Sierra Leone

In February 2004, Mrs. Donna Maurer of Norfolk, Nebraska, traveled to eastern Sierra Leone, West Africa, with a team of mission volunteers from Mission Opportunities Short Term (M.O.S.T.) Ministries of Ann Arbor, Michigan. They went to Sierra Leone to conduct an eyeglass clinic in the remote Kono Region where civil war had raged.

This is where Orphan Grain Train had sent a semi-load of relief supplies to civil war refugees in November 2002. The supplies were sent to the Lutheran Church of Sierra Leone for distribution among refugees who had fled from the rebels for over 100 miles. When she volunteered for Sierra Leone, Mrs. Maurer did not know that her team would meet these aid recipients. They came to say "Thank you!"

This is Donna’s story as she wrote it in 2004:

"It takes one's breath away to witness the destruction in Sierra Leone. Just days after meeting Rev. Jim Kaiser, a Lutheran Bible Translators worker in Freetown, the capital city, we went into the jungle where he had lived and worked. The local people showed us what had been Rev. Kaiser's home. It was completely gutted and burned by the rebels after his family was evacuated during the rebellion.

"During a meeting with the various chiefs of the Kono Region, one area chief told us the Muslims in that area hold the Lutheran Church in very high regard. He said when the [Sierra Leone] Lutherans received aid from Orphan Grain Train they shared the powdered milk and clothes with all the people and didn't keep it just for the Lutherans. What a witness of Christ's love!

"Besides food and clothing, Orphan Grain Train also sent bicycles for the pastors and Gospel preachers in Sierra Leone. One of the Gospel preachers showed us his bicycle. Now he can travel three or four times as far to tell people the Good News of Salvation through Jesus Christ and His love for us.

"The pain of one woman's ordeal was still evident on her face as she told us of her gratitude to Orphan Grain Train for the milk and clothing. She said, 'We came out of the jungle naked and skin and bones' after they fled their homes and hid for months. Holding my hand she said, 'Orphan Grain Train saved our lives.'"

Click here to learn more about Sierra Leone at Wikipedia.org.