In Kenema, Sierra Leone, Catholics often worship outdoors or in borrowed shelters—while all around them, Saudi-funded mosques rise up in splendour, threatening to draw Christians away. Family & Life, with the support of our donors, has taken up the challenge of helping the faithful build simple but beautiful chapels where the Eucharist can be reverently celebrated.

Last year, we partnered with the saintly priest, Fr. Samuel, who leads a missionary parish in Kenema. Together with his parishioners, we began building a chapel—not a palace, but a modest house of God. For the local Catholic community, this has been nothing short of a miracle.

When the people heard the news, their joy was overflowing. Parishioners walked miles through the jungle to gather river sand for handmade Kolat bricks. They prayed the Rosary as they pressed the bricks into moulds. Carpenters cut timber for the roof supports, while the elderly prepared food for volunteers. No one was paid—every hour was given freely, out of faith and sacrifice.

Thanks to this effort, Chapel One in Kenema is nearly complete. The sight of a chapel rising from the ground has already inspired some Christian families who had been drawn to the mosque to return to the Catholic faith.

But Fr. Samuel could not stop there. Before the first chapel was finished, a heavy storm destroyed the small chapel in Njah Village, leaving the faithful with nowhere to gather. Fr. Samuel could not turn them away. Trusting in Divine Providence, he began construction of a second chapel—even before the first was complete.

The walls of Njah’s chapel are now raised to roof level, built by the same hands and the same spirit. In Kenema, the roof is complete. But now, the work has paused—resources have been stretched to their limit.

To complete both chapels, Fr. Samuel still needs support for:

• Zinc roofing and ceiling panels

• Plastering, tiling, and painting

• Solar power installation to light the chapels at night

These chapels are more than buildings—they are places of worship, refuge, and renewal.

Here are a few glimpses of the sacrifice and faith of the people of Kenema and Njah:

• Julius and his wife Faith walk up to ten kilometres each way through the humid jungle to carry supplies to the building site. “We want our children to meet Jesus here,” they said.

• Local carpenters cut and shape timber with their own hands to form the roof supports.

• The elderly women of the parish prepare rice and cassava to sustain the workers with what little they have.

• The children gather for catechism under the open sky—even during sudden downpours, longing for the day they will kneel in a real chapel.

This is the power of faith in action: poor families giving from their poverty, sacrificing so that Christ may have a home in their midst.

With your help, two villages will soon have chapels—houses of God that will stand as beacons of light against the darkness of poverty, persecution, and competing false religions.