46
SERIAL
GUINEA
CÔTE D’IVOIRE
LIBERIA
PRAY FOR A CURE THAT
WILL FIND ITS WAY QUICKLY
TO THOSE SUFFERING ON
THE GROUND IN AFRICA,
AND NOT JUST TO THOSE
AIRLIFTED TO WESTERN
HOSPITALS.
SOUTH
SUDAN
REP. OF
CONGO
GABON
URGANDA
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF
THE CONGO
SOUTH
AFRICA
What’s the story?
The deadly, and apparently incurable
Ebola virus is spreading like wildfire
in parts of Africa, prompting concerns
that the disease could turn into a
global pandemic.
What’s happening?
An outbreak of the deadly virus
Ebola, for which there is no specific
treatment, appeared to start in Guinea,
West Africa, in the early part of 2014.
Over the months that followed, the
virus spread to neighbouring Liberia
and Sierra Leone, as globally
co-ordinated efforts to restrict the
disease began.
In August, missionaries from Spain
and America who had contracted the
virus were extracted from the region
and treated in quarantine in their own
countries. Controversially, Dr Kent
Brantly and Nancy Writebol – both
Christian missionaries with the agency
Samaritans Purse who had been
responding to the outbreak in Liberia
– were treated with new, unlicensed
drugs. Both made a full and speedy
recovery, prompting many to ask why
these improved treatments were being
reserved for wealthy white Americans.
The disease then began to spread
further in Africa, with confirmed
cases springing up in Nigeria, Senegal
and Congo. The Spanish missionary
priest who had contracted Ebola,
died in hospital, while the first British
LWPT8462 - Preach Magazine - Issue 2 v2.indd 46
man to catch the disease – volunteer
nurse Will Pooley – was given a
clean bill of health. The World Health
Organisation’s Director General, Dr
Margaret Chan, declared that the
outbreak would take six to nine months
to control.
In Africa, the virus continues to spread
– a recent estimate put the death toll
at close to 2,500 people – with Liberia’s
President now begging the US for help
in containing and fighting the disease.
Since Ebola is principally caught
through contact with an infected
corpse, a decline in social conditions
in the affected nations could turn the
current epidemic into a much more
serious crisis. Meanwhile, many in
the West remain primarily concerned
about the idea that Ebola could spread
to their own countries, despite the
relatively low risks involved.
Connections
#1 – SELFISHNESS. One of the key
features of the Western response to
Ebola has been the focus on fear that
the virus might come ‘here’. This is a
stark contrast to say, the life of Saint
Damien of Moloka’i – a Catholic priest
who moved in to a leper colony which
had become cut off from the outside
world. In Philippians 2:3,4, Paul tells
believers to look after the needs of
others, just not their own needs.
#2 – INEQUALITY. The Bible contains –
according to a World Vision estimate
– more than 2,000 verses about justice.
Among those are a raft of verses
about inequality and looking after
the poor. Proverbs 22:2 says that ‘the
rich and the poor meet together; the
Lord is the maker of them all,’ (ESV)
while Leviticus 25:35 gives a specific
command to take in and care for those
livin