It is with grateful hearts that the Sierra Leone Mission (SLM) committee send their thanks to those who have so generously contributed to the addition of a new Maternity Unit at the Health Centre in Brama.

Magnus, who has been overseeing the construction, said, ‘We still need to finish the tiling for the bathroom and fix the glass in the window frames, and we are yet to complete the solar panels and the water flow from the tank, but the money to complete these tasks is now on its way. Praise the Lord!’

The generosity of donations also extended to the provision of funds to rebuild sections of the exterior wall of the complex, which collapsed following flash floods and posed a threat to the security of the Health Centre. The amount of money needed was pledged very quickly, following an article posted on the website in May. (Collapsed Wall - Funds Needed)

SLM rely heavily on donations to enable them to carry out their important work among impoverished and humble communities. They send huge thanks for the great kindnesses and generosity they receive and thank God for his will to continue.

Praise the Lord indeed!

SIERRA LEONE DONATIONS

If you would like to make a donation, to help SLM's work in Sierra Leone, just click on the Donations button, located at the top of each website page. Please also state if you would like your donation to go towards a particular project.

Alternatively donate by Bank Transfer

Barclays Bank

Sort code: 20-16-08, Account number: 30799076, Account name: Sierra Leone Mission 

(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

Please join The Connexion in the following prayer requests from Sierra Leone.

Firstly, we thank God Almighty for enabling us to see the month of July, 2025.  

We also thank the Sierra Leone Mission (SLM) for sending funds from the ELY donation to complete the church at Kenema.                 

We pray for all those who are in mourning at this moment, and ask that God will comfort them.                  

We continue to pray for the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion Sierra Leone and our Leader, Bishop Magnus Bendu. We ask God to continue to guide, protect and bless him.

We also pray for our Chairman in the UK, Janet O'Shea, asking for God's Grace to be poured over her life.

Please join us in prayer for all those who suffer for the sake of the Gospel, especially those in the Middle East. We pray for the Lord to continue to inspire, protect and comfort them.

Prayers from SLM

Please pray for the SLM Committee in the UK, providing them with wisdom and direction.

We also ask for wisdom and protection for Bishop Magnus, particularly during his outreach to street children. 

We give thanks for the young people from Bethesda, who are attending University and are progressing well.

We give thanks that the wall adjoining the Health Centre has been repaired, and additional thanks that the much-needed extension for the Maternity Unit is almost completed.

Please pray for the organising of the next container to go out to Sierra Leone in September/October. Options are currently being explored.

We offer these prayers in the name of Jesus,

Amen

In 2024, part of the Cheshunt Grant was used to fund a very successful Children’s Retreat, held in Rotifunk, Southern Sierra Leone, for 148 children.

Unfortunately, this year the grant didn’t stretch far enough to cover the costs, and disappointment was on the horizon for the children.

However, by God’s Grace and intervention a generous donation was received specifically for this event and the Children’s Retreat 2025 was reinstated!

A team in Sierra Leone prepared and organised for the weekend and, for once, Magnus was able to take a back seat! It was also very exciting to learn that 'Big Mohammed' from Bethesda was attending to lead one of the sessions.

At the weekend, 20–22 June, children from many of our Connexion Churches arrived at Makoilonga, full of excitement and anticipation for what promised to be a great time ahead. The team initially made preparations for 100 children, and were astounded when 216 children attended!

Providing enough food for everybody is an integral part of the weekend, but in Biblical fashion, like the loaves and fishes, the rice, chicken and fish did not run out!

Magnus commented, after he visited the location on Saturday, ‘I am very much encouraged by the children, especially when they had a Bible quiz. The Connexion has a great future here.’

Magnus also took boxes of clothes from last year’s shipment of donations from the UK - and the delight on the children’s faces said it all!

We give thanks for the wonderful donation, which made it possible to hold this event again in 2025, and Janet O'Shea, Chair of Sierra Leone Mission (SLM), asks that we join together in prayer for the children, asking that they will stay close to the Lord as they are nurtured by our Connexion family in Sierra Leone.

We also pray for another successful Children's Retreat in 2026!

Amen!

SIERRA LEONE DONATIONS

If you would like to make a donation, to help SLM's work in Sierra Leone, just click on the Donations button, located at the top of each website page. Please also state if you would like your donation to go towards a particular project.

Alternatively donate by Bank Transfer

Barclays Bank

Sort code: 20-16-08, Account number: 30799076, Account name: Sierra Leone Mission 

(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

Drawing on the Cheshunt Foundation Grant, Sierra Leone Mission (SLM) have been able to fund another teaching course in Sierra Leone, this time for the Headteachers and Principals of The Connexion schools. The course theme was Bible Integration.

The training focused on how the school leaders can integrate biblical and Christ-centred principles in their schools without violating any state laws.

The course included presentations, group work and plenary sessions, considering core values for Christian schools and the integration of biblical teaching in lessons across all subjects. Points of discussion addressed child protection policies, as well as sanitation, hygiene and maintenance policies.  

Janet O’Shea, Chair of SLM said, ‘It was very encouraging that seminar notes from last year’s visit were used to create a template for a code of conduct in Connexion Schools. These schools in Sierra Leone need to be advanced and good leadership is essential to instigating change and improvement. We pray this training will be the start of a great transformation that will produce children who will truly benefit from a first-class education’.

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.  

We offer these prayers in Jesus' mighty name

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 Donations button, located at the top of each website page. Please also state if you would like your donation to go towards a particular project.

Alternatively donate by Bank Transfer

Barclays Bank

Sort code: 20-16-08, Account number: 30799076, Account name: Sierra Leone Mission 

(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.

The goodness of God never ceases to amaze us!

Amen!

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 Donations button, located at the top of each website page. Please also state if you would like your donation to go towards a particular project.

Alternatively donate by Bank Transfer

Barclays Bank

Sort code: 20-16-08, Account number: 30799076, Account name: Sierra Leone Mission 

(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.