Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is a small coastal nation that lies between Guinea and Liberia on the west side of Africa and is slightly smaller than the state of South Carolina.  There are approximately 4.7 million people with over half of the population living in rural areas and about 40% urbanized. Much of the population is children and youth.  The average woman in Sierra Leone has about six children.  Due to this,  there is a high mortality rate due during child birth. Women are the backbone of Sierra Leonean labor. Men do the physically intense work of clearing fields and plowing swamps, but planting, harvesting, weeding, gathering wood, cooking, cleaning, marketing, and child care are duties often shouldered by women.  Sierra Leone is an extremely poor nation, with over half of its people earning only $1.25 per day.  To make matters worse, the nation is politically unstable due to corruption and civil wars.   Sierra Leona was one of the hardest hit nations with Ebola.  Over 14,000 people were plagued with the illness and over 4,000 people died.   Out of 30 people groups within Sierra Leone, there are still 11 unreached people groups.

You would think that Sierra Leone is mostly Christian due to the many churches that are in the capital city. However, when you get out of the capital city, you will find that six of the nine main tribes in Sierra Leone are unreached.  Sonrise is hyper-focused on changing this. Live Schools have started among these people and we are sending missionaries to plant churches in the unreached people groups.  We are seeing great things and our coordinators are going to the corners of the country sharing the Gospel with every man, woman and child.  People are hungry for the truth in Sierra Leone and we believe MANY will come to know Jesus!