FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (ANS) -- A former Australian 60s rock star who is now a missionary in Sierra Leone, has opened a teachers college in Freedown, Sierra Leon.

Rev Themi Adams

Dr Rev Themi Adams, who now runs the charity, Paradise Kids 4 Africa, known amongst its supporters as PK4A, has just completed a large teachers college and mission house in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

It was built to house volunteers and helpers from across the globe and to offer free education for students wishing to go to College.

Dr. Rev Themi Adams, the Founder of Paradise Kids for Africa charity group and a former Australian rock star was overwhelmed with joy at the quality and workmanship the locals of Sierra Leone put into the building.

The new building

“Over one year of hard work has paid off as we are able to house specialists, doctors and more volunteers inside the mission compound. I can’t express my gratitude to all the supporters who worked tirelessly to fund this project and make it a reality,” he said.

Students are walking through the corridors, preparing themselves for a life that will shape the country into the future and solve the nation's chronic shortage of skilled labor.

Rev Themi Adams adds: “This is the best gift we can give to a nation that has gone through a terrible civil war.

“Before the war, Sierra Leone had about 20,000 qualified teachers, but that number has dropped substantially, and the country is plagued with a shortage qualified teachers and there is an urgent need to fill that gap.

“Whilst we attend to the welfare of the local people by providing them with their basic needs like food and clothing, education is the key and can and will lift the poor out of poverty into a future where anything is possible.”

A student in the library

The Institute is offering programs in: teaching in Early Childhood, Computer science, Communications, Journalism and Media Teaching in Primary and Secondary education.

The College is situated on the PK4A compound in Tower Hill and built next to the PK4A House where visiting lecturers and mission workers can stay and where Fr. Themi currently lives.

The huge library is being filled with as many of the 120,000 books that PK4A sent over the years, and we wish all students the best and will keep them in our prayers.

Since 2008 much has been done at the Orthodox mission:

A class of students

In Freetown, the nation’s capital: a Mission headquarters known as the “Paradise Kids House”. Surrounding the Mission Headquarters is a small Chapel and the new College of higher education teaching Early Childhood, Computer Studies, Communications, Journalism, Media Studies and Teacher Education; At another location in Freetown, primary and secondary school with approximately 2000 children and an adjacent church; At the Women’s Jail a Tailoring School to help rehabilitate women for their future outside of jail; the sponsorship of a small Hospital called the Good Shepherd Clinic.

In Waterloo, a town on the outskirts of the capital: St Moses the African Orthodox Village with housing for the disabled, a school, a guest house, a church, a priest’s house and a medical clinic.

The focus in Sierra Leone is education and training. But Rev Themi does not stop here. His long-term vision is for a prosthesis clinic to give a new lease of life to the amputees. “We’ll need a lot of money for this, but with God nothing is impossible” he says.

To find out more about the work of Rev Themi and PK4A, have a look at their website: http://pk4a.com 

Rev Father Themi led the 60’s notorious band “The Flies”, touring Australia and opening concerts for The Rolling Stones. From the fast life he found his calling, becoming a reverend and devoting his life to helping the poor.

To read the extraordinary story of this man who went from being a rock star to a missionary in Africa, please go to: www.assistnews.net/Stories/2012/s12050035.htm 

Since its inception of the Charity group Pk4A in Brisbane, Australia in early 2002, its supporters base has grown from a Greek Community in Brisbane, Australia... to Sydney, Melbourne and other major cities in Australia.

Director Mr. Toumbas said, “Such great enthusiasm to help the poor and sick in Africa has spread across the globe and now the US has led the way with Paradise 4 Kids.”

The charity has made headlines raising record amounts to fund lifesaving projects.

Dan Wooding, 71, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 49 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and he hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on the KWVE Radio Network in Southern California and which is also carried throughout the United States and around the world. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries. Dan recently received two top media awards -- the “Passion for the Persecuted” award from Open Doors US, and as one of the top “Newsmakers of 2011” from Plain Truth magazine. He is the author of some 45 books, the latest of which is “Caped Crusader: Rick Wakeman in the 1970s.” To order a copy, go to: http://www.amazon.com/CAPED-CRUSADER-Rick-Wakeman-1970s/dp/1908728302/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335474883&sr=1-1 .