How Do We Meet the Ongoing, and Growing Ebola Crisis?

Step One: PRAYER

With the hundreds of thousands that are
being affected right now with the ebola virus
our rst commitment to them is prayer. As
Christians we believe that prayer makes all
the difference in comforting, guiding,
leading, listening, and in loving. In prayer we
dont seek what is best in our hearts, but
what is best in Gods Kingdom for those
that we pray for.
Please join SIM (Serving in Mission) and
tens of thousands of Christians around the
world for a week of prayer starting
September 29th, as we ask God to bring
healing to those affected by the Ebola virus
in West Africa.
Since the outbreak began in early 2014,
more than 5,300 cases of Ebola have been
conrmed. More than 2,600 people have
died, and the crisis continues..
God is in control. Though this situation
seems desperate and frightening, we can
trust Him to intervene with loving care.
Please share this prayer effort with family,
friends and fellow believers by every means
possible.
Join us to pray . . .
o For the sick and dying
o For courageous health workers
o For grieving families
o For pastors serving their churches and
communities
o For government ofcials and decision
makers
o For all those waking up each day to the
devastation of Ebola
More information at: http://simeast.com/
index.php/en/
Step One: ACTION
William K. Koffa, a pastor of Oldest Congo Town First
Baptist, Liberia will be traveling back to his home country
from Grand Rapids, Michigan in early October. He is looking
for churches that would be willing to help provide much
needed medical supplies to combat the outbreak. As always
the church has historically been the greatest to act by love in
the face of need. William, his congregation, and the people
of Liberia need our help.
How? As I mentioned already, pray rst. Then let those
praying hands be moved by God to be hands of action that
do something. Right now what we need are very simple
medical supplies that can be purchased at almost any local
store.
o Thermometers
o Hand Sanitizer
o Heavy Duty Plastic Gloves
o Plastic Disposable Hair Caps
o Disposable Face Masks
o Drinking Straws
o Energy Bars (Clif Bars, Powerbars, Granola Bars, ect)
o Bible movies on VHS
o Bible stories on audio tape cassette
o Christian story books
We will be collecting these supplies over the next two
weeks. They will be sent either back with William as he
travels to Liberia in early October, or via a container shipped
through Healing Hands (The organization Dean Ekberg
serves with).
A special thanks to Dean Ekberg for informing us in very
practical and powerful ways, so that we can be actionable in
this epidemic.
Jesus is Alive!
On the next page is an informative article with rst person
account to help us understand what is happening in Liberia.
Why the Liberian Ebola Outbreak
is Worse Than You Have been Led
to Believe.
Alex Park, Associated Press
As of this week, the Ebola outbreak in West
Africa is known to have infected more than 5,700
people and taken more than 2,700 lives. Yet
those gures could be dwarfed in the coming
months if the virus is left unchecked. On Tuesday,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reported that the total number of infections could
reach 1.4 million in Liberia and Sierra Leone by
January 2015. Though cases have been reported
in ve countries, nowhere has been harder hit
than Liberia, where more than half of the Ebola-
related deaths have occurred.
The outbreak has crippled Liberia's economy. Its
neighbors have sealed their borders and shipping
has all but ceased, causing food and gas prices
to skyrocket. Schools and businesses have
closed down, and the country's already meager
health care system has been taxed to the
breaking point. Meanwhile, as panic grips the
country, crime has risen steadily and some
reports suggest that Liberia's security forces are
among the perpetrators.
This forces many Liberians to stay indoors and
avoid interacting with other people. Since the
virus can be caught merely by touching the sweat
of an infected person, once-common forms of
physical contact, like handshakes, have become
rarer.
Abel: I don't wear short sleeve shirts to step
outside my house. I keep my children in my yard
throughout the day. I make sure we wash our
hands periodically. We do not shake hands with
anybody outside of our house. We do not
entertain visitors in our house These behaviors
are very strange amongst Liberians Shaking
hands is our one of the cultural values that we
have. Liberia may be poor and not willing to be
developed, but we are friendly people who
believe in shaking hands in a special way, and
eating together from the same bowl.
Frances: Schools are closed for time indenite.
We don't know when schools will open. We are
sitting at home, watching and praying that school
will open sooner. Rumors are coming that
schools will open next year we don't know.
What I think the youth can do now is to get on
our feet and educate the common man, those
that are still in the denial stage, to sensitize them,
give them the actual information about this Ebola
virus, let the youth get on their feet from house to
house, door to door, and try to inform the
populace about the deadly Ebola virus, and how
it can be prevented.
When the epidemic struck Liberia, a number of
hospitals closed, often because their staffs had
ed in fear. Adding to the problem, Ebola's
symptoms mimic other, still common diseases,
but treating anything that resembles Ebola
necessitates protective gear that's not always
available outside the quarantine centers. That
means that many people who are suffering non-
Ebola illnesses are going untreated.
Frances: Many were afraid that if you have
malaria, you have common cold, you have fever,
you go to the hospital, they would diagnose you
as an Ebola patient... I even got sick during the
outbreak. I was afraid to go to the hospital. I had
to do my own medication, but God looked out for
me. I'm well. But these were the messages that
were going around, that once you have this, they
will conne you to a place, they will quarantine
you for 21 days, they will inject you. So many
Liberians were afraid to go to hospitals. But now
the message has spread out. We now know
people are surviving of Ebola. Even if it is not
Ebola, you just have malaria, you go there, you
are treated. They get you tested; they release you
on time.
Before it spread to Monrovia, Ebola struck in Lofa
County, Liberia's rice-producing center. Many
farmers avoided their elds, severely hurting
domestic food production. Food imports (the
country imports about two-thirds of its grain
supply) have also been hampered because of the
crisis. Borders with neighboring countries have
been closed, and shipping companies have
avoided the nation's ports. All of that has led to
the biggest increases in food prices since the
nation's civil war, which ended in 2003. In a
country where 84 percent of everyone lived on
less than $1.25 per day in 2011, this shock has
become its own crisis.
Frances: Liberia is declining, the economy is
declining, and things are just getting difcult on a
daily basis. We are not free to move around, we
are not free in our own country because of this
deadly Ebola virus. We are urging the
international community to come to our rescue,
for the downtrodden, because pretty soon there
will be another war, and that will be the hunger
war.