Today is the 30th Birthday of James Mansaray of Freetown, Sierra Leone! Nazareth House wishes him a blessed and joyous day. We are so grateful for his undying faithfulness and diligence. He truly is a gift of God to us. He tirelessly goes about each day caring and loving his neighbors as he brings comfort to them via the Nazareth House Team – which is all of you – who support the work through prayer and financial donations! What a fantastic full body team we all make – all of us using our various gifts and talents to bring about better lives for the people of Sierra Leone. Glory be to God. Amen.
James spent three hours with Alamamy, a young man who has been helpful in giving medical aid to so many in Freetown. Alamamy is very ill and it seems close to death. He has been the breadwinner for the family and therefore Alamamy is so worried what his transcendence may mean for his beloved family. James comforted him and told him that God will provide and that if it is his time to depart this life he must accept this and enjoy real freedom for the first time in his life.
Unfortunately, death frequently strips you of your friends and family in Sierra Leone. Everyone there has experienced an untimely death of someone they love. This is why it is so important for Nazareth House to establish a “dying house” which we will name “Lazarus House”. Do you remember the parable about Lazarus the beggar ? (Luke, chapter 16). Lazarus, a diseased beggar, laid at a rich man’s door, longing for scraps from the rich man’s table. The beggar died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham in heaven. The rich man also died, and his soul went into hell. The rich man didn’t kick Lazarus, he didn’t beat him or be mean to him. He simply ignored the beggar. We plan to establish Lazarus House within the Freetown Compound – our center of operations. As with our recent struggle during the illness of Gladys as she was left to die alone. This is the sad fact for many Sierra Leoneans. They are left to die lying under a few sheets of cardboard propped up next to a building. Gladys was more fortunate than most because she had us to provide the hospital for her and James & Kadijah to keep her company. There is a great need for such a ministry as Lazarus House because there are so many left to “drop the body” alone, hungry, without any comfort while rich men ignore their existence.