During her recent trip to Sierra Leone, Janet O’Shea was delighted to include a visit to the new health centre in Brama, which was officially opened in December 2022. The building stands opposite The Connexion’s Bethesda Orphanage, and has been named the Ralph O’Shea Memorial Medical Centre, in honour of Ralph’s friendship and support.

Health Centre Staff

The centre’s Director, Rev Karimu Kabba, is a well-respected competent and organised gentleman, with a quiet, respectful approach, and the Lead Nurse, Augustine Millo, adds equal value, having a wealth of experience and the ability to conduct minor surgery. Most health centres in Sierra Leone do not have a full time doctor, whereas Augustine has moved into accommodation on site, so is readily accessible.

In all, the centre employs 14 people, including security staff and cleaners. Several of the nurses are very experienced in midwifery and general medical care, and a laboratory technician and trainee are on hand to carry out necessary testing.

Health Centre Patients

Currently there are approximately 100 patients registered at the centre. This not only includes children, but a range of age groups. An increasing number of pregnant women are now gaining confidence in being treated at the ‘new’ centre. This is promising, because it is a common issue with folk who live in remote villages to rely on home remedies and the advice of local ‘practitioners’, rather than attend a medical facility.

For example, there are many cases of malaria and typhoid in Sierra Leone, which require treatment as early as possible, but on two occasions, young children sadly died because their parents left it too late to bring them to the health centre. Building trust is therefore key in helping those in need to receive treatment – and potentially save lives.

Janet felt great confidence during her visit to the centre in February: ‘I found the staff welcoming, professional and knowledgeable. On one day, I was taken ill during a five-hour journey back to Bethesda, but on my arrival Karimu, Augustine, the lab technician and Hawa, a nurse, were all waiting for me, ready to spring into action! Within an hour I was tested, diagnosed and administered treatment. The whole experience was very efficient and Hawa stayed with me for 48 hours, caring for me with great love and attention. I believe that this is how every patient that enters the centre is treated. Magnus stresses that the health centre is not just treating the body but also the soul, and he is right. It is a truly amazing place, where the love of God is palpable.'

It is also reputed that the Minister for Health in Sierra Leone stated that if he becomes ill, he wants to be taken to the Ralph O’Shea Memorial Medical Centre (ROMMC) at Brama. Quite the recommendation!

Looking to the future, a new maternity unit is being added to the centre, but funds are needed for its completion. There are no births taking place at the centre yet but pregnant mothers are now attending for check ups.  

Regular eye surgeries are also being held. In just one day during Janet’s visit, 29 cataracts were performed. And Magnus is also considering the possibility of introducing a dental team!

The success of the new health centre is a wonderful answer to prayer and has the potential to transform the lives of local communities and their children.

We ask for continued prayer for its ongoing management and development and thank all of those who have so generously contributed to this valuable cause.

To Donate

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, 2 Cheyne Close, Church Milton, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 2SQ

We would be grateful if you would join Magnus and the Sierra Leone Mission in prayer for the following requests.

Magnus' prayer requests for March

Please pray for peace in Sierra Leone over the coming weeks. Whenever General or National Elections are announced this is accompanied by a threat to the nation's peace. We ask for you to pray that competing politicians will be guided by reason and not attempt to fan the flames of war as a means of luring votes. Illiteracy is widespread in Sierra Leone and, as a consequence, the population can be very easily influenced. The elections are scheduled for Saturday 24 June 2023.

Please also pray for the medical staff at the new Health Centre. The number of patients using the centre is increasing as people from the surrounding villages gain confidence to seek help. In addition, staff have been faced with the challenge of late referrals, resulting in young lives being lost, which could have been avoided if they had arrived at the hospital earlier. 

We ask you to pray for Magnus and members of his family. Magnus has been suffering from recurrent malaria, his wife, Rugie, is still recovering from major surgery and his sister has typhoid.  

Prayer is also needed for the children and teachers at Mabang, who are dealing with the sudden and unexpected death of their Headteacher. 

We join in prayer for the economies of the UK, Sierra Leone and many other parts of the world. We pray that God will intervene and restore a period of economic development.

Finally, we pray for the Sierra Leone Mission Committee, as they review building reports for The Connexion schools in Sierra Leone, which currently educate more than 5,000 children.

Thank you for your continuing support for all of our communities in Sierra Leone.

During Janet's trip to Sierra Leone, she visited Kamakontaykay for a special Baptism Service.

Kamakontaykay is situated in the north of Sierra Leone and can be reached in approximately five hours by car. Up until three years ago the village was predominantly Muslim, with no facilities for Christian worship or teaching, but in 2021, a new church was constructed by local villagers, with the village Imam joining in prayer for its dedication.

Today, a school is also currently under construction and is due to open its doors to local children, following the completion of a roof. 

Arriving in Kamakontaykay on a sunny Saturday morning in February 2023, Janet was delighted to find she would be celebrating 43 baptisms! Following a short service, led by Magnus, the congregation made their way down through the bush to the river’s edge to witness the many baptisms, several baby dedications and a number of blessings for pregnant mothers, accompanied throughout by the joyful singing of ‘I have decided to follow Jesus.’

We thank God for his wonderful work in Kamakontaykay and ask for his blessings and protection over all of the participants.

To see more of the baptisms, click on the YouTube recording below.

During her trip to Sierra Leone in January and February, Janet accompanied Magnus for three nights to meet and feed children, who are forced to live on the streets in Kabala, Makeni and Waterloo.

Magnus has been visiting the street children for a number of years, and several of those he has cared for have joined Bethesda Orphanage to live a very different life. His great compassion and strong faith in God, enable him to build trust and instil hope by feeding the children both spiritually and physically, sharing the encouragement of Jesus and the nourishment of food and drink. 

Travelling late at night, between 11pm and midnight, enabled Janet and Magnus to meet and feed approximately 180 children.

The reasons for children needing to live on the streets are various. Many are orphans with no means of tracing family members, others may have been abandoned or run away from home. Sierra Leone suffers from great poverty, and food or nourishment of any kind is often hard to come by.

The street visits follow a typical routine of firstly sharing the Gospel, then sharing victuals.

At the first destination in Kabala, dealing with the children was relatively easy. Everyone settled down quietly to hear a bible reading and the distribution of food and drink was carried out smoothly. 

The next visit to Makeni, however, was not quite so straightforward. The children's age span was wide, ranging from a 3 year-old boy, who lives with his mother and brother on the streets, to older boys and girls in their teens. The group listened well to the bible readings, but when Janet started to give out the food, she needed to be rescued by Magnus as she was faced with a sudden surge of children, who were so desperate to receive something to eat. 

A similar experience also took place at Waterloo. Everything started off well and the children listened attentively as Janet read to them. But the moment it was anticipated that food was on the way, the mood changed considerably, presenting a safety threat. She and Magnus attempted to leave in their car, but children were clinging to the vehicle and begging for food. They were able to drive off and parked the car some distance away, before returning to the scene after about 20 minutes to a smaller group of children, who they were then able to provide for. Magnus noted that the group included a young girl, Augustine, who was probably about 8 years-old. He and Janet prayed for her and Magnus is currently making enquiries to try to gain more information about the little girl.

Janet's three days with the street children provided her with a stark reminder of just how hungry these children are and how their instinct for survival overrides everything else. She said, 'None of the children meant to cause any harm, they are just so VERY hungry, and desperately trying to survive'.

We would welcome your prayers for all of the street children and any financial support you can provide, if that is possible. 

All contributions, big or small, are very gratefully received.

To Donate

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, 2 Cheyne Close, Church Milton, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 2SQ

Last year, Janet O'Shea visited Redruth Baptist Church in Cornwall to give a presentation about the work of the Sierra Leone Mission (SLM), including the building of a new Health Centre for children in Brama and surrounding villages.

After the meeting, Janet was approached by a nurse, Debbye, from Treliske Hospital, who kindly offered to collect discarded, unused items from the hospital that could be donated to the Health Centre. 

Some weeks later, Debbye delivered a car full of goods, and told Janet about a doctor, Anne Clarke, who is a Specialist Clinical Physiologist working in Neurophysiology at the same hospital. Anne had noticed that Debbye was packing up the materials and was interested to know what where they were going. When Debbye explained the items were destined for Sierra Leone, Anne announced, ‘That’s where I’m going!’

It transpired that Anne volunteers for the charity TeleEEG, visiting third world countries to establish clinics and train technicians in the use of EEG (electroencephalogram) technology, which records brain activity. Following a trip to Pakistan in October, Anne was scheduled to visit Sierra Leone in November. 

It also turned out that Anne lives only three miles from Janet!

Before leaving for Pakistan, Janet and Anne met up for a long discussion about SLM's work, following which Janet contacted Magnus to link him up with Anne.

As a result, Magnus collected Anne and her co-worker, Steve, from the airport, providing them with accommodation at the Health Centre and his services as a chauffeur to several hospitals in Sierra Leone. Typically, Magnus refused to be paid for his service, so instead, Anne and Steve treated the Bethesda children to a day at the beach for ball games and fun with bubbles!

Anne and Steve spent time with one of the Bethesda girls, who suffers from epilepsy, and they have promised to give her continued support. In addition, Magnus was able to connect with a number of doctors at the hospitals they were visiting, who could be hugely beneficial to the future of the Health Centre.

Janet, who has recently returned from a trip to Sierra Leone to visit the Health Centre, says: 'The sovereignty of God never ceases to amaze me. It is wonderful to take a step back and see how He weaves the tapestry of life to make a perfect picture! Whilst I don’t believe in coincidence, I do believe in God incidences!'

Janet O'Shea will be arriving at Sierra Leone this evening!

Below is a letter, written on 20 January, just a few days before her departure:

Hi everyone,

As the children say ‘only four more sleeps!!’

I am very much looking forward to visiting our family in Sierra Leone and seeing first-hand the amazing work that they have been involved with. There is so much, that possibly a month might not be long enough for me!

I will stay at Bethesda and spend time catching up with each and every one of the children. I am hoping that Mariatu and Abdul might be home from University, but if not I am sure we will visit them. I have not met Marie (the latest house mum) so I am looking forward to meeting her. Our usual treat is to visit the beach for a day; we hire a mini bus and pray (very earnestly) that we will make it! The children usually only go to the beach at Christmas so they get very excited.

I will be teaching at Magang School for at least three weeks. We will replace windows and doors and paint the entire building inside and out. I am taking templates and paint to decorate the classrooms with teaching aids. My focus will be on early reading and numeracy.

I have received some money to buy food for the street children. I am hoping that we can visit them two or three times during the visit. As well as feeding them we also share the gospel, most would profess to be Muslim but they always listen attentively.  

I will also be very excited to visit the new Church and School at Kamakontakay. Magnus has told me that they will be holding their first baptism when we visit.

The Connexion in Sierra Leone are holding their annual conference during my visit, which will be very interesting. I shall take fraternal greetings from several of the Trustees and committee members.

I am very much looking forward to actually seeing the Health Centre. There are already patients staying there and everything seems to be going well. It will be a great asset to at least 35 villages around Brama.

Thank you so much for your support for Sierra Leone.

God bless

Janet

We hope to be able to post some photos with updates from Janet during her trip!

The whole community at Brama give thanks and celebrate the opening of the new Health Centre. Asking for prayer that all those who attend the centre will be healed in both body and soul.

. 

Magnus’ prayer requests for January

Please pray that the Annual Conference, taking place from Friday 10 to Sunday 12 February, at Mongegba and Hastings will be both successful and spirit-filled.

Please also pray for our outreach work at Kamakontakay, Mathoir and Kabala. God was extremely kind to us in 2022, and we pray for more of His blessings throughout 2023. In particular we ask that He will enable us to complete the roofing at the school and finish the church building construction. As a separate Christian House of Worship this project is critical to encouraging new converts to our faith.

Prayer is needed for the sick, and we call on God for his healing power. We lift up Abdulai Kargbo from Mabang, who is suffering from pain and undiagnosed complications, Tommy Kanu, who lives in Manallo, who is enduring a cold with aches and pains, and Jobby Williams of St. Marks Church, Waterloo, who has tragically lost a leg to diabetes.

Finally, we pray for the General Elections that will take place in Sierra Leone in June 2023. Elections here have the potential to unleash serious violence, so we offer prayer and ask for protection for our country's citizens as well as the presidential, parliamentary and local councils. 

Details of Janet O’Shea’s forthcoming trip to Sierra Leone have now been finalised.

Janet will be leaving St Ives on Tuesday 24 January and arriving in Sierra Leone in the early evening of Wednesday 25 January, staying at Bethesda until Wednesday 22 February.

The trip will include three weeks of teaching the children at Mabang School, helping also to renovate and paint the school building, as done previously at Brama, adding teaching aids and a book corner to further enhance their facilities.

Catching up with the children and young people who live at Bethesda Orphanage will be an enjoyable and rewarding part of Janet's stay, as will attendance of the annual Connexion Conference, offering an opportunity to meet up with pastors and local people.

Janet is also very excited to be spending time at the newly opened Health Centre, which has been named the Ralph O’Shea Hospital, as a legacy to Janet’s husband and his significant contribution in supporting communities in Sierra Leone.

Finally, regular visits are planned to join Magnus and his team in sharing food and provisions with the many street children, a large number of whom are orphans or victims of poverty, struggling to survive on their own.

If anyone feels led to make a donation towards this essential work, please be assured that every penny will be go to this cause. Details of how to donate are below.

Thank you!

Donate

To make a donation to any of our Sierra Leone initiatives, 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, 2 Cheyne Close, Church Milton, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 2SQ

The Sierra Leone container, which left the UK in October, successfully arrived at Bethesda on December 13 at one o'clock in the morning!

Showing typical enthusiasm, the children at Bethesda Orphanage turned out of their beds to help to unload the container, which was filled to the brim with shoe bags, books, toys, clothes, shoes, medical supplies, school tables and chairs, mattresses, and more.

With all hands on deck the operation was completed in just two hours.

Next day, the mammoth task of distributing the shoe bags to children from The Connexion churches and schools began with a trip to Kamakontakay. Followed by deliveries to Fabaina, Brama, Songo Loko, Fufuwater, Magbafti, Manalo and Makomba.

The picture shows just some of the many excited children, who were delighted to receive their shoebag gifts on Christmas Day.

This year Magnus also has plans to have the empty 40 ft container adapted to create much-needed additional accommodation at Bethesda.

The new Health Centre was officially opened on Friday 9 December with a dedication service of prayer and thanks led by Magnus Bendu. The service was well attended by local villagers and school children, and was followed by a tour of the new building.

The Health Centre is to be named the Ralph O'Shea Hospital, in honour and memory of Ralph's tireless work in supporting communities in Sierra Leone.

A video of the dedication was filmed on Friday. Click on the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, Sierra Leone Facebook Page to access.

 
At the beginning

The idea for the new centre grew from a Connexion visit to Brama, Sierra Leone in November 2018 by Janet O’Shea, Bethany and Esther Green. They were introduced to a church service congregation, where they noticed a young boy. Sitting next to his mother, he was in pain, whimpering quietly to himself, and it soon became obvious that there was something seriously wrong. His mother explained that two weeks earlier her son had been playing football when he fell and broke his leg - in two places. She could not afford medical help and could not raise the money for transport to reach a clinic where he could be treated.

At Mabang, the team also met a young man with his two small children. He had just buried his wife because she had not been able to reach the hospital quickly enough.

In addition, at Brama School during a two-week visit in the summer, at least six children were taken ill with malaria, while at Bethesda two children needed treatment for malaria and one for typhoid.  

Help was given to those mentioned, but it left no doubt of a great need for health facilities. 

Magnus expressed his great concern to the Connexion team for the necessity of cheap, available medical support, and raised the consideration for funding to build and equip a local Health Centre. 

Prayer

Prayer followed these visits and Magnus’ request, and in June 2019 Zion Community Church prayed as a whole community for confirmation that this was a project that the church should support. 

God provided their answer with speed. That very evening a generous cheque was received (from a donor outside of the church community) for £5,000, which enabled the purchase of land, and this was followed in December by a donation from a Connexion church member for £30,000 to cover the costs of the build. Confirmation indeed!

Since that time, more donations were received from Connexion members, including a generous legacy from Ralph O'Shea, enabling completion of the Hospital. Currently new work is starting on the additional build of a maternity ward, which has the potential to save many lives.

Donate

Money will still be needed to assist with the running of the Ralph O'Shea Hospital and to complete the new maternity ward. 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, 2 Cheyne Close, Church Milton, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 2SQ

Together we thank God for His amazing answer to prayer!