From Faytene Grasseschi
It was my deep honour to spend some of my beginning years in Christian work in the back woods of West Africa, Liberia. The land, the people, and what God was doing there were all absolutely beautiful. Never in my life have I ever encountered a people who in the midst of profound struggle with things such as war, terror, hunger, disease and more had such joyful determination to overcome. I quickly fell in love with this nation and it's people.
Ironically, it was while I was in Liberia that the Lord began to speak to my heart regarding His concern for Canada. While I served the poor in this nation during the day, in my evening prayer times began to be filled with a sense that God was challenging me to be a missionary in my own nation. These prayer times in Liberia were the beginning seeds of what has become MY Canada and also TheCRY Movement.
Over they years Liberia has maintained a special place in my heart and at times I have asked the Lord, "Is there something more we can do?" When the ebola outbreak hit national news this past week my heart was gripped.
We reached out to our connections on the ground in Liberia and this is what they said:
"...Basically the country has shut down. People are scared to go out. Hospitals are either shut down our at a reduced capacity. The economy is slowing drastically as many business's cannot function. The government is not functioning well and offering little in service (although I expect they are trying). Most NGO's are leaving...All this to say that only God can help. A call to pray is what we need more than anything. Our staff, Ruth, Rachel, Yar, MaryAnn and Lakaryee are known to care for those that are not well and will be called on often to help in situations that could put them at risk...We are not a medical clinic. We usually look after malnourished children, but with the clinics and hospitals not operating I expect we will get busier."
We are so blessed in Canada, and across North America. Our greatest struggles rarely compare with anything that the people of West Africia are facing today. With this in mind I want to implore you to join us in a few key ways to help.
1 - PRAY - Please join us in praying that the ebola outbreak will stop. At this point the nation needs a God sized miracle.
2 - GIVE - I want to invite you to join us to giving to Hope For the Nations Liberia. This is the organization I served with when I was there and I can testify to their integrity, effectiveness, perseverance and commitment to raise up leaders indigenously. They are truly amazing. They have just launched a campaign to raise $30,000 to fight the effects of ebola in Liberia. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE AND GIVE NOW.
Click here to find out more about Hope For The Nation's other work in West Africa or watch the video below titled "Liberia Rising."
3 - CONTACT OUR LEADERS - Please take a moment to contact our Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to ask them to prioritize aid to West Africa at this time (putting in a word for Iraq and Ukraine would be amazing as well).
The Prime Minister's e-mail is: pm@pm.gc.ca
Minister's John Baird's e-mail is: bairdj@parl.gc.ca
Thank you so much for considering this communication today.
We deeply respect your commitment to make Canada strong for generations to come. Let's arise and bring healing to the nations. Every little bit helps.
