Liberian

But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. (Mark 10:14-15)

A C O N C E P T I N A C T I O N

The Children’s Village concept was based upon the large number of children that were orphaned through having both parents killed during the war. Additional components of ministry have been added where they meet the Mission and Method statements.

These are the four groups targeted by the ministry and their related requirements:

Orphaned Children – Food, clothing, housing, medical care, primary education and job training

Village Children – Medical care, primary education and job training

Village Pastors – Medical care and Bible college education

Village People – Medical care, job training and entrepreneurial support

The Village infrastructure needs to achieve the above ministry goals include:

School Building – The ministry currently serves over 300 students in a tarpaulin and thatch building with small, dark rooms. Shadrach believes that there are approximately 1,500 children within walking distance of the Village that would attend if the facilities, teachers and supplies were available. The Liberian government has required a permanent building in order to maintain accreditation of the school. Funding was supplied and construction has started on a 20,000 square foot school to be constructed out of block, wood and tin. This building will have 15 classrooms (18x25 each), 5 offices, 7 bathrooms, a teacher’s lounge, library (18x20), Laboratory (18x20), cafeteria (18x30) and storage space. The total cost of this new school building is approximately $60,000 (somewhere around $2.50 per square foot).

Health Clinic – The ministry currently has a medical clinic building with six rooms. Its construction is plaster covered mud block with a concrete floor and a thatch roof. As with the entire area, there is no constant source of electricity. The clinic does not have lights nor running water. Although the current structure is good by local standards it should be upgraded or replaced at some point in the future. A laboratory, with improved instruments, is needed to test for malaria which is a major killer in Africa. For November 2004 ten babies were delivered by the clinic. Estimated cost for a new structure is $50,000.

Church Building – The current church building is an open air pavilion made from cut saplings with a tarpaulin roof and no sides. The benches are sawed boards of about 10 inches in width. This is a temporary structure and does not provide sufficient protection during the rainy season. In addition, the Bible college (when started) will utilize the church building for its classes and the current structure will not allow that. Even with a substandard building the church already averages 120 per Sunday with four Bible study classes covering all ages. Estimated cost for a new structure is $50,000.

Trade School – No facility currently exists and no ministry is now provided in the trade school area. A facility that could provide the necessary space would cost an estimated $40,000. This would not include any equipment of other fixtures.

Children’s Dorms – One each of a boy’s dorm, girl’s dorm and young children’s dorm are estimated to be required for the expected 250 orphaned children the village will serve. Each dorm will need to house over 80 children. The cooking and eating facilities can be shared with the school building and the weather dictates that most of each day be spent outside. As of November 2005 the Village has received 85 orphans for which to care. They currently sleep in one large room. The three dorms would require an estimated $120,000 total to construct.

Staff Housing – Most of the teachers, clinical staff and other trained workers come from Monrovia and must be provided housing. Currently these workers sleep several to a room in the guest house (a concrete block and tin roof structure of approximately 2,000 square feet) and a cut sapling and tarpaulin three room hut with tarpaulin floors. The village employs about 20 people requiring housing at this time. At the point of full capacity there will likely need to be housing for 100 or more individuals (1,500 school children will require at least 75 teachers alone). As adults, many married, will require individual space it will likely cost $200,000 or more for minimal housing. Some thought has been given to using 40 foot shipping containers as housing and the ministry is searching for assistance from individuals familiar with this type project. While there are immediate housing needs, the housing will only be constructed as ministry growth demands it.

Outbuildings – Minimal outbuilding for storage, power production, etc. will be needed. Most of these building can be built from local materials at minimal expense. The total estimated cost is $5,000.