I was born in 1996 in Maryland County, Liberia. At the age of seven I lost my biological mother. She was pregnant at the time. My mother was a business woman and she often traveled across the border to Ivory Coast to do business. On one of these trips she was captured by the Ivorian rebels and they killed her. A year later I lost my father, who died from an illness. My father was a pastor in the Methodist church.

Following the death of my parents, I lived with my brothers and sisters. We worked on the farm and grew rice. I did not have the opportunity to go to school until I was ten years old. The school had very poor standards. There was little discipline among the students and I did not learn very much. Because I could not speak English, only speak the Grebo dialect, my future was limited.

One of my uncles helped me enroll in a better school and I started to learn English. I learned quickly. I was growing fast, and I was always tall for my age. The next year, my older sister invited me to go to Ivory Coast with her. She was very good to me.

At the age of 13, I moved back to Liberia. My uncle, Rev. S. Sie Freeman, invited me to live with his family in Monrovia so that I could go to school. But first, he had me go to Harper, Maryland’s capital, so that I could get used to a bigger town with cars and more people. After one month in Harper, I moved to Monrovia to live with my uncle. I entered school in Grade 3. School was difficult for me and I didn’t feel like I had much success in Grade 3.

My Uncle S. Sie Freeman provided everything that I needed, and it wasn’t long before I considered him to be my own father. I quit looking for any other father figure. He was serving as the priest at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Monrovia. In July 2008, he was assigned to the St. Paul Episcopal Church in Greenville, Sinoe County.

When we arrived in Greenville, my mother (Sarah Freeman, wife of Father Freeman) put me in 6th grade. She told me that I had to study hard because, “You have such a big body to sit among those little children!” I said, “No problem!” and I studied every day, and I prayed to God to give me wisdom. In the middle of the school year I was given a promotion to grade 7. Before the school year came to an end I was promoted to grade 8. So, I was promoted twice in one year.

Grade 8 was difficult, but I persevered. In grade 9, things went much better and I did well. I passed the grade 9 WAEC (West African Examination Council) exam and was promoted to high school. I received the highest score in my school on the English language portion of the exam. My teachers always praised me for my ability in English.  

The next year, in grade 10, I again did well. In grade 11, I faced some challenges, but not too much. More challenges came in grade 12. I had some serious toothaches that caused my head to feel like it was on fire. I went to the hospital, and I missed several days of school. This caused me to lose focus. Even though I joined a study group to prepare for the WAEC, I failed the mathematics part of the exam. I had to re-sit for the exam, and I passed on the second try. In 2014, I graduated from high school.

After graduation, I wanted to learn more about God. I never intended to be a pastor or priest, but I wanted God to be in everything I did. I completed a training course offered by a group from Hawaii in which I studied the Pauline Epistles, the early church, and I learned a lot about Jesus Christ. As God would have it, my scores were A’s and B’s, and I earned a certificate. From that training I learned the Bible, and gained the ability to stand up in church and speak the things of Christ. (In fact, there is a high possibility that I might be preaching in my church this Sunday because my father is out of town. I’ve done this many times in the past.)

When I was in 12th grade, I became acquainted with Innovative Education Liberia (IEL) when they held their program at the Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL) school. I was one of the students selected for this computer workshop. I was very grateful. I didn’t expect to see IEL again, but a few months later they returned. By this time, I had graduated. My father asked if I wanted to be the facilitator for the IEL program in our school. He knew he could trust me to do the job. IEL brought us the first computers. I was in charge, I performed my work well, and I kept good records. I always give God the glory for these opportunities.

Life has its challenges, and this is good. When there are no challenges coming your way, you’ll never recognize the goodness of God. When challenges come and you ask help from God and he leads you through, then you know that there is God.

I want to say a big thank you to God and to IEL. When the IEL team would come each time, I wanted to be a part of the program. This past September, I had a call from Mr. Gary, who wanted to talk to me. When I met with him, he said he wanted me to go to the U.S. for training to learn to operate a sawmill and build furniture. I was very grateful to God. I went home and I prayed, “God what have I done for you that you have given me this blessing? I will only give you glory.” I am very happy. To God be the glory.