20 Mins Read
By
Bishop Nimely Jarbokly Donyen, DD
Cheerful Givers Cathedral
Independent Catholic Church of Liberia
Sunday November 23, 2025
Introduction
My Dear People of God, today is Christ the King Sunday. The kingship of Christ is eternal, but the Feast of Christ the King is new. From the beginning of Christianity, Christians surrendered to the kingship of Christ. Christians lost their lives, Christians were killed because they believed and said that Jesus was the true king of the world.
We are lucky today we can parade our streets and say, “Jesus is King.” There was a time when it was not possible for Christians to make this kind of statement in public and go free.
The Feast of Christ the King became a universal feast 100 years ago. It was made a feast for the whole world by Pope Pius XI in 1925, to remind dictators that no matter the power they thought they had, the real leader of the world and of all human beings is Jesus Christ. Obeying Christ is the best way to live.
As We, the Members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, join other Christians to celebrate the Kingship of Christ today, we should pray to bear the persecution we are facing in Liberia with patience.
We, the Members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia are free to say, Jesus is our King. But maybe some people don’t want us to say “Jesus is our King.” They think Jesus Christ should not accept us. We, the Members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia are being persecuted in Liberia, not because we are doing anything that is wrong, but because others are ashamed that we are followers of Christ.
Denied Jobs
Because we are Members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, we cannot get jobs in Liberia. Every time our members apply anywhere, their applications are thrashed.
Denied Police Recruitment
Members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia are not allowed to be Police officers in Liberia. When the Liberia National Police is recruiting young Liberians to be trained, when members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia apply, they are rejected.
All Our Members who have been applying are high school graduates. Some of Our Members who have been applying are university students. Though all of our members who apply to be recruited for police training have no criminal records, they are rejected because they are Members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia.
If Our Church were not being persecuted in Liberia, some members of our Church would be members of the Liberia National Police today.
Disrespected By Courts
Though we are Christians, we are also Citizens of Liberia. When our rights are abused as Citizens of Liberia, We, the Members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, have nowhere to go for redress. When we go to any tribunal or a court in Liberia, those centers that are supposed to make sure that the rights of every Liberian Citizen is protected, change the rules and intensify the abuse of our rights in Liberia. The court officials write anything that they feel like writing and call it ruling. They do so in order to deny us our rights as Citizens of Liberia who are doing our best to live law abiding lives, with the grace of God.
Young ICCL Members
Denied Scholarships
No member of our Church ever benefited from a Liberian Government scholarship. If announcements for scholarships were made, and our members applied, they applied in vain. For any of our members to go to college, we used to have collections in our Church. But in 2018, God opened the door for our members to get scholarships from abroad to go to university, through our ministry. So as I write, some of our members are bachelor’s degree holders, and others are master’s degree holders.
So It Was From The Beginning
To You My Dear Members, our Church, the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, has been a persecuted Church since it started functioning as a one-man radio ministry in June 1997. But with the grace of God we are who we are today. We have land. We have a high school that is performing well. We have this beautiful Cathedral building where, with the grace of God, we worship God morning, afternoon and evening everyday.
I urge all of you the Members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia to continue to persevere in rendering services. God knows when the doors for employment and for scholarships outside our ministry will open.
Articles of Incorporation
In 2019, we got the services of a lawyer to prepare the Articles of Incorporation for the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia. Everything went well until we got to the Liberia Business Registry. The Director of the Liberia Business Registry said that he was a Roman Catholic, so he could not sign our Articles of Incorporation give legal status to the Independent Catholic Church. Because of this, our documents got buried in the files of the Liberia Business Registry for about five years.
The office he was in was a public office. He was replaced in January 2024. When he left, we went back to the Liberia Business Registry and got the Articles of Incorporation for the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia. We got our Articles of Incorporation without any quarrel, without any fight. Through prayers and patient endurance God opened the way for the Government of Liberia to give the legal documents for the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia to be a juridic person in Liberia.
Exaltation
My Dear Members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, continue to persevere. If even our fellow Christians are blocking us in Liberia, it is not the Members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia that they are blocking. It is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself that they are blocking. It is God Himself that they are blocking. One day all of us will appear before the throne of our Lord Jesus Christ. We will see whether God will hold any Member of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia responsible for any problem in any other church, or whether God will hold other Christians responsible for the problems we are facing as Independent Catholic Church of Liberia.
Remember, the Lord Jesus Christ told us that a time would come when those who kill His real followers will think that they are serving God (John 16:2). To any Christian Church that is wasting its time behind the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, remember the advice of Rabbi Gameliel to the Jewish Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin in Acts 5:38-39: “Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”
Muslim Men And Court In Pleebo
My Dear Members, in order to encourage you to continue persevering, let me tell you a story of a group of Muslim men in Pleebo, who, in 1979 and 1980 stood their grounds to defend their Religion – Islam. I wish We, the Members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, will remain unyielding in defence of our Religion – Christianity no matter the external pressure.
1978
In 1978, a new Stipendiary Magistrate came to the Pleebo Magisterial Court in Maryland County, Liberia. He wanted to use his authority to make sure that every child of school going-age went to school in his magisterial area. Unfortunately for him, a group of Muslim men refused to send their children to school. So at the beginning of the new school year in 1979, the new Stipendiary Magistrate of the Pleebo City Magisterial Court, Maryland County, tried to compel the Muslim men to send their children to school.
Maybe these Muslim men had no money to send their children to school. So why should an official of a court force people to do what they were unable to do?
The problem of these Muslim men was not lack of money. These Muslim men sold cow meat in Pleebo. They had money to pay their children’s tuition in any private school in Pleebo, but they refused to send their children to school.
1979
In March 1979 the Magistrate sent the sheriff to bring the Muslim men to the court. When the Muslim men came to the court, the sheriff brought them into the courtroom one at a time. The Magistrate asked each of them, “Are your children in school?” Each of them said that their children were not going to school. The Magistrate asked each of them, “Why are your children not in school?” Each of them responded, “If I send my children to school, they will not be Muslims. They will become Christians.”
The Magistrate said, “Children go to school to acquire formal education. They do not go to school to become Christians. In fact you don’t have to send your children to any church or faith-based school. There are a couple of Government schools in Pleebo. So your children should be in school before the end of March.” The Muslim men said, “Yes Sir!” They left the courtroom and went back home.
In April 1979, the Magistrate sent for the Muslim men to ascertain whether their children were in school. Each of them said that their children were not in school. So the Magistrate fined each of the Muslim men US$20.00. The Magistrate said, “Either you pay the money or you go to jail.”
The Muslim men did not challenge the Magistrate. They asked the Magistrate for permission to go for the money. He granted their request. They went home and brought the money to the court.
Throughout the 1979 School Year, the Magistrate did this to these Muslim men every school month. Yet, they refused to send their children to school. So in November 1979, the Magistrate decided to frighten the Muslim men. He said, “If you come to this court again and your children are not in school, each of you will be fined US$40.00.” The Muslim men said, “Yes Sir!” and left the court.
1980
At the beginning of the new school year in March 1980, the Magistrate sent for the Muslim men. They came to the court, and told the Magistrate that they could not send their children to school because there was no guarantee that their children would not be Christians. The Magistrate imposed a US$40.00 fine on each of the Muslim men. The Muslim men did not complain. They paid their fines and left the court.
In April, May and June 1980, the Magistrate did not send for the Muslim men, because of the coup d’etat in Liberia. The Magistrate was not a native man, and the coup d’etat was a pro-Native coup. It was an open secret that the Magistrate was a Togolese who was proAmerico-Liberian.
The Magistrate was a lucky man. The coup d’etat did him no harm. Why? When he took over as Stipendiary Magistrate, he recruited a Krahn man to be his Associate Magistrate. It turned out on April 12, 1980, that the nephew of the Associate Magistrate of the Pleebo Magisterial Court, became the Head of State of Liberia, and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia. The name of the Pleebo City Magisterial Court was changed to People’s Magisterial Court. A soldier man began to come to the court to guard the Magistrate. This meant that the Magistrate was more powerful than he was before April 12, 1980.
So in August 1980, because the Magistrate was sure that his job was secure, he sent the sheriff to bring the Muslim men to the court. The Muslim men came. Their children were not going to school so each of them was fined US$40.00 by the Magistrate. They paid the fine. The last time I saw this was in September 1980.
The Magistrate imposed fines upon fines on the Muslim men for refusing to send their children to school, they paid the money. They did not give in. They remained unyielding in order to protect their Religion – Islam.
Be Unyielding Members Of ICCL
Members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, I used the Story of the Muslim Men in Pleebo to tell you that standing for your belief is not easy. Sometimes it may cost you money. Sometimes it costs discomfort as you are experiencing. Sometimes it costs one his or her life.
My message is stand up for what you believe. If you believe that Jesus is your King, your King, who is the king of kings will defend you, protect you and give you your heart’s desire. Giving up will be proof that you do not trust our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is King of the world. In John 16:33, the Lord Jesus Christ says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Don’t give up. Persevere!
Let them rock your foundations. Let them make your future look unsure. You just have to trust God and it will be well soon. Be optimistic. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ says in John 14:1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” Believe that you have Jesus, who is King of the world. When our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ wants to grant your heart’s desire, He will not consult anybody. He will grant your heart’s desire. So trust Him.
My Water Our Water
In 2012, he Liberia Water & Sewer Corporation of Liberia said that she had no money to supply pipe borne water to Red Hill Community, Johnsonville Township, Montserrado County. Four years later in 2016, I found a humanitarian in the USA who gave me money to pay for the construction of a waterline. I gave US$12,000.00 (twelve thousand United States dollars) to Water & Sewer, and paid for the manual digging of the trench and the manual bursting of the rocks, and since 2017, Red Hill Community has been getting pipe borne water.
Because I wanted to give the water almost free of charge to the poor people, the Liberia Water & Sewer Corporation blocked me and the students of my school from getting water in January 2018 – eight years ago.
I reminded the Managing Director of Water & Sewer to restore water to my house and my school, since I paid for the pipeline, and for Water & Sewer to sell the water to the poor people L$5.00 per 2 containers of water rather than L$10.00 per container. The Managing Director of Water & Sewer responded to me with insults. I reported the Managing Director of Water & Sewer to the President of Liberia at whose pleasure the Managing Director serves. The President of Liberia ignored my complaint.
Water is not flowing to my house. Water is not flowing to my school. Water is not flowing to Cheerful Givers Cathedral of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia. The Liberia Water & Sewer Corporation still sells water to the poor people for L$10.00 per container of water.
When we appear before Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Last Day, we will know who is doing the right thing now.
Water is flowing at the Baptist Church and Baptist School.
Water is flowing at the Lutheran Bishop’s Compound.
Water is flowing at the Mosque.
But, though I paid for the construction of the entire waterline, water is not flowing to my house, my school, and the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia. The Independent Catholic Church of Liberia is being persecuted in Liberia. Is any church in Liberia being treated the way the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia is treated?
Conclusion
My Dear Members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, undergo the persecution they are using as a weapon to break us up. Remember, they did not help you when you were unable to read or write. Today some of you are high school graduates, or college graduates, or master’s degree holders. Don’t expect them to embrace you. They are ashamed that you are capable of doing something in society. Their reaction should not discourage you. Continue to persevere. Doors of opportunities will open when God is ready for you to advance.
Remember the words of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Matthew 25:31-46. Nobody who does you harm is doing it to you the victim. It is to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself that they do it. And when we do good to anyone, it is not the beneficiary of our kindness that we do good to. We do every good act to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself.
Do not mind those who choose the easy way by surrendering not to the will of God. Don’t choose the path of easy peace. For Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ says in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Finally, be more prayerful. Prayer strengthens our faith. This is why Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ says in Matthew 26:41, “Pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Don’t consider whatever people do to discourage you to be important. Your faith can remove it. Your faith will make you live a cheerful life, even if people are trying their best to frustrate you. Remember our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ says that our faith can get rid of our problems. “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you,'” (Matthew 17:20).
If you believe that those who are trying to frustrate you will win you, you may be defeated. It all depends on your faith. Everything depends on our faith. “And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed,” (Matthew 8:13).
Happy Christ The King Sunday To All Of You!
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