We left Freetown on 22nd June to start our
furlough which we planned to coincide with the beginning of Joelle’s summer
holidays. It was a welcome break for us as a family after two years in
Freetown.
Our first task was to visit Interhealth for medical checks and
a visit to World Church Office for debriefing with the Africa desk Co-ordinator
and other members of staff. We are grateful to Jan Deakin for all the hard work
she did in organising our visits to Interhealth, the meetings at Church office
and most especially for organising the baby sitters for Joelle and Janelle.
After three weeks in the UK we went to Jamaica where we
stayed for almost 5 weeks.
Whilst on furlough in the UK we visited a number of churches
to talk about our work with the Methodist Church Sierra Leone.
The churches visited were
- BGMC – Bethnal Green Mission Church
- Chalkwell Park Methodist Church in Westcliff on Sea, in Essex.
- Sunfields Methodist Church, Blackheath. London.
We attended BGMC and Chalkwell Park Methodist Church on 8th
July and 28th August respectively to talk about our work in Sierra
Leone. Both churches have supported us materially, financially and spiritually
with prayers so it was a pleasure to update the congregation on our activities
over the past four years. Chalkwell Park organises an annual model train
exhibition to raise funds for the work at Nixon. We were presented with a
cheque for £1180 during the service. We are really grateful to both churches for
their support, especially to Dr Gillian Webster and Reverend Mike Houston (BGMC)
and John and Linda Wilson (Chalkwell Park) for spearheading these efforts at their
respective churches.
In addition to the above churches we also talked at our home
church – Sunfields Methodist Church in Blackheath, London. We have again
received tremendous support from the congregation and want to thank especially Rev.
Joseph, Andrew and Juliet Gibbs, Paddy and Madge Booth, Jean and the rest of
the congregation for their support and encouragement in various ways.
Our work in Sierra Leone has been going very well despite
the challenges. Joanna’s work with the Nursing school, has entered another
phase. Two Nurses from Nixon Hospital have now completed their midwifery
training at the Makeni midwifery school and have now taken over the teaching of
the midwifery module at Nixon Memorial Hospital. This is in line with the plans
for the hospital when we first went and this was done with the help of a local
charity.
We are grateful to God for some of the notable achievements
we achieved with the module. This included:
-
The placement of students in surrounding villages
as part of their practical training;
-
The development of a teaching plan for the
midwifery module – based on the national curriculum.
Joanna will still have the responsibility to oversee (if
necessary) the teaching of the midwifery module in addition to assuming
responsibilities for Women and children’s health in the Health and Wholeness
department. This will include MCSL’s work with some NGOs to develop a project
for Mothers and Children suffering from HIV/AIDs enhancing MCSL’s work in the
health and wholeness sector.
Michael still has responsibility for the Health and Wholeness
desk and in addition he would be taking on the health sector component of the work
currently done by the Development Desk. This
would include a Mother and Child project sponsored by World Vision. He will
still have oversight responsibility for Nixon Memorial Hospital, among other
things.
During the last two years there was work done with the
Methodist Church Ghana (MCG) with a view to setting up co-operative work
between Nixon Hospital and MCG’s hospital in Wenchi. The plan was for some
medical staff from Nixon Hospital to visit Ghana to undergo on the job training
at the hospital. Due to administrative and financial issues, MCSL is yet to
take advantage of this opportunity but we hope that this opportunity would used
in the coming months.
The Health & Wholeness desk has also established collaborative
links with Tearfund, (a Christian charity based in the UK but with extensive
presence across most the developing world). MCSL would like to work with
Tearfund to train church workers in the principles of Church Community
Mobilisation (CCM)
The Health and Wholeness desk worked with friends in the US
to secure a container load of medical consumables, together with some basic
medical equipment, from a charity Medical Bridges for use at Nixon Memorial Hospital. Work is
already underway for another container to be donated to Nixon Hospital. The
charity supplies medical equipments and consumables to hospitals in mostly
Latin America and Asia and a few hospitals in Africa.
We are especially grateful to the Methodist Church of
Ireland for a substantial donation towards the work of the Methodist Church
clinic in Kenema.
The furlough also gave us the opportunity to visit various
places of interest in both UK and abroad, and to visit our friends and family.
We travelled to Jamaica to spend time with family. Whilst in Jamaica we had the
opportunity to various places of interest on the island and one such place was
the Dolphin Cove where the children had the occasion to ‘swim’ with the
dolphins, go kayaking etc.
Amidst it all we underwent a number of medical checks and
assessments to ensure that we were in good health. Janelle completed her
immunisation regime to stand her on good footing for school. This meant a number
of trips to the Nurse at Interhealth and the GP for injections – not a pleasant
experience for her. She was a brave little girl through it all.
We are grateful to God for the opportunity to take time to see
friends and colleagues. We are also thankful for travelling mercies, good
health and the opportunity given us to talk about our work and pray that the
name of the Lord will be lifted up and glorified as a result of his work here
in Sierra Leone.
Prayer Points:
Please Pray
Please Pray
v
To give thanks to God for travelling mercies and
good health during our furlough;
v
That the work here in Sierra Leone will continue
to bear fruits and for the name of the Lord to glorified.
v
That the next two years will be fruitful and our
work with Methodist Church Sierra Leone for those disadvantaged and
marginalised by society would be successful.
