Sierra Leone (MNN) — As Sierra Leone seeks outside help in its recovery from a long and vicious civil war, the new President, His Excellency Ernest Koroma, recently welcomed World Hope International to his country.
The meeting highlighted the work of the ministry and how their projects dovetail with Koroma's plan for development. WHI will play an important role in continued development in Sierra Leone to meet those goals.
Founder and CEO of WHI Jo Anne Lyon gave the president a brief address detailing some of the work WHI has been involved with.
Some of those efforts include the more than 20,000 clients served through WHI's Microfinance program. Hope Micro boasts a 98% payback rate.
The agency is also active in fighting human trafficking by helping to enact laws, educating, training, and developing service providers to bring an end to the practice. A community-development program produced many wells and has plans to drill 50-75 new wells in 2008.
In addition to animal husbandry and agricultural work, the villages are also being trained in health prevention and sanitation.
WHI's Hope for Children program has facilitated sponsorship for over 500 children in Sierra Leone. Not only have they been able to give hope for a future, the program's growth has required the team to build new schools and rehabilitate old ones. Teacher mentoring teams are another key part of the education aspect of WHI's ministry.
President Koroma responded by outlining his goals for the next 36 months. WHI will play an important role in continued development in Sierra Leone to meet those goals.
Through their various projects, transformation takes place as the power of Jesus works in and through the local faith community. Pray that the doors would be open to the hope of Christ as expressed through the team members. Pray, too, for enough funding to sustain the programs as the country recovers from civil war.
