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United Methodist Church in Sierra Leone

 

 

Ebola may be out of the headlines, but the fight isn’t over yet…

And Morrow Church is still working actively to support communities recovering from the Ebola crisis.

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      At the end of January, church member Tim Roebuck took a load of more than 30 boxes, all filled with school supplies for elementary schools in Sierra Leone, to a shipping center in York, PA. The school supplies were funded through donations from the Morrow Church community and the recent Platform Tennis Marathon, which was organized as a fundraiser for Sierra Leone. (More shipments are planned for the future.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     At the shipping center, the boxes will be loaded into a container, taken to Baltimore Port, and then transported to Freetown, Sierra Leone. (Our supplies will share a container with school furniture donated by Pennsylvania schools, which local UMC congregations organized.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     Once they reach Freetown, the boxes likely will be unloaded on the grounds of the Kissy United Methodist Church Hospital, where there is space on the outskirts of town to off-load and distribute the supplies.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     The shipping center (which is twice the size of Morrow Church’s Fellowship Hall) has been generously donated by S&H, a York, PA, transportation company. A foundation pays for the container and volunteers do the loading. (One of those volunteers is a former Morrow Church member, Ed Iovino, who now lives near York and helps transport supplies. He has also provided his garage as a forward staging post.) That means every penny we raise can go directly toward buying school supplies — and bulk purchases allow us to stretch our dollars even further.
     In a few months’ time, hundreds of school children will have pencils, notebooks, and other supplies that are vital for learning — and in terribly short supply as Sierra Leone continues its slow recovery from Ebola.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     To learn more about how you can help, contact the Morrow Church office at (973) 763-7676 or opendoors@morrowchurch.org.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     (Updated February 2016)
 
 

 

 
 

About Morrow Church’s Response to the Ebola Outbreak

ambulanceDuring his visit here in August of 2015, Bishop John Yambasu, our Mission Partner in Sierra Leone, shared with us the impact of the ebola outbreak and the pressing need for ambulances and medical equipment in Sierra Leone.

Our support is particularly important because the United Methodist Church is the major source of medical supplies in Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world.

In response to this urgent need, our Global & Community Outreach Committee purchased a Ford 6.0 Diesel ambulance in good condition for $8,500. This ambulance was filled with much-needed medical equipment (using the $6,500 we collected on Home Again Sunday) and shipped to Sierra Leone.

United Methodist bishops John G. Innis and John K. Yambasu, of Liberia and Sierra Leone respectively, ask donors who want to help fight the ebola outbreak to give through the International Disaster Response Advance, #982450, to ensure “the appropriateness, timeliness and quality” of materials.

To donate to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) through Morrow Church, click here.

Read more here! You can also watch a video address from Bishop Yambasu.

To support this effort, or to learn more about other ministries in Sierra Leone, please contact the church office. Thank you for your support!

 

Our Partnership with the UMC in Sierra Leone

Bishop YambasuThe United Methodist Church in Sierra Leone has served as a lifeline for many people, providing safe community, health services, & ministries to assist those living in poverty.

For several years, Morrow Church has partnered with Bishop John Yambasu, the resident bishop of the United Methodist Church in Serra Leone, to provide much-needed support and fellowship.

Our partnership focuses on supporting education and health programs in the region, including helping to fund a new vehicle for the Education Director’s office to enable programs in areas where transportation is nonexistent. We’ve also sent school supplies to Freetown, where simple items such as pens and notebooks have been in desperately short supply.

To learn more about our efforts, email the church office.