Irby and Lotz preparing for first trip to Liberia – February 2022
Surge International is pleased to announce a new project that will give you access to helping us shape the world we live in!
Partnering with Ollie White, Beautiful Beginnings School; Doco Wesseh, the ONE GOAL Foundation; and Rochell Favor Woodson (One GOAL/President, World Girls Football Club) we hope to impact Liberia through education & football and through local churches.
Meet Ollie White; a learner, reader, and leader who by the grace of God is revolutionizing reading in Liberia. Not too many people can claim to have survived two civil wars, an ebola outbreak, been recruited by the U.S. Embassy to design a reading program for Liberia, established a teacher training school, and is currently running a school-Beautiful Beginnings-for over 400 Liberian children, but Ollie is one of a kind.
You can help by donating today.
Ollie’s belief and faith in the future of Beautiful Beginnings school is fueled by a 20-year vision. God said, “I want you to look at a 1 year old child, and in 20 years look back and see the kind of person you have contributed to.” Education is one of the ways to change the track of Liberia’s self-destructive history by going to the root cause instead of simply treating the problems. Poverty and corruption continue to replicate themselves because that is all children have seen. They need to see integrity and honesty before they can believe in it. Education can be part of changing the narrative of a civil war torn land.
Learn more about Ollie’s story here.
Without having traveled to Liberia yet Surge is already helping to train pastors and leaders in sports ministry and also football coaches through WhatsApp and email. Thanks to our new partnership with ONE GOAL Foundation. 45 Liberians have started the training and ONE GOAL hast expanded the training to 25 more leaders/coaches in neighboring Sierra Leone.
As with all Surge projects this one started with a connection through soccer. A coaching colleague of Dave Irby’s , Dana Taylor (also a member of United Soccer Coaches) introduced Dave to Doco Wessa of justonegoal.org. (Meet Doco at justonegoal.org Meet the team/USA).
While Irby and Lotz will focus on soccer coach’s education using materials from United Soccer Coaches and sports ministers training for pastors & leaders, a new committee has been formed to help with the development of education in Liberia.
We are pleased to announce that Roberta Reed, Executive Director of Learning Forward Colorado, has agreed to voluntarily lead the educational portion of the project. Roberta and her husband Roy are former Surge Board members and long time prayer and financial supporters of Surge. Roberta has already added two educational colleagues in her area to this new project.
Your prayers, financial participation will make a difference as the wonderful people of Liberia are in need of some assistance at the moment. Donate here!