George Sumo

Below is the life story of an amazing man of strength, courage, and love. While there is much need all over Liberia, this paticular person and his family have grabbed a hold of my heart. This man came to me about 3 weeks ago as a patient with Low Back Pain and when I began taking the history of his low back pain I found myself in the history of his life. His Low Back pain is a result of a war torn country, but more devastating so is his LIFE.

Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

George Sumo

George is forty six years old from the Kpetty tribe in Liberia. His mother died when he was two. He was raised by his father and step-mother in the upcountry village of Yeakai. He moved in with his aunt after 6th grade and finished high school with her. He did not have the money to continue his education from a school. The education he got instead will change your life.

Be dressed and ready for service and keep the lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. Luke 12:35-36

The war broke out in 1992 and George’s father raised cattle and pigs. The rebels came to his village in the middle of the night with flashlights and big sticks. They were looking for provisions and wanted to slaughter the animals to feed themselves. Four of the animals were pregnant and George pleaded with the rebels not to kill them so he could continue to provide for the family even with the loss of all the other livestock. For three hours the rebels mercilessly tied up George and beat him with sticks and the blunt side of machetes like he was nothing. When he finally fell they stomped on him. Beaten and bloodied he watched as they killed all the animals. They put the bloody carcasses into a bag and forced him to carry it on his head for one and a half days down a dusty road in the steaming equatorial jungle. Already beaten nearly to death he somehow mustered the strength for the march. He still stumbled and when he did the rebels would start beating him again and mocking him. They had completely dehumanized him. The rebels dragged him from the camp and left him at the side of the road weeping and bleeding. He could barely stand when a man passed him on the side of the road. The man, like a ‘Good Samaritan’, carried George on his back toward home for some time until he had some strength. George ended up crawling the rest of the way home through the jungle on his hands. The thick smoke permeated the forest and the fires left a smouldering pile where George’s village had been just two days before. His wife and children had fled into the jungle and escaped harm through the ordeal. Six of the other villagers were killed by the rebels. The next day the Government burned the village because they claim the village was helping to supply the rebels. They had nothing left except each other. George and his wife decided that the only way to preserve the family was to walk ten days to the Ivory Coast to flee the fighting. There was no food and no good water during the trek and they barely reached the Ivory Coast. Hungry and alone in a foreign country George could not work for the first month or so because of the beatings he had received. George eventually found work making charcoal and they lived in Ivory Coast for eight years until war broke out there in 2000.

The Sumo Family

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes, and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Matthew 25:35-36

George, his wife, and children, George Jr., Patient, Layda, and Joy returned to Liberia in 2000 and lived in a camp for internally displaced people (IDP). In the IDP camp conditions were horrifying. There were 11,000 refugees living in extremely tight quarters. The entire family was given a 12x10 tent to live in. Each person was rationed miniscule amounts of food and the men had to go into the bush to forage for food. Disease abounded and living conditions were becoming worse by the day as more and more refugees arrived in the camp.

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:7-8

When George Jr. was fourteen years old they were still living in the camp and he started to have severe pain in his eye. There was swelling and no money for doctors. George heard about Mercy Ships and begged a man from another NGO to carry his family to Monrovia. The man said he and George Jr were the only ones he could transport. George couldn’t stand to see his family separated so he appealed to the man again. Upon seeing George Jr’s condition the man agreed to take them. George’s son only had sight in one eye at this point because the cancer had pushed it out of the socket and they waited in line for four days before the screening. A lady from the ship saw his son and made sure he was registered immediately. George was told that his son had malignant cancer on his brain stem and that he did not have long to live. He was crushed. They kept George Jr. on the ward and gave him food and pain medication for two months until he died on April 25, 2005. Mercy Ships paid for the funeral and gave George a job on the ship as a day worker in the Galley. When the ship left last June, George worked in Monrovia to try and raise funds to put his children through school.

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship in the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being one in the spirit and purpose. Philippians 2:1-2

George Jr.'s Modest Grave

George’s wife’s parents died this year and left the Sumos some land just outside of Monrovia. He has not been able to build and finally have a home for his family. Their current living conditions are better than the IDP camp but are still deplorable by our standards. His small “house” is a one room brick structure lent to him by a distant relative. The inside is cramped and uncomfortable. The family all sleep in the room on the floor. There is no electricity and no potable water nearby. The Sumos have to go to the market just to buy clean water to drink. A small shower area is next to the house hidden behind rusty roofing. George’s relative is returning soon and they must vacate the current living area by the end of March. George has carried a heavy burden on his back for the last twelve years and while his back has been broken, his spirit is still faithful. If you ask George about the prospect of having his own house he beams. A smile so wide comes across his face you can’t help but smile with him. He will tell you that a house to him means freedom and a blessing from God.

George's Current House

We have been doing fundraisers on the ship to secure the meagre $1,800 that it will take to build George’s home. A modest brick structure with five hundred square feet of floor space will finally give George some security and a place to raise his family. This home will be built by local liberians and project managed by our Mercy Ships renovations staff.

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Proverbs 3:27

Joy & Me