LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) - Local pastors held a presentation to share their recent trip to Liberia. Pastors Samuel Payne and David Westphal took the two-week trip to Africa back in mid-February.
They were there to dedicate a church and school that were renovated and built using missions money and supplies sent from congregations in the Lima community. They created a slideshow to tell the story of their experience, featuring pictures and videos they took while there.
“When Pastor Sam asked me to go, I felt a little tentative at first, but then I realized it was God calling me to go there so that I could be involved in this mission to the people of Liberia — but not just to them, but to bring back their blessings to us, because it’s a shared ministry that we have. So for me, it was a great blessing, and I’m thankful to God for the opportunity to be able to go and visit with the people and make new friends and celebrate God’s presence in Liberia,” said Pastor David Westphal of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church.
“It was really exciting to go back and to see people who don’t have that much and stay hopeful. And they are excited. They look forward to tomorrow. They believe that tomorrow can be better and appreciate whoever goes in to help, working with them. So that was exciting for me,” said Pastor Samuel Payne of St. Matthew Lutheran Church.
After the presentation, they invited everyone to join them for dinner as they answered questions about the trip.
