ORLANDO — The Rev. Margaret Kartwe-Bradley remembers frolicking throughout the wooded areas surrounding Ganta United Methodist Mission in Liberia with her three sisters and one brother when she was a girl growing up in Liberia.

The pastor at Ebenezer United Methodist Church here holds tight to those memories as a decades old civil war ravages her homeland. Rebels are attempting to oust the regime of President Charles Taylor, who has been indicted for war crimes by a United Nations backed tribunal and agreed to leave the country Aug. 11.

Liberia is a west African country founded by freed American slaves more than 150 years ago. It has been suffering from continuing instability and war. An elected government was installed in August 1997, but little progress has been made toward resettling refugees and displaced persons, reintegrating former combatants, reconstructing the country’s infrastructure, respecting human rights and the rule of law, providing a stable environment for economic development and eliminating corruption.

A native of Pleebo, a town in the Liberian city of Maryland, Kartwe-Bradley stands firm in her faith, despite the sinking feeling she experiences when she watches the bloodshed of innocent people by warring rebels on the daily news. Although all of her siblings are in the United States, Kartwe-Bradley remains in touch with extended family members who live in Liberia and sends money to them on a regular basis.

“I don’t want my phone to ring at 2 or 3 a.m. for fear it will be someone telling me that an aunt or cousin has been raped, or even worse, that they are dead,” Kartwe-Bradley said. “I envy people who are packing up to go home for vacation. I can’t go home; that’s painful.”

Home is a much different place than how Kartwe-Bradley remembers it.

She grew up at the mission where her father, the Rev. Jacob Nimeju Kartwe, was the pastor and her mother, Joanna, was the nurse. The Kartwe children were free to climb mango trees, pick cherries and play at their leisure.

The political landscape has changed so much throughout the years, that Kartwe’s father could not be buried in Liberia due to warring factions. Instead, he is buried in Sierra Leone. Kartwe-Bradley was unable to attend the funeral and longs to visit the grave of the man who inspired her to go into the ministry.

“The same war that is going on then is going on; it’s just a different stage,” she said. “Yet, I know what the United Methodist Church and the Catholic Church has done in Liberia. They have kept Liberia alive all these years. Ministers, nuns and missionaries have lost their lives for Liberia. I am proud to be part of the Methodist Church. We are a church that really, really cares for people and believes in the gospel of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and opening its doors to the homeless.”

Liberia has a long history with the United Methodist Church, which sent its first missionary there 10 years after the country was founded.

Bishop John G. Innis, resident bishop of the United Methodist Church in Liberia, said in a July 7 letter to the General Board of Global Ministries that it’s time for the nation to move forward.

“It is also about time that we reconcile and forgive each other,” Innis wrote. “Let us remember that Christ taught, preached and practiced reconciliation and forgiveness. Love and unity will be the foundation of a lasting peace. Love that is not proud and selfish must be a strong pillar for peace in Liberia, so that in unity, we can surely succeed in bringing peace to our war-ravaged nation.”

The position of The United Methodist Church, based on its Social Principles, calls for the body to pray, sympathize and stand in solidarity with more than 70,000 Liberian United Methodists and the Liberian nation as a whole.

Kartwe-Bradley encourages United Methodists to reach out with their prayers and financial assistance to those who need help.

United Methodists can either place donations designated for Liberia Emergency, Advance #150300, in church offering plates or send them to UMCOR at 475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit-card donations can be made by calling 800-554-8583.