Remembering the past

 

 

 

As we prepare for our next journey to Sierra Leone, I was digging out travel gear when I came across some photos of the first entrance into Sierra Leone, May 2000. This was Fr. Seraphim's first trip to Freetown, the beginning of Nazareth House's involvement in that country. He went there to pray, to physically pray in the midst of the turmoil. What he experienced captured his heart and went on to capture us all.

Go to our website page entitled Houses of Nazareth (chapter & affiliates) scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the link labeled "double click here for more pictures" located under the picture of little Sheku (with worms) & Kadijah. This link will take you to more photos of the first images of Nazareth House's beginnings in Sierra Leone.

In May 2000, the streets of Freetown were deserted. Though there is a tremendous amount of growth and work to be done in Sierra Leone today, much has improved since the early days. Your contributions through your support of Nazareth House Apostolate benefit Sierra Leone in many ways and help it to continue to take steps forward. Thank You. Spread the word, give today!

BE CONTAGIOUS!

BE CONTAGIOUS...SPREAD THE WORD...

Let everyone know how to be a part of Nazareth House Apostolate
and how to "love thy neighbor" by helping to provide for the very needy of Sierra Leone.

Share this blog, check out the website and watch us in action on Youtube and
please Give Today and encourage others to do the same.

Together we ARE changing lives, providing education, feeding the hungry...
....BE CONTAGIOUS

School Building gets final coat of paint

The Kabala School building is attempting to get a final coat of paint, however, heavy rains of the season have begun and finding a space of time that remains dry long enough to complete the task...is to say the least..FRUSTRATING! The above photo is a rough estimate of how it will look when painted. We are not sure the paint is exactly the colors we see in the photo, however, the painting crew is trying to get it as close as possible. When James is up to making another visit to Kabala, he will report back to us the actual photographs of the painting job. Please pray and hope that the weather gives them a break.

Waiting our arrival

THANK YOU for the quick response to our plea to raise funds for us to travel to Sierra Leone to deliver much needed medications and supplies and to tend to the needs of the people suffering in Sierra Leone. We expect to treat hundreds of children who are suffering from Internal Parasites such as pin worms, hookworms and round worms. Many of these children will die without such treatment.

We are getting closer to reaching the airfare costs (we lack about $1500) and we still must raise the "on the ground" cash for needs. We use this money to take care of necessities as we travel through Sierra Leone, fixing leaking roofs, providing rice to hungry families, providing hospital fees for those who need to be admitted, etc. Whatever their need, we do our best to give aid as we happen upon village to village.

Keep up the good work, Spread the Love... Invite everyone you know to be a part of Nazareth House Apostolate making a visible difference in many many lives.

St Laurence House Freetown receives supplies

A shipment from Nazareth House Louisville has arrived at St. Laurence House Freetown. It contains medical supply and other various items to be distributed in Freetown and Kabala. The medical supplies are for the Kabala Government Hospital, Dr. James Conteh. There are 14 more supply boxes on the way plus the even more valuable necessities that Fr. Seraphim and I will bring when we arrive. Thanks to all the support, Nazareth House will be doing quite a large volume of work in Sierra Leone this next trip. We ask your prayers.

The school uniform NHA emblem patches have also arrived in Freetown with this batch of supplies. Perfect timing to be put on Uniforms. We are still working to assure that all of the students have a uniform. $25 buys 2 uniforms per child.

Send donations to: Nazareth House Apostolate, Kabala Student Uniform Program, 2216 Goldsmith Lane, Louisville Kentucky 40218. A picture of the child in the uniform you provided will be sent to you. Thank you.

Claudio Lopez visited Jonah House (Nazareth House Retreat Center in Louisville) yesterday and he, along with Fr. Seraphim sends greetings to James in Freetown. We all are happy to hear that James is making an improvement and the ulcer treatment is working thus far.

NHA wishes everyone a relaxing weekend.

Email from James today...

Today I had the pleasure of speaking to James in Freetown via his cell phone and also finding the email below from him in my inbox. It is quite a shock (and disappointing) to open my inbox each morning and not have a greeting from James. I was happy to find the following today. Thanks to God through your prayers, James is improving bit by bit... He said he is resting and watching DVD's of OLD TIME movies sent to him by Father Haux. James also said that the emblem patches for the uniforms arrived today! See in picture above. There were 7 boxes sent about 7-8 days ago and all now have arrived safely. Many have important medical supplies in them. Here's today's words from James:

Hey Mama,

The pictures of me on this blog are great. Thank you for it especially the one of me and you at school site. I looked like a reggae music star. See the way I stand. I wonder where I took that step from. ha ha, I love it.

You continue to make my day better everyday. I love you so much for you coaxing spirit. I will be up soon, in fact I am up already and cant wait to have you here.

So much stuffs came in the mail today (4 postal boxes) that I cant remember all. I will see what pictures and uploading will do tomorrow (if energy stays with me to come to the internet cafe). My thanks to Pa James Krapf for the leather wallet. We wish him a speedy recovery from all the work on his mouth. Kadijah likes the blue bag too.

I am so grateful to you all for the love and concern you have shown to me during this illness, now I know I have a whole lot around me.
Oh well more later.

Love you lots and greetings to all.

Son.

WE HAVE CONTACT!!!!

Dear friends,
Thank you so much for all the prayers. Contact has been made with James. He is alive (praise God), although still in severe pain. He waited all day yesterday to see doctor, returning today he actually saw the doctor. Diagnosis: ulcers. Doc prescribed medication that James is on his way to pick up from pharmacy now. He will call me and tell what the medication is once he purchases it -BEFORE he takes it. St. Laurence House has been depleted of its supply, including ulcer medication, awaiting our return visit to re-supply it. James gave out all that he had to the people in need and didn't save out any for himself. I have scolded him about doing this in the past... (and he'll hear more from me on that point if he does it again...ha ha). He is invaluable to Nazareth House's work in Sierra Leone.

There was a SIM-card malfunction that created the lack of contact. James had to (while sick) fight with the phone company to replace a messed up SIM card for his phone so that he could make and receive calls. Kadijah's phone is broken and non-functioning. With new SIM card in phone, we are back in communication.

Your prayers mean so very much and they are what breathes existence into Nazareth House. Please continue. James is not "out of the woods". Having a diagnosis doesn't necessarily mean opportunity for recovery in Sierra Leone.

Because of the pain, James has been taking a lot of Bismuth, which can cause the stool to become black...this may be the explanation rather than internal bleeding. At this point, the pain has not subsided. The doctor is the same doctor that treated Pa Foday for ulcers; so I am hoping that (if this is indeed) what James' is suffering from...it will be treated properly.

Again, thanks for wading through all this with us. God bless you.