The Seldom Scene’s most recent album, SCENEchronized, was nominated for a 2008 GRAMMY - Best Bluegrass Album. This is a concert you will not want to miss.

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Christ the King College, a senior secondary school in Bo, presented awards to four CRC boys in their Annual Prize Giving Ceremony in November, 2007. These awards are given to students who attained excellence in their academic work the previous academic year.

Aruna Stevens received awards in both Mathematics and Georgraphy for best student he was in Senior Secondary School Class 2. Abu Bakaara Jalloh received an award for coming in the first position of his Junior Secondary School class 2. Mohamed Nabieu came away with six awards as the best student in Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Georgraphy, as well as the best overall student in SSS1. Abdulai Swaray was awarded the prize for best student in Further Math while he was in SSS1. Additionally Adbulai earned 1^st place in throwing the discus at senior level during their school inter-house sports competion. Congratulations students!

Helping Children Worldwide would like to fund the post-secondary education of all of our 70 residential children/youth. Some will go on to university education, some will go on to vocational education. Please consider a donation to the CRC Scholarship Fund.

CRC Resident Children, originally uploaded by Helping Children Worldwide.

You know how wonderful it is when a new child is welcomed into someone’s family? Well, just imagine the excitement at the CRC as 29 new resident children have been welcomed in the past several months, most of them this past summer. They are all shapes and sizes. Now 31 boys and 39 girls call the CRC their home. Most of the newest children are very young – between 3 and 8 years old, and some are biological siblings. It is wonderful to see the older CRC children taking care of and nurturing the younger ones.

Allen and I were fortunate to be at the CRC this summer when many of the new children arrived. Some looked like they were in a state of shock. Others were expressionless. One boy, I remember, was not feeling well and spent the next couple of days in bed.

One particular day two sisters arrived at the CRC during lunchtime. They each got a plate of rice with sauce and silently sat down at an empty table. I went over, sat with them, and welcomed them. They devoured their food without any conversation. I doubt they knew what I was saying to them. I wondered when they had last eaten, and what they were thinking. Were they scared? I was so happy they had come to the CRC with each other. They looked much younger than their 5 and 7 years. Children in Sierra Leone tend to be much smaller than our kids in the US, mainly due to widespread malnutrition.

Now fast forward to a couple of days later. I found these same little two girls laughing and playing on the CRC playground, which was full of pikins (pronounced “peekins”– what they call very small children in Sierra Leone). I know that children are resilient, but it is amazing to me to witness that kind of sudden transformation. It was the same with all of the new children. They became so joyful, so quickly when they were fed, loved and surrounded by other children.

During the opening ceremony speakers urged the new hospital staff to deliver the kind of service that reflects the
hospital’s name: “MERCY”. They also encouraged employees to “take off garments of esteem” and to “put on
garments that work for God.” Attendees were treated to a tour of the facility after the ceremony, which also included
music and prayers.

The new 25-bed UMC hospital will serve the poorest of the poor and will save many lives in a country that has the
highest child and maternal mortality rates in the world. Critical care will be provided and community health
initiatives will be sponsored by the hospital to address malaria and malnutrition.

What makes Mercy Hospital different from other hospitals in Sierra Leone is that it will serve people regardless of their
ability to pay. Please lift up a prayer of thanksgiving to God for making this hospital a reality.

The Partnership has made it a priority to rescue more children and provide them loving, Christian
homes. In 2007 the CRC Partnership funded a program for 25 foster children. That funding increased to cover 28
children when the April 2007 CRC UMVIM team decided to donate remaining team funds to the CRC Foster Care
Program. Please pray for this program, for Mattu Charley, and for God to reveal 28 special children who will be saved
and blessed by His grace through the CRC Foster Care Program. Welcome, Mattu!