8 FAITH focus LIBERIA Continued from page 1B
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in Wisconsin, the University of Col- orado and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Her entry in politics came in 1972, when she delivered a now-famous com- mencement address at her high school alma mater, sharply criticizing the government. Ms. Sirleaf worked for the World
Bank in Washington, D.C., then served as head of the African Re- gional Office of Citibank in Nairobi. In the mid-1980s, she returned to Liberia and was imprisoned for her criticism of the regime under Samuel Doe. With the outbreak of the First Liberian Civil War in 1989, Ms. Sir- leaf initially supported Charles Tay- lor’s rebellion against Doe, but later opposed him and had to leave Liberia. In the early 1990s, she led the United Nations Development Pro- gramme’s Regional Bureau for Africa. In 2005, she won the election, and this past October, she was re-elected. Her status as Liberia’s president
sets “an important precedent. . . . Not only has it inspired women, they like what her election says about the in- clusiveness of politics in Africa,” said Ambassador Charles Stith, former ambassador to Tanzania and former pastor of Union United Methodist in Boston. He has met Ms. Sirleaf and remembers her as a “woman of great bearing and presence.”
Nobel Peace Prize Ms. Sirleaf shared the 2011 Nobel
Peace Prize with Leymah Gbowee, her Liberian compatriot, and Tawakkol Karman of Yemen. The peace prize committee recognized the three women for championing women’s rights in regions where op- pression is common and for empow- ering women to promote peace. On accepting her Nobel in De-
cember, Ms. Sirleaf dedicated it to the women of Africa, particularly the Liberians.
“They have carried the burden of
those conflicts, subjected to rape, to sex slavery, being the ones who have to continue to have to provide for their children even as their men are out in war,” she said in a speech in Oslo the day before the prize cere- mony. No woman or sub-Saharan
African had won the prize since 2004, when the committee honored Wangari Maathai of Kenya. Thomas Kemper, top executive of
the General Board of Global Min- istries, visited Liberia during the war, and has followed Liberia’s comeback after the civil war dragged the once- thriving nation into chaos and vio- lence. “When you meet women in
Liberia and Africa, you can see the pride as they talk about Liberia’s first female president,” Mr. Kemper said. “To have a president who was a kind of mother of the nation, to be elected and re-establish trust and relation- ships and standing up for women . . . was just unique and created this at- mosphere that the international donor community wanted to give to Liberia, because they trusted the president and her way forward.” Dr. Kulah, whose 2010 disserta-
tion at Asbury Theological Seminary described the church’s leadership in transforming Liberia, noted that Ms. Sirleaf ’s years as president have cre- ated a marked decline in corruption. When she took office in 2005, Liberia ranked 185th among 206 countries for success in controlling corruption, he said, citing World Bank Institute data. Two years later, Liberia ranked 113th, the largest improvement over two years by any country. Dr. Kulah sees Ms. Sirleaf ’s Wes-
leyan roots in her governing style. “At the moment, over 25,000
youths are doing vacation jobs, cleaning up their communities, and will be paid on Dec. 23rd to have
PHOTO BY JAMES GARRESEN, EXECUTIVE MANSION, LIBERIA
From left: Leymah Gbowee of Liberia, Tawakkol Karman of Yemen and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf shared in the Nobel Peace Prize, and posed together while in Norway for the ceremony.
some money for their Christmas,” he said in a Dec. 18 email. “These simi- lar things Wesley did as he went into the coal mines, barns, prisons and ghettos to liberate people.” “She has doubled the number of
healthcare facilities in Liberia during her tenure,” Ambassador Stith added. “She has built over 220 schools since 2006. More than 700,000 residents in Monrovia now have pipe-borne water. These things reflect her com- mitment to uplifting the poor.” Ambassador Stith hopes Ms. Sir-
leaf ’s example will also inspire ac- tion. “Her success is a challenge to the
church universal to look at ways to support the hope in a place like Liberia,” he said. “It’s not enough to stand on the sidelines and cheer her achievements.” He adds that, while Ms. Sirleaf
has accomplished much, Liberia has a long way to go. The nation’s roads and infrastructure are still shaky; there’s still government corruption that needs addressing.
Deep faith Ms. Sirleaf ’s United Methodist
faith remains an important part of her life. Dr. Kulah called Ms. Sirleaf a “very devoted worshipper” who at- tends services every Sunday. “She listens to her leaders of the
church and is open to counsel,” he said. Bishop Weaver was part of the
STATE DEPARTMENT PHOTO VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the U.S. State Department in Washington in April 2009.
JANUARY 6, 2012 | UNITED MET HODI S T REPORTER
delegation that attended Ms. Sirleaf ’s inauguration in 2006, and recalls her deep faith as evident. She carefully planned a prayer service at First UMC in Monrovia for the day before
her inauguration. She chose three hymns for the
prayer service: “A Charge to Keep” (by Charles Wesley), “Jesus is All the World to Me” and “We’ve a Story to Tell the Nations.” After a contentious election and
long years of civil war in Liberia, the latter hymn was particularly moving, Bishop Weaver recalls, as it closed with the refrain: “the darkness shall turn to dawning and the dawning to noon day bright.” “She sang those hymns by heart,”
he said. “I don’t mean just by mem- ory, she sang them by heart. You could tell she was deeply moved by what she was singing.” Mr. Kemper adds that Ms. Sir-
leaf ’s visible commitment to her United Methodist faith has “helped the church in Liberia to find its place after the war and to restart again.” Ms. Sirleaf was called on to ad-
dress the United Methodist General Conference in 2008 in Fort Worth, Texas. She was the first African leader and the first female president to address the General Conference. “We need the church now as
never before,” she told the delegates, calling them “fellow Christians and fellow Methodists” many times dur- ing her address. “I am proud to say we have
moved Liberia from a failed state, from an awful flicker on your televi- sion screen to a success story,” she added. She recalled how, shortly after her election, children were frightened by her presidential convoy. “Today, they light up and they smile,” she said. “Liberia is on the way back.” Ms. Sirleaf, who calls herself
“Mama Ellen,” has made equality for women a top priority for her admin- istration. She has also emphasized educa-
tion for women, said the Rev. Debo- rah Thompson, mission coordinator for the Wisconsin Conference. The conference sends teams to Liberia for mission work. “She’s encouraging young women
to go to school,” she said. “She be- lieves that if you educate a woman, you can educate a nation, because women will teach their children. Ms. Thompson lived in Liberia in
the late 1970s and has family ties there; she recalls how people then re- ferred to their country with pride as “Sweet, sweet Liberia.” That pride evaporated during the long civil war, but as the nation rallies, now she sees pride returning. “The Methodist church tries to
bring hope in situations where peo- ple are challenged,” she said. “Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is someone who has brought hope to Liberia.”
mjacobs@umr.org
Quick Facts Ellen Johnson Sirleaf President of Liberia Born: Oct. 29, 1938
Education: College of West Africa, Madison Business College, University of Colorado at Boulder, Harvard University
Birthplace: Monrovia, Liberia
Family: Four sons and 11 grandchildren
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