Clean Water for Rogbere!

We can now report that a clean water well has been completed in Rogbere! Not only will this well provide many in the community with clean water, but it will provide much needed irrigation for their fields during the dry season.

New clean water well in Rogbere, Sierra Leone

For the past several years, Trinity Bible Church has been participating in a village partnership with Rogbere (roog-berry), Sierra Leone. This partnership is being facilitated by World Hope International (WHI), the relief and development affiliate of The Wesleyan Church. We have participated by praying for the village, traveling to Rogbere in March 2016 to build relationships with the villagers, and giving to our 3:20 Fund, which supports this kingdom-building project.

Despite the difficulties of the Ebola epidemic in 2015, there has been much progress in this partnership. Through the work of WHI, the village has come together to complete the laborious task of planting 6.5 acres of pineapple, and they have experienced the joy of their first harvest. The profit from this harvest will allow them to better support their families and to pay school fees for their children. And now, the second phase of the project has been completed--a clean water well that will enable the village to be healthier and their harvests to be even more productive.

For the last phase of this project, the village leaders have asked us to help them build a church, because it takes hours to walk to the nearest one. Let’s celebrate how God is using our resources to make an earthly and eternal impact in Rogbere!

Google Maps view of Rogbere

200 Mosquito Nets for Rogbere

In recent months, 200 insecticide-treated nets were distributed for pregnant women, lactating mothers, and elderly people in Rogbere. The nets will kill and repel mosquitoes carrying malaria, one of the leading causes of death in Africa.

Rogbere villagers receiving PermaNet mosquito nets.

Abdulai, one of the VDC members stated, “Considering the high cases of malaria reported in the community this year, I hope the mosquito nets will greatly help mitigate malaria cases in the community.” The community is very thankful to receive the mosquito nets.

Mr. Aruna Koroma, the agricultural specialist, encouraged the recipients to use the nets for proper use, not for fishing or other means.

Aruna providing education on mosquito nets.

Let's continue to pray for the people of Rogbere, both for the physical health and their spiritual health.

New Drying Floor and Seed Loans

Drying Floor Construction 

It is common for villages to go with very little food for two months each year. These are known as “the hungry months.” This happens when a family’s stock of staple dried food runs out or spoils. The main staple foods are rice and peanuts, and drying is one of the few ways that the people have to preserve food between harvests. 

World Hope International has found that the construction of concrete drying floors in a village significantly reduces post-harvest losses of such staple crops. Rice, peanuts, peppers and other crops are spread on the floors which are positioned to get maximum sun. The moisture is reduced so that the crops do not mold while being stored. 

 

The new drying floor in Rogbere.

Without the drying floors, people spread crops on large rocks, but these are not in the village where they can be watched. Sometimes other people come and steal rice being dried out of sight. In addition, the rocks are not large and flat enough to accommodate all the crops that need drying. 

The concrete drying floors are slanted for water runoff and provide an efficient and safe way to dry crops, which is the primary method of food preservation in rural Sierra Leone. One drying floor was completed in June, bringing long term benefit to the community. The community is grateful for the drying floor that was constructed in Rogbere. 

Distribution of Peanut and Rice Seeds 

Forty (40) women each received two bushels or bags of peanut seed and 30 men each received two bushels of rice seed on loan. Peanut seeds were exclusively given to women and rice to men as growing rice requires more physical work. All beneficiaries already have either rice or peanut farms and will use the new seeds to enlarge their farms. The first harvest is expected in September for peanuts and December for rice. Farmers will pay back to the community seed bank and the next selected farmers will receive the seed loan.  A Drilled Well  The preparation for a drilled well is underway, and the community is very excited to have access to clean drinking water.  A woman carrying her peanut seeds.

Rogbere Video

Rogbere Trip: March 2016 from Trinity Bible Church on Vimeo.

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.