Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The World Methodist Council has learnt with great sadness and shock of the tragic death of
your spiritual leader, The Right Reverend John K. Yambasu on 17th August. We understand that
Bishop John sadly succumbed to an accident on his way to attend the funeral of a colleague,
The late Revd. Edmund Kamara, in Northern Sierra Leone.

On behalf of the World Methodist Council, representing some 80 million people called
Methodists across the globe, I convey my heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies to the
United Methodist family at large. I pray that the Almighty bind up your broken hearts and souls
as you prepare to come to terms at your devastating loss.

And yet, we give thanks to the Creator for the gift that was Bishop Yambasu, for his Ministries in
Christian Education and Youth, for founding the Child Rescue Center in Sierra Leone and for his
leadership as Bishop of the United Methodist Church since 2008.
We pray too, during this time of grief, when brokenness of heart and spirit forcefully remind us
that death is woven into the very fabric of our human existence, that Bishop Yambasu’s wife,
Millicent and children, Rebecca, Adima, John, Emmanuel and Elizabeth will know God’s love
and comfort in a very special way.
The Lord is near to those who mourn; he lifts up those who whose spirit is crushed. Ps 34:18;
The Lord binds up the brokenhearted, Isaiah 61:1-3

Yours in Christ Jesus,

Ivan M Abrahams
General Secretary