April/May 2010

We have begun visiting churches and folks who had supported our work in Guatemala to share about our new mission field in Sierra Leone.  We have had a very positive response so far to what we will be doing in Sierra Leone.  It is our hope that we will be able to leave in September. As it was when we left for Guatemala six years ago we must have 80% of our support in place, either through pledges or gifts prior to leaving for the field.  Currently we are approximately at the 65% mark, which translates to around $2000/monthly and Global Outreach Mission has advised that we require $3175/month for all our expenses. Petra and I will get in touch and share with already known folks and churches, as well as making new contacts throughout the coming months.

Dan Gans, a Global Outreach short term missionary who went to Sierra Leone with me in February, and is still there now, has been drilling the well at the Mokanji Hospital site.  The last word I received was that he was about 250 feet down but had not yet achieved a sufficient flow of water.  Pray that he will be able to find adequate water at the hospital site.  This well will initially be used by the community of Mokanji.  The current water source for Mokanji is a small creek, about ¾ of a mile away and 100’ down an embankment.  There is no running water in the community or the hospital at this time.  Once the hospital is to the point where we are able to have running water we will drill another well for the community and this well will be connected to a solar powered water pump to fill a storage tank and thereby give the hospital running water.

Dan has also sent some photos of housing that has been given to the mission last month.  These were supposed to be part of the hospital grounds but were forgotten two years ago when the hospital was gifted to the mission.  These houses look much better than what I saw when I was in Sierra Leone in February.  The houses that Dan sent pictures of actually have a roof though there is still much work to be done to make the housing habitable.  These houses are a short walk away from the hospital so we’d still need to figure out water supply unless we carry it in with buckets which will, no doubt, be the initial plan.

The group who is working to raise funds to purchase the necessary materials and supplies for the wells posted this video of the trip to Sierra Leone and the completion of the first well http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=416998289433#!/video/video.php?v=416998289433