The "Rich Family"

A few days before Christmas, Keith and I were driving home to my parent's house, after visiting my mom in the hospital. (Mom had just had knee replacement surgery and was recovering in the hospital's rehab unit.) We started flipping through radio stations and paused on a station with an elderly woman telling a story. The story really touched me, and I wanted to post it here. Hopefully, it will be an encouragement to you, too.

The Rich Family in Our Church
By Eddie Ogan

I'll never forget Easter 1946. I was 14, my little sister Ocy, 12, and my older sister Darlene, 16. We lived at home with our mother, and the four of us knew what it was to do without many things. My dad had died 5 years before, leaving Mom with seven school kids to raise and no money. By 1946, my older sisters were married, and my brothers had left home. A month before Easter, the pastor of our church announced that a special Easter offering would be taken to help a poor family. He asked everyone to save and give sacrificially.

When we got home, we talked about what we could do. We decided to buy 50 pounds of potatoes and live on them for a month. This would allow us to save $20 of our grocery money for the offering. Then we thought that if we kept our electric lights turned out as much as possible and didn't listen to the radio, we'd save money on that month's electric bill.

Darlene got as many house and yard cleaning jobs as possible, and both of us babysat for everyone we could. For 15 cents, we could buy enough cotton loops to make three potholders to sell for $1. We made $20 on potholders. That month was one of the best of our lives. Every day we counted the money to see how much we had saved. At night we'd sit in the dark and talk about how the poor family was going to enjoy having the money the church would give them. We had about 80 people in church, so we figured that whatever amount of money we had to give, the offering would surely be 20 times that much. After all, every Sunday the Pastor had reminded everyone to save for the sacrificial offering.

The day before Easter, Ocy and I walked to the grocery store and got the manager to give us three crisp $20 bills and one $10 bill for all our change. We ran all the way home to show Mom and Darlene. We had never had so much money before. That night we were so excited we could hardly sleep. We didn't care that we wouldn't have new clothes for Easter; we had $70 for the sacrificial offering. We could hardly wait to get to church.

On Sunday morning, rain was pouring. We didn't own an umbrella, and the church was over a mile from our home, but it didn't seem to matter how wet we got. Darlene had cardboard in her shoes to fill the holes. The cardboard came apart, and her feet got wet. But we sat in church proudly. I heard some teenagers talking about the Smith girls having on their old dresses. I looked at them in their new clothes, and I felt so rich. When the sacrificial offering was taken, we were sitting on the second row from the front. Mom put in the $10 bill, and each of us girls put in a $20.

As we walked home after church, we sang all the way. At lunch, Mom had a surprise for us. She had bought a dozen eggs, and we had boiled Easter eggs with our fried potatoes!
Late that afternoon the minister drove up in his car. Mom went to the door, talked with him for a moment, and then came back with an envelope in her hand. We asked what it was, but she didn't say a word. She opened the envelope and out fell a bunch of money. There were three crisp $20 bills, one $10, and seventeen $1. Mom put the money back in the envelope.
We didn't talk, just sat and stared at the floor. We had gone from feeling like millionaires to feeling like poor white trash. We kids had had such a happy life that we felt sorry for anyone who didn't have our mom and dad for parents and a house full of brothers and sisters and other kids visiting constantly.

We thought it was fun to share silverware and see whether we got the fork or the spoon that night. We had two knives which we passed around to whoever needed them. I knew we didn't have a lot of things that other people had, but I'd never thought we were poor. That Easter Day I found out we were.

The minister had brought us the money for the poor family, so we must be poor. I didn't like being poor. I looked at my dress and worn-out shoes and felt so ashamed that I didn't want to go back to church. Everyone there probably already knew we were poor! I thought about school. I was in the ninth grade and at the top of my class of over 100 students. I wondered if the kids at school knew we were poor. I decided I could quit school since I had finished the eighth grade. That was all the law required at that time.

We sat in silence for a long time. Then it got dark, and we went to bed. All that week, we girls went to school and came home, and no one talked much. Finally on Saturday, Mom asked us what we wanted to do with the money. What did poor people do with money? We didn't know. We'd never known we were poor.

We didn't want to go to church on Sunday, but Mom said we had to. Although it was a sunny day, we didn't talk on the way. Mom started to sing, but no one joined in, and she only sang one verse.

At church, we had a missionary speaker. He talked about how churches in Africa made buildings out of sun-dried bricks, but they need money to buy roofs. He said $100 would put a roof on a church. The minister said, "Can't we all sacrifice to help these poor people?" We looked at each other and smiled for the first time in a week. Mom reached into her purse and pulled out the envelope. She passed it to Darlene. Darlene gave it to me, and I handed it to Ocy. Ocy put it in the offering. When the offering was counted, the minister announced that it was a little over $100. The missionary was excited. He hadn't expected such a large offering from our small church. He said, "You must have some rich people in this church."

Suddenly it struck us! We had given $87 of that "little over $100." We were the rich family in the church! Hadn't the missionary said so? From that day on I've never been poor again. I've always remembered how rich I am because I have Jesus.

The unluckiest baby in the world

Sierra Leone, only six hours from London, has the world's worst infant mortality rate. And for this new-born child and her young mother, the fight is only just beginning

By Katherine Butler
Published: 24 December 2007

Bintu Koroma is the only midwife at Kroo Bay clinic

In the dark of a one-room shack, a new-born baby sleeps in the arms of a young mother. It could be a biblical scene. The glow from a kerosene lamp gives the mother a halo. Add an ox, a lamb and a manger, and this could be the story of Christmas, a painting of the Madonna and Child from the Middle Ages, or the living crib assembled by St Francis in the 13th century.
Eyes shut, arms thrown back, the infant looks relaxed. She doesn't know that this is the toughest place in the world to be born on Christmas Eve. It's a six-hour flight from London but here, in the moist, hot, mosquito-blown air of this corner of Africa, Salamatu Sankoh was born by candlelight in conditions barely advanced since the time of Christ. Life's lottery has delivered her to a slum in Sierra Leone. In some ways, you could call her the unluckiest baby in the world.

Sierra Leone should be a scandal, a scar on the conscience of a world which, seven years ago, promised to eradicate extreme poverty, cut child mortality by two thirds and improve maternal health by 2015. Halfway to that deadline, conditions for babies born this Christmas in the 10 toughest places for a child are still devastating. And Sierra Leone comes top on that list.

The west African state ranks bottom (177th out of 177) on the UN's human development index. One in four children dies before the age of five, the worst infant mortality rate in the world. The health system is on its knees. Nearly all medical staff fled during an 11-year civil war. Five years on, there are still fewer than 10 surgeons for the entire country.

The children of Kroo Bay, the Freetown slum where Salamatu entered the world, are arguably worse off than any others in Sierra Leone. Yet even here, there is hope. The resilience of the people, a democratically elected government and the help of Save the Children, one of the charities The Independent's Christmas Appeal is supporting, can be thanked for some first signs of progress.

When Graham Greene lived in Sierra Leone, the setting for his novel The Heart of the Matter, Kroo Bay was a small fishing harbour. From a distance, with its tall trees fringing the Atlantic Ocean, it has a lush beauty. Close up, Salamatu's new home looks and smells like a landfill site. The homes of 6,000 people sit amid mounds of silt and rubbish. Pigs, knee deep in the filthy river that runs through the shantytown, root greedily in the waste and refuse. Rats scurry before your feet.

Salamatu's safe birth and her mother's survival were far from guaranteed. One in six mothers here dies in childbirth. (In the UK, the rate is one in 3,800).

At Kroo Bay's only dilapidated clinic the lone delivery bed has a rusty iron frame. There are a couple of plastic garden chairs and the sole cot has only three wheels. Staff don't even dream of a doctor. They would be happy to have a bedpan, surgical spirits, cotton wool. The most pathetic entry on their typed four-page wish list must be "one hurricane lamp". The clinic has no electricity, let alone pain relief for the women in labour. "The nurses got hold of a pair of forceps but there is no steriliser, we can only boil water to disinfect things," says Adama Gordima, head of the clinic.

If a new mother develops complications, neither Bintu Koroma, the overworked midwife, nor Mammy Soko, a trained attendant, can do much but refer her to the nearest big hospital 4km away. But the £20 admission charge is out of reach for most.

Salamatu risks serious illness from an early age. Kroo Bay has just one latrine so human waste goes directly into the river. The same water is used for washing clothes. As a toddler she may have to sort through broken glass or blades in the rubbish, risking infection. That would be bad enough. But for three months of the year it rains. That's when the absence of any public rubbish collection in Freetown turns Kroo Bay turns into a fetid swamp.

Rubbish clogs the drains, filthy water backs up in the walkways and sweeps into the shacks. Salamatu will go to bed at night with floodwater washing beneath her. Typhoid, diarrhoea and cholera come with the floods. Flies, cockroaches, and rats breed in the garbage and spread disease. The blocked drains are a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Perhaps like Khadija Turay, five, Salamatu will sit in the waiting room of the clinic aching with malaria. "She is tormented by fever," her father tells me. "We have bed nets but they are old and full of holes and maybe we put them down too late in the day" he admits. One course of malaria treatment is cheap at £1.50, but the average daily income for the majority of Sierra Leoneans is just £1.

Even if Salamatu lives beyond five, the time she has for the things of childhood will be short. It's rare to see a toy. Children have to work, they fetch water, look after the younger ones. Like 12-year-old Abdulam Kamara, the son of a neighbour, she may have to go out to work full time. Abdulam, a serious boy who longs to be back in school where he says he loved "short stories and English compositions", sells water in the streets of Freetown.

But Salamatu's story could also have a different ending. After decades of mismanagement, Sierra Leone has a new democratically elected government. With unspoilt beaches and pristine rainforest some even believe that with investment, the country could be a travel destination to match Mauritius or the Seychelles. Save the Children has begun to assist with the rebuilding.

And the people of Kroo Bay are far from helpless. There's an air of intense activity about their community. Abdulam the child water-seller, Bintu the midwife, Mammy Soko and the other slum dwellers are survivors. They moved here to escape war. Now, everywhere you look, someone is cooking, washing, hawking things to sell, fetching water, sewing, cutting hair, scraping a living. There's no choice. For the privilege of living in these shacks built on the city's rubbish, residents have to pay rent – and money for every trip to the doctor has to be found.

Some of their problems would be easy to solve. Immunisations, tetanus jabs, bed nets, rehydration salts are not expensive, and education about hand washing, covering food and other disease prevention steps would transform lives. With the right help, life could be dramatically better by the time baby Salimatou is a little girl.

Next month, Save the Children will begin upgrading the Kroo Bay clinic. The women in labour will get more privacy, as well as equipment; forceps, drip stands, saline solution and a few proper delivery beds.

This is about far more than bandages however. In the longer term the aid agency is trying to convince the Sierra Leone government, and Western governments, that scrapping health charges for the poorest people could save 7,000 children a year.

In parallel, a clean-up campaign will be integral to tackling the atrocious conditions that are killing so many. A coalition of aid agencies will dredge the rivers and stop the flooding, as well as campaigning for an end to indiscriminate rubbish disposal in Freetown.

Save the Children is hopeful that now Sierra Leone has a stable government, the aid will be transformative. The new Presiden, Ernest Bai Koroma, has promised to target corruption.
"Leadership is fundamental" says Dieneke Van der Wijk of Save the Children. "When you have it, then absolutely, there is hope".

Until then, Salamatu will need a lot more luck on her side.

November Prayer Letter

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him--a threefold cord is not quickly broken." (Ecc. 4:9-12)

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support. As many of you know we were unable to visit Freetown in August like we had hoped. Pastor Samuel Menyongar, the main leader for our work in Freetown, was in the US during this time. We were blessed to have him spend a few days with us here in Columbus to meet with our friends and supporters to share about the work he is doing to further the Gospel of Jesus in Sierra Leone. It is amazing to see how much the Lord does with such a small community of pastors. Hundreds of people each month come to know Jesus through the ministry of IMC and the outreaches that they do in schools, hospitals, refugee communities, and many other places.

The Lord continues to provide wonderful opportunities in Sierra Leone and we are excited about what the future will bring through our partnership with IMC. Sierra Leone recently elected a new president and we are extremely hopeful for change to continue in a positive way. After another year, Sierra Leone has risen slightly in its ranking of worst places in the world—instead of holding last place, Sierra Leone is now ranked 3rd. Please continue to pray that the Lord would continue to show his heart for the poor in this country.

Pastor Menyongar’s visit also gave us a great chance to discuss current and future plans for Change One. First, the well project in Rokel has been finished and the people there are extremely grateful for this blessing in their community. They have begun to use the well but they are hoping to have a formal opening ceremony the next time we go to visit. It is currently a hand-drawn well and we are looking into furnishing a pump in the future.

We recently transferred a sum of money to support two new projects. The first is a sanitation project in the Grafton community. Grafton is an area outside of Freetown, where many were relocated in camps after the war. Change One and IMC (International Missionary Center) will be partnering to build some desperately needed latrines and bathing areas in these refugee communities: one in the Grafton Polio Community and the other will be in Grafton War Wounded Community. Please pray that these communities would be blessed by these projects and that they would continue to provide consistent opportunities for evangelism in Grafton. We are still praying that we will be able to build houses in the Grafton War Wounded Community this year.

In our last letter we had mentioned the possibility of providing some livestock for the Newton community through a micro-loan program. After having discussed issues with the members of the camp and with the other pastors in Sierra Leone, we are hoping to allow for more opportunities than just livestock. The people within the community have asked that we provide for them to be able to start their own micro-businesses. Members of the community will submit proposals for the type of business they would like to start such as raising chickens, selling rice, hand woven fabrics, etc. The proposals would be approved through Change One and IMC leadership. Members in that community would commit to a payment schedule to help them pay back the money and they would be accountable to leadership in Sierra Leone. We feel that this is an even better opportunity, because it gives the community freedom to choose the type of work that they do.

Finally, we are in the process of planning a medical outreach trip to Freetown this spring. Please pray that all the details will come together for this trip and that many Sierra Leoneans will be encouraged as a result of the medical team. If you feel that you’d like to financially support this trip and other ministry projects, please send a check to Change One in the enclosed envelope.
The verse from Ecclesiastes above is so true: two are better than one because they have good return for their work. We are very blessed to have a partnership with the members of IMC because we are able to do far more work than we ever could have imagined. That work is even more fruitful when the Lord’s hand is guiding and blessing it. Thanks for all of you prayers and support because with them we are able to dream big dreams and watch God change the world.

Love and blessings,

Keith and Laura

Change One Board Members

Here's a picture of our board members--we took this when Pastor Menyongar visited us in August. The sun was really bright, so we were all a little squinty!

Back row (left to right): Laura & Keith Padgett, Kris Batcheck, Jarrod Ulrey, Samuel Menyongar

Front row: Karen Washer, Dorothy Kardatzke

Moving up in the world!

According to a new study, Sierra Leone is now the 3rd worst place in the world to live! Sierra Leone has been displaced at the bottom of the list by Ethiopia and Niger.

This study was conducted by using UN's Human Development Index and the Environmental Sustainability Index drawn up by Yale and Columbia Universities and the World Economic Forum.

For more information, see this article from Yahoo News or the complete list of countries as published in Reader's Digest.

Final Election Results

Sierra Leone officially has a new president! On August 11, elections took place. However, none of the candidates received enough votes to actually win, so a run-off election was scheduled between the top 2 candidates.

Ernest Bai Koroma of the All People's Congress (APC) won with 53% of the total votes compared to 44% for the outgoing Vice President, Solomon Berewa.

Here's a good article from the BBC with more info: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7000059.stm

From what I'm hearing, it sounds like people are hopeful about this new president. Let's pray for positive change in Sierra Leone!

The Rokel Well Project is Finished!

We wanted to post some pictures and information about the well-digging project for the Rokel amputee community. Keith had been working on this with Pastor Menyongar for a few months now--The project was started shortly after Keith visited Freetown at the end of March, and was recently completed!

This is the top of the well, cemented and pad-locked.
Here's another one from the top--I think they may be pulling up the bucket with water!

These last 2 are just a couple more views of the well. We are so thankful that this community of amputees now has access to water within their village!

The Rokel Well Project--inside the well

This photo is probably my favorite picture--it's kind of blurry, but I think it helps give us an idea of just how much work it took to hand-dig a well on the side of a mountain!

Come to a fund-raising event for Change One!

Hey, Friends!

We're having a benefit for Change One! If any of you are in the Central Ohio area, we'd love to have you stop by!

We're hosting a "junks pati" (in Krio, "junks" clothes are second-hand or thrift store clothes, and "pati" just means party). Come in your thrift store finest or funniest! And enjoy lots of food and fun, including authentic Sierra Leonean cuisine and African music.

LIVE music from Heather (Waugh) Evans!!

questions? email Keith at keith@change-one.org or Laura at laura@change-one.org

Date: FRIDAY, March 9, 2007
Time: 7:00pm-10:00pm
Price: Donations will be accepted at the door. All proceeds will to Change One's development projects.
Place: Brookstone Clubhouse, located on Brookstone Blvd, off E Walnut St in Westerville (for a map click here: Map of Brookstone Blvd & Cobblestone Ave
Westerville, OH 43081, US