Denomination to temporarily withdraw workers from Guinea

After much prayerful deliberation, leaders of the U.S. Christian and Missionary Alliance (The Alliance) made the difficult decision to temporarily withdraw all personnel from Guinea, West Africa, for several months to better assess long-term implications regarding staff location and ministry. This decision was reached based on current realities regarding the rapid spread of the Ebola virus.

Frequent contact with citizens in Conakry, where the majority of Alliance workers in Guinea serve, continues to place these workers at an elevated risk of exposure to the contagion. Although no team members have been in direct bodily contact with known Ebola victims, the public nature of Alliance ministries in Guinea will pose an increasing threat of exposure to these workers based on World Health Organization projections for the escalation of the infection rate.

Growing concerns about the potential spread of Ebola in the United States also weighed into The Alliance’s decision to temporarily remove workers from Guinea before the infection rate worsens. The majority of workers being withdrawn will relocate to other countries in West Africa, where they will resume church-related ministries and find new opportunities to care for the sick and afflicted. The few workers returning to the States will observe all reentry protocols established by the U.S. Center for Disease Control.

“Because our values are rooted in service during such crises, it is with heavy hearts that our team is planning this move,” writes Tim Crouch, U.S. Alliance vice president for International Ministries. “We are working in earnest with the national church in Guinea to ensure that the withdrawal is executed in a way that provides for ongoing service through national channels and promising bridges for return of staff. In the meantime, however, the risks continue to grow, and we must operate in a way that minimizes the threat to our workers and serves the best interest of U.S. health and security.”

The Alliance in the United States comprises more than 2,000 churches, mobilized to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20) by living out the fullness of Jesus Christ in personal experience and building His Church worldwide. Seven hundred U.S. based Alliance workers serve in 70 countries.

Pastor Todd Wolfe is the pastor of Lakeview Chapel in Owego, which is part of U.S. Alliance family of churches and helps support Alliance workers throughout the world, including those involved in Ebola awareness training in West Africa. Recently, Rev. Moise Mamy, a Guinean national worker affiliated with The Alliance, was brutally murdered while teaching villagers how to avoid contracting the disease.

“Many of our Alliance workers put their lives on the line every day by serving in places of great peril around the world,” notes Pastor Wolfe. “As a U.S. Alliance church, we feel privileged to support these frontline workers by praying specifically for them and supporting their work and they love God by loving people from every nation.”