#PraytoendEbola – Praying for Church leaders in West Africa by name

(This is a follow up to our post on Praying for various key leaders in the fight against Ebola)

Thanks to US (formerly USPG) for passing along the names of several church leaders in Liberia and Sierra Leone and a suggetion of how we can pray for them.  I’m hoping I can update this post with more names over the course of the next few days.

US has a very helpful Ebola update page.  Check it regularly, along with their daily prayer post for prayer requests from those on the ground in West Africa.

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• The Most Revd Jonathan Hart, Archbishop of Liberia
• Ade Renner-Thomas, Chancellor for the Diocese of Freetown, Sierra Leone
• The Most Revd Daniel Sarfo, The Archbishop of Ghana and Primate of the Anglican Province of West Africa (newly elected in March 2014, following the January 2014 death of his predecessor, Abp. the Most. Rev. Tilewa Johnson)

My contact at US suggested we pray for these men especially to have wisdom in how to help the church in these countries know how to continue show love and respond to the needs, yet  minimize risk. 

In researching this post, I came across an article from George Conger’s blog about a May 2014 clergy conference in Ghana, in which Arcbishop Sarfo exhorted the clergy “to identify more closely with their people, by joining in their sorrows and joys” – that was well before the Ebola outbreak had exploded in Liberia and Sierra Leone.  The Church in West Africa faces a tremendous challenge to show the love of Christ and bring His comfort to those who are suffering and dying because of this outbreak.   Let’s remember and pray for the Church leaders throughout West Africa today using the words of 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. ⁶ If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷ And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

⁸ We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. ⁹ Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, ¹¹ as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

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Here are some links for information about the Anglican Province of West Africa and it’s leadership:

Anglican Communion Office Provincial overview page

Wikipedia page

 

We invite all our readers and contacts to share the names of those working in West Africa or directly involved in the Ebola response so that we can uphold them before the Lord by name.  Thanks!