Rogbere Day Camp

On Friday we met the people of Rogbere, and on Saturday we hosted a day camp for around 250-300 kids from the area. This day camp was very significant for them because this area was hit very hard by Ebola. Out of the 60 members of the pineapple farm cooperative, 9 of them died of Ebola. So for this village, this day camp was a joyous celebration coming at the end of a long period of sorrow. 

Baby Rattles

Handing out tote bags

During our day camp on Saturday, we brought many gifts for the children: homemade party hats, bracelets, maracas,  and over 150 tote bags with school supplies in them. These tote bags were given to the school-aged children, and were sewn by Trinity Bible Church’s Piecemakers sewing group. Every child received a gift and every child had enough to eat!
 

Cady Schmidt shared a Gospel message with the children, and they were able to easily understand and recount the plan of salvation. Some of the children in the village are already Christians, and so for the others, we are praying that many seeds were planted.

Giving school supplies to the 4 Elementary Schools near Rogbere.

Sampling Rogbere Pineapple. Delicious!

Update - March 14

Update from Peter - We had a great couple days Friday and Saturday in the village and I preached this morning!

We arrived at the meeting spot and they gave us a joyous welcome with music and dancing! We presented them with some gifts: oil and rice, and also UNI hats and a photo album from Iowa for the village chiefs, and knives, soap and washcloths for the 10 women on the Village Development Committee (VDC).

We were able to greet the villagers and we shared our love for them--and explained that we love them because Jesus loves us. Our efforts in the village are the overflow of the love that we have received from God.

The Chairwoman of the Village Development Committee was a Christian, and she greeted us and shared with us how thankful they were and how they have seen and observed that Christians are the ones that will "drop a rope down and help pull you out of the pit." She also said that she was praying for us that the money we had used to help them would be multiplied back to us a hundredfold.

She made requests from the village as we continue the partnership. They requested a well, hygienic bathrooms, and a church. The well is needed especially because their pineapple fields are drying out. It has been an especially dry "dry season," and although they will have a harvest, it will be better if they can irrigate the pineapples when necessary. The church is needed because the only church near them is very far away. So at this point, both the National Superintendent of the Wesleyan Church and the village itself have expressed interest in a church in Rogbere.

Update - March 10

Today was very good! We did a tour of some of the Wesleyan ministries near Makeni. We visited a Wesleyan School and the Kamakwie hospital. But probably the most powerful thing today was seeing the Wesleyan missionary graveyard. This is where some of the first missionaries in Sierra Leone were buried. Many of them came to Sierra Leone not expecting to return home. They would pack their belongings in their coffins. But they paved the way for many churches to be planted and for many works of compassion.

Something that might be interesting - take one of the missionary names from the stone and do a google search. Include the year to narrow the search. Some of the histories are quite fascinating!







It is great to have so many praying. Tomorrow we visit the village. Please pray for open doors to share the Gospel, and pray that we will be able to show the Jesus Film.

Update - March 9 - at World Hope Offices

Another VERY cool thing from our meeting with the national superintendent here-he is VERY passionate about the Wesleyan church. His conversion story is extremely powerful. He said he is going to meet with some of his team in the coming days and hopes to plant a church in Rogbere! He said they need to have more of a presence in that part of the country and he was very supportive and passionate about wanting to make that happen. His name is Reverend Usman Fornah. He has an incredible faith story and was personally influenced by Carrie Jo's dad, Don Kinney-a very powerful picture of disciples making disciples.

We made it back to the Cains' compound for the night. We got to see the welcoming ceremony at the village for our teammates from Michigan. We toured their village, saw their pineapple farm and their completed, working well. We also visited a well drilling that is currently in progress.

The most sobering part for me personally was the Ebola Survivors clinic. World Hope has several peopl e on staff there who help with all different aspects of the Ebola recovery process. 

This is a photo of one of WHI's partnership with GE-a clinic in a can. They have four shipping containers that were sent here at the height of the crisis. Inside is a fully functioning, sophisticated exam room, typical to what a dr office looks like in the US. It is run on solar power. During the crisis it was used as an exam room for patients, now it is used for survivor clinical testing and, most importantly, recovery counseling.

Along with professional counsellors, they have two male survivors who serve as advocates/encourages for other survivors. One of them lost his wife, two children and 11 other family members to Ebola. The other lost his brother, other family members, along with 38 people from his village. There is so many unknowns with Ebola, even now in the recovery stage. Many Ebola survivors are discriminated against and turned away from traditional medical centers because of their survivor status. This place is CRUCIAL, not only for their health, but also for their mental recovery and spiritual healing.