Written by Lori McBride, OC Ministries Executive Director

My heartfelt thanks to Hennepin Avenue UMC for allowing me to share about Operation Classroom, now known as OC Ministries. After decades at the helm of the program, Rev. Lyndy Zabel retired as Executive Director in 2024 and I have picked up the mantle of leadership. I look forward to the exciting work of expanding opportunities for educating children in our partner countries and to the delightful work of making new friends as I work to connect OC Ministries with the people of HAUMC. Please enjoy the article I’m sharing.

About Sierra Leone, Liberia, and The United Methodist Church

Sierra Leone (founded 1787) and Liberia (founded 1816) are countries on the Atlantic coast of West Africa, and each country has ministry connected to the world-wide United Methodist Church through membership in The West African Central Conference. The original mission of the church in West Africa included preaching of the Gospel as well as building schools to improve education and establishing health care clinics and dispensaries.

Operation Classroom is born.

In 1987 church leaders in Sierra Leone and Liberia asked Minnesota United Methodists to partner with them to improve education in Methodist related schools, expand health care and raise up the church in local communities. The United Methodist Church in Minnesota approved a plan for partnership and the program became known as “Operation Classroom.” In 1989, six Methodist primary schools were chosen for initial support, 3 in Sierra Leone and 3 in Liberia.

Assistance would initially take three main forms:

1. Shipping school supplies and curriculum related materials.
2. Sending volunteers to help repair, rebuild and furnish unsafe and dilapidated classrooms.
3. Providing financial aid in the form of teacher salary support and scholarship assistance for students.

Growing Little by Little Over 35 Years

Under the leadership of United Methodist Pastors Kathy and Jim Horn and Lyndy Zabel, and with the help of United Methodists from Minnesota, Operation Classroom flourished and grew in Sierra Leone and Liberia for the next couple of years. When rebel activity and civil war enveloped both West African countries in the early 1990s, school construction there had to be suspended and was subsequently expanded to include:

• Primary schools in Borobridge, Retirement and Keith, as well as York Castle, Armadale, and Westwood High Schools in Jamaica.
• Julia Torres Memorial School (Colegio Metodista Julia Torres Fernandez in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
• Kusayapa Agricultural Institute in Pachica, Chile.
• Peterson Memorial School in Kioga, Uganda.
• Thomasville Elementary School, Haiti.

Eventually, following years of civil war, the partnership with Methodists in Sierra Leone and Liberia became active once again and schools were constructed in more than 18 different communities.

In 1999 “Operation Classroom” was renamed “OC Ministries” when the program began expanding the ways in which it was fulfilling its Mission Statement by including support of medical CLINICS, CHURCHES, wells (CLEAR WATER), agriculture (CROP), eye clinics (CLEAR VISION), CURRICULUM WRITING, and student scholarships (CONNECTION).

What do these projects have in common? Mission volunteers and financial supporters from Minnesota including HAUMC!

If you have volunteered with a team from Operation Classroom/OC Ministries at any time, please let us know by contacting Lori McBride, [email protected] or [email protected]. We would love to hear from you! Tell us your story.

My First Operation Classroom Trip

In the company of nineteen mostly strangers and my husband John, I traveled to Jamaica in March 1995 to:

• Help with construction of the Armadale High School for Girls in Alexandria during the day and
• Share the gift of music singing with the Jumpin’ Jehosafats every evening as they held concerts in various Methodist churches in and around Brownstown.

Alexandria was a small mountain community where the air was cool and fresh, unlike on the coast near Montego Bay. The Edmonson Methodist church, served as our host site. The team lived for two weeks in an oversized “fellowship hall,” with a kitchen on one end and two bathrooms with showers on the other. In between sat twenty-one comfortable beds in two rows. The food we ate included rice and beans, chicken, Ackee saltfish, fresh greens, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and sweet desserts made and served by church members with a heart for hospitality. I will never forget the sounds of Alexandria we heard every night as we closed our eyes for sleep: cows, goats, roosters, motorcycles, and voices. Of course, as we drifted off to sleep each night, certain members of the team added their snores to the sounds of Alexandria.

I made new friends that I am in relationships with to this day. Building together every day and singing together every evening deepened my relationship with God and the United Methodist Church. I’ve gone on to travel on teams to Haiti, Jamaica, and Uganda with OC Ministries, and I’m planning for a trip to Sierra Leone and Liberia in January 2025. This will be my first visit to the Richard Ormsby School in Baiwalla and I’m excited!

OC Ministries Today

Unfortunately, the onset of the COVID Pandemic in 2020 made it impossible the next 3+ years for teams of missioners to travel to any of our OCM project sites to learn more about them or help with hands-on project needs. In 2023 the travel ban ended for OCM when a small team was sent to Baiwalla in Sierra Leone. A second team traveled there in March 2024 and planning for another team to Sierra Leone and Liberia in January 2025 is underway!

In addition, the leaders of the Methodist Church in Jamaica have now given the “all clear” to receive volunteers to work on infrastructure improvements and repairing of a dormitory building at a local high school in Brownstown. TEAMS ARE FORMING NOW! SIGN UP NOW TO PARTICIPATE!

Partner With Us

Here is how:

• Give a financial gift online at www.ocministriesmn.org, or by mailing a check payable to “Minnesota Annual Conference” to 122 W Franklin Ave #400, Minneapolis, MN 55404. Your gifts will also be gratefully received through your church financial office.

• Contact OC Ministries Executive Director, Lori McBride ([email protected]/651-208-9000) to express your interest in joining a team to Jamaica, Sierra Leone, or Liberia. Scholarships to help with expenses are available through the Minnesota Annual Conference VIM (Volunteers in Mission) fund.

By joining your hearts and hands with OC Ministries, you are making a direct impact on the lives of children in developing countries, ensuring they have access to food, education, and a nurturing environment to thrive. Together, let us make a lasting difference in the lives of these children.