Sierra Leone God is moving

Who are really poor?
In November last year I had the great privilege of travelling to Sierra Leone in West Africa with the director of Fresh Hope Ministries, David Craig. Fresh Hope Ministries International (FHMI) are a non denominational Christian charity working in Bo the second largest City in Sierra Leone. The Charity is dedicated to what could be described as a holistic gospel, providing for the Spiritual, material and emotional needs of the poor and destitute in this very needy part of the world.
My time in Africa was very eventful to say the least and to mention all that happened would fill most of this magazine so I will stick to the events that effected me most.
The first person I spoke to in Sierra Leone was a street child in Freetown he told us his mother was dead and he was living alone he looked about 10 years old we left him at the ferry terminal to a very uncertain future.
While visiting the FHMI house of hope, which is giving a home to I think about 15 children, from about 5 yrs old up to around 16 yrs old. We were approached by a very beautiful and dignified looking Sierra Leonean woman with 4 lovely little children from about one year old to about five years old. The woman looked extremely sad and when we heard her story we realized why. Her husband a policeman had died the couple were from different tribes, her tribe and his tribe had rejected her after his death, mixed marriages aren't just a problem in NI, she had no means of support other than the charity of a friend who was feeding and housing her temporarily. The woman asked our local director if we could take two of her children into our care to ease the burden of feeding four children under five with no means of support. Our local director was moved to tears by the story we are currently following this up trying to establish what we can do for this little family.
One of the directors of Fresh Hope on the ground a very Godly AOG pastor called Michael Kanu was suffering from Typhoid when we arrived because of the lack of good quality anti-bio tic's the treatment he was getting was not working, however in Gods providence we had brought exactly the right treatment for Michael without even knowing he was ill!
A highlight of the trip was when we trekked into the rain forest to visit a village where Fresh Hope have funded a Primary school with 65 children attending who would never have been given an education without help from outside. On the way to the school we stopped at a small Muslim village the local Imam was unwell and we offered to pray for him and his family after praying for him he said he felt better, he and his whole village then prayed a prayer committing their lives to Christ, I really was reminded of the Philippian Jailer in the book of Acts!
On another occasion I was given the chance to speak at one of the Fresh Hope Churches, I felt the Lord prompting me half way through the service to make an appeal for all who wanted a deeper relationship with the Lord to come forward for prayer, almost the whole church came forward for prayer! This just showed me the hunger for God in the hearts of these very wonderful people.
Sadly that evening was tarnished when we were returning home we came upon a motorcycle accident where two people had been seriously injured, there was blood all over the road and a crowd of around 200 very agitated people looking for revenge. I asked the Pastor what would happen to the people that had been hurt he said in a very matter of fact way “they will almost certainly die.” the realities of life and death in Sierra Leone were brought back to mind!
Before leaving for Africa people told me it would change me I did not believe them but they were right, if I were single and 20 years younger I believe I would have stayed! I'm not being dramatic when I say this but being in Africa was like walking into the pages of the book of Acts we were seeing healing, salvation and deliverance! ( I think that is what Church should always be like, don't you?)
On returning to the UK I went out as I usually do to preach the gospel and hand out tracts in Bangor and in Belfast. In Bangor little old ladies walked pasted wagging there heads in disgust at the preaching of Gods word. In Belfast I was threatened with arrest for handing out tracts outside the new Victoria shopping centre. In Sierra Leone a 70% Muslim country the gospel is better received than in good old Christian Ireland who are really poor us or them?
(Fresh Hope do an amazing work on a tiny budget, the charity runs a children's home, a baby rescue centre, two primary schools, one nursery school, a vocational training centre, a Bible school and three Church plants! On a budget of less than £2000 per month. To find out more about Fresh Hope check out their website http://www.fresh-hope.org/
Sierra Leone is one of the ten poorest countries in the world and it's population is still traumatized by the terrible civil war that left up to 75,000 men women and children dead, the war ended in 2002 but reconstruction has been slow and social and health care are virtually non existent with only 1 doctor per 100,000 people. In Bo 1 in 5 mothers dies giving birth and 28 % of children die before they reach 5 years old! These statistics are about real babies just like our own children dying needlessly, many of the deaths are preventable with very basic health care. In Bo 1 in 5 mothers dies giving birth and 28 % of children die before they reach 5 years old! These statistics are about real babies just like our own children dying needlessly, many of the deaths are preventable with very basic health care.