Every year we send shoebags filled with toys and other useful items for the children in our churches in Sierra Leone at Christmas. This year the instructions are:
Maximum to be spent per bag: £5
Each bag to have age and sex of the child it is for, ‘safety pinned’ to the outside.
Every year the SLM holds a Day of Prayer for Sierra Leone on the 2nd Sunday in May. This year it is on the 9th May, and the prayer requests we have circulated to our supporters in the UK are below.
The Connexion in Sierra Leone has undergone a change in leadership. Sallu Koroma is now General Superintendent and Theophilus Nicol is his Assistant GS. Pray for the relationship building that will be needed through this changeover.
Sylvanus Nicol our head agent, that he makes a good recovery from his double hernia operation.
Daniel Koroma in Mongegba, one of our ministers, who is trying to improve the lives of local children, who after school go to work in the local quarry until 7pm, breaking up stones to be sold.
Our ministers who are seeking to actively share God’s good news with their communities.
A number of churches have requested help with wells and the church at Mabang is considering a new agricultural project. Village churches can be two miles away from the nearest source of free water. The ‘credit crunch’ has affected the cost of food, so people are hoping to grow their own and also to sell the surplus to provide an income.
Rev Jacob Dove whose wife has died in childbirth, losing the baby as well, and leaving Jacob with three young children.
Ministers wives are running sewing groups as a means of outreach and support. They need more sewing machines and wisdom to build this ministry.
James from Fogbo, a young man who wanted a Bible to help him witness. Pray that his new Bible will be a spur and a blessing.
The first week of our visit will be mainly taken up with their denomination Conference at which I am giving a talk on Tuesday. I’ve just received the programme from Reuben, click on the pictures to see what’s going on:
Every year we send shoebags filled with gifts to be distributed around the children in our churches in Sierra Leone. The contents include toys, underwear, toiletries, stationary etc. and are keenly anticipated! We have just received the following photos of them being distributed at Jerusalem Avenue, Ebenezer Manalo and St. John’s Goderich.
In an earlier post (Sierra Leone Travel Guide) I mentioned the Bradt travel guide to Sierra Leone. They have very generously allowed us to reproduce some information from the guide in our Voice magazine and have offered all readers of Voice to receive 25% off this guide and others that they make. The site can be found here: www.bradtguides.com and the code to enter to receive the discount is ‘Voice’. A big thank you to them for this!
Much to my surprise I had some emails this week warning me that I was about to exceed the sites maximum bandwidth. In order to prevent being cut off I decided to change which service this site uses. We’re now on unlimited bandwidth, but only one database allowed – hence having to re build the site so it all runs on WordPress rather than just the blog. Pleased with the results though – hope you like it.
It is with sadness that I received the following email from Reuben this week:
This is the inform you that Elder C.B. Jackson passed away to be with the Lord today Tuesday 19th January 2010 at 12;00 Noon.
Date for his burial will be announced later.
May His soul Rest In Peace.
For many years Clinton was one of our agents, playing a significant role in the construction of many of our churches and schools in Sierra Leone – many of you will remember him from his visit to the UK some years ago. He was a well educated, friendly and committed man who brought laughter wherever he went. On the occasions that I have visited Sierra Leone he always made me extremely welcome – even though he was an Arsenal fan and I Liverpool. All of us who knew him will miss him greatly. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this time.
Originally printed in the Connexion’s Voice magazine
I have always respected our revered editor’s power of persuasion but when he asked me to show my support for Sierra Leone by coming on a golf day I thought I had an impregnable excuse – I had never played golf and felt no golf shaped hole in my life. Alas, that was brushed aside as an irrelevance and I found myself having signed up to play a game full of mysterious things like handicaps (I thought I had plenty of those) and tee shots. Our firstborn son, David gallantly agreed to join me and gently suggested that perhaps we should find a way of practising and so we visited a driving range a few times to learn which way up to hold the stick (properly called “clubs) and to discover the mysteries of hook (where the ball goes nowhere near the hole) and slice (where the ball goes nowhere near the hole but in the other direction)
The day dawned, glorious and beautiful, and along with our secret weapon – David’s Father-in Law who has a very low handicap which is apparently a very good thing – we made our slightly nervous way to Horsham. There we met up with a generally joyous and excited bunch of golfers and had great fellowship before we were called at the appointed time to “tee-off” (that means start.)
Dear reader, if I needed an assurance of God’s goodness the first hole was the place for it for here were a crowd of people watching for signs of talent and prowess. I addressed the ball, looked, in vain, for the hole and took a mighty swing. The ball flew like a startled partridge up into the blue sky and curled just the right amount round the corner towards the hole to the amazement of those who knew me and the admiration of those who did not. I probably should have retired on the spot but we can draw a veil over the rest of the day for what can I say about the attraction of water and the poor placing of trees. It was a brilliant day and tremendous fun and the odd good shot was incredibly satisfying and blotted out the memory of the many wayward ones!
The winner was The Sierra Leone Mission but the opportunities for fellowship and being out among some of the beauties that our Father has made were a great privilege and joy. I have learned enough about the game of golf to be able to enjoy it even if I haven’t worked out how to find the time for it yet and I am grateful to have been invited
Originally written by Gordon Hamilton for the Connexion’s Voice magazine
The 5th annual S.L.M. Golf Day was attended by the largest group of golfers, forty in all, from some novices to some very experienced golfers. The sun shone for the whole day, without being too hot, ideal weather conditions for playing. Raul D’Oliveria, a first time player in the competition, although an experienced golfer, won the overall individual event, with
Andy Gutherie second. Christine Hamilton won the Ladies title for the fourth time, and it was good to see an increase in the number of ladies taking part.
The Texas Scramble event was won by Dave Huzzey, Dean Lifford, John McEwan and Bob Preece. The biggest winner was the S.L.M. with the profit from the event totalling £537.
Next year’s event is pencilled in for Friday 24th September 2010.
