Liberia

In 1926 the European Division sent R. Helbig and E. Flammer from Germany to Liberia, where, with L. F. Langford, of England (who had worked in the Gold Coast), they found a suitable site for the first SDA mission inland in Grand Bassa County, at Seahn.

The next year Helbig and Flammer, making final arrangements for the piece of land, secured from the government a grant of 100 acres (40 hectares) of land for 99 years, on which were built the first school, church, and dispensary.

Early in 1927 K. Noltze arrived from Germany to assist in the work in Liberia and remained there for 15 years.
On Apr. 30, 1930, the first four SDA converts were baptized at Seahn. Among them was
Willie Helbig, who later became the first Liberian ordained minister. Later D. K. Reider arrived to join the missionary families. Noltze and Reider were sent to Liiwa, in the Gbarnga district, to begin another mission station.

In 1935 K. Noltze established the Konola Mission, where in 1937 he opened a boarding school for boys, which later became an accredited boarding academy for both boys and girls (see Konola Academy). N. S. During, an African pastor from Sierra Leone, was sent to Liberia in 1937 for schoolwork at Konola, and stayed there until 1939.
In 1936 T. N. Ketola, from Finland, arrived at the Konola Station and was moved to Liiwa Station in the following year.

In 1941, after Noltze returned to Germany, Ketola moved back to Konola. In 1942 he bought property for new mission headquarters at Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia, and began the work there. He prepared buildings and made contacts with leaders and with the people before going to the United States in 1943.

At that time the church membership in the entire country was 303.
In the meantime, in 1933, I. W. Harding, an African, had been sent as a missionary from neighboring Sierra Leone to Lower Buchanan in Liberia. When during World War II the overseas missionaries had to leave Liberia, Harding became, in 1942, the first African president of the Liberia Mission, a post he held until 1945. Under his leadership the work was expanded into Lower Buchanan and Monrovia, the capital city. By 1940 there were three mission stations and a baptized membership of 137 in the Liberia Mission.

Late in 1945 three Black American families appointed by the General Conference arrived in Liberia. G. N. Banks became president and secretary-treasurer of the mission; P. E. Giddings, the principal of the Konola School; and C. D. Henri, evangelist and leader in the Bassa district. Since 1945 Black missionaries from the United States have held the leadership of the field.

The temperance work progressed in Liberia, with successful use of stop-smoking plans and radio and television programs.
On Dec. 24, 1989, civil unrest developed, and since then more than half the population have become refugees. Many church members and pastors have been scattered to remote areas of Liberia and to neighboring countries. During this period 11 new churches have been raised up in Liberia and in neighboring countries.