In Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia, drug addicted men, women and young people have taken over the Palm Grove Cemetery and the Center Street Ghetto at its edge. There are hundreds of tombs in this cemetery, almost 13 acres of them. Fourteen years of death-by-machete civil war left no shortage of bodies to bury in Liberia. Some of the older drug addicts are the former child soldiers and victims of abuse from this bloody and brutal war, who became addicted to drugs and had nowhere to go when the war was over. The warlords kidnapped the young boys and often killed their family members in front of them before making them go off to the war. In order to get the frightened children to fight, the warlords gave them drugs to make them brave and they became addicted. They gave them Marijuana, Crack Cocaine, Black Tar Heroin and fed them a mixture of Alcohol, Cane Juice and Gunpowder that got them high and supposedly made them unafraid. The warlords even made the children cannibalize their victims. Once the disarmament came, the government took away the guns and machetes, but the addiction and trauma stayed. The brutal civil wars, seeded drug addiction in Liberia!
Today, there is an entire population that consists of several generations and people of all ages, addicted to drugs and living in the cemeteries and ghettos across the country in the most horrible conditions imaginable. There are babies being born into this environment that never have a chance at a decent life and the infant mortality rate is high. This devastated people group is named Zogos. They have been forgotten by the rest of their society and persecuted, even unto death. There are very few resources to help the Zogos. These hurt, broken, lost and addicted people, need our help. Praise the Lord! God has given this ministry, a burden and a massive mission, to help the Drug Addicted, Poor, Homeless and Disadvantaged People of Liberia! We are here to show them that Jesus has not forgotten them, and neither have we.
Zogo is a derogatory, locally coined word given to the criminals and drug users, who roam the streets of Monrovia and other areas in Liberia, doing odd jobs such as car loading and washing, while snatching mobile phones and other valuables from citizens. Liberia’s Zogos are Liberia’s forgotten ones and castaways: homeless, criminal and addicted to drugs. Many of the Zogos are the Former Child Soldiers from Liberia’s brutal civil wars and the Disadvantaged Youth of the country who many believe will never change and are considered to be the lowest of the lows in society and deemed the throw away people who will never change and will always be criminals and drug addicts. We are here to show them that Jesus loves them and so do we and they are not forgotten.
As an organization, we understand the current meaning of the word Zogo, has a negative connotation and has been heavily stigmatized. We also are sensitive to the movement in Liberia to replace the word Zogo with an Disadvantaged Youth. So you change the word and the people are still the same? Wouldn’t it be better to change the people associated with the word.
We believe that God is turning that around and taking the stigma out of the word and bringing honor to it by changing the people. This ministry defines the word Zogo as meaning, someone of value. A Zogo is someone who has a great future in the Kingdom of God as an Apostle, Pastor, Prophet, Teacher and Evangelist. Someone who is a future productive and successful, law-abiding citizen who contributes successfully to Liberian society. A Zogo may become a skilled worker, mechanic, farmer, business owner or even a lawyer or doctor. A Zogo to us, is a friend and a brother and sister, who we are helping overcome their battle with addiction in Jesus name.
Through this ministry, God is bringing the Zogos out of the ghettos, prisons, swamps, garbage dumps, graveyards and drug smokehouses by the power of the Holy Spirit and teaching them how to be Disciples of Jesus Christ serving Him the rest of the days of their lives.
