Andrew & Helen Curry

Serving in Senegal, West Africa with SIM. Andrew and Helen are currently on a further three year term in Senegal which began in September 2015.

Family

Andrew and Helen, with their two children Thomas (2010) and Esther (2012), work in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa. Andrew has been connected with St. Leonard’s for a while, as his family moved to Exeter when he was ten years old, and so he grew up as a teenager at St. Leonard’s during which time he put his faith in Christ. After University he worked as a solicitor for three years in London before studying at Bible college. He met Helen in London, and they married in 2005, while Helen was completing her GP training. They have been in Senegal since 2010.

Ministry

“Our desire is to share the Christian gospel with Senegalese people,” they say. “Many Senegalese have no understanding of Jesus and what He came to do.” Officially, 94% of Senegalese are Muslim, and 5% Catholic; only 0.2% identify themselves as evangelical. However, there is freedom of religion.

Andrew works among the 100,000 students who study in Dakar. In 2010, SIM opened a centre for students, offering English lessons. Since then, over 120 have been members each year, and some have heard and discussed the Good News, with a few continuing to study the Bible with Andrew. In addition to this, Andrew offers English lessons through a local church in a poorer area of Dakar once a week. After the lessons, the local pastor leads a Bible study. Helen works at a local Christian health clinic, Keru Yakaar (“House of Hope”), which serves the Senegalese. In addition to regular consultations, she has started a programme to help diabetic patients, helps with a programme for malnourished children, and organises staff training. In addition, Helen reads the Bible with a young Senegalese believer. Both Andrew and Helen are actively involved in their local Senegalese church, Andrew with preaching and helping disciple the young people, and Helen with discipleship among women. In 2015, they launched a new project to help train 4-5 new Christian healthcare workers to strengthen Christian witness in the healthcare sector, and provide employment for local Christians.

Prayer points

Give thanks for:

the freedom of religion that exists in Senegal, and her political stability, which means we can work here for Christ; opportunities through medical work to show Christ’s love practically and to witness to him; the opportunities Andrew has to explain the gospel to Muslim students at the English centre; the local church they attend, and the opportunities to serve there; the opportunity to start English lessons at a different location; the provision of funds to help train more Senegalese healthcare workers; the Lord’s provision and protection.

Pray for:

the Lord’s work in the hearts of those to whom Andrew and Helen witness, particularly the Muslim students who are reading the Bible;
the gospel witness at Helen’s clinic. Helen recently organised some teaching about how to pray with patients, and the clinic has just installed some TV screens, so pray that they may be used to not just to relay health information but also the gospel;
the strengthening of local Senegalese believers;
the English lessons in the new location, that many would come not just to the lessons, but to the study, and this would be an encouragement to the church there; the healthcare workers scholarship project, that the Lord would use those appointed in His service; that that Andrew and Helen would show the joy of knowing Christ and following Him.

More information

SIM page: 
www.sim.co.uk/missionary/andrew-helen-curry-thomas-esther

You can email Andrew and Helen at andrewhelencurry@me.com

Photos are available for viewing at www.flickr.com/photos/currysenegal/