Methodism, Mission, Ministry and Money Matters in Sierra Leone
Written by By Rev. Dr. Sahr Yambasu, WMP Ministerial Treasurer
Sierra Leone has had her own share of challenges in the recent past. These have included the Ebola outbreak, the Freetown Mudslide, Covid-19, and now a crippling increase in the cost of living. Along with other Churches, the Methodist Church Sierra Leone (MCSL) has risen to those challenges by being alongside people and supporting them in different ways - both material and spiritual.
Last January, my family and I visited Sierra Leone. We witnessed many hopeful signs of a Church determined to keep their witness alive despite the many challenges they face. We were particularly struck by the sacrificial but joyful and exuberant giving of people to address the needs of their churches and society.
In one city church we attended, the offering from the previous Sunday totalled more than £3,000 (€3,390) - a huge sum in a country where the average GDP per capita is less than £500 (€560). We also attended a village church in a very remote part of the country, where the people had by themselves put up a three-bedroom building to house visiting preachers and Christian groups that visit to fellowship with them. I was made aware of another Methodist society in the city that has devised a novel way of raising much needed funds for their new and larger church building project. They have divided the whole congregation into three birth-months groups (January to April, May to August, and September to December). Each group is assigned work to pay for, and there is a very healthy and joyous competition between the groups to see who reaches the required target first!
Along with these signs of hope, we also witnessed serious challenges for the MCSL. The economic situation in Sierra Leone continues to be very challenging. The price of a bag of rice (the staple food) seems to increase daily, as do the prices of other basic commodities. Within this climate, I learnt that MCSL ministers have not had a stipend increase in over 10 years. Worse, some ministers are receiving a stipend below the minimum wage of about £35 (€40) a month. In many areas, the Church struggles to provide even these meagre stipends, and a large backlog has developed. One of the consequences of this has been a growing lack of people offering for the ordained ministry, combined with a shortage of experienced ministers to cover all the existing stations. Understandably, many ministers living with these constraints have to focus disproportionately on activities which might generate much-needed financial relief, rather than mission and evangelism.
Participants at “Continuing Development in Ministry” retreat, Kenema, Sierra Leone.
The saving grace in this mix of hope and challenge is that the Church is blessed with many lay pastors and catechists. Although these lay people have not received much training, they continue to provide much-needed services for local congregations throughout the Connexion. It is this group of people that the Church is now preparing to start training, given the very important role they play in keeping the faith alive and passing it on to the next generation. As it does so, it is also aware of the crucial need for the continuing professional development of ministers. To address these and other ongoing challenges, the Church is seriously considering commercial investment opportunities to finance the work of mission in a sustainable way for the future.
Through World Mission Partnership, Irish Methodists recently sent £26,500 (€30,000) to support the church in Sierra Leone. These funds will help the church to run a training program for lay pastors, to invest in income-generation projects, and to contribute to the stipends of ministers who have gone almost a year without pay. Rev. Mark Ngobeh, the Presiding Bishop, sends his thanks to the Methodist people in Ireland for all the help they continue to receive from them,
“The Methodist Church in Ireland continues to be one of our first ports of call for help in the continuing mission of the Church in Sierra Leone. The Church is grateful for grants that continue to help support our mission especially in the rural areas where such help is needed most.”
A Request for Prayer
Sierra Leoneans go to the polls to elect the President and Members of Parliament on the 24th of June this year. It is an uneasy political time for the whole country, and our brothers and sisters there would value our prayers very much.