News 2005 - Dec.(Andrew)
December 2005 Letter from the Vicar.
I want to begin my remarks this month by saying a few thank yous.
THANK YOU for the opportunity to visit Sierra Leone. I used the opportunity of my sermon on November 27th on the topic “Good news for the needy” to say something of the impact the trip had on us all. You might like to listen to the tape of that sermon if you were not there. Poverty in Africa, and what to do about it, is of course a mighty complex question and we should beware of headline, simplistic solutions. Sierra Leone has been traumatised and devastated by ten years of civil war. The economy and infra structure is in disarray. It will be a long road to recovery, but the people with whom we are partnering are making a difference.
I listed their work under three headings:
- Evangelism – they have planted six churches in three years.
- Education – two schools have already been established.
- Empowerment – through sports ministry and vocational training people are being encouraged to “just do something”.
As we drove around the potholed roads of Sierra Leone in the four wheel drive vehicle with which we have been able to supply Yatta’s ministry, we sang this song….
“When I think of the goodness of Jesus,
And all He has done for me.
My soul shall sing, Alleluia,
Praise God for saving me”.
In an entirely different situation to that of our brothers and sisters there may we sing the same song this Christmas.
Andrew
(Vicar of St. Andrew's, Oxford, UK)