Newsletter – December 2019

“The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations” – Psalm 33:11

Reflection from Momo

I send greetings from the sunshine of Monrovia. As I reflect on these verses I am reminded that God has a plan and purpose for everyone. At The Koinonia Trust we are happy to be part of His plan and purpose. Liberia has been a country at unrest as demonstrations against the government continue. The journey toward healing from the trauma of war, abuse, and social injustice made so much more difficult in the midst of poverty passed down from one generation to another. We continue with our ministry with the help and support of all our partners in the Lord. We are trusting that God will bring healing to the broken and comfort in times of hardship.

Good News!

After much hard work over the past year our website is now live thekoinoniatrust.com . A big thank you to Mick Allsop for all the help in developing the website.

You can also now follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

There will also be options to donate to The Koinonia Trust or to Frances as she goes back to volunteer in Liberia. You can find both The Koinonia Trust and Frances’s pages on GoFundMe.

Update from Liberia

We were delighted to start this project in September. Momo trained the graduates from 26th to 29th of August 2019 in preparation for the project.

Topics taught were:

• Child Policy
• Classroom management
• Lesson preparation
• Our vision, values and principle in The  Koinonia Trust
• Ethics and behavior
• Integrity
• Teaching skills
• Assessment and Evaluation.

We are delighted to have 50 children attend our homework, study and reading classes. We have them for 3 afternoons per week and it is free to attend. Thanks to Irish Aid for sponsoring this project.

Celebrations

We are delighted to congratulate Reuben Kinnie on completion of his vocational training as an electrician. Reuben is a valued member of our team that supervises our homework club and study classes. He hopes to progress his education and has been accepted to do a degree in electrical engineering in 2020. We at The Koinonia Trust are incredibly proud of him and how he has embraced new opportunities. We want to say thank you to all who fund and support us. This is how it is making a difference, it is bringing hope to many!

Personal Development Workshop

These workshops are aimed at building personal capacity and focused on increasing knowledge regarding the aspects of health, how they are interlinked and the impact they have on us; spiritual/emotional/mental/physical and social. We have been developing these workshops based on observations and needs. Transformation in hearts and minds takes time. We were asked to facilitate a group discussion for the inmates at one of the prison compounds. The feedback was encouraging. It is our greatest desire that we will continue to have the opportunity to work within the prison service to bring hope, build capacity and resilience to both inmates and the staff.

Special thanks to Kvinna till Kvinna for the opportunity to facilitate a one-day workshop with their 11 CSO’s, under the program, Supporting Effective Advocacy in Liberia (SEAL). Our workshop focused on personal development and building resilience for leaders while working and living in trauma affected communities. We had 30 leaders of various projects who attended, and the feedback was positive and encouraging.

Prayer Points

• Pray that God will make the provision for us, so we can continue to maintain what we are doing.
• Pray for Momo as continues to lead the work in Liberia
• Pray for Frances as she continues to volunteer and returns in early January. God continues to shape her every year.
• Pray as Frances develops the resources to support the team here and as she advocates for The Koinonia Trust both in Liberia and Ireland.
• Pray that the homework, study and reading classes will be a blessing to the community and that they will see Gods love through us.