Sarah with prosthetic leg
Upon reading about Sarah, a 14 year-old Nigerian girl and member of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN) who lost her leg after being kidnapped by the Boko Haram, Hempfield Church of the Brethren in Lancaster County, Pa., quickly decided to act. They took a special offering to raise the $2,000 needed to reimburse Sarah’s family for the prosthetic leg, and were blessed to send $3,538 to her family.
“Sarah’s story was brought to our attention by a member who thought that the congregation would be more than happy to come alongside this family,” said Kent Rice, pastor for Outreach and Mission. “Her father is a medical officer with the EYN Relief Team in Jos and while they were obviously overjoyed when she was rescued and returned to them, it seemed like this was an opportunity to remind her family that they are not alone. So we challenged the congregation to show our brothers and sisters just how much we care for them and the response was overwhelming.”
Sarah is hoping to return to school next year.
Back story
Abel is the Medical Officer with the EYN Relief Team. In October 2014, his 14-year-old daughter, Sarah, was kidnapped by Boko Haram from her school in Mubi along with other children. The church kept praying for God to strengthen Abel and to show him a sign that his daughter was dead or alive.
In December, word was received that his daughter had been rescued and was in Cameroon with other children. Many children lost their lives during the rescue, while Sarah was wounded in the leg. Her leg was amputated from the knee down without any form of pain relief.
Sarah has now been reunited with her family and her recovery is going well. She is hoping to go back to school and continue with her education. Here is where Hempfield helped. Sarah has now been fitted with a prosthetic leg which cost about $2,000. Her family had borrowed the money to provide Sarah with this leg so she could go on with her life.
— For more information about the Nigeria Crisis Response go to www.brethren.org/nigeriacrisis.