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April-May 2009
FRANCE
According to TIME magazine, of all European countries, France has the highest rate of atheism. Even though the French have been exposed to the Gospel for a long time, the growth of the church has been extremely slow. Many unreached people groups belonging traditionally to the "10/40 window" are streaming into France through immigration. The land of the so-called Enlightenment has become one of the most strategic places in the world for missionary investment. ALEX and SUZANNE SARRAN have served in France for about 7 year. We ask you to urgently pray for this family, who are so needed in France, but they are in great need for additional financial support. They are ministering to people who just "happened" to notice the church and entered to "check it out", who are now worshiping and attending Bible studies.
SIERRA LEONE
A Global Outreach team composed of BRIAN ALBERCHT, DENNIS CAMPBELL, DR. JOE HARVEY, and DR. JOHN and JUDY LOOK, recently returned from Sierra Leone. An EMI team, composed of architects and engineers came to evaluate the facility that was a hospital to see what could be salvaged and renovated as a result of the civil war. A plan is being formulated by the EMI team in different phases to complete the project with input from Dr. Harvey, who has established a hospital in the Congo and by Dr. Look, who oversees the medical ministries of Global Outreach Ministries.
Dr. Harvey reports some of his experiences in Sierra Leone as follows: "Mokanji reminded me a lot of Impfondo in 1999. There are desperate conditions, stark realities and unacceptably high maternal mortality rates. The day I arrived in Mokanji, Kady was brought to the "hospital" on a motorcycle taxi. She was 19 and pregnant with her first child. Her ankles were swollen, in great pain, having convulsions and her blood pressure was quite high. She had ecclampsia and she needed an IV magnesium sulphate and an immediate C-section. The "hospital" was destroyed during the Sierra Leone's civil war in 1998. It still has no electricity, no running water, no soap, next to no supplies or equipment, and only two staff members. Needless to say, they are not quite set up for C-sections. We ended up paying for transportation, prescriptions, and treatment at the district hospital several hours journey up the bumpy, dusty road. But even there, the care she needed was not available. Her baby died soon after delivery, while Kady continued to convulse. I believe she survived, but just barely. Why am I telling you all of this? Because I believe perhaps one of you reading this right now has been called by God to serve Him in Medical Missions. This is your wake-up call. If you are a doctor, physician's assistant, nurse, midwife, or construction supervisor, and you speak English- Sierra Leone needs you! Mokanji Hospital needs you! Will you answer the call, or just roll over again and hit the snooze button/delete key!?"
"Short-term missions certainly have its advantages, but what we need now in Sierra Leone is long-term missionaries to coordinate the effects of our staff on the ground."
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