大象传媒

Good morning. 14 years ago today as we were waking up, a daring rescue was taking place in Sierra Leone, West Africa. 6 members of the Royal Irish Regiment were being held hostage by rebels in the jungle 50 miles from the capital Freetown, and troops were sent to try free them. They succeeded, with a small loss of life and number of injuries.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

A year or so after this rescue, in late 2001, I went to Sierra Leone for the first time. 聽The awful wider hostilities over a decade had mercifully ended, and British troops had returned home, except for those remaining as part of a joint UN peacekeeping force.

Today Sierra Leone needs another rescue, an end to another growing disaster, and a new outbreak of peace. It, among several countries, needs release from the deadly Ebola outbreak.

When there in 2001 I went to the Nixon Memorial hospital in Segbwema, or what was left of it. It was deserted and virtually destroyed, a casualty of the conflict. In the intervening years it has been rebuilt and restored, wards and outpatients reopened, and is currently a place where suffering Sierra Leoneans are being treated. My own denomination has, like others, offered additional resources to help in this time of crisis, but what is really needed is an end to the outbreak of Ebola, and for that we continue to pray.

Compassionate God, we pray for those affected by Ebola in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria. We pray for those making difficult decisions and those bearing the brunt of fear and anger in a charged environment.聽 Amen.