Our Team
Ezekiel - Director
My father passed away shortly before I was born and my mother raised my brother, Lawrence, and I until she passed away from a heart attack. I was only 13 at the time. My mother’s family was unwilling to help Lawrence and I. We ended up living on the street. To survive, we did what we had to. We stole food and clothes from the shops and raided gardens at night. There was nothing we wouldn’t do to put food in our bellies. We even stole flip flops from the Mosque while the men were inside praying. The few times we were caught, we were beaten severely. It was a dark and painful period in our lives. One day I was doing odd jobs for a man. He noticed I was humble and respectful. It was he that connected me with Pastor Rogers. Pastor Rogers took Lawrence and I in under his wings and enrolled us into the orphanage that was under construction. On December 9th , 2009, we arrived at the New Hope Initiative Children’s Home. I ate a full meal and slept in a real bed for the first time in a very long time. That first night gave me hope and I began to see a future for myself.
NHI raised, trained, and educated me not only in school, but most importantly about Christ who is now my Lord and savior. God used Pastor Rogers, Daddy Phil, Mike, and the entire NHI team to replace what I had lost and help me become a leader. Today, I am legally married and responsible for my own home. I earned an associate’s degree and operate a few successful businesses. I have built a home for my family, and we dream of a better life for the people of Sierra Leone. When Pastor Rogers and Daddy Phil approached me about working at the orphanage, I knew it was God leading the way. I am grateful to NHI for believing in me. I now serve as the Director and Communications Officer of the Children’s Home. My goal is to give back and help NHI
succeed in its mission to support vulnerable children and lead them to Christ.
Pastor Francis Rogers - Advisor
Francis Rogers was born to a Muslim father and raised in a small village near the location of what would become the children’s home. His father had many different wives in a multitude of locations and gave little attention to him, his mother and siblings. At the age of 9, his father died and his life changed. As a young man he worked as a house keeper for the local mining company where he met the love of his life, Agnes. Francis and Agnes married and had 4 children. During the war, they, like so many others, fled to the capital to escape the horrors imposed by the rebels. At wars end Francis had already given his life to Christ and worked as a manager of a security company. Financially he was doing well, but God led him to service. He trained to become a pastor and followed God’s vision to build a church in Moribatown and care for the impoverish children in the area. Against many odds and financial insecurity he moved to the struggling, devastated area. Today, Pastor Rogers is a man held with the utmost esteem as he wears many hats in his community. Francis is the senior pastor in his district with over 15 church plants in his care. He is the director of the children’s home and is on the board of directors at the Christian school his church developed. He is a child and woman’s advocate with the police, is on the Community Relations Board for the mining company, and is the owner of a very small lumber business. All the while he cares not only for his own family, but also for his mother, sister, nieces, and a group of orphans he took off the streets prior to the children’s home being built. His integrity, honesty, and faith set him apart from most leaders in the area. He gives all the glory and honor to the Lord.