat Shadrach Tubman (1895-1971) studied for the Methodist ministry and later entered public service. He served Liberia as the eighteenth President from 1944 until 1971.
The American Christian Missionary Society (ACMS), founded in 1849, chose Liberia as the recipient of some its earliest missionary endeavors. The Hopkinsville, Kentucky church purchased the freedom of Alexander Cross and provided him with an education. Together with his wife and young son Cross was sent to Liberia as only the second missionary of the ACMS in 1854. Son, James, died on the voyage across the Atlantic and Alexander, not taking the necessary precautions to become acclimated to the tropical weather of West Africa died within two months of arrival in Liberia. Alexander Campbell reported his obituary in the pages of the Millennial Harbinger. The hope for a mission in Liberia was abandoned.
It would be more than fifty years before the American Disciples would again venture into work in Liberia. Jacob Kenoly, born in Missouri in 1876 as the son of slaves, educated himself at Southern Christian Institute in Edwards, Mississippi in order to prepare for Christian service. With nothing but the clothes on his back and despite the lack of any financial backing Kenoly worked his way across the Atlantic in July of 1905 to Liberia working in the kitchen of a steamer. Building a log house Kenoly fought off disease and other difficulty in order to open a school for children. The Christian Woman’s Board of Missions, founded in 1874, became aware of his plight and adopted Kenoly as a missionary in 1907. Kenoly’s mission was cut short in 1911 when Jacob drowned while trying to catch fish to feed the children in his care.
Beginning in about 1966 the American a cappella Churches of Christ began activity in Liberia. Numbering only about five congregations until 1985 rapid growth followed the founding of Liberia Bible College in 1986. In the same year 700 were baptized and nine new churches were formed. This good success is to be attributed to the efforts at recruiting and training national preachers. Early American missionaries include Roosevelt Wells and Andrew Harriston beginning in the 1960s. Kenneth Keese began a radio broadcast from Monrovia in 1984 but was later displaced by political upheaval. An August 2003 Christian Chronicle article reports that today, despite nearly a quarter of a century of upheaval there are between sixty-six and seventy a cappella congregations in Liberia.
In an August 1994 article in Horizons magazine Danny O. Buegar wrote about another segment of the Movement in Liberia. In 1979 Liberian James Morgan was first introduced to the Restoration Movement while attending classes at the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ supported Milligan College near Johnson City, Tennessee. Others Liberians soon followed him to Milligan to be educated and in 1980 International Christian Mission of Liberia was formed, later known as Liberian Evangelistic Mission. Soon seven or eight Christian churches were planted in Liberia, spearheaded by Liberian nationals. Zondo, the home area of Morgan and Buegar is considered the “Antioch” of Liberia and many today trace their roots to the gospel work among the Bassa in that rural village.
Americans Wayne and Greta Meece have given much effort to the work through the Liberia Christian Mission. LBC has also operated the Liberia Resource Center to make the needs of Liberia known publicly. In the fall of 1997 White Fields Evangelism sent Doug Willis and Barbara Barger into Monrovia, the capital city, to establish a New Testament Church. By the spring of the following year there were twelve congregations meeting and Reggie Thomas led another team into Monrovia to conduct several open air crusades. In 2001 White Fields returned to Liberia and this time held seven simultaneous open air crusades. In 2003 White Fields reports about thirty congregations around Monrovia though horrible damage was been wrought among the Churches and the people because of the continual fighting.
Liberia enjoyed relative prosperity for nearly 125 years with a growing economy based upon rubber, iron ore, timber, and coffee which in turn helped to build a national infrastructure. One of President Tubman’s chief goals was education and he encouraged foreign investment. Much of that growth came to a halt in 1980 when Tubman’s successor, William Tolbert was assassinated during a military coup led by Samuel K. Doe. In 1986 the second republic of Liberia was established with Doe retained as head of state. Doe was toppled in 1989 leading to a civil war in which various ethnic factions, including Americo-Liberians and those of non-American descent fought for control. Tentative peace was achieved in 1995 with elections held in 1997 making Charles Taylor President of the third republic. Fighting broke out again in 2002 and continued until another tentative peace agreement was reached in 2003. Economic life in Liberia has come to a standstill, the infrastructure is in ruins and much of the population has been forced to revert to subsistence farming.
The three segments of the American church –Christian, Churches of Christ, Disciples of Christ, have all been and are involved in humanitarian efforts to aid the people of Liberia. The Arlington Church of Christ in Knoxville, Tennessee and the Jefferson Street Church of Christ in Hobbs, New Mexico have been sponsoring congregations, as well as others, among the a cappella tradition. White Fields Evangelism and International Disaster Emergency Services (IDES) of Kempton, Indiana have been supporting organizations for the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. Recently, the Week of Compassion program and the Division of Overseas Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) have worked through ecumenical partners in Liberia to distribute at least $30,000 in relief aid.