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New Hope Church is led by our Sierra Leone Director, Rev. Michael Fofanah and meets at our New Hope Primary School, over two hundred and fifty adults and children are part of the church family. Many young people from the primary school come to Sunday School and have brought their parents to the church, where they have come to faith in Jesus. Groups from the church meet in different local areas during the week for Bible study and prayer. The photo below left shows Rev. Michael and Pastor Alice, with Rev. Bernard Cocker, our Founder and CEO baptising new believers in the sea at Lungi, not far from New Hope Church.
New Hope Church reaches out with Jesus’s love to many surrounding communities. Deacon Evangelists are committed to serving the community they are assigned to. Abigeil, walks the three mile journey to Mabendu village twice a week, even in the rainy season, to share the gospel, lead singing, teach Bible stories, and engage with the community, she is pictured above with the village football team.
The outreach to villages combines evangelism with practical help, including meals that the whole community are invited to and outreach clinics, led by our nurse and midwife. This outreach has led to church plants at Lokomasama and Rogbaray villages, at both of these villages there isn’t any early years provision in the area, so the church teams have started pre-schools to help local families.
At Lokomasama we are very thankful that generous donations have enabled us to fund a well, providing fresh, clean water and a permanent building for the church and pre-school (building work pictured below), to replace the palm branch structure where they had been meeting, enabling all activities to continue during the rainy season.
The church planted at Rogbaray village is flourishing and has grown exponentially with a large percentage of the residents of the village coming to faith in Jesus, sixty eight new believers were baptised last year! The church is led by Brother Elijah, who is pictured above holding a Bible, with the pre-school children and volunteers, at the temporary structure made from palm branches with a tarpaulin roof where they have been meeting for three years now. We are praying that we will be able to provide a permanent building at Rogbaray.
When a team from Fulwood Free Methodist and St Simon and St Jude’s with All Souls visited Sierra Leone, they enjoyed spending a day at Rogbaray. Dave Brown from Fulwood FMC says; “We visited Rogbaray again having been there last year. I had heard that since then a large number of people had become Christians since then. We received the usual welcome from the village elders and Iman, and the atmosphere felt very positive. As we spent time with the children speaking about Jesus, colouring and playing games, the increased Christian presence made everything feel relaxed. Lunch for everyone, a mum and baby talk, and shoeboxes for the children made for a great day. This is testimony to the great work that Pastors Michael and Alice and the outreach teams do.”
We praise God for how He is working through His people in to share the Gospel and bring hope in Jesus to people in Lungi and the surrounding villages. We pray that God will continue to encourage, guide and strengthen the pastors and evangelists. We thank God for the progress on the building work at Lokomasama, we pray that we will be able to provide a building at Rogbarray, and for all the church members to keep growing in faith.
Education in Sierra Leone Hands of Dorcas Healthcare in Sierra Leone Emmanuel House
