World in Need CEO, David Goodchild, recently returned from visiting with our Global Family in Sierra Leone. Rev Tamba Mbayo, head of our Global Family there has a passion to spread the gospel and care for those in need. Tamba oversees many churches that have been planted across the country, some of which have started schools to provide much needed education for the children in their area.
World in Need partners with Tamba through the first Adullam Missions Evangelistic Network (AMEN) church plant in Wellington, Freetown. The church there runs the AMEN school for approximately 190 children, through which our sponsors support 18 children who wouldn’t otherwise have access to education.
Sponsored children receive a range of benefits to support their education and well-being throughout the academic year. These include tuition-free education, two sets of regular school uniforms, school T-shirts, house colour T-shirts, school books, and stationery. Wearing a school uniform holds significant value as it signifies the children's membership in an academic institution and their dedication to achieving their life goals. In addition to their academic curriculum, the children are taught the Bible and encouraged to actively participate in the church community. The school is led by the church's pastor, who serves as the head teacher. Being enrolled in the school also ensures that students' health is closely monitored, and depending on the severity of their medical condition, assistance with medical bills may be provided.
Sponsorship really makes such a difference to children growing up in these areas and gives them hope and a future that they otherwise simply not have. Lack of education severely hinders children's future in Sierra Leone, limiting their opportunities, perpetuating poverty, and impeding their personal and family welfare. Education is a crucial factor in breaking the cycle of poverty and fostering a brighter future for individuals and their communities. One previous pupil of the school is now a teacher there, proving to the pupils that with hard work and dedication, they really can look forward to a brighter future.
Building work for another floor of classrooms is underway at the school, however the rising cost of inflation has meant that work that was originally funded has now had to cease until more money is found. According to The World Bank, inflation in Sierra Leone reached 41 per cent in March, with food inflation hitting 50 per cent in April, creating a huge burden for the households in the country. Large numbers of the community struggle to cover their food costs and the hardships in the economy and rising costs for all supplies means there simply isn't money for the necessary building works for the school.
Please pray for the vulnerable in the community and for the income of those struggling to make ends meet. Please also pray for God to make a way for the necessary funds for the building works to become available. We give thanks for the work of the staff at the Wellington school in Freetown, and pray that the Lord will uphold them and meet all their needs.
