Update: Pray for these kids--Hassan & Rachel

Here is the latest update from Karen:

Please pray for Hassan. You may have heard his name before. He has been in and out of the orphanage for several years now. Hassan has repeatedly run away from the home to return to Freetown and life on the streets. This past month Hassan was returned to the care of an aunt in his home village. Please pray that he would be a light for Christ in this village. Please pray for adults to come into this young man's life and help him grow.


I only had this picture of Rachel to put up at the moment (she's the one in the middle), but I noticed Hassan is at her right (far left). Go figure....




This request is one of the most difficult I have had to write. Many of you know that Rachel, one of our teen girls, was diagnosed with a very serious kidney problem over a year ago. She has an ectopic, necrotic kidney. She and her twin sister, Leah, have been in the orphanage for several years. After a long run of tests, second opinions, third opinions, and a thorough examination by an American doctor, it was determined that the necessary course of action was for Rachel to have surgery to remove the necrotic kidney. There is only one surgeon in Sierra Leone that we felt comfortable with to do the surgery. He agreed to do the surgery and plans were made. Days before the scheduled surgery Rachel's mother appeared at the hospital and refused to let Rachel have surgery. We believe her mother is misguided and lacks the understanding of the consequences of not having the surgery. At that point, the doctor refused to do the surgery because of the problems caused by Rachel's mother. Rachel returned to the orphanage in Bo. When Roger arrived at the orphanage, arrangements were made for Rachel and Leah's mother to sign a relinquishment of the girls over to the ministry. This was completed and Roger was able to convince the surgeon to re-schedule Rachel's surgery. Rachel was admitted to the hospital days after Roger's return to Iowa and was ready for the surgery. Again her mother appeared and caused problems at the hospital and with the doctor. The relinquishment was taken to the police and the ministry of social welfare to be sure we did have the right to insist that Rachel have the surgery. Neither agency would support the ministry's position and said that we must abide by the wishes of the mother. The ministry was forced to ask the mother to either let Rachel have the surgery or to take the girls home into her care. As of today, the mother has taken Rachel and Leah back to their village. This is heartbreaking for the girls and the rest of the children at the home. It could also put Rachel's life in danger. This was a difficult decision, to say the least, but the medic at the home and the doctors agreed that to do nothing is to put Rachel at great risk. The ramifications for the ministry should something happen to Rachel while in the care of the ministry are numerous and could make it impossible to continue on in the ministry. Please PRAY. Please pray that God would miraculously cure Rachel's kidney. Please pray that her mother would seek proper medical care for Rachel. Please pray that Rachel's mother would have the means to support Rachel and Leah. Please pray that God would use the difficult situation to reunite the family and provide means for the needs of Rachel and Leah. Please pray that God would use this situation to bring the light of Christ in Rachel and Leah to their village.

The Latest Updates....

Hello!

Here are a few new "news" items:

• A family has decided to adopt Jerry Benya. They just started the whole process, so pray that it will go smoothly and for patience as they wait. By the way, this is Dylan's family who are adopting him. Before Dylan came back the family called over and were able to talk to Jerry too.
• Roger and many of the teams are back. Pray for good health for each of them and just the whole adjustment process back to life in the States.
• The next newsletter is going to be published soon. Karen is looking for anyone who would like to share a testimony of your experiences with Jonathan House. Email kjb5@mchsi.com if you would like to contribute. If you'd like to contribute to the blog, email JHM.Salone@gmail.com.
• Hopefully more videos and pictures will be added soon.
• Continue to pray for all of the kids as they finish school.
• Continue to pray for the school building project. If you'd like to "buy a brick", email Karen at the address above.
• Hopefully we will hear more about the recent trips on here.

Christian Post: African Witches Come to Christ Through Jesus Film

This is exciting! Sierra Leone also has a lot of similar spiritual warfare with various secret societies throughout the country. Jonathan House has shown "Jesus Film" in local languages in several villages. The church planting team and visiting short-term teams use the film on outreaches routinely. This summer, Jonathan House will be showing this film in villages throughout the Pujehun District. Pray that these villagers would be receptive of the Gospel.

Excerpt:
By Michelle A. Vu
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, May. 22 2008 05:41 PM ET

Screenings of the “Jesus” film in the Central African Republic has led to tens of thousands of commitments for Christ, dozens of churches planted, and witches being freed from dark forces, according to The Jesus Film Project.

Central African Republic, which neighbors the highly-troubled nations of Chad and Sudan, has struggled with what some might consider an epidemic of witchcraft. Local witches reportedly have the power to kill and cause excruciating physical pain, leading to great fear among villagers.
The government routinely imprisons accused witches, but has found that prison walls cannot contain their power.

When witches saw the “Jesus” film – which follows the life and teachings of Jesus Christ – in their own language, many reportedly were convicted by the Holy Spirit. They repented of their sins, were freed from their spiritual bondage, and committed their lives to Jesus Christ, The Jesus Film Project reported.

In the Bossangoa area in western CAR, people have dubbed the “Jesus” film, “The Miracle Film.”

The region’s governor has personally called the “Jesus” film team to thank them for the “miracles” the movie has done on the witches in his area.

Update: School Campaign, etc.

First of all....Sorry it has been a little quiet on here lately. Working on that. Here are some updates that have come out recently. God is doing great things in Sierra Leone through Jonathan House and that is so exciting!

Second of all...If you are interested in helping with this blog, let me know. (JHM.Salone@gmail.com) This could be in a variety of ways:

• Send in a story of your experiences with Jonathan House--getting to know the kids and staff at JH, getting to know some of the kids who've been adopted and live in the U.S., getting to know your sponsored kids, and so on.
• Look for articles about Sierra Leone and appropriate themes.
• Help in posting and recruiting people to send stories (see first bullet). :-) I would like to definitely start on a regular schedule of when to post.

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1. School Campaign (from Karen): Praise the Lord. To date God has provided $25676.33 for the school. This is amazing! We really need a minimum of $50,000 to get started and a total of $60,000 for the entire project. (This includes floating a second floor for future growth and/or housing, guestrooms, etc.). Please keep praying that God would touch just the right hearts to help provide support for this project. God is good and HIS timing is perfect! I am so excited for the day that we can call the orphanage and announce that God has blessed them with the funds for their school building! THANK YOU!
2. Roger, Outreach (from Karen): Please pray for Roger this week! He will be going to southern Sierra Leone to visit and begin ministering to a group of people who have had little exposure to the Gospel. We do know of one rudimentary church in the area, but it is largely a group who have little knowledge of our Lord. Pray that Roger would travel safely (there are really no direct routes to this area). Pray that he would make connections with just the right people. Pray that God would speak through him and show him the paths we should take in beginning to minister to these people. [He should be there about now...]
3. Teams: Pray for Kayla, Dylan, Rachel & Roger who still have some more time left in Sierra Leone. Several team members left earlier this week and should be back home now (or will be shortly). We will hopefully hear from them soon. Pray for Christie who is there for about 4 more months! Her dad and sisters have been in Sierra Leone spending time with her and working alongside her and just left with this last group.
4. Children's Day: Pray for the staff, as well as Christie and Dylan (that I know of) who will be traveling a Children's Day event soon.