The story of the tenth president of Liberia can be used in
youth and children’s ministries to pose an interesting and important question. Here
is a brief summary of his life.
The tenth president of Liberia was Alfred Francis Russell.
He was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1817. When he was sixteen, he moved to
Liberia. Because he agreed to go to Africa, his grandmother, who was also his
owner, set him free. He did not know anything about Africa, its climate or how
to survive there when he arrived. Neither did any of the other 200
emancipated American slaves who traveled across the Atlantic Ocean with him,
but they learned. Some people caught malaria and other tropical diseases that
are not in Kentucky. Some people died. After a while, Russell became a farmer.
He grew coffee and sugar cane, two crops that do not grow in Kentucky. He
became a Methodist minister and took the Christian message of salvation to the
native tribes living in Liberia. Then he became an Episcopalian priest. He was elected a senator and then vice
president. The president resigned while Russell was the vice president which is
how he became the tenth president of Liberia.
What do your students think they would do if they had the
opportunity to travel far from home if they knew 1) they would probably never
get to go home again, 2) they believed that the move would give them the
opportunity to prosper and 3) they thought that by moving, they would be able
to share their faith with people who had never heard about the Christian
message?
By Lesley Barker ©2021
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