The mission of the Sierra Leone Parsonage/Community Center Project is "to provide adult literacy programs in a heavily illiterate West African community and provide a place where people of faith can reach out in service and compassion to help bring healing and fulness of life to a war torn people." Our connection to the project is through the Rev. Sylvanus Jackson, who was the pastor of the Randolph and East Pittston United Methodist Churches in the Central Maine District. The Rev. Jackson was appointed as of July 1, 2001 to serve as District Superintendent of the Northern Maine District. He is a former pastor and youth leader of the Jarwlee Lewis Memorial United Methodist Church in Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. He and his wife Christiana are citizens of Sierra Leone.

The mission of the project will be fulfilled by completing the building of a Parsonage/ Community Center in Freetown, Sierra Leone which will be used for pastoral housing and as a site for literacy programs.

The Central District of Maine has raised money over the past several years to assist with this project. Local people are building the Parsonage/Community Center themselves and, although delayed by war, are well on the way to having it completed. See the update below.

We now have a building. The exterior has been completed. The people of Jarwlee Lewis Memorial United Methodist Church are excited. The construction is getting a good deal of positive attention in their neighborhood. Phase I is almost done.

The people of the Jarwlee Lewis Memorial United Methodist Church are eager to complete the interior of the upper story so that their pastor and his family can move in. Once this has happened, they will work on getting the lower floor ready for use as a community center where literacy programs and other activities can take place. An added incentive to getting the pastoral family into the new building is an unexpected increase in the rental property where they are currently living.

If your church would like to partner with others in bringing the Project to completion, we suggest you: (1) make a one-time gift through a special offering for the Project, or (2) make the information on how to contribute available to your church family and encourage individuals to send gifts directly to the Conference Advance Special, identifying their local church in an accompanying note.

If your church participates in the Project, checks should be made out to the local church and the monies then sent on to the Conference. If your church does not participate, checks can be made out to Advance Special #822 (Sierra Leone Project) and sent to: The New England Conference, Advance Special #822, 276 Essex Street, PO Box 249, Lawrence, MA 01842-0449.

Pen Pals Available

The Central Maine District Committee has photo images and names and addresses of over 70 people who would like to correspond with Americans. There are children and teenagers, male and female, women up to age 60+ and a few young men in the group. Let your pastor or the church office know if you are interested and they will pass the information on.

For more information about Sierra Leone today:
http://www.sierra-leone.org/
http://www.sierraleonenews.com
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/sierra.stm