Camp Hill UMC Strengthens Ties in Panguma, Sierra Leone

By Beth Notarfrancesco

Recently, a team from the Camp Hill United Methodist Church returned to their sister church, Lower Bombara UMC, in Panguma, Sierra Leone, West Africa to rejuvenate the relationship that suffered a 3-year break due to the COVID pandemic. The relationship between the two communities was developed from the partnership the church had with the Sierra Leone Initiative www.susmb.org/sierra-leone-initative/) and grew with yearly voyages to the village. 

The five-person team for 2022 consisted of Jim Clahane, Marsha Curry-Nixon, Beth Notarfrancesco, Denise Paran and Mark Vickrey. Confirming the commitment to the community was the primary focus for the trip although they were also able to spend time with the church, schools, hospital, and dedicating a community market. 

The dedication of the community market was a highlight of the trip for many as the project’s origination started back in the fall of 2015. Camp Hill UMC partnered with Community Empowerment for Livelihood and Development (CELAD) to work with the community-at-large to determine what they most needed. It was decided by the Panguma community leaders and elders that a market structure would be of greatest benefit to the entire community. In 2018 physical construction began and the market came to completion just prior to the team’s arrival in 2022. Two widely loved and respected leaders, Bishop John K Yambasu and Amadu Ndoeka Sr went on to rest with their Lord and Savior during the building of the market and so the dedication of the Amadu Ndoeka Memorial Market became as much of a day of memory and honor as joy and commencement.

The team also spent time revisiting a long-standing scholarship program in which the church has raised and invested more than $340,000 over 12 years to assist in the education of students within the UMC schools in Panguma. Changes in educational funding in recent years as well as changes in leadership determined the need for this re-evaluation. With the wisdom and assistance of Josepha Pormai, Secretary of Secondary Education for the Sierra Leone Annual Conference, the team was able to gather the information necessary to bridge the educational partnership between the two communities into its next season. This partnership is helping to improve the education and opportunity for education to children living in Panguma with the hope of bettering the lives of families one child at a time. 

The team returned home encouraged by the many ways they saw God at work throughout their journey and credits the Sierra Leone Initiative for opening the door of opportunity for the development of this relationship which has changed lives on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean to and for the glory of God. 

God is good all the time. All the time God is good!