Our Vision

God has given Gary and Ruth Luukkonen a VISION to work alongside our Liberian mentor and pastor friend Rev. Enoch Glaybo, MAKING DISCIPLES of believers thru ONE-ON-ONE MULTIPLICATON.

Let me briefly explain. Enoch, Gary, and I are using the “Knowing God Personally” series developed by Multiplication Ministries out of Vista, California. Here is how the STRATEGY works: a believer is discipled by a ‘Paul’ who guides and interacts with his ‘Timothy’ through five weeks of Bible discovery, Quiet time, daily life application, accountability, and spiritual transformation in every area of life. As a believer in Christ is being discipled, he concurrently shares what he is learning and experiencing with a friend. Thus a ‘Timothy’ becomes a ‘Paul’, passing on what he has learned to another ‘Timothy’, who in turn passes it on to another and another, rapidly multiplying the number of discipled believers!

Now I would like to give you a little background on our friend Enoch Glaybo. He is the mission pastor for St. Paul’s Evangelical Church in Liberia with whom the Luukkonens are partnering. Gary and I have known Enoch and his wife Doris for eleven years, having first met them as Liberian refugees in Ivory Coast, West Africa. Enoch is a very spiritually mature Christian, well respected throughout Liberia, and very educated. He has had lots of experience as a FACILITATOR helping Liberian churches train their spiritual leaders, and as a MENTOR assisting American missionaries to minister in Liberia.

During our previous years in Africa, Gary and I have worked closely with Enoch and his wife Doris. Now God has paved the way for us to be a TEAM, planting and strengthening churches through one-on-one discipleship, both in Liberia and in surrounding African countries. Enoch reminds Gary and I that there is a NEED in the Liberian churches for discipleship training. (Isn’t that true in the American churches, also?) He says that discipleship is the missing link, for when the masses are evangelized but not challenged to be disciples of Jesus Christ, they tend to filter right back into their old sinful patterns of living.

So Gary & I and Enoch & Doris need your prayers; the Liberian churches need your prayers—-that as disciples of Jesus Christ we may carry out the mission to which God has called us. For Jesus says in Matthew 28:18-20 “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Gary and I can’t think of a more exciting adventure or greater need than to carry out Christ’s Great Commission to make disciples!

Add comment September 28th, 2007

God Has Given

Picture a village of huts made of mud walls and thatched roofs. Natives come out of their homes, as our car pulls onto a large dirt clearing in the village of SakiBoboTown. The villagers walk over to greet us, their Chief leading the way. They know Ezekiel the Liberian evangelist, for he has led many of them to the Lord, but this is the first time they have met Gary and Enoch and me.

The villagers want a church, and their Chief has agreed. In fact, the he has given Ezekiel permission to build a church in the center of their village; he has even donated property on which to build it! As the Chief shakes our hands one by one, the villagers smile in approval that missionaries have come to visit their town. Proudly, the he takes us through the Town School in which he has authorized Christians to meet. He points out a large stretch of property which he has given–free of charge–on which to build a church. The Chief is pleased; we are all pleased; but I think God must be the most pleased of all!

GOD HAS GIVEN Gary and me a MANDATE to go and make disciples of all the nations. We have gone to Liberia and we will return. We have visited the towns and villages, and the people are crying out, “Please come back and help us be disciples of Jesus Christ.” We will return by God’s grace. Can you help us?

Add comment September 28th, 2007

In a Nut Shell, A Perfect Fit

In a nutshell, I would say that these past four months in Liberia, living and working with the Glaybo family, have been a ‘perfect fit’ for Gary and I.

 Because of living with our Liberian family (and your prayers), Gary and I were readily accepted into the Liberian community and vigilantly protected by our neighborhood. Both of us more easily adapted to the African way of life. Because of working with Pastor Enoch Glaybo, Gary and I were able to labor alongside Liberian church leaders, plugging into their churches and contributing in harmony with their ways of life.

 For example, in the small town of Kakata, Enoch and Gary and I were given the privilege to disciple five key church leaders, who in turn have discipled others. In the photo you can see these leaders proudly displaying their ‘diplomas of completion’. Thank you Jesus for Your work!

3 comments September 19th, 2007

Please, please come back….

“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and PLEADED with him saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’” Acts 16:9

Dear Family and Friends,

I can HEAR our friends in Liberia calling out to us? ‘Please, please come back soon and teach us more about Jesus; we are so hungry for Him!

From a town to a village, from the market to our home, from our church to our neighborhood I can SEE their pleading faces, ‘Please don’t forget us!’ I can FEEL their heart beats of love: ‘We will not give up; we will pray until God brings you both back.’

Are you shocked? What is going on, you ask. The answer ——- our first expedition has been successfully completed. We set out on our first missionary journey specifically to experience the needs and ministries of Liberia, through the eyes of both our Liberian church and our mentoring family. That goal has been accomplished!

Now God has narrowed our focus —— to go and make disciples of those in Liberia whom God has spiritually birthed into His family. Like the apostle Paul we will return to continue the work for which God has called and equipped us. But we cannot return without more financial supporters. Will you consider being one?

Secure in Christ’s Love forever,
Ruth and Gary Luukkonen

Add comment September 11th, 2007