Our Story

Defend the weak and the fatherless, uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. – Psalm 82:3

Psalm 82:3 Mission officially began in July 2014, with the sole focus of serving as the funding partner of a smaller orphanage home in Monrovia, Liberia. Since 2009, this home of children had become very personal to several people involved. Beginning with the adoptions of 2 children to the family of Matthew and Terah Lee, and extending to the impact of 2 mission teams in 2012 and 2014. The first team in 2012, focused on remodeling the orphanage while the team in 2014, that traveled during the Ebola Crisis, focused on safe water and personal connections with the children. It was after this journey in July 2014, that the team received an email asking them to take over the funding of the orphanage. Through prayer and steps of faith a Board of Directors was formed from past team members and the non-profit Psalm 82:3 Mission was born. The following Sunday a gift of $2000 was provided by one Sunday School class, and the ministry began to defend. 

Over the course of the next 2 years, Psalm 82:3 Mission continued to defend as God moved through many hearts to give financially as children sponsors, church connections, one-time donors, and even an adoptive family to the Lexington, Kentucky area for 2 of the children in the orphanage. During this time a partnership was also developed with Lifesong for Orphans to provided back office and administrative support. Humbled by God’s provision, the basic needs and special funds were always met.

In 2016, adoptions had stabilized the budget in Liberia making it clear that it was time for Psalm 82:3 Mission to return the funding back to its founder. In 2017, Psalm 82:3 Mission ended its partnership with the orphanage in Monrovia, Liberia, and began to transition into a season on unknown.

Maintaining the majority of financial supporters, the mission waited to experience where God was leading next. Within weeks of the partnership with the orphanage ending, new connections were made in Buchanan, Liberia (nearly 2 hours away). A vision trip was planned with 4 mission team members to link with a previous staff member at the orphanage, a missionary serving in Liberia, and a pastor in the Buchanan area.  During that trip it became clear that the ministry would relocate to Grand Bassa County, Liberia. The needs were great and the opportunities to meet those needs were even greater. A land owner offered the ministry 50 acres on the main highway for the cost of $30,000.  As the team met and discussed their prayers changed. Instead of asking God what He wanted Psalm 82:3 Mission to do, the request was more to understand what God was doing that Psalm 82:3 Mission could be a part of.

Centered in the middle of a dining table was a simple dinner tray, and a clear vison was established. A new dream was born. A safe children’s village and self-sustainable community center would be developed on the 50 acres. The safe children’s village would include a focus on foster care. Inside this village a school, staff and mission homes, administrative offices, and a small medical and therapy clinic would be built. The community center would include a church, an old folks home, community playground, and a detailed plan for agriculture and business development. With this land the mission would employ and empower many Christian Liberians to invest into the lives of their children.

With a clear vision for the coming future the team returned home to tell the story and within a month the funds were raised for the 50 acres of land. The land was purchased in April 2018, and work began almost immediately. Land was cleared, a shelter house was built, and through the leadership of our project manager a monthly community service initiative began. 

As the shelter house neared the end of construction in the middle of the land the request of community members inspired the mission to start The Shelter Church.  Prayer services, worship and fasting nights, and great excitement built as God was doing a new thing. While the mission was focused heavily on developing foster care, the opening of the church was a reminder from God that serving His kids in foster care would be done through His church.

Psalm 82:3 Mission continued forward quickly. By June 2019, 2 more teams had traveled to Liberia, ground was broken for the new foster home, full time staff had been hired for security, new church partnerships developed, and our first missionary, Tamme Dillon, was called to spend a year in Liberia starting in September. With staff changes, new growth, the future opening of the first foster home, and more structure needed to “equip the saints for service,” two huge changes took place in January 2020. The first change ended the wonderful partnership with Lifesong for Orphans in order to bring all funding under one umbrella through National Christian Foundation. The second change was for Matthew Lee to go into full time support raising and overseeing of the ministry in Liberia and the United States. These two changes allowed the ministry to connect to more churches, new one-time and monthly partners, and be more available to how the Holy Spirit leads forward!

Like the rest of the world, Psalm 82:3 Mission shifted quickly when Covid hit. A new Project Manager was hired Liberia, Tamme Dillon and her children along with our 6 month Ag Intern Miranda used the future children’s home for a safe residence while also helping the ministry navigate this unusual season. From January-June the Lord provided many new partners monthly to deepen the incoming budget from $4,000 to nearly $15,000 per month. This growth allowed Psalm 82:3 Mission to hire the first childrens’ home staff, open a first aide clinic on site, build a Palava Hut for Kids Church, begin the construction of the future staff and missionary houses, train an agriculture team, and extend to serve the local prison through the church and community service team. In November, a generous donor issued the challenge for the ministry to raise $50,000 with the guaranteed matching funds of $100,000 for the new school, Defenders Christian Academy. In less than 6 weeks the $50,000 was raised and DCA would soon be under construction.

Entering 2021, Psalm 82:3 Mission had some huge goals ahead! The Staff and Missionary Houses would soon be complete, Defenders Christian Academy would begin construction, and several new children would join our foster home for girls 3-10 years old. As we journeyed through the year a new partnership with Live2540 allowed us to reach 4 community orphanages and hire our first community service director.  In June, the Matthew Lee family served for a month in Liberia as new staff were added. By the end of 2021, the total number of souls saved exceeded 100, new church partners and connections began connecting Psalm 82:3 Mission to a village for the blind, funds were raised for our first boys home, and funding began for King Jesus Children’s Clinic. The staff team continued to grow throughout 2021 with 30 Full Time staff serving in medical, agriculture, administration, security, education, foster care, the church, and grounds. 

Completing the construction of Defenders Christian Academy allowed Psalm 82:3 Mission to start the new school serving grades PreK-2^nd Grade, and the fast growth challenged the board to develop a strategic plan for the next three years. This plan included building the boys home, installing solar power, advancing agriculture, creating a documentary, releasing the backstory of Psalm 82:3 Mission in a book called Faith Steps, and Tamme Dillon joining the US staff to focus on education. Through these steps and an unexpected request to add more children from a closing orphanage nearby our first foster home exceeded its original amount of children to serve. The board and team took a deeper look at how we were serving children and made the decision to use the newly constructed Mission and Staff houses to become foster homes. As plans began to develop for the excitement of 2023, major challenges struck Psalm 82:3 Mission for the next several months. From the sudden passing of our beloved project manager and two significant auto accidents (thankfully all involved survived) to the illegal arrest of Matthew Lee in Liberia the impact God was allowing the ministry to have was not guaranteed to be easy.

Through the rest of 2022 and much of 2023, the challenges, despite including the loss of 2 more precious staff members in April and August, were soon outweighed greatly by the tremendous blessings. Blessings like 250,000 rice meals being sent to Liberia through partner organizations, the Matthew Thomas Lin Boys Home opening to serve 8 boys 3-5 years old, church partnerships taking on special projects like a boys home well and tower and the largest Palava Hut in Liberia for The Shelter Church constructed, and deepening opportunities in the blind village, prison, and communities around.

Now, with the sites set on life-changing projects like the King Jesus Children’s Clinic, Phase 2 of Defenders Christian Academy that will allow the school to grow each year through 8^th grade, growth in agriculture for plants, goats, and poultry, solar power extensions, and other things we may not see or understand, the future of Psalm 82:3 Mission is very bright!

One thing has been clear from the beginning of this story, we are not the authors of the story. Jesus told us prior to his return to Heaven that when the Holy Spirit came on us we would be His witnesses to those we cross paths with. For Psalm 82:3 Mission we are bearing witness each day of the opportunities God allows us to participate in, and we can’t wait to see what’s next in this story as Defenders!

Will you be a Defender with us? Will you share this story with your church or business? Will you allow God to use you and your resources to directly impact the lives of so many? We promise to communicate often with you about the needs and status of the ministry. We promise that if you step out in faith to mix your life with the children of Liberia that you will soon have a story to tell as well. Join us and choose to Defend!