Greetings in the Name of JESUS the CHRIST Who Is Our LORD!

Dear Shiloh Members and Friends!

Greetings in the Name of JESUS the CHRIST who is our LORD!

MANY, MANY thanks to all of you for praying for our 2012 Liberian Missions Team which consisted of:

1. Dr. Robin Spring-Matthews Brown, M.D., (Internal Medical Practioner);

2. Dr. Harold Brown, M.D., (Internal Medical Practioner);

3. Sis. Lorene Williams (Director-SBC Missions & Evangelism Ministry);

4. Min. Dr. E. Diane Holloway, D.Min (Pastoral Assistant for Min. Ops.);

5. Sis. Miatta Stella Herring (Learning Specialist for the Newark Schools);

6. Rev. Darrell L. Armstrong (Pastor);

This team is building on the foundation of our 2011 Liberian Missions Team which consisted of:

1. Bro. John Weaver, MBA (Vice-President of Shiloh Comm. Dvlpt. Corp.);

2. Pastor Armstrong.

======CONTEMPORARY REFLECTIONS ON MISSIONS @SHILOH: ======The purpose of this trip was to deepen our International Missions program by building upon an already robust set of ministry investments on the continent of Africa and in the Caribbean Islands. Consider the following list of countries in which we now support a mission project and/or family:

1~Haiti => Pastor Luc Deratus' and Family/Harmony Ministries;

2~Liberia => Pastor Samuel Reeves and Family/Providence Bpt. Church;

3~Ghana => Pastor John Asmah and Family;

4~Ethiopia => Ronald B. Cooper Missions School;

5~South Africa => Cape Town (The Community Partnership).

At our quarterly church meeting in September, 2011, Shiloh officially adopted the Ronald B. Cooper Missions School in Ethiopia! The school is named in honor of the late and MOST BELOVED Trustee Ronald Cooper, whose service rendered at and on behalf of the Shiloh Baptist Church shall never be forgotten. In addition, we are prayerfully considering expanding to the following two African nations: 1~ Kenya (Nursery/Creche for children birth to six years old);

2~Nigeria (potential partnership with a Baptist Church in Lagos);

If THE LORD allows this to happen, this would bring our total international mission sites we support to seven (7)!!!

======HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS ON MISSIONS @SHILOH: ======Shiloh has always had an international missions focus and has supported Foreign Missions through our association and involvement with the National Baptist Convention, USA and its state and regional affiliates, the General Baptgist Convention of NJ, Inc. and the Middlesex Central Baptist Association (MCBA) respectively. However, we will forever Praise GOD for the late Mother Laura Steward and Deaconess Audrey Kauffman who collectively pioneered our international missions work on the Island of Haiti. In 1985 at the age of 90- years-young, Mother Steward was led by GOD the Holy Spirit to establish a missions school in Cite Solei, which was arguably the poorest section of Haiti and believed to be the poorest in the entire Western Hemisphere at that time. Since her death in 1999, Shiloh has continued Mother's Stewards vision by growing and strengthening our partnership with Pastor Luc Deratus, the indigenous Haitian leader in whom Mother Steward entrusted the on-the-ground maintenance o he school.

We also praise GOD for Deaconess Julie Wilson who has helped Shiloh to expand our missions work on the continent of Africa by introducing us to the Asmah Family who reside and conduct missions work in Ghana, West Africa.

Since the advent of my pastoral ministry at Shiloh (January, 2000), I have made the expansion of our international missions work on the continent of Africa a high priority for our church. I am unequivocally clear that ministry must be holistic and minister to a person's mind, body, soul, and spirit!!! We must meet the all needs of a person and their family: spiritual, educational, medical, socio-cultural, historical and economic.

======DAILY REFLECTIONS ABOUT OUR 2012 TRIP TO LIBERIA: ======Over the last seven days, GOD has given our 2012 Missions Team an amazing array of experiences. Consider the following daily highlights:

------SUN., 04/8th: ------After a spirited day of Resurrection Sunday worship and fellowship at Shiloh, we all made final preparations to depart for Liberia, West Africa. The fact that it was Resurrection Sunday Holiday made it bitter sweet for we all did not get a chance to spend the kind of quality time with our biological families, but all understood we were in service to GOD's larger spiritual family. Some of us ate portions or all of our Resurrection Sunday holiday meal en route to the airport, but we were all excited and over-joyed to finally be going. We all met up at the JFK International Departures Terminal and began the long process of checking-in for our flight which left on-time at 8:40pm.

------MON., 04/9th: ------After a 15-hour flight, we finally landed at the Roberts International Airport, named for the Hon. Joseph Jenkins Roberts, Liberia's first President in 1847. We gathered our bags, cleared customs, and checked into our "home" for the week, the RLJ Kendeja Resort and Villas, which was built by Mr. Robert L. Johnson, founder of Johnson Entertainment. His investment is one of the biggest investments made by an African American in the Country of Liberia.

On this day we rested and prepared for what we knew would be a FULL week's agenda. We concluded our first day in Liberia with a communal meal amongst our team members to reflect on our journey over and to project about the week ahead.

------TUE., 04/10th: ------We started this day with a brief tour of the City of Monrovia and the historic Providence Baptist Church (PBC), the country's first and oldest Christian house of worship. PBC was founded by the former slave who became the country's first Governor, the Rev. Lott Carey.

We then had an official "state" meeting with the Hon. Edwin M. Snowe, Jr., Congressman for Liberia's 6th Congressional District and the former Speaker of the House of Representatives. We had a great conversation about matters spiritual and political.

We then held a multi-hour leadership-exchange meeting with the Rev. Dr. Reeves and his 12-person executive ministerial leadership team. This allowed our core ministerial staff, Min. Dr. Holloway, Sis. Lorene, and lay leaders Sis. Miatta Herring and Dr. & Dr. Brown, to better understand what both houses of worship do and how we do it. This was a formal and necessary process in advancing and ratifying our official "sister-church" covenant between SBC & PBC!

The day ended with an explosive display of hospitality shown through a dinner hosted by the National Office of the YWCA of Liberia and the Family of our own Rev. Cecelia Goffa-Duoe. The dinner was an expression of love and appreciation from the Duoe family for how Shiloh is caring for their beloved Rev. "Ce-Ce!"

------WED., 04/11th: ------On this day, three of our team members catapulted into assessment and action when they journeyed to BoWaterwide, a rural and remote ministry site founded by the Providence Church, situated literally on the banks of a river separating Sierra Leone and Liberia; the site is a combination church + school + medical clinic facility. Assisted by Liberian nurses, our doctors diagnosed and treated several dozen patients.

While Dr. Harold and Dr. Robin used their medical skills, Sis. Lorene Williams, head of our Missions & Evangelism Ministry, worked with other PBC church ministerial staff attending to the broader educational needs of the residents of BoWaterside. This involved the Minister in charge of Christian Education for both PBC and it's expansion sites like BoWaterside.

On this day, I embarked on a 5,000+mile sub-journey to South to re-vitalize and re-activate our South African ministry investment. I left in the afternoon on an itinerary that would take me from Liberia to South Africa via Ghana and Kenya. This trip allowed me to stop-over in Kenya and meet the Phillip Okwirry, Sis. Elizabeth (Okwirry) Mitchell's brother. Although what was supposed to be a 15- hour layover was truncated into a 2+ hour lay-over, I was still afforded enough time to see parts of the City of Nairobi and get an amazing glance of the Nairobi National Game & Wildlife Reserve! I was also able to do initial investigation into the nursery ministry I referenced above, as a possible Kenyan-ministry investment site for Shiloh.

This day ended with an amazing dinner hosted by Pastor Reeves and First Lady Alice Reeves at their home.

------THU., 04/12th: ------While I was literally flying betwixt and between Accra, Ghana, Nairobi, Kenya, and Johanesberg, South Africa, our resident physicians prepared for a second day of medical ministry at BoWaterside. Because of its remote location, it takes approximately 5 hours in round-trip travel time. So this was a VERY FULL day for the Dr.'s Brown!

Min. Dr. Holloway and Sis. Lorene both spent the day at the Liberian Baptist Theological Seminary meeting with the President of the Seminary, administration, faculty and students. They also attended classes taught by the Rev. Dr. Sam Reeves, who teaches various subjects to the 150+ member student-body.

This day ended with an delectable dinner hosted by another member of the church.

------FRI., 04/13th: ------I finally landed in South Africa in the VERY EARLY morning hours, circa 12:30am. I caught another brief flight from Johnanesburg to Cape Town where I rented a car and "dusted-off" my European driving-skills to meet our South African ministry contacts. They were EXTREMELY thankful for the sacrifice of time and resources to reconnect with them. After spending the entire day with them and renewing a covenant with "The Community Partnership" of Cape Town, South Africa, I boarded a plane that evening to return from Cape Town to Johannesburg, and retrace my steps back to Monrovia, Liberia via Nairobi, Kenya and Accra, Ghana. WHAT AN AMAZING ADDITION to what was already phenomenal trip.

While, I was trekking back to Liberia, the rest of the ministry team spent the day engaged in various ministry projects:

=> the Dr.'s Brown (Harold & Robin) spent the morning visiting the John F. Kennedy Hospital, the city's only hospital and trauma treatment center. Although, the city does have several smaller health clinics, the quality of medical practice greatly varies and certainly in aggregate, lags behind most developed countries in the quantity and quality of health care. It was another eye-opening, but rewarding day for our medical team.

=> our Ministerial Team (Diane & Lorene) were simultaneously engaged in doing home visits to sick & shut-in PBC members. The PBC Minister in charge of Congregational Life, led Lorene and Diane into some remote villages to deliver spiritual food (prayer, warmth, fellowship) and literal food (rice, toilet paper, etc...). This left an indelible imprint on both of our ministers about the important role of ministering to people "in their homes" and on their terms.

=> Later that afternoon/early evening, all four of the team members then traveled to PBC to participate in their weekly feeding program to the most vulnerable citizens of Monrovia. Like SBC, PBC is located in the heart of downtown Monrovia, which is prone to all of the social-ills and challenges of most urban, metropolitan regions. Thus, our team participated in feeding over 500 community residents of downtown Monrovia.

This day ended with an mouthwatering dinner hosted by an officer of the church.

------SAT., 04/14th: ------This day was less intense for the remainder of the ministry team. They got a chance to sleep-in, rest and eventually do a little shopping and sight-seeing.

I finally completed my journey back to Roberts International Airport, landing about 3pm in the afternoon. So after being on eight different flights in a matter of three days, I was thoroughly exhausted, but running on adrenalin and ready to rejoin the ministry team.

We give a special thanks to our Sister Miatta Stella Herring for coordinating two very special events: (1) Friday's visit to the JFK Hospital, and (2) a scrumptuous early dinner Liberian-style at her Sister's home. Her sister happens to be the head of the OBGYN Department at the JFK hospital. So our day ended with this delicious meal and an early evening opportunity to walk along the pounding waves and freshly-combed beaches just off of our hotel compound.

------SUN., 04/15th: ------As one would expect, Sunday was a day committed to the three "P's:" (1) Praise, (2) Prayer, and (3) Preaching. The entire ministry-team attended the 8am service of the Providence Baptist Church, at which I preached the Gospel! This service was extra-special because it was held in the sanctuary of the original church building which was completed in 1830!

After attending Sunday-School classes in between services, the entire team reassembled in the sanctuary of the more modern edifice, which sits directly behind the first sanctuary. After staying for the initial segments of the service, the rest of the team was escorted by Deacon Osborne Diggs to the Pioneer Baptist Church located within a few minutes drive of PBC. Pioneer is the church where our dear Sister, the Rev. Ce-Ce served as Pastor for many years before her relocation to The United States.

GOD subsequently used both Min. Dr. Holloway and myself to deliver Holy Ghost- filled messages to the saints at Providence and Pioneer at their respective 11am worship services. GOD also used Sis. Lorene Williams to deliver a most powerful prayer at the Pioneer Baptist Church worship service before Min. Holloway preached The WORD!

I then joined the Rev. Dr. Reeves in meeting with Presbyterian pastors in Monrovia, one of whom serves as Moderator for ALL of the Presbyterian churches in the nation of Liberia. In and for this meeting, I wore my official "hat" as Trustee Board member for the Princeton Theological Seminary.

This day ended with an quasi official "state dinner" hosted Deacon Reeves, who also happens to be the female Mayor of the City of Paynesville, Liberia. She brought her City Administrator along and we had rich conversation about the possibility of creating a "Sister-City" relationship between Trenton, NJ and Paynesville, Liberia.

Needless to say, it was a GOD-ORDAINED & BLESSED DAY of worship and fellowship ALL DAY LONG!

------MON., 04/16th: ------We all woke-up a bit saddened that this was our official last-day in Monrovia, Liberian and in Africa (until next year...THE LORD willing!).

While the rest of the ministry team packed-up, finalized communications back home, and awaited our fare-well lunch, Min. Holloway and I joined Pastor Sam in a series of fruitful and productive educational meetings, first with the President of the Liberian Baptist Theological Seminary, and secondly with the Dean of Students at the University of Liberia. These meetings produced follow-up action plans that might lead to significant educational enhancements in both private/religious and public/secular education in Monrovia.

We concluded our time in Monrovia and with the Providence Baptist Church at the P. A. Ribhouse, a dining chain which combines the best of Southern African American BBQ cooking and traditional Liberian indigenous cooking. After eating this wonderful meal, we all reflected on our shared historical and cultural linkages as people of African descent. This was a meal "to-live-for"...finger- lickin' BBQ chicken and ribs, delectable potato and green salads, mouthwatering potato greens over white rice, and tasty fried plantains..YUM-UM-UM-MMMY!!!

As we said our good-byes to, exchanged hugs with, and took pictures of our hosts, we all were overwhelmed by the MOST gracious and thoughtful way they hosted us ALL week.

We then sped back to the Kendeja Resort, snatched our bags and burned-rubber (literally) to the Roberts International Airport to check-in for our 6pm flight back to the JFK Airport via Accra, Ghana. I am literally finalizing this "short" missive about our week's journey during a nearly 2-hour lay-over (on the plane mind you) at the international airport at Accra to pick-up additional passengers traveling from Africa back to America.

------TUE., 04/17: ------We landed at JFK International Airport EARLY this morning (circa 4:40am) 1 full hour ahead of our scheduled return time of 5:40am. Thanks to GOD and Bro. Steve Wilson, we were able to beat the New York City rush-hour traffic and we arrived back to the front steps of Shiloh Baptist Church about 7:30am...PRAISE GOD!!!

As we drove back, we all concluded that this unique experience afforded all of us new meaning about and deeper appreciation for the transatlantic journey made by our African ancestors... albeit under drastically inhumane conditions and for vastly different reasons...WE SHALL NEVER DISMISS OUR PAST AND NEVER STOP REACHING-AHEAD FOR OUR FUTURE (Philippians 3:13)!

In JESUS' MIGHTY NAME, Pastor Darrell L. Armstrong and the 2012 Liberian Missions Team (Robin, Harold, Lorene, and Diane)

P. S. If this summary about our 2012 trip piqued your interest to possibly join us for our 2013 African Missions Trip, the dates for which are Monday, February 25th to March 9th, do call my office at 609-695-5700!