This week has been filled with many demonstrations of God’s love and yours for the people here in Freetown. Over the past two days, we’ve visited the three Presbyterian (PCSL) church-run schools, as well as an orphanage co-founded and run by one of the elders from 1st Church. In addition we considered the biblical role of women in the church through both Tom’s teaching on the subject, and an excellent devotional given during our gospel-communication lab by a woman who is actively ministering to women in a local prison, as well as in her church. During Tom’s teaching, I had the opportunity to bring up the 11 women in attendance and give them each a card and poster from the women at Calvary. These gifts were well received, and representatives from each of the five churches of the presbytery took an equal share of the remaining notes and posters to distribute in their local congregations.
Your generous love for your brothers and sisters over 4,000 miles away has been experienced in beautiful ways over the past few days, as I’ve been able to hand out many of the gifts that you sent to bless the people here. Here is a list of how those gifts have been a blessing thus far:
Phone(s)
Just over a week before I flew out of Raleigh, I shared a specific need for a phone for one of the ministry leaders in the area, whose current phone is cracked, making his used of it difficult. On Sunday evening, Elder John MaCauley, who leads at the church in the fishing village of Goderich, took public transportation to meet with us at our hotel. During that time, I was able, through your generosity, to present him with a good used phone that will serve him and his church well Here is a video of John’s expression of gratitude to you at Calvary.
Notes from the Women at Calvary
In addition to the women of the local churches, I was able to share a few of your notes with two members of the cleaning staff at our hotel, as well as a couple of the teachers at Goderich School, a ministry of Elder John’s church. They were each thrilled to receive notes from a sister in Christ from America.
School Supplies and Soccer Balls
As I visited each school – Peace, 1st Presbyterian, and Goderich – I was able to present their respective headmasters with a bag filled with pencils, crayons, erasers, a children’s Easter book, and a soccer ball. As you might imagine, the soccer ball, or football as they call it, was a massive hit with the children. When the children of Goderich saw the soccer ball, their eyes lit up, and with permission from their teacher, they immediately ran to play. One of the classes at 1st Presbyterian School spontaneously broke out in cheering and sincere expressions of gratitude. Here is a video of me presenting your gifts to the headmaster of Goderich School. Here, also is a video of the children of Goderich joyfully playing with their new soccer ball.
I still have toys to share with each of the five churches, as well as books and resources that I pray will be a tool in the Lord’s had for making disciples and the furthering of His Kingdom in Sierra Leone. In addition, I a plan to share your video greetings soon. In a future e-mail, I will share more with you about the story of the orphanage we visited today, in addition to a few photos.
Thank you again for your open-handed generosity. I am especially grateful for your prayers. Here are a few ways you can pray in the next couple of days:
- Pray for our Thursday evening teaching session, as I will teach on Worship in the Local Church. Pray the Lord will use it to build up these dear congregations, as they seek to glorify Him.
- Pray for “M”, one of the hotel staff. He asked Tom and I if we had any theological resources for him, which we did, and he is eager to reach and talk with us about Christian doctrine.
- Pray for gospel conversations, not only with church leaders and members, but also with hotel staff and guests. The Lord has provided several opportunities so far, and we are eager to share the good news of Jesus wherever the Spirit is at work.
I’ve attached a few photos for your enjoyment: 1) Tom and I on the hotel terrace; 2) presenting the women with notes from Calvary; 3) a note being handed to a woman from PCSL; 4) girls of Goderich School enjoying the gift of soccer; 5) a classroom at Goderich School.
Lord Bless you all, and I look forward to sharing more with you in the coming days.
In Christ,
Pastor Nate