NEWS: RESPONSE TO SPREAD OF EBOLA From UMCOR.org

As the Ebola virus spreads in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, The United Methodist Church continues to be present and respond through West African United Methodist church leaders and regional health boards, denominational health facilities, missionaries, and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). The church has three hospitals and five clinics in Sierra Leone and one hospital and three clinics in Liberia. The outbreak, which began in Guinea in February, has spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia, infecting more than 1,600 people and killing at least 887. This infectious disease causes hemorrhagic fevers, with a mortality rate between 50 and 90 percent. It has no known cure. An initial $25,000 grant from UMCOR to the Sierra Leone Annual Conference provided United Methodist health centers with material to protect health workers and prevent contagion and to construct an isolation unit at Mercy Hospital. A $50,000 UMCOR grant to the ACT Alliance was used to help build isolation centers, conduct workshops and educate communities about the virus, and to raise awareness about prevention. This week, UMCOR is partnering with Medical Assistance Programs (MAP) to send urgently needed supplies and personal protective equipment to Sierra Leone and Liberia. The kits include gloves, aprons, masks, goggles, rubber boots, and plastic sheets. The Religious Leaders Task Force on Ebola in Sierra Leone, chaired by United Methodist Bishop John K. Yambasu, and the Liberian Council of Churches and other ecumenical bodies in Liberia have called for three days of fasting and prayer this coming Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (August 6-8). Churches are asked to pray for all who are affected by this crisis, including healthcare workers. Your gifts to International Disaster Response, Advance #982450, supports UMCOR’s work with local communities impacted by natural or human-caused crises. Please join us in praying for those affected by this devastating virus.