A Chance to Help the Fight Against Ebola by Daniel Ramsay

From Daniel Baker: I asked Daniel Ramsay to write this for the church. It will be followed up by a second post that gives more detail on SIM's work in fighting Ebola. I hope you will consider playing some role in this situation.

Dear church members,

I know that Ebola has become a topic that all media is reporting on, and we are now getting saturated with news about it 24/7, particularly with the new cases in the United States.  Rather than looking at what is going on here, which I hope our government will act strongly to curtail, I would like to draw our attention back to West Africa, and more specifically, to Liberia, which is one of the countries most affected by the outbreak.  Ebola continues to spread there, as has been so frequently reported, and is on the verge of spreading out of control.  Both Christian and governmental organizations are doing their best to respond, but more resources are needing to continue the fight.

God laid this issue on my heart several weeks ago, and I felt that I should find a way to contribute to those organizations that are on the front lines.  In Matthew 25:36, Jesus said “...I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.”  We can be confident that in reaching out to those that are sick and suffering, we are ministering to Christ himself.

I spoke with Daniel Baker about this, and at his request, looked into some Christian organizations that are actively meeting this need.  In that research, I found SIM, which is the medical missions organization with Dr. Kent Brantly, Nancy Writebol, and Dr. Richard Sacra, who were all sickened while serving at SIM’s ELWA Hospital in Liberia, and have since recovered (praise God).  SIM is still on the front lines, and is maintaining medical staff at the ELWA Hospital from their field office there.  They are also supplying medical supplies, haz-mat equipment, and are conducting community education efforts.  SIM incurred significant expenses as well associated with retrieving the sick doctors and providing their medical care.

I conducted background research into SIM by looking through their website (http://www.simusa.org/ebolacrisis), including their financial statements.  I also spoke with a representative about current needs they have, how they are currently serving in Liberia, and how we could contribute to their efforts.  My uncle, Jim Ramsay, is a Vice President at The Mission Society, and he highly recommended SIM when I spoke to him.

SIM provided me with a brochure describing their current work on the Ebola crisis in Liberia, which is attached to this post for you to read.  Giving can be done through their website - https://web.simusa.org/Give/projects.php - just reference the project number from the brochure that has been assigned to this effort (Typo: Project 95127 in the brochure is actually 95217). 90% of your contribution will go to the project itself, with 5% to support the field office at Elwa Hospital, and 5% to support the base office in Charlotte, NC.  SIM will provide a year-end statement of total giving for tax purposes.

I encourage you to pray that God will end the spread of this brutal disease.  Pray that He will also especially protect those serving Him in this area, that their protection and recovery if infected would bring glory to Him.

Daniel Ramsay