New Americans of the Month

Back row: Princess, melvin, evelyn manu (godmother) Front row: ernest, christian, zahney, melvina

In 1990, with civil war spreading throughout much of Liberia, Melvin Jhloa and Princess Pyne were forced to flee, together with many others, to the neighboring country of Ivory Coast. At the time they had been living in separate communities and were unacquainted with one another.

For each it was a two day trek and in both cases the ordeal was made more difficult by the fact that no one offered them food, water or even shelter. Melvin found shelter in a refugee camp and Princess eventually found a place to live in the border town of Doublee. Here she became the fortunate recipient of food assistance provided by the UN.

Princess remained in Doublee until 1995 when the civil war in Liberia spilled over into Ivory Coast. She, together with hundreds more refugees - including Melvin - were forced to flee, and both were fortunate to find a place in the UN managed refugee camp located in a part of the country that remained unaffected by the war. It was here that Princess was baptized and it was here that she met Melvin.

Designated for resettlement in 2004, Melvin and Princess, together with daughter Melvina and son Ernest, were soon on their way to the USA with St. Louis as their final destination. Princess now works at Missouri Baptist Hospital and Melvin works at the St. Louis Psychiatric Center. Since their arrival, they have been blessed with two additional children, Christian and Zhaney.

Some months ago the Jhloa family became acquainted with Tim Schrader, a member of Timothy Lutheran Church. He invited them to visit the church and they now attend on a regular basis. On Sunday, December 21 all four Jhloa children were baptized.

From information provided by Tim Schrader