wfn.org | Virginia church raises money for Sierra Leone center

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Jan. 4, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
10-21-31-71B{004}

NOTE: This report is a sidebar to UMNS story #003.

By United Methodist News Service

Stirred by the needs of children in Sierra Leone, a United Methodist
congregation has raised $125,000 for a children's center there.

Members of Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, Va., are working in
partnership with Stop Hunger Now and other United Methodists on the project.

The Rev. Tom Berlin, the pastor at Floris, first visited the West African
country three years ago and has kept in touch with some of the pastors he
met there. In 1998, the Rev. John Yambusu of Sierra Leone, who was in
Atlanta receiving training from the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries, spent Christmas with Berlin's family and told the congregation
about the lives of children in his country.

Last year, Berlin challenged his congregation "to do something really great
for God because of 2000 years of Christianity." He suggested extending the
love of Christ "in a tangible way" to one of the poorest parts of the world.

The congregation at Floris set a goal of $25,000 for a millennial offering
to support the children's project in Sierra Leone and far exceeded that
amount.

Although this particular fund-raising effort has ended, the congregation
intends to remain connected to the project. The church plans to send
volunteer teams to help with building construction or renovation.

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United Methodist News Service
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