Phebian Update

Phebian is doing well overall.  She is as motivated as ever to see the health clinic be completed and advocate for her people who desperately need basic health care.  She admits that the move back to Sierra Leone has been difficult.  After being in the United States for 13 years, she had gotten used to the comforts and conveniences.  This includes things such as running water, a flushing toilet, a grocery store with fresh fruits and vegetables, smooth roads, and pizza.  Pizza is her favorite food and she also loves Buffalo chicken wings.  If we could, we would mail her some.

She needs our prayers as she continues to adjust, sacrifice, and face a lot of opposition.  She has forged good relations with the Koidu Government Hospital staff as well as the health providers in the five target villages.  She has provided basic medical care in each target village as well as Koidu town.  She has recruited and utilized volunteers to help with the building of the medical clinic.  She has continued the hernia repair program and the community focus groups in each village.  The people trust her, God is with her, and she perseveres.  She is an amazing, Godly woman.  She says, "Life here is hard but the love that God gives me for my people keeps me going."

Phebian on the beach of Freetown, SL.

Phebian on the hillside just outside of Freetown, SL.

                                     

Phebian with the head nurse of the Jaima Village Health Center.

                                       
                                     

Phebian speaking with the leaders of Kangama Village.

Meet Pastor Joshua

Pastor Joshua joined the Jericho Road Sierra Leone team as a volunteer 4 years ago. He worked as an accounting teacher at one of the local high schools in Freetown while leading a local church. In February of 2013, he resigned from teaching and joined Jericho Road as the full time Chief Operating Officer in Sierra Leone. He felt called by God to leave his secure life of teaching and join the mission of bringing hope, health, and healing to the Kono District through working with Jericho Road and Phebian. In fact, he group up in Jaima Village which is one of our target villages.  

He first met Phebian because she had shared the gospel message of Jesus Christ with him 23 years ago. He accepted this message and became a devote disciple of Jesus. Phebian and her husband discipled him for several years until they were separated by the war in the late 1990’s. Pastor Joshua ended up taking over the church that Phebian and her husband helped establish in Freetown. He’s been a Pastor now for 17 years. Although they were separated for over 13 years, their friendship continued and when Phebian was ready to make the move back to Sierra Leone, he was one of the first to know.

This is a video interview of Pastor Joshua's life journey and how he became involved in this mission project. Please check it out at: Pastor Joshua Interview 10.2013

Pastor Joshua in the flatbed of the Toyota Tundra Truck.

Pastor Joshua.

Pastor Joshua showing Dr. Kirk Scirto the well on the Jericho Road property.

Successful Hernia Repairs

The Hernia Repair Program continues to be a benefit to the Sierra Leone people.  This program helps the men, women, and children in our 5 target villages with either large, painful, or obstructed hernias to get a hernia operation.  They first get put on a waiting list and the most severe cases are helped first.  Many of these people have lived for years or their whole life with a hernia that deforms their body and deflates their self esteem.  Often times it prohibits them from working or going to school.

A hernia repair operation is one of the few that can be successfully done in Sierra Leone currently.  Phebian helps with transportation, pre-operation and post-operation care, as well has assisting the physician in his work during the actual procedure.  The cost is $45 US dollars.  The patient has to come up with 2/3 of the cost and Jericho Road will pay the rest.  This cost includes the operating room time, the proper medications and equipment, the hospital stay, the physicians salary, and other appropriate care.

On September 10, 2013, Phebian successfully assisted 8 people obtain hernia repairs.  Below are a few pictures of patients and their operations.  Phebian is in the pink scrubs and the patients are in the green scrubs.  This is Phebians comment on that joyful day:

"In all 3 women and 5 men, it was a long day in the hot theatre that

day, but it was worth it because lives were transformed.  They can not

express enough what a blessing Jericho Road Ministries has been in

their lives."

The Laying of the Foundation

Tuesday, December 10th, 2013 marked an exciting day for Phebian in Sierra Leone.  The foundation of the medical clinic was laid on that day. It has been a busy 2 months of making all the bricks for the foundation out of the donated sand.  The land was cleared, the ground was leveled, and the bricks were laid one by one.  The community members have been volunteering their time and energy to help Phebian move this project forward. We thank God for them and all the progress being made in Sierra Leone.  Below are some pictures of the land being cleared, the leveling of the land, the foundation being laid, and the community meeting. 

We will continue to keep you updated on the progress. In Phebians' own words:

"We laid the foundation of our clinic yesterday, that will be a day I will never forget. It is a day I have been long waiting for and thanks to everyone who made this of my dream, vision become a reality.

I had most members of the community present including our blind neighbors, and we offer prayers for our parent body in the U.S and everyone that is working to make this project a success.

I want to thank everyone and it's a blessing to be a part of such a wonderful family, the Jericho Road family.

Greetings to all, I will keep sending pictures as the work progress."