SL Prayer Requests

July 2008

Praise for many children in Sierra Leone who are becoming part of our new Village Partnership Programs in Banta Mokelleh. One of these children is a four-yearold girl named Agness, who lives in Ngolala village. Agness attends nursery school, where she enjoys learning about the Bible. Please pray for Agness’ physical and spiritual growth, and that she will experience the love of Christ through the ministry of COTN.

Two of our Liberian interns, Elijah and Gee, have recently graduated with degrees in pastoral studies and will be ministering in Banta for future placement in Liberia. Founders Chris and Debbie Clark met these young men during their initial trip to Sierra Leone in 1995 and provided financial assistance so they could further their education. Praise God that thirteen years later, Elijah and Gee are serving the Lord through COTN! Please pray that their ministry would bear much fruit.

We are thankful for the safe arrival of our six interns serving in Sierra Leone this summer. They will be spending a lot of time in the villages around Banta Mokelleh—attending new start-up services, doing evangelistic outreach and learning African culture through host family relationships.

The teacher team’s visit during the month of June was a great success—they had the opportunity to work alongside 47 national teachers! Please continue to pray for Sarah Saunier, a US teacher from Denver, as she leads summer school in July.

June 2008

Our eldest young man in Banta, Steven Michael, writes “I can’t believe that God is using me to be a pastor in one of the neighboring villages.” Steven, who is crippled by polio, travels with others weekly to share the love of Christ to neighboring villages.

Please continue to pray for Tejan Margay. Tejan spent eight months in the United States for medical treatment and is still adjusting to life in Sierra Leone after being immersed in American culture.

Three 40-foot shipping containers were successfully loaded and are on their way to Sierra Leone! Please pray for the safe arrival of each container. Praise God for the student desks, toys, SmilePacks, food and medical supplies that were donated!

Please pray for the Venture Team from Colorado in Sierra Leone this month. This team, led by past associate teacher Sarah Saunier, will focus primarily on conducting in-service training seminars. Pray that these visitors will be changed forever by what they experience.

Praise the Lord that the Internet and e-mail communication are now available in Banta Mokelleh! This is an answer to prayer— it has been an ongoing challenge to communicate with staff members in Sierra Leone due to the remote location of the Banta village.

May 2008

After eight months of living in the United States and undergoing several surgeries, Tejan Margay has returned to Sierra Leone. Pray for a smooth transition back into the Sierra Leone culture after much exposure to American culture. This will be his first time to see the new children’s homes in Banta Mokelleh. We thank God for the safe travel and wonderful visit from Country Director, Rev. Angie Myles and staff members, Jennifer Jigba and John Turay.

The Banta Mokelleh school children are getting excited about their annual Sports Day coming up this month. Our class six children are preparing for their national exam to enter secondary school. Please pray for their success.

We are preparing to send three containers to Sierra Leone this month; volunteers are needed in Washington and California. Please pray for customs clearance.

Please continue to pray for COTN–SL staff members as they prepare for the arrival of summer interns and teams.

As problems with the bus persist, please pray that repairs would be made before summer interns arrive, as this is their primary mode of transportation.

Praise for the 10 churches that have been started in areas surrounding Banta. New lay pastors have been selected and are in training.

March 2008

This month we share sad news with you of the passing of one of our children, Phoebe Clark. Phoebe came to us with severe needs and has made progress over the years. This past week Phoebe came down with additional complications, was rushed to a hospital in Bo and passed away the following day. While we mourn her loss, we rejoice that she is now running and singing at the feet of Jesus.

We are so encouraged by the new government in Sierra Leone. It appears that President Ernest Bai Koroma is ready to end corruption and give the people of Sierra Leone a fresh start. Pray for continued peace and progress in the country.

The dry season is in full force in Sierra Leone and the dust levels are very high, causing many chest infections in our children and the people in the villages. Please pray that our nurses would be able to provide proper care and that those with infections would be healed.

Seven local individuals have stepped out and are following the great commission by taking the good news of Christ to neighboring villages on Sunday mornings. We thank God for the spread of His word and we pray for Rev. Angie Myles as she trains these individuals so that they will be effective as they go out.

The water tanks have been completed in the children’s village for the electric water pump. Please pray for God’s provision of a water pump and a large generator that would supply power for the whole compound. The children are excited about having showers in their new homes. Nurse Jennifer is equally excited for running water in the clinic!

February 2008

God is doing amazing things in Banta Mokelleh. Every morning at 5:00am as the Muslims have their call to prayer, the Christians are now calling out for prayer as well. What an awesome God we serve!

We praise God for the additional children He has blessed us with in our program. Please continue to pray for Precious, as her abdominal infection persists.

Praise God for the arrival of the much needed parts for our vehicles. Pray that God would give our mechanics wisdom as they repair our vehicles.

We pray that our COTN-SL staff would be able to organize the children’s files and get all the information needed for sponsorship.

The children are currently taking their mid-term exams. Please pray for their success. Many of the children in our schools walk a great distance every day to make it to school. The teachers fear that after mid-term exams, many will drop. Please pray that the Lord would provide a way to keep these children coming to school.

January 2008

Praise for our children’s first Christmas in Banta! They had a wonderful celebration on Christmas day. The Aunties, Uncles and some of the older children were able to go to Bo (the second largest city) to purchase Christmas gifts. They also had a great New Years Eve service where they sang, danced and prayed in the New Year.

Please continue to pray for our vehicles, they are currently all down. Pray for wisdom for our mechanics and that God would provide the needed parts.

Pray for healing for Precious, the oldest girl in our children‘s home, she has been suffering from a reoccurring abdominal infection.

Praise for more land in Banta. The Paramount Chief has offered more land to COTN, to possibly build more homes to house visiting interns.

Praise God for our staff members as they return from their holiday. Pray that they are rested and rejuvenated after the break.

Tejan Marjay will return to SL from the USA in February with successful operations on his leg and jaw. Pray that his recovery will continue as he undergoes physical therapy.

November 2007

Thank you for your prayers for Daddy Daniel (one of our house parents) in Sierra Leone who was recently hospitalized. He has been released from the hospital and is currently resting at home in Freetown. He is responding well to medical treatment and it is our hope is that he will recover fully and return to COTN soon.

Pray for a team of nine that will travel from the States this month. They will be dedicating our new schools in Banta and participating in evangelistic outreaches, baptisms, pastoral training, teacher’s training, sponsorship updating, and encouraging our staff, children and board. Some will be meeting with newly elected political officials.

“Banta for Jesus,” a consecration and purity ceremony, will be held in Banta on Nov. 10th for our older children, giving them a chance to make a commitment to abstain from sexual activity until they are married. Country Director, Angie Myles has made a special prayer request for COTN founder Chris Clark as he speaks at this evangelistic outreach. Banta Mokelleh is a predominantly Muslim area with many strongholds. Pray that Chris will usher in healing, deliverance, and salvation.

Also included in the visiting team is Wendy Brown, COTN’s new International Education Director. Wendy will eventually be visiting all our countries gathering school profiles and working to improve the international education program. While in Sierra Leone she will lead teacher’s training seminars and work with our COTN–SL Education Director to identify current programs and strategize future development of the program.

Pray for much-needed practical and material needs in Sierra Leone—our vehicles are all in need of repairs due to the bad roads, and both laptops and desktop computers are needed for our staff and for teaching students in our schools.

October 2007

We received devastating news from Sierra Leone last week. Pastor Sorie Morrah, one of our COTN–SL staff members, died unexpectedly last week. Pastor Sorie was the staff pastor at our ministry site in Banta Mokelleh and at our church, Church of the Nations, in the nearby village of Ngolala. Pastor Sorie had recently undergone hernia surgery and last week sent news requesting prayer for post-operative complications (internal bleeding and infection). He was thirty-one years old and had been on staff with us for a little over two years. He was not married, but is survived by both his parents and siblings living in Freetown. Pray for Pastor Sorie’s family, his congregation, and our children and staff as we grieve this loss. He will be greatly missed.

Pray also for COTN–SL Country Director, Rev. Angie Myles who is now recovering from cholera and hopes to return to work later this week. (Cholera is a severe diarrheal disease caused by ingesting contaminated food or water. Without treatment, it is one of the most rapidly fatal illnesses known.) There has been a recent outbreak of cholera in the area we are ministering.

Please pray for the health and safety of our children and staff. As of last week, all of the children from our orphanage in Marjay Town have been successfully relocated to our ministry site in Banta! The children, aunties and uncles, and houseparents all arrived safely. They are adjusting to their new homes and surroundings, and meeting the 400+ children in our Village Assistance Program in the nearby village of Ngolala. The children will be starting school in our brand-new primary school this week.

Our partnership with UNICEF continues to move forward as papers were signed last week. We will officially take on our role as the implementing organization (the “hands and feet”) of UNICEF’s Child Survival Program. Working through our malnourishment clinic in Banta and through health administrators in the villages, we will be able to further provide for the medical needs of children in upper and lower Banta.

Praise God for the relatively smooth transition to a new political party being in power. Thank God that riots and political upheavals were avoided and that things will get back to normal (i.e. inflated prices, safety issues, etc.).

With the conversion of our Marjay Town Children’s Home to a school, enrollment has expanded! Since 88 of our children were relocated to Banta, we have room for additional students. Praise God we are able to provide education to more children in the community. This week we will begin converting the dormitory floor into classrooms, allowing for yet additional students.

This year’s rainy season took its toll not only on Sierra Leone’s roads, but on our COTN vehicles as well. Please pray God will provide funding for vehicles suitable for these extreme conditions.

September 2007

The construction of our new schools in Banta is finished—just in time for the new school year! Classes at the nursery (preschool), primary school, and secondary school (Form 1 and Form 2—the equivalent of 7th and 8th grade) all commenced earlier this month. Praise God, especially for this new secondary school. It is the first secondary school (7th – 12th grade) we’ve opened in any of our countries.

Continue to pray for the people of Sierra Leone as the final results of the election are tallied. The political tension is creating an atmosphere of fear among the vendors and merchants—many are afraid to ship goods for fear of possible riots. This is creating a food shortage in the city and food prices in Freetown have nearly doubled. Since we currently buy 100% of the food for our program in-country, this is heavily impacting our Feeding Program budget in Sierra Leone. Pray the political unrest that is causing this fear is quickly dispelled and that shipping resumes.

Last week, we began “phase one” of the long-awaited relocation of our children to our ministry site in Banta. Half of the eighty-eight orphans (only the older children) from our Marjay Town Children’s Home moved up-country, while the younger children remained behind. As the remaining homes in Banta are completed and as we fill the positions for the still-needed house parents and staff, the remaining children will be relocated. Pray for these children as they begin to adjust to their new environment and as we begin to convert the children’s home into a community school.

Continue to pray as we seek to fill the remaining staff positions in Banta. Many of our staff were unable to relocate to our new site.

August 2007

Pray for the health of the Sierra Leone interns and short-term team members. Heavy rains continue to challenge ministry results and many interns have struggled to stay healthy. Pray for the rain to slow down as progress on many projects has been impeded because of it.

Continue to pray for the political elections this month as this is an important time for the country. Pray that God would raise up a just leader.

Pray for the travel arrangements being made for our Sierra Leone guests coming for our Some Kind of Miracle benefit season. Pray that red-tape and paperwork surrounding visas, passports, and airline tickets will go smoothly.

Praise that the two wells (one electric; one manual) have finally been drilled at our ministry site in Banta Mokelleh! Delays due to transportation issues and mechanical breakdowns have impeded this project all summer. Pray for the remaining funds to come in for the parts needed to operate the electric well.

Praise for the interns and a short-term team from Peninsula Bible Fellowship in Bremerton, Washington. They are rebuilding the malnutrition clinic in Banta to make it a more spacious and comfortable facility for the children and mothers that come from neighboring villages seeking treatment.

Praise that we are expecting our enrollment at the Mallory Jansen School in Banta to double this year! Two secondary classes are being added.

Our Children’s Homes are nearing completion. Continue to pray as we make final preparations to relocate our 88 children from Freetown to Banta.

Praise for the safe return of COTN–SL Country Director, Angie Myles. She recently arrived back in Freetown after spending two months in the US on a holiday and extended medical leave. Continue to pray for her health.

July 2007

Short-term teams and interns currently in Sierra Leone are doing well. They have completed all the needed sponsorship updates with the exception of about fifteen children who were absent, assisted with physical check-ups, spent some time weeding on the farm, had a field day with the kids, and led Bible studies with the children. The village hosted a special, cultural dance and song night as a goodbye to Sarah Saunier and Kristen Bollender (two COTN Associate teachers that have been serving in Sierra Leone this past year).

Arlene Raub (COTN Sierra Leone Venture Team/Intern Coordinator) and Quami Agbermodji (COTN–SL Logistics Coordinator) continue with logistical planning for all the summer teams and interns, scheduling their movement up and down from Banta, and making supply runs. This summer, teams will have the opportunity to bring the gospel to twenty villages, seventeen of them in Banta. They plan to help build a meeting hut for our health initiatives, build a basketball and volleyball court for our youth, and bring health education to all the surrounding villages.

Pray for the Taussig family from Oklahoma City. The Taussigs, along with their four children, are living in the village of Ngualla (in Banta) for five weeks and assisting with our ministry logistics there.

Sierra Leone Country Director Angie Myles remains in New York where she will complete medical check-ups and will return to SL at the end of the month. Pray for COTN–SL Board member Rev. Patrick George who is overseeing the ministry until Angie returns.

Praise the Lord for an answer to prayer! The Board of Directors at Shriners Hospital in Spokane, Washington has approved covering the costs of the surgery for Tejan Margay, one of our young boys in Sierra Leone who suffers from an untreated leg injury he sustained years ago after falling from a mango tree. The chief surgeon and scheduler will meet to propose a surgical plan. Once completed, we can begin making travel arrangements to bring Tejan to the States.

June 2007

Continued prayer for construction in Banta as we approach our July 1st move-in date. The preschool is finished and is currently serving as a church until the other buildings near completion. Pray as we transition our ministry site from Freetown to Banta. With the change of location, several of our staff will be transitioning, but many are unable to make the move due to location, family issues, etc. Pray for those staff members that will be looking for other employment and for wisdom as we seek additional staff.

Pray for traveling mercies for the interns and teams headed to Sierra Leone this summer. Arlene Raub, Sierra Leone Liaison, will arrive this month for the summer. Seattle Area Coordinator, Kristen Bushnell, will lead a team to Sierra Leone which will include freelance videographer Phillip Townsend, who will be shooting video for our upcoming Some Kind of Miracle benefit this fall.

Pray for Country Director, Angie Myles and her husband, Joe, as they finish up their much-needed vacation to Canada and the US. Pray they are rested and revitalized for the summer activities that will be well underway upon their return.

Two or possibly three of our children and one adult will be traveling to the US this fall for our Some Kind of Miracle benefit. Pray for their paperwork (passports, visas, itineraries, etc.) to come through without any glitches.

May 2007

Praise for the safe arrival of Chris and Debbie Clark and their son Bryce. Along with visiting our ministry site in Banta and getting construction updates, Chris will be leading a pastors’ conference and Debbie will lead a teachers’ seminar. Chris and Debbie had the opportunity to meet with the U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone, who traveled to Banta and stopped his delegation to tour our ministry site.

Pray for the ongoing success and growth of our feeding program and malnourishment clinic in Banta. Pray that as we partner with UNICEF and attract additional sponsors for our Village Assistance program, we will be able to expand to outlying villages—to feed and care for more children.

Continued prayer as the children prepare to relocate to Banta in July. Pray for the children and staff in Sierra Leone as they enjoy time together and make decisions about who will visit the USA this fall for our Some Kind of Miracle benefit.

Pray for leaders, interns, and short-term teams as they plan for ministry this summer. Pray for wisdom in planning and for an effective ministry season.

Praise and thanksgiving for our two COTN associate teachers, Sarah Saunier and Kristen Bollenger, who wrap up their year-long teaching ministry in Sierra Leone this June and return home to the States.

Please continue to pray for the upcoming elections in August. Pray for peace and political stability while our teams and interns are in Sierra Leone and that God will appoint a Christian leader.

Pray for Country Director Angie Myles and her husband Joe as they take a much-deserved holiday to Canada and the States May 15 – June 15. Pray for their health and safety in travel.

April 2007

Three weeks of voter registration just ended and went well. Churches are praying for a safe and non-violent election in July. Join Sierra Leoneans as they fervently pray for a Christian leader to be elected.

We welcomed a new addition to our Children’s Home: Olive, a five-year-old girl who recently lost both of her parents. Angie says she is “sooooo cute and doing wonderfully!”

All the children in our home recently had medical examinations. With the exception of a couple of minor things, all our children are healthy and no major problems were detected. Our secondary students are home this week for Easter break. Pray they enjoy the time off.

Construction continues up in Banta. The nursery school is painted and almost complete. Crews are putting the roof on the primary school. Three of the children’s homes are nearing completion; six others have foundations done. Pray for the house parents that are preparing to move up to Banta with our kids. In the home they had all their cooking, shopping, logistics, budgeting, etc. done for them. Since they’ll be living in separate family units in Banta they are in the process of learning how to do this all for themselves.

Also pray for the transition; many of them have never lived in the provinces, which are much more primitive than Freetown. Seventeen health educators have recently been hired in Banta (funding provided by UNICEF). They are currently being trained and will soon be working in the surrounding villages.