We wanted to share some inspiring words with you…

…from our Christian Education Director, Daniel Tholley.  Daniel suffered great loss through the Ebola Crisis in 2014-2015.  Yet he was able to rise above the heartache and difficulties to be a light not only to his community but  to all of us here as well.  When I asked him what he learned from the ebola crisis that might be relevant to what people are going through here with the Covid-19 crisis, here is his response:

Yes, it is our Christian duty to help change others. Satan’s lies have always been “fake news.” In a crisis, he wants us to believe this spinning-out-of-control world is beyond God’s ability to save. The truth is, God is fully in control in every situation. Knowing this can help us experience freedom from fear and worry. Our anxieties can be swallowed up in the truth of who God is and what He can do in and through us.

We have tasted the bitterness of Ebola in our communities. People each hour expected to be hit with ebola. Leading doctors die. Many whole family members had died. Our communities had been badly affected because most women are widows and most children are orphaned in some ways now. Many affected with high blood pressure today in Sierra Leone due to Ebola. Some time ago I, myself was admitted for high blood pressure due to the ebola bitterness. Today I'm very much grateful to God for ended it for me. May God continue to heal others.

I learned that worry and fear can not save people.

When faced with fear of the unknown, turning to an all-knowing God is a good place to start. And for people of faith, we know that God answers prayers and that, as it says in James 5:16, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

That doesn't mean we only pray, we act as well, but calmed by the awareness of the presence of God, we can respond with clarity and direction.

Wow...what heartfelt, wise words.  To hear more from Daniel, listen to his testimony from 2016, shorty after the ebola crisis had ended.

May God bless you and give you strength for the season.