Day Eight












This morning we woke up in Liberia for the final time on this trip. We spent our remaining hours in country at church with Pastor Emmanuel and his congregation. The church service lasted from 9am to 1:00pm. It was vastly different from the church services that we’re accustomed to in the United States. The Liberians allow the spirit to move freely in their worship. It is so evident that their relationship with Jesus goes way beyond head knowledge. It has infiltrated their hearts. This comes out by singing freely during worship, clapping hands, and dancing before the Lord. We got outside of our comfort zone and participated as best could. It was impactful for us to hear the word from Pastor Emmanuel. His message was titled, “The Power of Ownership” based on 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. The main point was that we were all bought at a high price by the blood of Christ. Our response as his Children should be to offer all of ourselves as sacrifices before the Lord. We are not our own. We must live to glorify our creator. Isn’t that so applicable to what we are trying to do with honoring God through football? It was powerful for our team to open the scriptures with brothers from Liberia. The same God breathed scripture that we read. The same God we worship. The same commitment to honoring His word. This is powerful. 

About halfway through the service, we performed a song in front of the congregation. Matt Bomgaars led the newly formed Dordt football choir in our rendition of “In Christ Alone.” We were quite concerned about how our performance would go over after our practice run on the beach yesterday. We think the Holy Spirit helped us out because we sounded significantly better today in front of the church. The Liberians loved it. It was a big hit. The JBL speaker we used to ‘supplement’ our voices may have helped a little too. 

Another powerful aspect of the church service this morning was taking communion together. It felt extra special to share in the Lord’s supper with believers from across the globe. The sacrament serves as a reminder of what Christ did for us on the cross. We were reminded of this and of His global body by eating the bread and drinking the juice in Liberia. 

To wrap up the service, the congregation gifted each of our team members an authentic African shirt. The Liberian people value hospitality deeply. All of us got called up one by one and the elders of the church literally put the shirts on our back. It was a special moment. We have so much when it comes to material possessions, they have so little, but they still wanted to bless us as we departed. Pastor Emmanuel shared a powerful word that we will be connected forever through our time spent together this week. Their prayer as a congregation is that each time we see our African shirt, we are reminded of our brothers and sisters in Christ that we met this week. 

We were also able to present gifts to our new friends as well. We brought a Dordt football helmet with us from Sioux center and all signed it with a sharpie. We gave it to Pastor Emmanuel as a two fold reminder. First that God is our protector and second that we will never forget our time spent here in Liberia. Pastor Emmanuel immediately put on the helmet to the delight of our guys. The picture is included above. That picture belongs in the Dordt football archives forever. 

To wrap up our time at church, Fatu, pastor Emmanuel’s wife, cooked us an entire meal. We were stuffed with chicken, pasta, rice, and fresh fruit. We were incredibly touched by this gesture. Again, we were reminded that despite their lack of means, they went above and beyond to make us feel loved. 

There is not doubt we will never forget our new friends in Liberia. The hospitality we were shown was hard to comprehend. There were so many laughs, hugs, and a few tears shed. Our guys are already talking about when they can go back. We still have a lot of processing to do, but as we sit in the Monrovia international airport, it is hard not to feel filled to the brim with joy because of our time in Liberia. 

We take off from here in Monrovia at 9:20pm local time. We have a 7 hour flight to Brussels. After a 4 hour layover we head to Chicago. We have an unfortunate 7 hour layover in Chicago before our last hour and a half flight to Omaha. Lord willing, we will be back in Sioux center around midnight on Monday night. Please pray for health and safe travels on our long journey home. 








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