The Rev. Harris Woart is Priest-in-Charge of St. Luke Episcopal Church in Balia, Bong County, Liberia. The community is poor and subsists on farming palm trees for oil. Woart dreamed of seeing Christians sharing their life stories with other farmers to demonstrate how their faith has given them hope.
He used grant funding to organize and lead a retreat and a workshop for the community, bringing in agriculture experts to teach more productive farming techniques. The retreat, which included area clergy, focused on centering oneself and one’s work in God’s kingdom. The workshop included scripture study and expert-led demonstrations of modern farming techniques. There was a closing Eucharist and Bibles were distributed.
Woart reports that he learned much from all the participants, especially through their testimony, and he appreciated the opportunity to work with pastors from different denominations along with the academic experts. He has shared his work with the VTS community.
