Central Liberia Mission

Formerly part of Liberia Mission, Central Liberia Mission was organized in 2013. It is part of West African Union Mission in the West-Central Africa Division of Seventh-day Adventists. Its headquarters is in Gbarnaga City, Bong County, Liberia.

Territory: Bong, Nimba, Lofa, and Grand Gedeh counties, and part of Margibi county.

Statistics, as of June 30, 2022: churches 42, membership 6,700, population 2,068,892.¹

History

From its establishment in 1927, and organization in 1933, the Liberia Mission had been one field, with its territory being the Republic of Liberia.²

In the late 1990s the drive to reorganize the Liberia Mission began. Committees were appointed and camp meetings were held in almost every district of the mission, including: Gbarnga district, Bong county; Nimba district, Nimba county; Bassa district, Grand Bassa county; Lofa district, Lofa county; Konola/Kakata district, Margibi county; and Monrovia district, Montserrado county; all geared toward promoting and educating members about the reorganization. On December 3, 2010, the executive committee of the Liberia Mission took the following action: “Whereas the Liberia Mission of Seventh-day Adventists has existed for over 83 years, and since its establishment, has had its presence in 14 of the 15 counties in Liberia, and in order to let the message reach every village, town, and city, there is a need for the mission to be divided into three mission fields, and to recommend this action to the Liberia Mission Session in January 2011.”³

Voted: “To recommend to Liberia Mission Session to be held in January 2011, to divide Liberia into three mission fields.”⁴

At the Liberian Mission annual camp meeting session held at Konola Academy, Margibi county, in January 2011, this action was voted and sent to the executive committee of the West Africa Union Mission of Seventh-day Adventists. The union in turn voted to pass a request to the executive committee of the West-Central Africa Division, which voted to approve the reorganization. As a result, the Central Liberia Mission Station emerged as one of the new fields.

Before being organized as a mission, the Central Liberia Field existed for two years as a mission station. The administrators were Pastor Peter Zenway (director) and Elder Cassius Kpoh (secretary/treasurer).⁵

Working Committee of the Mission Station

Pastor Zenway, Chair President; Elder Cassius Kpoh, Secretary/Treasurer; Pastor Jonathan Boyah, Frontline Pastor; H. Ementary Kpoh, Director; Cllr. Bima Lansana, Legal CounselorAlanso Kunahn, Bong County; Yatta Nrotoe, Bong County

Jacob Boikai, Bong County; Princeton Monbia, Nimba County; Henrietta Kehzie, Nimba County; Daniel Doe, Nimba County; Kumbah Sackie, Margibi County; Moses Gbankpala, Margibi County; Cooper Kaijue, Grand Gedeh County; Fatta Kanneh, Lofa County⁶

First Pastors

Ordained: Richard Cooper, Gbarnga District; Peter Zenway, Gbarnga District; Alosius Woniyouwu, Konola/Kakata District; John Diabegeh, Lewaii District

Licensed: Jonathan Boyah, Suakoko District; Numini Miller, Nimba District⁷

After two years as a mission station, the field was organized into a mission in 2013.⁸

Officers of Central Liberia Mission

First officers: Peter Zenway, president; Chidiadi Godday Akwarandu, secretary; Cassius Kpoh, treasurer⁹

Current officers: Koikoi L. Mulbah, president; Awalayia G. Geeleh, secretary; Cassius B. Kpoh treasurer.

Sources

Central Liberia Mission Records. Gbarnaga City, Bong County, Liberia.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Notes

1. “Central Liberia Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (2022), https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=52315.↩

2. “Liberia Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1959), accessed April 7, 2022, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Yearbooks/YB1959.pdf.↩

3. Minutes of the Liberia Mission Executive Committee Meeting, 2010.↩

4. Ibid., 2011.↩

5. Personal knowledge of the author as a delegate-at-large at the meeting, 2011.↩

6. Central Liberia Mission Records.↩

7. Ibid.↩

8. Ibid.↩

9. Ibid.↩