The lilting, harmonious voices of children promptly serenaded us when we arrived at Mother Wleh's Orphanage in August 1999. We were in Paynesville, Liberia, just outside the capital city of Monrovia. The Rev. Anna S. Kpaan, superintendent of the Monrovia district, had brought us there to see love in action, the kind of perfect love that can truly cast out fear.

Esther ("Mother") Wleh and her husband, William Wleh.

Several dozen children, who had gathered on the front porch, welcomed us with music and with bright-eyed, heart-tugging smiles. They seemed happy to be there. Their sweet voices and smiles showed little of the pain and fear many of them had suffered from a bloody, protracted civil war–a war that all but destroyed their country and killed or dispersed their families. Fortunately, that war had recently ended, and the nation was trying to build a stable peace.

When I remember what the Lord has done,
I will never turn back no more...

The children sang one faith-inspired song after another—a repertoire that bespoke their own tested faith. Within moments, one strong soprano voice rose above the others. It belonged to 12-year-old Jacqueline Ricks. Neatly attired in a ruffled white dress, her dark, almond-shaped eyes calmly focused, she rocked slightly from side to side, singing her solo in a voice of astonishing timbre.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring,
but I do know that the Lord will be by my side...

Jacqueline Ricks, age 12, who 'sings like an angel.' She was an infant when her parents died in Liberia's civil war.

"I was in the war in 1990," Jacqueline later told us. She was shy but articulate and polite. "Now I have no mother or father or anyone waiting for me."

She was barely four months old when her parents died, and Liberia was engaged in civil war. Her grandmother took care of her for two years. Then, when her grandmother became ill and knew she was about to die, she asked friends to find a caretaker for her young charge. The search was futile until they found Esther Wleh, a local hospital nurse with a magnanimous love for children.

Jacqueline has been at Mother Wleh's ever since. She likes to cook and help care for the other children, and she gives them medicine when they're sick. She wants to be a nurse someday like her guardian and mentor. But, clearly, what she enjoys most is singing.

To Welcome and Embrace

There are thousands of Liberian children who, like Jacqueline, have lost or been separated from their parents. Esther "Mother" Wleh, 54, and her husband, William Wleh, 66, would welcome and embrace all of them if they could. But what they have done with this simple four-room home, with cement walls and floors, is remarkable.

Mother Wleh's children. There are 36 at her orphanage in Monrovia, Liberia.

During our visit, there were 36 apparently healthy children living there, ranging in age from 3 to 16. All were victims of war, their parents either killed or missing. Among their meager accommodations were army cots, small bags of clothes, sandals, simple eating utensils, pencils, and school composition books. Some of the children had been brought there by soldiers from ECOMOG, the African international peacekeeping force responsible for helping to end the fighting in Liberia. The Wlehs had found other children wandering alone and had brought them home.

Josephine was three when her mother was killed by rebel soldiers. Mother Wleh saw her sitting on the side of a road —lost, scared, and confused. She promptly took her home. Now 16, Josephine is the oldest child at Mother Wleh's and helps to care for the others.

One of Mother Wleh's orphaned children.

"We put God first," said William Wleh, a gentle grandfather, "and the same God who directed us to come here also sent these children to us." He said he feels nervous when he travels overnight, knowing that the children are there without him. He and his wife have been married since 1966 and have raised seven of their own children. "We are happy to have children around, making noise, sharing their laughter with us," he explained.

"I love caring for children," said Mother Wleh. She has been doing it since she was 17. She has always used her nurse's salary to buy food and medicines and to send her children to school. Some who have grown up and left her home sometimes send money back to help.

"We were doing it all by ourselves for awhile," she said, "but in 1997 we had to start appealing to NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) for help. We sent out many letters but kept getting rejections. Finally one organization gave us flour, beans and oil."

A church destroyed in Liberia's civil war.

Her dogged efforts have since brought in additional modest aid to help buy rice, wheat, and medicines. But Liberia has a depressed economy and an infrastructure that will undoubtedly take years to recover from the devastation of war and social upheaval. Meanwhile countless numbers of children continue to lack food, medicine, secure homes, and stable, loving families.

The Bishop Craig Home

Knowing that many more children need the kind of shelter and nurture that she provides, Mother Wleh can look forward to the opening of a new United Methodist home for unaccompanied children in Liberia. The Liberia Annual Conference is building this home only a few miles away from her small orphanage. Envisioned by Liberian Bishop Arthur Kulah and named for Bishop Judith Craig, whose West Ohio Conference has given major support to the project, the multifaceted complex of blue and white buildings is expected to house 500 children. It will include dorm rooms, dining and recreational facilities, a school, and a chapel. More importantly, it will have a staff of trained caretakers to meet the various needs of young residents.

The newly constructed Bishop Judith Craig Home.

"Our children, like children everywhere, need special care," said the Rev. Anna Kpaan, during a tour of the unfinished home. She described children who are poorly clothed and malnourished—some with no knowledge of their parents' whereabouts or whether their parents are alive or dead. Some are years behind in starting school now that the war is over. Some still fear for their safety and suffer nightmares caused by war.

"Some of our children know nothing but war because they were forced to fight as soldiers," said Kpaan. She explained that the new home will try to offer counseling and workshops to foster reconciliation and healing among traumatized children. "We have to help our children make the adjustment to peace," she said, "where they can feel safe, and loved, and hopeful again. Despite all that's happened," she added, "if today we can focus on giving our children love and care the way Mother Wleh does, then we can begin to solve Africa's problems."

John Coleman is a freelance writer and communications consultant to the Community and Institutional Ministries Program Area of the General Board of Global Ministries.

You may help provide a better world for African children by giving to the Bishops' Appeal: Hope for the Children of Africa. Be sure to include the Advance number #101000-4, on your checks. Contributions may be made payable to your local United Methodist church and put into the collection plate, or they may be made payable to the Advance for Christ and His Church and mailed to: The Advance 475 Riverside Dr., Room 1400 New York, NY 10115

Resources for the Appeal can be ordered free by calling 1-888-862-3242.