IMM at work in Sierra Leone
It is now 25 years since Sierra Leone was involved in a brutal civil war. Much of the funding for the war was due to the illegal trading in diamonds and of course the miners became seriously involved, often under duress.
One of the main diamond mining areas is to be found in Tongo Fields where it is estimated that some 20,000 people are currently involved in one way or the other in working in diamond mining to earn a living and life still has it's challenges. Until the end of the civl war there were no evangenical Christian Churches in this part of the country. One of the main diamond mining areas is to be found in Tongo Fields where it is estimated that some 20,000 people are currently involved in one way or the other in working in diamond mining to earn a living.
Through the kind offices of the then local UFM missionaries, Mike and Vi Webb, Evangelist Dennis Mannah was appointed to head up the work of outreach to the mining community in an area that is Muslim-dominated but underneath the even more traditional religion still holds sway. Many miners in Sierra Leone believe that diamonds belong to the demons, so men get involved in cultish devil activities in order to ‘get rich’ by finding diamonds.
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A number of church groups have now been established through the ministry of Dennis Mannah and his team. The International Miners’ Mission (IMM) is working alongside these churches and has provided funding for supplying bicycles and now a second motorbike (the first one has served Dennis well but is now worn out) for the pastors and evangelists. A special feature of the work has been the sponsoring of Bible training for the pastors and leaders as the church work has grown.
Dennis has also been provided with a portable generator, laptop pc and projector through IMM supporter’s sponsorship and has been able to show the Jesus movie at isolated village locations and in many cases the whole village has come to watch Dennis’s presentation for the first time in their local dialect. |
Dennis Mannah and his wife |
The Ebola virus epidemic was a great challenge to our field worker and family and is now resolved according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). We continue to receive regular updates and financial reports from our contacts in Freetown who are a United for Mission (UFM) based missionary couple Lamin Jayne and their two year old son Theo. They report regularly and visit “up country” in the mining areas giving encouragement and support to the pastors, churches and children’s work.
Lamin, Jayne and Theo visited the UK and Ireland on furlough for three months this year (2025) spending a day face to face with IMM Trustees and presenting their work in Sierra Leone under the banner of Churches Together in our local Methodist Church.
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A number of church groups have now been established through the ministry of Dennis Mannah and his team. The International Miners’ Mission (IMM) is working alongside these churches and has provided funding for supplying bicycles and now a second motorbike (the first one has served Dennis well but is now worn out) for the pastors and evangelists. A special feature of the work has been the sponsoring of Bible training for the pastors and leaders as the church work has grown. |
Recently we have also received more reports from Pastor Dennis of their many challenges but also of more baptisms being seen in the mining communities. Your prayers and financial psupport are very much appreciated. Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel through the IMM.
John Doohan, Trustee
