Liberia is unique among the African nations in that it started neither as a native state nor as a European colony. Modern Liberia was founded in 1822 by freed slaves from America. The first prominent settlement was located on Providence Island, near the present day capital of Monrovia. In 1824, the settlement was named Liberia (meaning "Land of the Free"), with its capital at Monrovia (named after James Monroe, the US President at the time).

During the latter part of the 1820’s and 1830’s, freed slaves from a number of US States came to Liberia to settle their own colonies. The 1840’s saw a period of consolidation among these various colonies, and by 1847, the colonies became the independent nation of Liberia. By 1867, more than 13,000 emigrants had made the trip from the United States to Liberia.

Descendants of Liberia’s founders dominated economic and political power in Liberia for over 130 years, governing the country mostly through the peaceful, one party system of the True Whig Party. Today, descendants of the freed slaves who founded the colonies are called Americo-Liberians and account for about 2.5 percent of Liberia’s 3.5 million people.

Liberia is currently recovering from almost two decades of political upheaval and civil war. These years were marked by ruthless destruction of life and property, massive population displacement, and a collapse of basic social services. Today under a new government the security situation has improved considerably, but the rebuilding of the country’s infrastructure has only just begun. Liberia’s children are essential to the continued recovery and rebuilding of the nation, because they will be the country’s next generation of leaders. Pillar Missions is committed to providing quality Christian education for the children of Liberia. We believe that quality Christian schools will produce quality Christian leaders with a passion for impacting their communities, and in turn their country, with the life-changing love and freedom available in Christ.

Information provided by Wikipedia, www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/liberia/facts.html and UNICEF.