St Peter’s has been supporting Michael Sie in Liberia for several years now. We have truly found a trusted partner and leader in Michael. St. Peter’s first became acquainted with Michael over 10 years ago when one of our parishioners, Paul Miller traveled to Liberia with St. James Episcopal Church of Leesburg. Michael was assigned to act as Paul’s host in Liberia. They became well acquainted, spending time discussing the harsh civil war in Liberia. 

Michael spoke of the days when he was a young altar boy. Michael would have to “rent” a white shirt from a friend for Sunday service, afterwards would have to clean and iron it, and promptly return it. Five years later after Paul's visit to Liberia Michael arrived in the United States to study at the Virginia Theological Seminary. While at seminary school Michael ask a friend to drive him to St. Peter's, where he met up with Paul again. Michael now returns annually to spend time with Paul and and his wife, Laurraine.

Michael graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in May 2013. He is now the Rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Monrovia, Liberia since September 2017. The congregation is 500-700 people. It is an extremely poor parish. When he gets to his office on Monday morning there is a line of people waiting to see him to ask for help. Michael is a true leader and has recently initiated his dream project for his church community in Liberia.  With the help of St. Peter's and others he was able to purchase land to develop a farm for his church. After spending months clearing the land, the project was able to start providing jobs and food for the congregants, with the potential for a future revenue stream. They planted cassava and expect to have their first harvest in 2021. His is the only episcopal church in Liberia with a sustainable project – they are hoping to be a case study for other churches in Liberia. Michael is planning to expand the project to include pigs, chickens, and growing corn.