As Janet O'Shea prepares to visit Sierra Leone this month with Bethany Burrage and Simon Allaby, it is timely to conside the many challenges our schools in Sierra Leone face.

Read below Janet's first-hand account

Teaching has always traditionally been described as a vocation – ‘a strong belief that one ought to pursue a particular career’ (Oxford Dictionary). This is probably true for the majority of UK teachers but in Sierra Leone?

The Sierra Leone Mission (SLM) supports 23 schools and each month a grant is given to 90+ teachers. Many of these teachers are not trained, however some have received Teacher Training and others attend sessions after a day at school. Their day starts at 8am and concludes at 2pm, they receive a quarter of the pay paid to teachers working in Government schools.

Every child deserves a good education

Again, this is probably true for the majority of children in the UK but in Sierra Leone?

The teachers work in overcrowded classrooms, usually sharing a room with up to three other age groups. Resources are very limited with minimal aids available, often a few books and some chalk. The Government of Sierra Leone requires children to attend school. The attendance numbers vary with the seasons, a class of 80 might reduce to 30 depending on the needs of the harvest. Usually, the younger children are in the biggest classes but as the children grow older they are ‘needed’ at home. Over 5000 children attend our schools. In order to learn children need to be comfortable, well-nourished and happy.

Water is essential and a well is deemed a priority by the government. However many wells are broken and no one knows how to mend them. Most of our children are malnourished and hungry; quite often they fall asleep in class.

School buildings in the UK are mostly safe, well maintained, decorated, furnished and inviting. However, in Sierra Leone?

The teachers and children work in classrooms that have poor ventilation, dusty atmospheres, broken furniture and crumbling structure.

SLM Programme

In 2023, the SLM started a programme addressing the state of the school buildings.

Tombo School was so unsafe that it collapsed – thankfully after SLM had been able to provide funding for a new school.

The school children at Fogbo had been meeting in the Church building but a government official would not allow this practice to continue so the village started to build a new school. The SLM helped to fund the roof, windows and doors.

The villages at Kabala and Kamakonthakay did not have schools, so again the villagers built them and the SLM funded the roofs, doors and windows.

However, real problems still exist in some of the schools. Foo Foo Water desperately needs a new build as the school shows signs of collapse.The flooring in many of the schools is a hazard and the ceilings are often non-existent. In addition five of our schools, have a problem that can more easily be solved… termites!

This is the situation.

Continuing in 2024 

Now in 2024 the SLM has already addressed the grant that the teachers receive, increasing it marginally. The SLM would like to continue to improve the schools in Sierra Leone. God has blessed this work in the past and we are confident that what He has started He will complete.

If you have been challenged by this ongoing work, please prayerfully consider helping us to improve the lives of the children and teachers in Sierra Leone.

 

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

 

Please join Rev Amidu Koroma in prayer for the following requests for Sierra Leone.

We thank God for His sufficient grace and blessings over us to meet each day.

Please pray that God continues to establish our relationship with the UK.

We also pray for the leadership of the Connexion in Sierra Leone. We thank God for Bishop Magnus Bendu and ask God for rich blessings over his life.

Please pray too that God will continue to bless our pastors and teachers in Sierra Leone for the services they render in the Connexion.

We join in prayer for God to continue to give peace and love over country Sierra Leone.

Please pray for our leadership in the UK.  May God continue to bless 'Aunty' Janet O’Shea and her family, and all of the Connexion churches in the UK. 

We pray that God will continue to help us to extend and spread the Gospel to other regions in Sierra Leone.

And we ask the Lord to continue to give us grace to serve him faithfully.

'Lord you promise us that when we ask it shall be given, seek and we shall find, and when we knock the door shall be open to us' (Matthew 7:7). In Jesus' mighty name, Amen.

The new Connexion church and school in Kamakontakay Village were officially opened at the end of April.

The project has been a remarkable answer to prayer, as Kamakontakay was previously a totally Muslim village.

The change began when Magnus offered the village school two teachers, both of whom were Christian. Next, by God's grace, the Muslim villagers came together to build Christian church, which is now thriving. Following which they supplied materials and labour for the construction of a new school building, with SLM providing money for its roof.

Many lives have been changed, since work began on the new church and school, and during Janet O'Shea's visit to the village last year, she witnessed 42 baptisms!

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

 

 

 

Bishop Magnus Bendu has faithfully led the Sierra Leone Connexion since 2019 and has recently been re-elected for a further term. Please pray for this man of God to continuously be filled and led by the Spirit.

Rev Amidu Korma thanks God for his blessings every day and requests particular prayer for the following:

May the grace of God continue to bless us all in Jesus’ mighty name.

We thank God for Magnus Bendu’s re-dedication on Sunday 7 April, 2024, which was a spirit filled service. 

Please pray for all of our pastors and teachers in the Sierra Leone Connexion. We ask for God’s richest blessings to be poured over their lives. 

Please also pray for our churches in Sierra Leone and those in the UK. May God continue to expand them with spiritual growth. 

We ask for prayer for our Connexion leadership in the UK and the Sierra Leone Mission, chaired by Janet O’Shea. We ask for God to continue to establish you all.

We pray for peace and love to continue in the UK.

Finally we ask you to join us in prayer for our President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr Julius Maada Bio, and for God’s divine direction over our country and all our cabinet ministers.

We thank God for answering our prayers in Jesus' mighty name. Amen.

The Health Centre in Sierra Leone was officially opened in December 2022. The building stands opposite The Connexion’s Bethesda Orphanage, and is named the Ralph O’Shea Memorial Medical Centre, in honour of Ralph’s friendship and support

Magnus Bendu now brings us an update of this life-changing project for our communities in Sierra Leone:

Since its official opening, the Health Centre has been undergoing the process of registration with state authorities, which is now well advanced. It is almost normal in Sierra Leone that registration of such facilities take approximately six to eighteen months. However, within the process, we are allowed to operate fully while they monitor and guide. Quite a few of the monitoring agencies have showed up and have all given the Health Centre a clean bill of health with the exception of concerns around sustainable power supply and sufficient number of staff to cover all required departments and units of a clinic/medical Health Centre.

It must be noted that solar was paid for and installed before the beginning of operations, but as all the diagnostic machines start working, it became clear that more wattage is required to ensure regular supply of electricity. In the area of staffing, the Health Centre at the moment cannot employ practitioners in all departments as the overwhelming majority of its patients are from very poor communities where patients cannot be charged for profit making when even cost recovery is a huge challenge. Thus, just basic consultation, laboratory, nursing (Paediatric, maternity and general), security and sanitary staff are being employed for now.

The maternity building is very near completion, thanks to support from the UK, which has enabled us to do as much. We are currently using part of the staff quarter for maternity purposes until the building is completed. We have been advised by medical supervisors to do a separate solar installation for the maternity building as the one currently used has been struggling to upkeep the medical Health Centre day and night. Solar is generally expensive at installation but a very safe source of electricity when properly installed. Many Hospitals around the country use both solar for the day and some parts of the night and then generator plants further in the night towards dawn and also for situations when high power consuming machines are used for certain tests and operations.

The hospital has been a big blessing to many. Patients come from far and wide, and many from very remote areas. They mainly use motor bikes to access the Health Centre. Pregnant women and children face several challenges sometimes with the motor bikes. We pray for the day when we will have ambulance services to salvage some of these risky situations. We have been seeking help from government ambulances when we have critical referrals but have proven most ineffective in our district.

The Health Centre mainly offers the following services: general outpatient consultation of both medical and surgical care, in patients with both male and female wards, laboratory facilities, full maternity services with antenatal deliveries and post-natal care and eye care services. The total number of patients between January and December 2023 according to the administrator, not counting follow up patients and eye care patients, is 1468. Eye care patients are by far more than 500. I have tried to present some statistics here of the 1468 in and out patients that are registered.

 

 

Watching the figures closely, I really felt bad about the figure on malnutrition. And I am very sure that the figures on diarrhoea are also linked to the problem of malnutrition. Poverty may be the crowning factor of most of these. We know people lack the physical food that is why we think we should give them more spiritual food because man cannot live by bread alone. Giving them the Matthew 4:4 food will give people strength, knowledge and wisdom to acquire the rice, the potato, the cassava and the yam, whose lack could be part of the reason for malnutrition. It is also important to know that malaria also thrives in the arena of malnutrition and diarrhoea.

I must finally note here that we have not done any official marketing of the Health Centre for fear of not being able to chew what we bite. Once we are able to complete the maternity building, fix up the electricity problems and employ the required staff, we will properly take from the ground and proclaim Jesus even more loudly through the healing ministry. Please continue to pray for the staff and administrators and for God’s provision towards the electricity, staffing and maternity building.

Magnus Bendu

 

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

The SLM committee were delighted to welcome Magnus – via zoom – to their monthly ‘catch up’ meeting last week, and hear directly from him about the work that SLM supports in Sierra Leone.

Street children

Magnus has a heartfelt concern for the thousands of street children in Sierra Leone, who he visits regularly with food, drinks and medical items. Over the past couple of years there has been a massive rise in drug taking among the children and in particular the drug ‘kush.’

Below is a YouTube clip explaining the real dangers of this drug, which is mixed with human bones. It is so addictive, users can become hooked after a single hit, then find themselves quickly trapped in a cycle of self-destruction

Magnus says that working with these children has become more dangerous as they are desperate for food.

Janet O’Shea, Chair of SLM, also witnessed this: ‘I have had the privilege of joining Magnus several times on previous visits to minister to the children and offer them food and drink. Sometimes the children are so hungry they can get boisterous; these children see no future for themselves, they have no hope.

'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'.

Schools

During the meeting, Magnus also provided an update on the structural condition of several of our Connexion schools in Sierra Leone. SLM has been able to send money this month to treat five schools that were infested with termites.

The nursery at Mongeba is also expanding, but the building where the children meet is unsafe. Magnus is currently liaising with the villagers to encourage them to build better construction for the nursery.

At the end of our meeting Magnus was joined by the children of Bethesda. They had just finished their nightly devotions and sang to us a song about the greatness of Jehovah, Yahweh. Janet said, ‘It was a wonderful testament to hear these children singing, and a strong reminder of why we are part of the Sierra Leone Mission’.

 Click on the YouTube recording below for a report 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 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

Please join Amidu Koroma in prayer requests during March

Firstly, we praise God from whom all blessings flow.

We thank God for a successful 232nd Annual Conference, for all of the fruitful deliberations. To God be the glory

We also thank God for our Bishop Magnus Bendu re-elect, and pray for God’s richest blessings over his leadership of The Connexion Sierra Leone.

Please ray that God continues to fulfil His plans for The Connexion

Please also pray for our country, Sierra Leone, especially our economy, we ask that God will continue to restore.

We pray that God continues to strengthen our relationship with our UK partners. We pray for the leadership in the UK and that God continues to empower 'Aunty' Janet O’Shea with more grace in Jesus’ name, Amen.

We pray for all of our pastors working in God’s vineyard, and ask that God will continue to empower us to preach the gospel of Jesus to the unreached.

Please pray for our Connexion pastors in the UK and ask that God’s grace will continue to be with them in Jesus mighty name, Amen. 

We pray for all of our dynamic teachers and the sacrifices they make in order to impart knowledge to our children.

Please pray for all of the pastors and missionaries around the world who suffer for the sake of the Gospel. Please ask that God continues to strengthen them in Jesus’ name.

We also pray for God’s provisions over the Connexion in Sierra Leone and the UK.

Please too remember the sick. We pray for God’s healing power over every painful moment.

We join together to thank God for answering our prayers, recalling the verse: 'Ask and you shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be open'

In Jesus mighty name, Amen.

Magnus Bendu led the 2024 annual three-day conference of The Connexion Sierra Leone in February. This year the theme was ‘Wholistic Enlargement for Greater Impact’ focusing on 1 Chronicles 4 verse 10 and Luke 2 verse 52.

‘Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.’ (1 Chronicles 4:10)

‘And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men.’ (Luke 2:52)

At the 2023 conference, the key theme was the prayer of Jabez and this year this was revisited and expanded upon.

The 2024 conference also marked five years since Magnus first ‘took up the reins' as leader, which required a vote to be taken for the right person to lead The Connexion for the next period of office.

We are delighted to announce that It was unanimously decided for Magnus to continue in his role for another five years!

Praise the Lord!

In May 2024, Janet O’Shea, Chair of SLM, is planning a visit to Sierra Leone, accompanied by Simon Allaby and Bethany Burrage, Connexion Trustees and Ministers.

Simon and Bethany will have several opportunities to work with, help and instruct the pastors and leaders of our Sierra Leone communities, and Janet will be working with one of The Connexion schools, likely at FooFoo Water.

As in previous years, Janet will be helped by children from Bethesda Orphanage children to redecorate and make improvements to the school classrooms.

At Brama and Mabang Schools, Janet created some template designs to paint onto the classroom walls and used as educational aids for the teaching staff.

However, last Christmas she discovered a company called Arabesque, who produce and sell ready-made stencils. Janet was so impressed with their work that she wrote asking if they were able to produce larger-scale stencils that could be used in the school classrooms in Sierra Leone. The outcome was receipt of a fabulous selection of designs for just a nominal fee. Huge thanks go to Arabesque for their generosity. We look forward to seeing the new stencils brightening up more classroom walls!

Prayer request

As Janet begins to make plans and preparation for the forthcoming trip in May, she asks our communities to pray with her for clear guidance, so that their time there will be used productively and wisely. Thank you!

(Image shows children in a classroom at Brama School, decorated with Janet's stencils)

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

Our pastors in Sierra Leone meet together on a regular basis for teaching, prayer and fellowship.  Please join them in prayer for their personal spiritual wellbeing as they seek to minister to their congregations.

Please also join Rev Amidu Koroma in his prayer requests for February

We thank God for the new year 2024 and appreciate Him for this month of February.

Please ask God for His mercies as we cry to Him daily (Psalm 86:3).

Please also pray for Sierra Leone, in particular our economy, and ask that God will continue to restore. 

We pray for 232nd Annual Conference and ask that God will continue to bind us together in love.

We offer prayers for our leader, Bishop Magnus Bendu. May God continue to inspire him with wisdom to lead in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. 

We pray that God continues to establish our relationship with The Connexion in the UK.

We also pray for 'Aunty' Janet O’Shea. May God continue to increase her capacity with good leadership.

We pray for all of our charity givers. May God continue to bless them. 

We pray for all of our pastors in UK and in Sierra Leone working in God’s vineyard. May God continue to bless them with more grace to preach the gospel. 

Please pray for all missionaries preaching the good news, especially those in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. May God continue to protect them.

Pray also for our faithful teachers in Sierra Leone for their efforts to teach. May God bless them.

Finally we pray for those suffering from sickness. 'By His stripes we are healed' (Isaiah 53:1-5).

Thank God for answering our prayers.