News
The World Council of Churches has expressed a “deep and shared concern” to its member churches in West Africa over reports concerning “the Ebola crisis and its devastating impact on the lives of men, women and children living in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria.”
“What affects one, affects us all”, wrote Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, associate and acting general secretary of the WCC, in recognizing the anxiety and isolation of patients and their families as well as the risks faced by “the many caring local and international health service providers who are giving medical care and support to those at risk or already infected by Ebola.”
Expressing encouragement to governments, relief agencies and the medical community, the WCC called for renewed emphasis on “the accurate sharing of information about the disease so that the people can identify the symptoms quickly and seek medical help.”
The letter to the Liberian Council of Churches and intended for all Christians in West Africa calls on churches and their congregations “to seek out appropriate ways of supporting our affected brothers and sisters, particularly through our Christian health services in the affected countries, who are over-stretched and lacking many of the basic necessities and resources to deal effectively and compassionately with this crisis.” Phiri assured those affected by Ebola of the active prayers of believers everywhere.
