Nestled along the Western edge of Sierra Leone, roughly twelve miles from the heart of the capital city, sits a brand new, unoccupied, two-story stone house dedicated to the Lord for the compassionate care and shelter of His destitute children.
The home, named The Bethel Home, built by Sierra Leone native Pastor Sonnel and his beautiful wife Christiana, has been entrusted to The Lulu Tree for the purpose of fulfilling the work of God through His people. The Bethel Home has beautiful twisted stone pillars that skirt the second story breezeway and new windows with ornate detail are being put into place for the first time. The vision is a regal sight, indeed.
Pastor Sonnel describes the region of the home in Mambo Village as being on a calm, quiet beach area, surrounded by many residential and tourist attractions; namely Lakka Beach. A region Sonnel is familiar with since leading an Evangelical ministry, pastoring and overseeing thirty Christian churches for the past two decades.
While the work of The Lulu Tree in Sierra Leone is still in incubation as we wait for the government’s hand in releasing the registration papers, we are hopeful to begin serving those in need at the start of 2017. (Update: God has provided and registration is going through!)
In the meantime, while waiting, Pastor Sonnel and Christiana have managed to acquire land from his father’s village, a place of special interest and deep affection for Sonnel. “You cannot have a home without farmland,” says Pastor Sonnel. The future hope of this land is to provide sustainable living to those enrolled in the Lulu program.
Please join us in prayer as our founder, Emily, flies to Sierra Leone this coming Thursday to officially extend an arm of The Lulu Tree to those in West Africa. We are so grateful for the donations we’ve received to help Pastor Sonnel complete the home, including installing a bore hole, adding windows and doors, and painting the inside of the home. Our God is faithful!
If you or your church home would like to partner with us in Sierra Leone (or Katwe, Uganda) please contact us here.
We serve a God of miracles, and His ways are truly amazing! Esther, our National Director in Uganda, shared this story with us and it is a powerful reminder of the way that God works through ordinary men and women to declare His sovereignty and kindness!
We have decided to go to the land with Joel and make some declarations on the land. And also Haji wanted to introduce us to the village chairman….so we had many reasons to go to the land today. When we reached the land the whole village was complaining for lack of rain!!!! It’s been raining in the neighbouring villages apart from the village the land is located [but not in the village where the farm land is]. And Haji requested the village imam to make African Islamic prayers for the rain to show up, because his beans and maize gardens were drying off . I boldly told him that I have stepped on the land and it has to rain, and I told him to believe in me because the Rain Maker lives in me and he is greater than Allah. Joel gave me a hard look and made a sign that I should keep quite before getting disgraced , I quickly reminded him about Elijah and the rain. So I told Hajji to drive off his car because the rain will start soon and in the lulu village we have no shelter. Guess what it rained as we set off from the Land!
Praise God for the things He is doing in Uganda to bring people to His saving grace! Here is a short video of Esther, speaking in Luganda as the rain pours down.
In the last newsletter, we shared Janet’s amazing Mama Testimony. After going through an emergency (unmedicated) C-section, Janet had to run for her life when the hospital caught fire! She and baby Nehemiah made it safely through the experience, thanks to the help of our Lulu family. Since then, Pastor Ricky has shared the Gospel with Janet and she has accepted the Lord, and little Nehemiah was dedicated to Christ. Praise God!
We also have had word from Rebecca, who was able to go back to school this Fall. We are happy to report that she is thriving at school. Rebecca has recommitted her life to God and is doing well in her studies, and is adjusting beautifully. We are rejoicing over her fresh start!
- Emily will be traveling to Sierra Leone in a few days, to meet with leaders there and work on getting Lulu running in this new mission territory. Please join us in praying for her safety and for God’s blessing on the trip, as well as clear direction as the team in Africa vision-casts and seeks God’s will.
- Please continue to pray for provision for the Lulu Farm and village in Uganda, as we trust the Lord to provide the means to build a safe haven there.
- Praise God that Esther has been able to purchase 250 shoes with proceeds from the MAMA Shop this past month! She and our Lulu mamas will be heading to Jinja for the shoe outreach the same day as Emily flies to Sierra Leone. Pray with us that the children who receive them will feel the love of Jesus.
- As the Bethel house is being finished, pray that it will provide a safe place for many young women and their newborn babies, and that the government registration will be approved quickly.
- Pray for Lulu’s pastors as they work in their communities to bring the healing power of the Gospel to all, and for our Lulu directors as they work to reach out and identify the needs of the people in the areas in which we work.