CHE in Liberia

Terry leaves Monday for Liberia, where almost one in four children die before the age of five from preventable causes. More than 80 percent of the country is Christian, and the church may be the only institution with the capacity to mobilize enough people to do what needs to be done in the area of community health to prevent these deaths. The solutions are simple things such as health education, clean water, sanitation, hygiene, and malaria prevention.

Terry and the team will present an overview of Community Health Evangelism (CHE) to more than 3,000 pastors, and then will spend two days with key Christian leaders discussing the possibility of a broad CHE ministry in the country.

Then on April 16, his team will meet with Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia, and the Honorable Joseph N. Boakai, Vice President of the Republic of Liberia, to present a vision to them.

Equip International has a CHE program in Liberia already with 10,000 Community Health Evangelists at work in 400 communities. Equip will partner with these pastors to train and equip them for an expansion of the movement into the eastern part of the country.

Pray for wisdom, guidance, and protection for Terry while he is in Liberia. Pray for the leaders of the church there as they consider what their role should be in this crisis.

Praises

  1. Praise God for the continuing expansion of Community Health Evangelism ministries globally. There are now CHE ministries in 112 countries.
  2. Praise God for new staff coming to work with Global CHE Network at a time when demand seems to outstrip capacity. A lifetime friend and supporter from Bethel Baptist Church in Tucson has recently joined our staff as a Projects Manager. He will be giving oversight and direction to many of our major initiatives around the world. His first project will be coordinating a partnership with Healthcare Christian Fellowship International aimed at mobilizing 100,000 churches and 1,000,000 witnesses for Church Health Ministries by 2020. Bryan needs support if God should put it on your heart to give.
  3. Praise God for more than 60 missionaries trained for CHE ministries from 18 different countries and dozens of organizations through training events in the United States in the first quarter of 2012.
  4. Praise God for broad exposure for CHE at two major missions conferences in the United States recently.
  5. Praise God for a group of advisors who have come around me to help with 12 major initiatives for 2012 (a few of them described in the requests below).

Prayer requests

  • Pray for guidance as we meet next week with the leader of Healthcare Christian Fellowship International to determine first steps in our goal to mobilize 100,000 churches and 1,000,000 witnesses through church health ministries and CHE.
  • Pray for a CHE Network working group that has come together with the goal of helping short-term teams deliver long-term solutions by providing tools and strategies for integrated community health and development ministries.
  • Pray for another working group that is working closely with several Christian Colleges and Universities to introduce CHE into their mission and health curricula as well as offer internships to students in CHE programs around the world.
  • Pray for Terry as he has a busy travel schedule this month:
    April 10-21: Liberia
    April 21: Speaking at Best Practices in Global Health Missions Regional Conference in San Antonio, TX
    April 22-27: CHE training for 60 missionaries in Gadsden, AL

Thank you for partnering with us to bring good news to the poor through Community Health Evangelism.

April 2012 Prayer Letter