Throughout much of Pastor Samuel’s life he lived in exile in a refugee camp in the Republic of Ivory Coast. He experienced and tasted how it is to be a refugee; to be forced to leave your own country because of war. As Pastor Samuel shared, “When you are a refugee, my fellow Christian friends, you are underprivileged as I was. You do not have access to the basic needs of life like others do. But to God be all the glory, despite all of these life challenges He delivered me out of this situation and brought me to this great nation (USA) May 29th,2007; where almost every basic need of life is available and which I had never experienced before. In February 2012, the Lord gave me this vision ... Do not forget where you came from (Deuteronomy 8:10-20), always remember to be the hands and the feet of Jesus Christ in the lives of the underprivileged children, mostly the orphans and destitute.”

From February 2012 to Today:

2012 - Pastor Samuel Gayetaye and his wife Delecia took a sacrificial step of faith and acted on their concern for the orphaned children of Liberia. They began personally caring for three orphans through a small volunteer staff and the construction of the most basic housing, a ‘zink round’.

2014 - Pastor Samuel recalls receiving a phone call on May 20th from caregiver Victoria Newelli about the terrible condition of many children who were crying out for help. The burden this created on him was very heavy; something he decided he could no longer sit at home in Sioux Falls and overlook. He decided to travel to visit these needy children and when he saw their condition, he was moved in deep compassion. He returned highly motivated to encourage others to join his small ministry team … and since that time, many have partnered in His Vision. That same year, CRI replaced the ‘zink round’ structure in Fendell with a small four bedroom home. More children and additional volunteer Caregivers began to live together in this new home.

2015 - Through the support of King of Glory Church, a freshwater well and hand pump was completed to replace getting drinking water from a nearby bog. Almost immediately, the general health of the children and staff improved. The well was also made available to our neighbors. We also began providing encouragement and support to 12 Pastors in Kparblee District. This remote rural area of Nimba County hungered for God’s Word, but had few Pastors.

2016 - 32 children and 3 volunteer caregivers are now living in our Fendell Home. 4 dedicated volunteer teachers are utilizing the Abeka Homeschool curriculum to educate our Kids. Plans for a grand new school are drawn up and the foundation was completed. In addition, 2 acres of land are purchased near Tapeta in Nimba County and plans are developed to establish a 2nd site.

2017 - For the first time, our small staff receives a wage for their services. We also increase our operating budget to support two meals per day for our children and some access to health care.

Funds are raised to increase the size of our Fendell Home by about 20%. We added a 5th bedroom, another bathroom, and a kitchen. Individual bunk beds for Kids and Staff and some personal storage space replaced rolling out of shared mattresses on the floor and plastic laundry baskets for storage.

A major step of faith was taken by the people of Dewoblee in Kparblee District of Nimba County. They donated 3 acres of land to CRI and petitioned us to partner with them in constructing a medical clinic. More than 20,000 people live in this District and they have little to no access to medical care.

In September, King of Glory Mission School opened for Pre-Kindergarten thru Sixth Grades. 4 paid teachers and 11 volunteer teachers begin educating our 32 CRI Kids and more than 90 Kids from the community.

In October, the International Outreach Ministries Fendell Community Church opened in our school building. In addition to worship and fellowship for our children and staff, many of our Fendell neighbors begin to see this as their church home.

2018 - We are very thankful that our paid and volunteer staff is now supported by a diverse and gifted 14 member volunteer Board and many other volunteers and donors who are generously giving their time, talents, and finances.

A Fendell neighbor who owns land near our Home permits us to use up to 2 acres for a garden. Volunteers from Monrovia travel to Fendell to cut trees, clear brush, prepare the soil, construct a plant nursery to grow seedlings, and to teach our Kids how to plant and harvest vegetables.

While expensive, it becomes necessary to replace the leaking roof on our Fendell Home. A brand new metal roof, the replacement of several rafters, and repairs to the inside of our Home are completed.

Through dedicated gifts, we begin construction on a new Medical Clinic in Dewoblee. The foundation has been laid and in the months ahead the building will be raised. Plans are in place to raise funds to have a medical provider move to Dewoblee and to purchase the needed medicines and supplies to open later this year.

Through the dedicated efforts of Resurrection Assembly of God Church and many friends, more than 650 Bibles with pink covers are collected and shipped. These Bibles will be distributed to women who historically have not had access to their own Bible.

Our budget grows to the level we can support a wage for the teachers and administrators of King of Glory Mission School for the 2018-19 year. And employees and friends of the University of Sioux Falls collect and ship more than a pickup load of books, science kits, and other curriculum which will be used in the year ahead.

2019 We cared for 32 Children in our Fendell Home and we are so thankful for Victoria and her dedicated staff who ensure each Child is loved, housed, fed, clothed, and present at our Fendell Congregation and School.

The Fendell Congregation grew under the pastoral care of Rev. Scott Blayee. In addition to Sunday worship services, Pastor Blayee is actively engaged in the community, the school, and our home.

King of Glory Mission School in Fendell expanded through 9th Grade for the 2019-20 school year. Pastor Marvin and his staff are caring four our 32 children and more than 110 children from the community. In addition to becoming proficient in their academics, the Kids are gaining knowledege of Christ how His followers strive to live their lives for Him.

The Rev. SKG-Kparblee District Health Care Center construction has been lead by Administrator, Norine Wiles, and Board Member Sylvester Gayetaye. The did a great job of purchasing materials for construction and organizing volunteers to complete the facility and the grounds. The Clinic is roofed and the interior is well on its way being used by the medical personnel who will be hired in 2021. A local Board has been formed and is meeting regularly to provide direction to the Clinic. Dr. Zarway has agreed to serve as the KDMC Board President with more than 10 other Liberian leaders. In October we were blessed to receive a 40 foot container of medical equipment and supplies! Gateway Medical Alliance, Kent Washington, is a non-profit that collects medical items from hospitals and clinics in the region. They generously permitted us to apply for and receive this gift that will supply our KDMC, our Fendell School Nurse, Dr. Zarways' Kingdom Care Clinic, and other medical needs in the area!

We continue to lift up 12 Pastors in Kparblee District. In addition to caring for people in his community, Pastor Anthony Baye will serve on the KDMC Board and coordinate his pastoral team in the care of the clinic staff and patients.

2020 What a year 2020 was! So much energy was expended preparing for the challenges of COVID-19, but thankfully our Children, Staff, and Neighbors were largely spared from the pandemic. Economically though, it was a severe hardship on the country.

We continue to care for 32 Children in our Home and around 110 Children in our School. Sylvester Gayetaye joined our Staff as Home Ministry Director and introduced a number of on campus and off campus special activities for the Children. A great new program was "Help me Help Others", where all of our Kids are helping our Care Givers with chores and our older Kids are tutoring our younger Kids after School.

School was a real challenge with restrictions on meeting for many months ... and social distancing/remote learning was required. Very challenging, but Pastor Marvin and his Staff did the very best they could in the circumstances. Despite this, progress was made in expanding the school on the 2nd Floor. School funds from Registration and Tuition were used to purchase materials and have workers begin constructing the block walls.

The Rev. SKG-Kparblee District Health Care Center construction was nearly completed in 2020. The way was prepared for the final 2020 touches ... and preparations were made for 6 Staff to come to Monrovia for 2 months for training at Dr. Zarway's Kingdom Care Clinic. The opening day celebration is coming into sight!

2021 Again, COVID was a big part of our lives, but fortunately Pastor Samuel and Dr. Randy Nelson were able to travel to Liberia to encourage our Children and Staff and to provide training in a variety of areas. We give thanks for their sacrificial gifts of time and talent!

We were saddened at the illness and death of Norecia Bah. Noreica lived in our home for many years and despite considerable love and medical care, she died in 2021. We also mourned the tragic death of Christopher Pelkey. Chris traveled from the US to be with us in 2019 and made such an impact on the Kids and Staff. We mourn their loss, yet take courage in the knowledge they each proclaimed Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

We began our Foster Care Program! Two children were placed in the care of a family and plans are underway for two more families to serve as foster parents as soon as we resolve some administrative issues. In the coming years we pray this program will enable us to significantly increase the number of orphaned Children we care for!

Our International Outreach Ministries Church at Fendell has grown. In addition to our 34 Children and many of our Staff, more than 40 from the community are regularly worshiping! And our King of Glory Mission School attendance surpassed 290 Students, in Pre-K through 10th Grade!

The Rev. SKG-Kparblee District Medical Clinic was opened in March! Considerable time, money, and energy was dedicated to getting the Clinic operational. We are thankful to have Patrick Mahmie and Norine Wiles providing very good leadership. Our focus is now moving to enhancing our Staff’s independence and encouraging the local Board to move into the primary role of overseeing the ministry work.

What is Next Working with the Local Clinic Board to fully transition leadership of the Clinic. Building our base of patients who can afford to pay for our services is critical to the Clinic’s long term health. Please pray for them and us as we embark on this new chapter of Clinic leadership!

Develop personalized plans to help our older Children prepare for life away from CRI. Spirtual maturity, general education, vocational training, and independent living skills.

Develop several vocational trainging programs to share skills that will help a young adult become financially sufficient.

We also desire to care for more children. We will accomplish this through a combination of Foster Care and we will add a few Children to our Home now that we have freed up space with the new Boy's Dormitory.

And we continue to dream about establishing a 2nd Children’s Home and School on the 2 acre lot we have purchased near the city of Tapeta in Nimba County. Each are God sized visions for us … and we welcome your prayers and support!

And as always, we give thanks and praise to God for His mercy, grace, and provision in the past and in the days ahead! We also give thanks to His generous people who have partnered in this ministry with their time, talents, and finances.