St. Simeon Skete, Taylorsville Kentucky USA

With St. Simeon, the God receiver, as our patron, the skete seeks to practice the ideals found in our Rule, The Thousand Day Nazareth. In simplicity and poverty, the skete embraces the struggle of inner life through the practice of the Prayer Rope.

See our website at www.nazarethhouseap.org

Donations should be addressed to: Nazareth House Apostolate, 185 Captains Cove Drive, Taylorsville, Kentucky 40071.

Important Notice: All writings, posts, graphics & photographs in this blog are the copyrighted property of (unless otherwise indicated) Nazareth House Media, a division of Nazareth House Apostolate and cannot be copied, printed or used without written permission from NHA Media, Taylorsville, KY.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Recovering with a Fresh Initiative

Posted by James Bombolia Mansaray
18 July 2010


It is only a short time away before NHA makes the move to Kabala. The plans are set, but so little accomplished and there is much to be done to make this a reality. At times when I think of this move, I wink my eye brows, trying to send away the uneasy feelings and trust in the strength in you all to make this happen. I had this uneasy feeling with the school and the NHA supporters came through.

I pray that we can do it again this time for the NHA Compound.

Like the school, the Compound is so vital to the work we do in Sierra Leone - it is the cornerstone of stability and the future of the help we continue to give.


True, it has been a while since I last wrote on this blog. I've missed keeping in touch with you all and I guess you guys missed hearing from me as well. I have been quiet but not inactive.

It is our job at NHA to keep the good work going.




It is hard for me to talk about the future in Kabala without first speaking of the heavy cloud of illness we have experienced in the inner circle of NHA recently.

My mum, my dad (Pa Foday)

have both battled malaria this past month.

And then only a few weeks back my wife escaped the deadly malaria and Typhoid parasite.

Today, our beloved Fr. Seraphim continues to struggle to fight against this dreaded disease. Malaria can be a killer disease and we are most thankful for your prayers and the recovery of our loved ones during this troublesome time for NHA.

Young boys praying the rosary for the healing of Fr. Seraphim.




The illnesses we've experienced knocked us down for a bit, but also set us up with a fresh initiative to move forward - with a deeper sense of urgency.

As long as there is ONE person starving,

ONE child unable to attend school, or

Sadly we lost little Emmanuel due to circumstances stemming from his internal parasite infestation.

ONE person dealing with worms squirming in their guts, that's all the motivation we need. We fight hard to conquer all roadblocks.



Once again, Nazareth House Apostolate is in the midst of those it serves in Sierra Leone.



It is the call of NHA to experience what the people it serves experiences. As a Humanitarian Organization we do not place ourselves in a different environment than everyone else. We are one with the people, in their midst.

We get hungry, we get sick, we carry buckets of water, we share the same food - no fancy hotel living with showers that have hot water, no fancy headquarters, we live as everyone does. We get malaria.