West African Methodists in U.S. mourn relatives dead from Ebola
At Spencer Memorial United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, nearly nine out of ten members are Liberian; another 10 percent are from Sierra Leone. Since the Ebola outbreak began, every Sunday one or more members of the congregation reports the death of another family member in the two West African countries hit hardest by the deadly virus.
“We come in expecting a celebration, a day of worship, but it always turns into a funeral,” said Emmanuel Shanka Morris, the pastor, who is Liberian.
The church observed five days of praying and fasting in the month of October. Using 2 Chronicles 7:11–22 and Ezra 8:23 as guiding scriptures, each Wednesday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. people of the congregation interceded for the people of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.
