wfn.org | Sierra Leone Church Gets Relief

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3002 notes).

Note 3000 by UMNS on June 10, 1996 at 15:48 Eastern (4644 characters).

SEARCH: hunger, relief, United Methodists, food, conference,
Sierra Leone

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CONTACT: Linda Green                              286(10-71){3000}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470             June 10, 1996

Sierra Leone Church receives relief fund

                 by United Methodist News Service

     The vision of United Methodist pastors begging for cups of
rice on the streets of Sierra Leone prompted a hunger relief
official in the United States to start a campaign to provide food
in the war-torn and overpopulated country.
     The Society of St. Andrew, a Christian, non-profit hunger
relief ministry headquartered in Big Island, Va., is conducting a
$30,000 fund-raising effort to alleviate hunger in the African
country. 
     The organization presented $10,000 -- the first installment
of the pledge -- to United Methodist Bishop Joseph P. Humper,
episcopal leader of Sierra Leone on May 4 during a Consultation on
Sierra Leone in Minneapolis. 
     The gift to Sierra Leone is the result of a two-week fact-
finding trip to the country by the Rev. Ray Buchanan, a United
Methodist clergyman who is co-director of the Society of St.
Andrew.  At Humper's request, Buchanan and North Texas layman
Ralph Goins visited the country to discover what needed to be done
about hunger in the Sierra Leone United Methodist Conference.
     Describing the visit as "most painful and disturbing,"
Buchanan said, "I never dreamed I would see United Methodist
pastors begging on the street for a cup of rice, but that's the
reality of the horrible situation there."
     Sierra Leone has been ravaged by civil unrest since 1991 as a
result of the Liberian rebel insurrection that has spilled across
the border and continues to expand. 
     Church leaders in Sierra Leone say they believe two-thirds of
their country's entire population of 4.5 million is displaced and
that the church is in a struggle for its life, according to
Buchanan. Numerous United Methodist Churches have been destroyed,
and ministers and church members are homeless and hungry. Many of
the United Methodist schools and medical clinics also have been
destroyed.
     "The need is tremendous," Buchanan said. Food, clothing and
blankets all are needed immediately and, according to Humper, "the
need will not diminish in the foreseeable future. More than half
the entire population has been uprooted," he said. "They have
nothing but the clothes on their backs." 
     Buchanan's reaction to what he saw was the pledge to raise
$30,000 to provide the displaced and hungry pastors there rice for
a year. Once he revealed his plan to the Society of St. Andrew's
Board of Directors, the scope was broadened to provide direct
relief for all the hungry of Sierra Leone. 
     "Helping the pastors was my original goal because they are in
such desperate straits," Buchanan said. "I thought raising enough
funds to provide them with rice for a year was something I could
accomplish," but, "our board had a larger vision and I praise the
Lord for that."
     The Society of St. Andrew, known for salvaging fresh
unmarketable produce, namely potatoes, wants to provide funds to
purchase at least a 50-kilo bag of rice every month for each
minister and evangelist in Sierra Leone. Currently 36 pastors and
95 evangelists need assistance. 
     The Society has been assured by Humper that any funds sent
for the relief effort would be channeled though district
superintendents and monitored by the conference relief committee,
Buchanan said.
     The society is not the only group involved in hunger and
other relief efforts for Sierra Leone. The United Methodist Board
of Global Ministries and Operation Classroom also are raising
funds to aid the people there.
     Operation Classroom, an education ministry with United
Methodist-related schools in Liberia and Sierra Leone,
headquartered in Colfax, Ind., has launched a campaign to buy rice
for at least 300 displaced teachers in the country.
     Pleased with the response of the Society of St. Andrew and
other agencies to feed the hungry people of Sierra Leone, 
Buchanan said, "Our gifts provide more than just food. Every
dollar we raise for Sierra Leone says we are a family. Our gifts
provide hope. At this point, that is every bit as essential as
food," he said.
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