NOT JUST ONE…

On September 23, 2014, Rev. Moses J. Brown lost his battle with the Ebola virus disease (EVD).  He becomes the eighth Assembly of God pastor, or pastor’s wife to die of Ebola.  Moses was my friend, and together we constructed Missio Dei Assembly of God church in New Georgia, Caldwell, Monrovia.
Today I learned that Moses’s sister has become yet another victim of the disease.  And, his wife and one of his two children are presently in an Ebola treatment center in Monrovia fighting for their lives.
EVD seems to have an insatiable hunger for death, rarely stopping with just one family member.  All too often it is the overpowering enemy that wipes out entire families and even villages.
We, here in America, are beginning to panic over the fact that one person has died, and two others are in the hospital receiving treatment for the virus.  We should be concerned, we should be careful, we should be watchful and do what we can in order to stop this dread disease.  But…
According to the WHO, there have been 9,191 probable, confirmed and suspected cases and 4,546 deaths in West Africa from EVD reported up to the end of October 13, 2014 by the Ministry of Health in Liberia.  Entire families are no more and thousands of Ebola orphans have no where to turn.
How bad does this epidemic have to be in West Africa before the World comes to the rescue?  Please pray for the victims in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

HELPING THE PEOPLE OF LIBERIA

Food, or the lack thereof, is becoming a huge issue in Liberia. With the Ebola treatment centers and the areas that are presently under quarantine, many are struggling to find adequate food supplies. In many African country's food preparation by hospitals, clinics, or treatment centers do not exist. A person that has been admitted for care to one of these centers is dependent upon family members for their personal care. Bedding, clothing, and meals are the responsibility of the family. At most hospitals you will see people cooking over an open fire at the hospitals as they prepare food for their loved ones. Can you imagine an Ebola treatment center? When a person enters these centers, they are under strict quarantine. No family member is able to attend to them. The health care workers do not have time to take care of the volume of deathly-ill individuals, let alone cook for them. What do they do? How do they eat? With a partnership between AGWM (Assemblies of God World Missions) and Convoy of Hope, we are reaching out to bring help to those who desperately need help. These individually-packaged meals of rice, nutrients, and vitamins will allow those who need it the most to eat. The 40’ container shipped last week will furnish 280,000 individual meals. Another 40’container holding another 280,000 meals is scheduled to ship this week. The two containers will furnish over a half of a million meals! AND, there are more to come. I thank God for this partnership of AGWM and Convoy of Hope for sending life to Liberia!

 

 

SENDING FOOD TO LIBERIA

OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND

Some people have a real problem when it comes to dealing with tragedy, calamity, and trouble.  “If it doesn’t affect me directly I simply ignore it.”  “Others can deal with this, I just can’t.”  “Let those people deal with it the best they can.”  These are some of the things we say when trouble is greater than our capacity to comprehend, let alone deal with.

 

We have a tendency to remove ourselves from the situation until the situation overtakes us.  Friends, the Ebola situation has overtaken so many people.  Can we turn our backs on humanity?  Can we continue to ignore this tragedy?

 

As you look into the face of those suffering, please remember that we all belong to the same race, same family, HUMANITY!  We must not turn our backs and wait for someone else to do something.  Look deeply into the face of some of the suffering in Liberia, West Africa.

 

 

A woman throws a handful of soil towards the body of her sister as Ebola burial team members take Mekie Nagbe, 28, for cremation on October 10, 2014, in Monrovia, Liberia. Nagbe, a market vendor, collapsed and died outside her home earlier in the morning while leaving to walk to a treatment center, according to her relatives. The burial of loved ones is important in Liberian culture, making the removal of infected bodies for cremation all the more traumatic for surviving family members. (John Moore/Getty Images)

 

 

 

Sophia Doe and her granddaughters Arthuneh Qunoh, 9, and Beauty Mandi, 9 months, weep as an Ebola burial team arrives to take away her daughter… for cremation on October 10, 2014, in Monrovia, Liberia. The children seen in the photo are daughters of the deceased. (John Moore/Getty Images)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Varney Jonson, 46, grieves as an Ebola burial team takes away the body of his wife, Nama Fambule, for cremation on October 10, 2014, in Monrovia, Liberia. He and his family said that she had been sick for more than a year with an undiagnosed illness and protested her body being taken away as an Ebola victim. (John Moore/Getty Images)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Relatives of Hanfen John, who died due to the Ebola virus, mourn for him in Monrovia, Liberia, on 10 October, 2014. (Photo by Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Relative of Hanfen John, who died due to the Ebola virus, mourns for him in Monrovia, Liberia, on 10 October, 2014. (Photo by Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)