Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is a nation rising out of years of hardship. The people of Sierra Leone, however, are vibrant and full of life.
God Led Us
In 2016 the Lord told us to fast and pray for Sierra Leone for 40 days, and then introduced us to Pastor Sonnel Kamara, who along with his wife Mommy Christiana have taken in a number of orphans.
Pastor Sonnel is a passionate farmer from the villages who is now helping upwards of 18 villages through a birthing center, an FGM rescue program, multiple new church plants, numerous rice farms, fruit tree plantations, and theological training for pastors. In November of 2020, Lulu Sierra Leone became self-sustainable after God made a way for Pastor Sonnel to purchase 35 cows.
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About Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is a nation rising out of years of hardship. A brutal decade-long civil war took the lives of over fifty thousand people in the 1990s, and in the aftermath the country has faced an Ebola crisis followed by a deadly mudslide. Ranking number 179 out of 188 on the Human Development Index, Sierra Leone has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world.
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The people of Sierra Leone, however, are vibrant and full of life. They are eager to see their country flourish, and the Lord is moving in mighty ways across the nation. Despite being predominately Muslim, Christianity is widely accepted and many people are eager to come to the Lord. The Lulu Tree’s focus in Sierra Leone has been partnering with Pastor Sonnel Kamara to plant churches, provide support through micro-loans to vulnerable families, and help villages grow a surplus of food through agricultural development.
As of November 2020, the Lord made a way for Pastor Sonnel’s ministry to become sustainable, due to the gift of 35 cows.
Pastor Sonnel Kamara is from Sierra Leone and has an incredible heart for his people. Having overseen 40 evangelical churches, this humble farmer is seeking an abundant harvest for his heavenly Father. One of his greatest desires is to equip the local church by training up men and women to care for their own children. He does this by teaching them sustainable farming methods, by providing microloans towards tools and fruit trees for the men, and by involving the men and their families on his farm.
In addition to equipping Pastor Sonnel with a seeder, thresher, plow, trailer, cassava machine and a storehouse to keep the produce and tools, in November of 2017, a 1979 Ford tractor was donated by the California government. Sonnel and the village men are now able to plant acres of rice, cassava and fruit trees. They also lend out the seeder and the plow to surrounding areas in order to plant seeds of the gospel.
In January of 2019 a rice mill was provided and over four rice farms were threshed and harvested by local villagers, sustaining more than a dozen villages during the famine season. By 2019 the number had extended to 18 villages being equipped by Sonnel’s community rice farms.
What God is doing
in Sierra Leone
Equipping Villages
Sustainable Farming
Pastor Sonnel Kamara is from Sierra Leone and has an incredible heart for his people. Having overseen 40 evangelical churches, this humble farmer is seeking an abundant harvest for his heavenly Father. One of his greatest desires is to equip the local church by training up men and women to care for their own children. He does this by teaching them sustainable farming methods, by providing microloans towards tools and fruit trees for the men, and by involving the men and their families on his farm.
As of November 2020, Lulu Tree Sierra Leone became sustainable after God allowed for Pastor Sonnel to purchase 35 cows. All glory to God.
Equipping Families
Microloans
Many parents in Africa struggle to make ends meet, not because they don’t work hard enough — they work sunup to sundown, trying to sell fuel or purchasing a few items from the market to sell in their village, or doing neighbors’ washing, or selling whatever food they grow in their garden — but because they don’t receive fair wages or fair opportunities. This unfairness makes it difficult to help provide for their children, and may mean they have to give their children away.
Microloans invest in a family business, giving parents the honor of providing for their own.
Equipping Families
Caring for the Vulnerable
Pastor Sonnel Kamara (Regional Director of Western Africa) and his wife, Christiana, have always had a heart for orphans. The Lord has provided a home for them one floor at a time, and The Lulu Tree helped complete it so that the couple could follow God’s call and welcome in orphaned or abandoned children. This large family is now thriving in Bethel Home, fulfilling the command in Psalm 82:3 to “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the weak and the oppressed.”
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In the village of Massassarile, Pastor Ezekiel and his wife Musu have just settled into a home with three bedrooms, where they now have space to care for orphaned and abandoned children from the village. This young couple has also just added baby Jeremiah to their family. The children are happy to be going to school, having help with their studies, and living near relatives and friends in the village while being protected and loved in this new family.
Pastor Bai and his wife have been caring for orphans in a compound built by missionaries years ago. The missionaries have long since abandoned the project, but this couple has continued to take in and raise children using their own resources. The Lulu Tree discovered that Pastor Bai’s tractor (with which he had been producing food that sustained the children) is now broken, and the family is struggling to feed and care for the children. The Lulu Tree has committed to helping get the family back on their feet, so they can continue doing the work the Lord has led them to do.
Equipping Villages
Church Planting
Mosques can be found in nearly every village in Sierra Leone, but evangelical churches are rare. Out of desperation, many believers find themselves in a mosque simply because they long for fellowship and have no other option.
Today, numerous pastors have been trained through Pastor Sonnel Kamara. Seven churches have been planted, and countless other villages await — where a church is lacking, Pastor Sonnel raises up cell group leaders who fill the void by studying Scriptures with the villagers each week.
Equipping Families
Healthcare
Sierra Leone boasts one of the highest maternal death rates in the world. In addition to the prominence of female genital circumcision, in third-world countries, basic supplies such as a clean razor, plastic sheet, and cotton thread are required in order for a hospital to admit you. As a result, most women end up giving birth at home, alone, on a dirt floor.
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In response to this desperate need, Pastor Sonnel Kamara of Sierra Leone has partnered with The Lulu Tree to construct a birthing clinic which will also double as a medical clinic, serving 18 surrounding villages. As of November 2020, it was completed, and is now being overseen by Pastor Kamara and the Sierra Leone government.
It includes:
(1) A birthing room
(2) A female ward
(3) A male ward
(4) WFP Room for food items
(5) HIV Room
(6) Office space
(7) Drug store
(8) A dressing room or surgical ward.
(9) Two room apartment for two nurses
(10) A hallway for patients in the same building.
FGM Rescue
FGM (female genital mutilation…also known as “female circumcision”) is an ongoing problem in the country of Sierra Leone, where close to 90% of women have been subjected to this painful and dangerous procedure. Heavily tied to political and financial gain, the practice is often conducted by force and in secret and has been difficult to irradicate in a country where powerful leaders fund “soweis,” women who lead underground FGM groups.
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FGM is performed under unsanitary conditions and often results in serious infection and long-term health problems, including complications in pregnancy and childbirth. Pastor Sonnel is devoted to protecting God’s precious daughters from the physical and emotional trauma of this harmful practice. Because of the complex role FGM plays in society, the solution needs to come from within as women rise up to take a stand against it and protect their daughters.
Female genital mutilation targets little girls, baby girls – fragile angels who are helpless, who cannot fight back. It’s a crime against a child, a crime against humanity. It’s abuse. It’s absolutely criminal and we have to stop it. -Waris Dirie
In an answer to prayer, the Lord touched the heart of a former FGM leader, Mafaray Bangura, a mother who lives in Sierra Leone; when she came to Christ Mafaray left her lucrative career as a soweis. She has since offered to lead Pastor Sonnel’s mission to end FGM, pledging to begin by protecting her own children and dedicating her life to protecting the daughters and future daughters of Sierra Leone.
Offering girls a fighting chance
Through the FGM Rescue program, countless parents are redeeming their daughters’ lives across western Africa.
Meanwhile, Mafaray is equipping the mothers of these girls, as well as local churches, with knowledge about the female reproductive system, FGM, and parenting classes on how to disciple and nurture their daughters. In the video below, she shares her story.
Pastor Sonnel is now sending girls to school whose parents have agreed to refrain from allowing them to undergo FGM. Not only does this ensure their protection from FGM, but it allows these girls to be taught about the dangers of FGM, how to protect themselves, and the importance of protecting their future daughters. By the time the girls are out of school, they will be old enough to make their own choices and to become strong leaders in their own right, influencing their communities and bringing hope to future generations.
USA Location
1177 W Cody Circle, South Jordan, UT 84095
Phone
(385) 315-8433 (US)
info@thelulutree.com