Rev. Jerry Kulah is the District Superintendent of the Monrovia District in Liberia. This excerpt from an article Hope for the Future by Mark Tooley describes some of Rev. Kulah's story.
By his own account, Rev. Jerry Kulah's experiences included “raging storms, deep waters, and blazing fire.”
Jerry (pictured above) was born to a polygamous family, in a Liberian village. He was among more than 25 children of one father and about seven wives, which meant a life of “competition, jealousy, hatred, and struggle for survival.” An older half brother brought him to the capital of Monrovia but had little money and often was away on military assignments. On many days, Jerry went without food or stole to survive. At age 8, Jerry became a servant to another family with hopes of being provided for. Instead, he was introduced to child abuse and slave labor, to which he was subjected for 12 years.
But Jerry attended school where he was introduced to the Bible. At age 15, during a Bible study, he became affected by “the reality of my sin, hell, and eternity.” When he got home he knelt on the floor and asked Jesus into his life. He became active in Christian youth activities but resisted the call to ministry, preferring a dream of material comforts. He earned a university degree in mathematics and got a well-paying job. In 1989, Jerry was planning a wedding with a young woman he had met in school when Monrovia was besieged by rebels, starting a 14-year civil war, during which Jerry lost nearly everything.
The government declared Jerry’s tribe to be enemies and both Jerry and his older half-brother, United Methodist Bishop Arthur Kulah, became hunted fugitives. While on the run, Jerry wore double layers of clothing, so as always to have extra clothes. When government troops finally captured Jerry, they accused him of being a rebel, thanks to his odd dress. The commander ordered a soldier to shoot Jerry, who pleaded his innocence while also praying. Amazingly, the soldier ordered Jerry to run for his life.
Several days later, Jerry again evaded arrest and likely death when compelled to give his identity card to a soldier. The soldier confusedly stared at the card while Jerry prayed the 23rd Psalm until the soldier returned the card and let Jerry pass. In 1990, Jerry recalls God telling him to escape to Nigeria. Jerry led evangelism in a refugee camp there while also attending seminary. His fiancée, Ruth, also escaped Liberia to meet Jerry in Nigeria, where they finally married in 1992. In 1994 they had their first child, whom they named Joshua. Finally, Jerry and his family returned to Liberia in 1997. He began pastoring a church in 1998, became evangelism director for the Liberian United Methodist Church in 2001, and became a district superintendent in 2007, supervising 34 churches and seven preaching points.
Today Jerry and his wife care for their four children, his mother, and the five children of Jerry’s brother, who died during the war. “God specializes in going into the interior of life and taking that which is inferior to make superior,” Jerry has concluded. He also quotes from Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”