Calvary Baptist Church, Monrovia, Liberia, has seven active ministries in addition to its preaching and teaching ministry.

1. Church planting

Five churches were started between 1998 and 2008: New Life Church, Central Baptist Church, Todee Baptist Fellowship, Kadumah Baptist Fellowship, and The Cross Road Baptist Fellowship. At present, bricks for the construction of a new church and elementary school are being made. The church and school will be located on the Roberts Field highway, near Smell No Taste on the 10 acres of land donated to the church. Calvary Baptist also assists many local churches that are struggling to either construct buildings or buy land.

2. Christian day schools

The Calvary Baptist Church school system is one of the leading schools in the country. The Calvary Baptist Suakoko mission high school was opened after the war and is the second high school in the school system. It is located on the 150 acres of land that was turned over to the church in the later part of the 1980s when the missionaries left the mission. The Pipeline extension is the third school that was established more than three years ago. The Todee kindergarten is the newest school that was started this past academic year. The school presently meets in the church building.

3. Local evangelists’ and pastors’ support

As part of taking the gospel to the interior, the church spends an enormous sum of money (more than USD $4,000) every year to support 12 local evangelists and pastors. This money is only what we pay the men and doesn’t include what we spend to build churches. In addition to paying a monthly stipend to these men, the church also pays rent for two of the pastors (Pastor James Moore and Evangelist Roberts). Evangelist Roberts was almost evicted last month, but the church decided to take care of his monthly rent of USD $25 in addition to the USD $80 we pay him monthly while he serves in Zwedru.

4. Radio ministries

Since 1995, Calvary Baptist Church has been broadcasting the gospel message to the nation by radio. The Voice of Calvary is a 30-minute weekly preaching program on radio stations ELWA and Radio Liberty. It costs the church USD $150 monthly to support the ministries on the two stations.

5. Youth and Awana ministries

The present population of the church is more than 75 percent youth and young people. As a result, the church is actively involved with youth activities. We have an Awana ministry that is doing very well. Many of the young people from the community have gone through Awana and become members of the church. Presently we are supporting two of the Awana boys in music school to play for the church when they graduate. For the past five years, we have also added youth camp to the youth activities. During vacation, we take the young people out for camp. This year’s camp will be held on the Suakoko property in Bong County. In previous years, we have taken them to Rick Institute, which is very expensive for the church.

6. Discipleship program

Discipleship program is part of the church’s teaching program to help train mature believers in the Lord and for active ministry in the church. It runs for five months.

Challenges and Areas of Needs

As the church enters its 50th year of existence, the challenges are enormous and the needs are many. All that Calvary has achieved over the years have been done by the grace of God through the giving of members, some formers members, and a few friends abroad. For example, more than 95 percent of the church’s sources of income are from tithes and offerings. The school depends solely on tuition for its operations. With so much to be done and with limited resources, the church is appealing to its former members and friends abroad to help with some of its present priorities and needs.

For now I am presenting five of the church’s major areas of need:

1. Construction of the Todee church and school

The church is nearing the completion of a building in Yawaye. The project will cost the church close to USD $6,000, including benches and doors when completed. The church building is presently being used as school for kindergarten. Next year the church will start the construction of a 10-classroom school building. The project will cost the church USD $15,000.

2. Construction of the Robert Field highway church and school

Construction of the church and school on the Roberts Field highway has already started with the making of bricks. More than 6,000 cements bricks have been made for the erection of a 10-classroom building, excluding auditorium and offices. The project will cost the church close to USD $20,000, including doors, armchairs, and benches.

3. Support of interior evangelists and church planters

Church planting, as you can see, is one Calvary Baptist’s priorities. We need assistance to continue supporting those we are giving stipend to. With the enormous tasks of constructing churches and schools on land donated to the church, it is becoming financially difficult to continue to support all of these local evangelists. The church pays between USD $40 and $100 to some of the men monthly.

4. Pickup truck

As the church grows, the need for a utility vehicle has become more pressing. My three-year-old Jeep 4Runner is being overused. When going in the interior for evangelism trips, it is the Jeep that we use. Just last March we drove for hundreds of miles to Riverscess, Todee, Bong Mine, and Ganta to take guests to see some of the ministries. A good, used pickup truck costs between USD $7,000 to $9,000 here.

5. Remodeling of the church edifice

The church has embarked on the remodeling of the edifice.

Pastor Larque Vaye
Calvary Baptist Church Association
Calvary Baptist Church, pastor
Monrovia, Liberia