Church publishing team produces Ebola booklets

The United Methodist Church of Liberia is distributing Ebola booklets produced by the church’s publishing team.

The Ebola Disease Face Booklet was initially presented to the Monrovia District Conference during its annual gathering, held this year at Tubman United Methodist Church in Paynesville, outside of the capital city of Monrovia. The booklets are intended to provide hand-on awareness on the Ebola virus in churches, schools, health centers and workplaces.

The booklets were designed to outlive the end of the current Ebola outbreak and help to prepare Liberians for future occurrences of the virus. Pastors are asked to include Ebola prevention information from this booklet during their regular Sunday worship service.

The Rev. Samuel Brown, superintendent of the Monrovia District, thanked the publishing team and United Methodist Discipleship Ministries for continued help to the church in Liberia in its fight against the Ebola virus.

“This booklet is rich with all that you need to know to protect yourself, your family, your local church and the entire community from the Ebola virus,” Brown said. He assured the publishing team that the leadership of the district and the various local churches will use the booklet to fight the Ebola virus.

The Rev. George Wilson said the booklet was a perfect tool in the fight against the Ebola virus. “I liked how the issue of ‘bush meat’ was treated in this booklet,” Wilson said.

Food distribution funded

Discipleship Ministries, in addition to the publishing work, has also joined The United Methodist Church in Germany in paying for food for pastors, senior citizens and those with physical disabilities in and around Monrovia.

The St. Paul River District on Dec. 15 distributed 25 kilogram (55 pound) bags of rice each to all of its pastors. The district superintendent, the Rev. Christopher Marshall, said the food was paid for with the grant, but the district added other items, including sanitizing supplies.

“We as a district wanted to add other sanitizing materials to the food package and to also make the Christmas a festive one for our pastors,” Marshall said.

The Rev. Anna S. Kpaan, director of The United Methodist Church in Liberia’s Ministry to the Aged, on Dec. 17 handed out food packages to senior citizens and the disabled, as well as other needy Liberians who gathered at the denomination’s central office in Liberia. The clergywoman said the distribution of food was funded through the grant from Discipleship Ministries and the German church.

The needs are overwhelming, Kpaan said, pointing to the vulnerable senior citizens seated on the pavement at the central office.

During the food distribution, Victoria Tomah, the denomination’s director of Health and Social Welfare, lectured the beneficiaries on several Ebola preventive measures.

Swen is a communicator for The United Methodist Church in Liberia and is leader of the denomination’s Liberian publishing team.

News media contact: Vicki Brown at (615) 742-5470 or [email protected]