b"those too poor to buy their own, andunprepossessing strip of land ever since.RoebuckandothershavesometimesRoebuck says most in the area are given money to some of the schoolssubsistence farmers, even though, like teachers, who are supposed to be paidso much of Africa, this area has a valu-by the state but frequently are not. able natural resourcediamonds. But Now, Morrow Church has a newlittleofthemoneygeneratedbythe goal:toputasecondstoryonthemines makes it into the hands of Sierra building to accommodate all the chil- Leonians. dren who would like to come. OverAccordingtoRoebuck,SierraLe-thenextseveralyears,soonerifallone ranks 182 out of the 189 nations goes well, the church is hoping to raisein the UNs Human Development In-$60,000 to add a floor. There has beendex; the average life expectancy is just a good start already. This past summer,54 years. Lives are cut short by many the Morrow Memorial Theater Campthings.Roebucksayscaraccidents aone-weekmusicalintensivethe- are a huge driver of premature death. ater camp run by Roebucks daughterHe talked to a doctor in Sierra Leonedonated its proceeds to the school.who told him treating traffic accident And in October, the Morrow Churchvictims was as big a drain on hospital Councilvotedtofundtheprogramresourcesastreatingmalariavictims. with a $30,000 donation.Morrowparishioners,aswellasthe Atsomepoint,RoebuckgottoMethodistsinSierraLeone,realized wondering why a school in a remotethat acutely when Bishop Yambasu was area of Sierra Leone, near the west coastkilled in a traffic accident in August of of the continent of Africa, should bear2020. He was 63.the former name of a country in South- TheMethodistsatMorroware east Asia. It turns out the school is soamong the most progressive in the de-namedbecauseduring World WarIInomination: Still officially disallowed, alargegroupofconscriptedAfricansthecongregationhashadanopenly weresenttheretofightonbehalfofgaypastor,andoverthelastseveral England, which was then the countrysyears,astheglobalchurchstruggled ruling colonial power. When the Eng- toreconcileitsdiversemembership, lish finally got around to bringing themembers at Morrow wrestled with the soldiers home from Burma (now Myan- support they provided to churches that mar) after the war, they were returnedembrace conservative doctrine. Homo-to this patch of land, which the Britishsexuality is still a crime in Sierra Leone Air Force had used as a wartime airportand can be punished by life in prison. butwasnolongerneededbythem.In 2019, largely because of the votes of Thosesoldiersandtheirdescendantsthe churches in Africa and elsewhere in have struggled to make a living on thisthe developing world, the denomina-tion upheld traditional teachingonhomo-sexuality,arancorous votethatportended yearsofchaos,divi-sion, and strife.Yambasuwasso distraught by the ran-corthatheorganized agrouptonegotiate acompromise.That compromisean ami-cableseparationin whichthetradition-alistsagreedtoleave thechurchandform sparkhouse.net Members of Morrow Church visited the school in Janu- aseparatedenomi-ary 2019. The woman in the blue shirt is Olivia Fonnie, the 9 Village Plaza, South Orange Director of Children's Education for the United Methodistnationwasdueto Church in Sierra Leone, followed by Tim Roebuck, Teambevotedonin2020 sparkhouse.netlocal deliveryfree gift wrap Leader of Sierra Leone outreach at Morrow, and his wife,whenthepandemic Marcia. Others include a teacher and community worker, the builder and parents. forced the cancellation 20/ matters magazine / holiday 2021"