HAPPENINGS AROUND THE WORLD n HAPPENINGS AROUND THE WORLD n HAPPENINGS AROUND THE WORLD n

Missionaries Evacuated from Cameroon AFTER BOKO HARAM BOMBING

“ G A victim of Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon erman-based Baptist mission agency, EBM International

(EBMI), evacuated all its missionaries and volunteers from the Far North province in Cameroon following a series of bombing by Boko Haram.

“Since January 2013 Boko Haram has started to kidnap foreigners in order to release them for money,” said Christoph Haus, EBMI general secretary. “They have kidnapped almost 20 foreigners, some of them were missionaries.” Activities by the terrorist group have intensified in recent times. “Over the past six weeks they have started a series of six suicide bombings that have left more than 50 dead and hundreds injured,” Haus, who was visiting Cameroon, told the Baptist World Alliance in September 2015. “Three of those attacks occurred 400 and 600 meters from our mission station in Maroua, the capital of the Far North province. We have evacuated all our EBMI missionaries and volunteers from the province.” Haus said the predominantly Muslim region in north Cameroon has approximately 350 Baptist churches. “Some of our Baptist churches at the Nigerian border have been destroyed by Boko Haram terrorists,” he said. Boko Haram, a terrorist Islamist militant organization, has wreaked havoc, mainly in Nigeria, killing some 15,000 and displacing 1.5 million in that country.

Magloire Kadjio, EBMI regional representative in Cameroon, said Boko Haram has changed its tactics. “After the burning of houses, the destruction of properties, the killing with guns, cutlasses and many other means, Boko Haram has changed its methods,” he informed the BWA. “They are now using adolescents as kamikazes. They take time to brainwash them and to convince them that if they die as kamikazes, God will be very pleased with them; they will have special privileges in paradise, they will be together with their loved ones who are already dead.”

Kadjio said though there is no conclusive proof, “some suspect that

the adolescents they are using are from the children who were kidnapped in Nigeria.”

Baptists are extending assistance to displaced persons. “Baptist Christians from other churches and villages gathered food, clothes and fertilizer to help the brethren who were victims,” explained Kadjio. The support provided by EBMI and Baptists in Cameroon and elsewhere has “helped a lot of victims and refugees in many villages.”

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Organization (WHO) at a colorful ceremony at the Bintumani International Conference Centre in Aberdeen, Freetown.”

I

It was with these joyful words that Samuel Conteh, coordinator

of social ministries for the Baptist

Convention of Sierra Leone, wrote the Baptist World Alliance in November 2015. “WHO made this declaration after the country has gone through the 42 days incubation period without registering a case of Ebola. The declaration was made by WHO country representative Dr. Andres Nordstrom,” Conteh declared. “Every district and most chiefdoms have had firsthand

experience of this terrible disease. A total of 8,704 Sierra Leoneans were infected during the outbreak and we lost 3,589 of our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers and our sons and daughters. We lost 221 healthcare workers, including 11 doctors,” he elaborated. “Please join us to remember all those who lost their lives and I pay special tribute to our healthcare workers and other Ebola Response Workers who made the ultimate sacrifice, losing their lives as they tried to save the lives of others. May their souls rest in perfect peace.” Conteh told the BWA that the work continues,

including doubling citizens’ access to water, drastically reducing

maternal and child mortality, creating

sustainable jobs and reducing the size of overcrowded classrooms, in addition to a “comprehensive package of support for 4,051 Ebola survivors which will include free healthcare and psychosocial support.” He extended thanks to the BWA and the worldwide

family of Baptists for their assistance and prayers. “We are very grateful for your support and may the grace of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ be with you all. My special thanks to you and your team for the wonderful job you did in the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone. I say bravo and thank you for your support.” “We praise God and celebrate with you and the people of Sierra Leone for this wonderful news,” said Rothangliani Chhangte, director of Baptist World Aid. “While we are saddened by the loss of so many lives, especially those in the medical profession who served their people so valiantly in the face of such a dreadful disease, we hope that the country will come out stronger and more united.” Liberia, another country that was badly affected by the Ebola virus in 2014 into 2015, was declared Ebola free in May 2015. More than 9,550 Liberians were known to have contracted the disease with almost 4,300 having died as a result of the outbreak. BWAid, the relief and development arm of the BWA,

had extended significant assistance to both countries in the fight against Ebola.

SIERRA LEONE Declared Ebola Free

t is with a great joy and praises to the Almighty God that Sierra Leone, on Saturday, 7 November, has been declared Ebola free by the World Health