Please join us in the prayer requests for May from Sierra Leone.
We thank God for this month of May, 2025, for His Grace and mercies.
We ask God for his blessings and support for The Connexion in the UK, the education of our Pastors to enable their ministry, and also our schoolteachers.
We also pray for our churches and schools in Sierra Leone, and ask for God to continue to bless them.
We continue to pray for Magnus Bendu and his passion over The Connexion, we pray that God will continue to quide and protect him.
We also pray for our Leadership in UK and for Janet O'Shea. We ask that God will continue to bless and protect her and family.
We pray for all those who are sick, imprisoned or physically challenged, and for God to continue to heal, set free and make provision for them.
We also join in prayer for Daniel Koroma and his family, following the loss of his wife, and for Magnus and The Connexion in Sierra Leone as they seek to support him.
We pray for the completion of the Maternity Unit, and for additional funds to repair the collapsed wall. Please pray for the security of the Health Centre.
Over the weekend, the Health Centre at Brama, Sierra Leone, suffered another setback, which is a threat to the centre's security.
A flash flood in the adjacent compound, caused by a water blockage, was followed by a heavy downpour of rain and high winds, which has resulted in the destruction of approximately 75 feet of the Health Centre’s boundary wall.
The neighbouring area in question is currently unoccupied and it is not possible to take action or gain compensation to cover the cost of repair for what would be clearly assessed as an accident.
Magnus estimates the cost of rebuilding the wall will be £2,328 (64,000 leones).
We pray that funds will be brought to the Sierra Leone Mission, to contribute to this cost, and enable the boundary to be reinstated quickly for security purposes. Unfortunately, the Health Centre is at risk from intruders, and the compound is a big area to patrol.
SIERRA LEONE DONATIONS
If you would like to make a donation, to help SLM's work in Sierra Leone, just click on the Donationsbutton, located at the top of each website page. Please also state if you would like your donation to go towards a particular project.
(NB We are very grateful to receive anonymous donations, but when making a bank transfer donation, the donor's name is needed for auditing purposes. Please be assured this information will remain private.)
Or send a cheque to
Sierra Leone Mission.Postal address: Janet Foord, 20 Kingsborough Drive, Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey, Kent ME12 4DN
Last week, we posted an article about the tragic loss of Daniel Koroma's wife during childbirth, and the urgent need to complete the maternity unity at the Health Centre in Brama, Sierra Leone.
The article included a request to come together in prayer for new funds to be raised for the necessary construction work, which Magnus estimates will be £3,000.
This week, Janet O'Shea has been delighted to inform us that she has received a telephone call with the promise of £3,000.
Praise be to God!
We offer a huge thank you from Janet and her team at the Sierra Leone Mission, as well as our communities in Sierra Leone for these acts of extraordinary generosity.
We will keep you informed of the progress of this much-needed maternity unit, and continue to pray that God will prompt additional funds to come forward, which may enable the purchase of solar panels to support the facility.
Tragically, last week Daniel Koroma's wife died after giving birth. Stacey was only 35 years old, and she leaves Daniel with three young children aged 8 years, 6 years and 6 days. Daniel, who is the SLM agent in Sierra Leone, has confided that he doesn't know how he will cope.
This is the second time that Daniel has experienced such a dreadful loss. Magnus informed us that his first wife endured three miscarriages and a still birth. After her third child was born, she then contracted a prolonged health condition that was likely cancerous, and she died two months later.
Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal mortality rates recorded. In 2020 it was estimated that maternal deaths accounted for 36% of deaths in women aged between 15 and 49 years.
On completion of the children's Health Centre in Brama in December 2022, it was decided to include a maternity unit within the centre. Thanks to support from the UK work began on its construction, but the unit is still not complete. Currently a section of the staff quarters is being utilised for maternity purposes.
Magnus estimates that a further £3,000 is needed to complete the building work, plus more ideally to fund solar panels, which are recommended by medical advisors. Solar is generally expensive at installation but a very safe source of electricity when properly installed. Many hospitals in Sierra Leone use solar power during the day and for parts of the night to support their generator plants. It is also used for situations when high power consuming machines are needed for testing and operations.
We ask our communities to pray for Daniel and his family, who are suffering from the tragic loss of a wife and mother. We also come together in prayer for additional funds to be raised to enable the completion the Maternity Unit and its mission to save lives.
SIERRA LEONE DONATIONS
If you would like to make a donation, to help SLM's work in Sierra Leone, just click on the Donationsbutton, located at the top of each website page. Please also state if you would like your donation to go towards a particular project.
(NB We are very grateful to receive anonymous donations, but when making a bank transfer donation, the donor's name is needed for auditing purposes. Please be assured this information will remain private.)
Or send a cheque to
Sierra Leone Mission.Postal address: Janet Foord, 20 Kingsborough Drive, Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey, Kent ME12 4DN
Several of the children from The Connexion's Bethesda Orphanage in Sierra Leone have been poorly recently, and Issa, one of our Bethesda children who is now attending university, caused some alarm when he suspected he'd contracted monkeypox.
Mpox (previously known as monkeypox) is a rare infection most commonly found in parts of central and east Africa.
Thankfully, however, Issa's condition has since been diagnosed as chicken pox, and he is now recovering well.
Mpox usually takes between 5 and 21 days for the first symptoms to appear:
high temperature (fever) headache muscle aches backache swollen glands shivering and chills exhaustion joint pain
A rash usually appears 1 to 5 days after the first symptoms. It can be on any part of the body, including the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, mouth and genitalia.
The rash is sometimes confused with chicken pox. It starts as raised spots, which turn into sores or small blisters filled with fluid. The blisters eventually form scabs which later fall off. The symptoms usually clear up in a few weeks, but during infection mpox can easily be passed on to other people.
So on this occasion, we give thanks that Issa has chicken pox!
The green 'paste' visible in the picture, applied to his chicken pox blisters is a herbal remedy, to aid with healing and hopefully reduce itching!
Please join Rev Amidu Koroma in his prayer requests for Sierra Leone during April.
Thanks be to God Almighty for this blessed month of April 2025. We ask O Lord for your Grace and mercies over our lives and our beloved Connexion.
Please join us in prayer as we humbly request God's blessings over The Connexion in Sierra Leone and in the United Kingdom.
Please pray also for our Leadership in Sierra Leone and our Bishop Magus Bendu. We ask that God will continue to guide and protect him.
Please continue to pray for our UK Chairman, 'Aunty' Janet O'Shea, who works very hard for the Sierra Leone Mission and The Connexion. May God continue to bless her family and those who work with her.
We pray for all our schools and churches in Sierra Leone, and for God to continue to bless them.
We pray also for God to continue to bless all of our teachers and Pastors for the efforts and sacrifices they make.
We give thanks to Almighty God for answering our prayers in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.
Magnus continues to carry out his work in trying to help the large numbers of street children in Sierra Leone, visiting them regularly with food, drinks and medical items. Sometimes, however, this valuable missionary work comes with personal risk.
Last week Magnus reported a particularly challenging night on the streets. Just after midnight he reached a place called Corner Kick in the 'five five' area in Waterloo, which during the day houses a small market, where women sell food and cooking ingredients. It is an area which is often populated by homeless and young girls.
Magnus said, 'Initially, I met about seven of the girls, one of whom already knew me, and began speaking to them about Jesus. All were Muslims, so they asked a lot of questions about Jesus, telling me they were fasting during Ramadam. After responding to their request for a prayer, I shared a bag of bread, sardines and juice with them. I had enough with me to feed 20, and I don't know how this information was spread so quickly, but I was suddenly overcrowded with over 20 new boys, including a few drug addicts who were more senior.
One of them forcefully snatched the bag from me, including my phone, taking out items for himself and giving the rest to some of the other boys. There was only one female present, who was a little older, and thankfully, my phone was eventually returned to me. It was a very intimidating experience. On this occasion I wasn't hurt, but it serves as a warning and I left the scene feeling very afraid and shaken. I thank you for your prayers of protection over me in these situations.'
Magnus has advised us that working with these children and youths has increasingly become more dangerous as many are desperate for food.
In addition, there has been a massive rise in drug taking among the children over the past couple of years - particularly using the drug Kush, which is so addictive, users can become hooked after a single hit, trapping them in a cycle of self-destruction.
During one of her visits to the streets with Magnus, Janet O’Shea, Chair of Sierra Leone Mission (SLM), also witnessed this: ‘I have had the privilege of joining Magnus several times to minister to the children and provide them with food and drink. I have seen first-hand how the children are often so hungry they can become very boisterous. Tragically, because these children can see no future for themselves, they are devoid of hope.'
Janet adds, 'We praise and thank God for giving Magnus the vision for Bethesda Orphanage, a sanctuary for street children, which has enabled him to rescue many helpless boys and girls and provide a safe and loving environment, where they can thrive.
'We also offer thanks for the generosity of people who continue to support this amazing outreach. When God guides, God provides'.
Below is a YouTube report giving information about the drug Kush.
SIERRA LEONE DONATIONS
If you would like to make a donation, to help SLM's work in Sierra Leone, just click on the Donationsbutton, located at the top of each website page. Please also state if you would like your donation to go towards a particular project.
(NB We are very grateful to receive anonymous donations, but when making a bank transfer donation, the donor's name is needed for auditing purposes. Please be assured this information will remain private.)
Or send a cheque to
Sierra Leone Mission.Postal address: Janet Foord, 20 Kingsborough Drive, Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey, Kent ME12 4DN
Mariatu, from Bethesda Orphanage, is now in her fourth year at university, studying nursing. Coming to the end of her training, she has been working at Kono Hospital in the operating theatre, and following her graduation, she will need to work in a hospital unpaid for 12 months, in order to complete her training.
Health issues and available treatment in Sierra Leone are a constant challenge for Magnus. During a recent zoom meeting with the Sierra Leone Mission (SLM) he shared his concerns that many people contact him when a family member falls ill or is taken to hospital, which often leaves him feeling helpless because finances are so limited he is unable to help everyone.
Just last week we reported that Samuel, a member of Brama Church, passed away very suddenly, which was a terrible shock. Samuel had been experiencing breathing difficulties and was admitted to the Adventist Hospital at Waterloo, where he received oxygen on arrival, but supplies were limited and after an hour without oxygen he died.
Also last week, Jeneba, a teacher at Kamakontakay, collapsed at school and was unconscious, needing urgent hospital treatment. A second member of Brama Church had to be rushed to Caunnaght Hospital in Freetown with liver problems, and another community member, Olive, who has no family members was in a critical condition, needing life-saving surgery.
Janet O'Shea, Chair of SLM, reports that following Magnus' zoom call, several committee members felt moved to act and additional finances were sent. As a result, we are relieved to learn that Olive has received her operation and is now recovering in hospital.
We ask for prayer for those who are suffering from sickness and/or need hospital treatment, and that funds will increase to support Magnus' efforts to help those in need.
The hospital images were sent to us by Mariatu
SLM Donations
All donations, big and small, are hugely appreciated and enable us to vastly improve the lives of our communities in Sierra Leone.
To set up a monthly standing order to Sierra Leone Mission, account details are below:
Please be assured that all of your money will go to help Sierra Leone
Other Donations
If you would like to make a one-off donation to help SLM's work in Sierra Leone, just click on the Donationsbutton, located at the top of each website page. Please also state if you would like your donation to go towards a particular project.
(NB We are very grateful to receive anonymous donations, but when making a bank transfer donation, the donor's name is needed for auditing purposes. Please be assured this information will remain private.)
Or send a cheque to
Sierra Leone Mission.Postal address: Janet Foord, 2 Cheyne Close, Church Milton, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 2SQ
Magnus has sadly needed to advise us that Samuel, one of our strong community members in Brama Village, passed away on 13 March.
Samuel had been battling with high blood pressure and blood sugar levels, and was taken ill the night before his death with severe breathing difficulties. He was admitted to the larger Adventist hospital in Waterloo, but the medical teams were unable to save him.
Janet O’Shea, Chair of Sierra Leone Mission, who knew Samuel well, said: ‘Samuel was an amazing man, who always made an effort to visit us at Bethesda Orphanage during our Sierra Leone trips. He also had an enterprising spirit and had set up a basket weaving business to supply a company in Iceland. He will be greatly missed’.
We’d be grateful for your prayers for Samuel’s family and friends, and Janet also requests prayers for other community members, who are experiencing health issues. The wife of one of our strong church members at Brama has been admitted to Caunnaght hospital in Freetown with a liver problem, which is another critical case, and Jeneba, one of our teachers at Kamakontakay School, is receiving treatment following a sudden collapse whilst teaching.
Please join Rev Amidu Koroma in his prayer requests for March.
We thank God Almighty for another new month, and for His grace and mercy over our 233rd Annual Conference in February. Thank you, Lord, for such a wonderful time together and for our fruitful deliberations.
We bless you Lord Jesus for the coming of the Lent season. Please give us grace to go through it.
We pray for Sierra Leone and ask that God will continue to bless and heal our economy in Jesus mighty name.
We pray for our UK partners; for their sacrifice and support to us in Sierra Leone. May God continue to bless them.
We pray too for our leadership in Sierra Leone, and ask God to continue to bless and protect Bishop Magnus Bendu.
Please join us in prayer for our Chair in the UK and 'Aunty' Janet O’Shea. We ask God to continue to bless her and the SLM team, who work so hard to support us in Sierra Leone.
Please pray for our pastors and teachers who teach and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in Sierra Leone. Father God, we pray that you will continue to strengthen them.
Together we continue to pray for all our churches and church membership in Sierra Leone.
We also pray for the sick and those who suffer for the sake of the Gospel.
Finally we pray for God’s richest blessings over The Connexion in Sierra Leone in Jesus mighty name.
