Sierra Leone CRC Sees Rise in Baptisms
April 17, 2008?Pastor John Phiri reports that March and April have been a busy time for baptisms in a handful of communities in a far-flung portion of northwest Sierra Leone.
In a report recently received by Christian Reformed Church World Missions personnel in Grand Rapids, Mich., Phiri says some 122 teens and adults were baptized over six succeeding Sundays. Phiri is a pastor from the Reformed Church of Zambia. He works in Sierra Leone for CRWM.
Never before have so many people been baptized in such a short period of time in that part of Sierra Leone, say Rev. Paul Kortenhoven, a missionary for many years in Sierra Leone.
"We're still a small church with maybe 1,600 worshippers every week in a few worshipping communities," says Kortenhoven, who recently traveled to Christian Reformed Church in North America congregations in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota to talk about the startling growth of the churches in Sierra Leone.
''It looks like we'll have over 200 baptisms in a year. This is significant. It is really amazing."
Phiri, a pastor in the Christian Reformed Church of Sierra Leone, either officiated at or attended the baptismal ceremonies that took place in streams or creeks in the region.
That part of Sierra Leone is home to about 250,000 people and is dotted with diamond mines, rice paddies and mango and coconut trees.
The CRC of Sierra Leone is a separate, grassroots-run denomination. It is not formally a part of the CRCNA. However, Kortenhoven was among the first CRC missionaries to begin working there more than 20 years ago. He is now based in the United States and travels occasionally to Sierra Leone.
"John (Phiri) is doing a great job. He's got the right gifts at the right time at the right place," says Kortenhoven, who helped to train Phiri for the position.
Besides the unprecedented number of baptisms that took place in recent weeks, says Phiri in his report, there was the ordination of Rev. Edison Kamara, which means that â??we now have three local ordained pastors," says Phiri, who is from Zambia.
In addition, Phiri says that he has "identified two men for theological training who have been with the church for almost a year and I am convinced that they can be (successful) pastors. One is 29 years old and the other is 37."
Meanwhile, says Phiri, four of the CRC of Sierra Leoneâ??s worshipping communities are now in the process of building church structures. Members of the churches are making blocks and cutting planks for the churches. But they are also looking for help to obtain roofing sheets for the buildings, says Phiri.
The church in Sierra Leone a country that endured several years of civil war is â??one of the fastest growing churches that World Missions is now dealing with. It is a real success story,â?? says Kortenhoven.
Chris Meehan, CRC Communications
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Chris Meehan News and Media Relations Christian Reformed Church in North America www.crcna.org