The Child Rescue Centre gives safety and housing to forty-six children orphaned by the country's violent civil war. These children lived in fear on the streets of Bo, sleeping under tables in a deserted marketplace, or with families who could not care for them. Twenty adults provide a loving, nurturing environment where education, health care and vocational training can be accomplished. These children would otherwise have been left to fend for themselves in the streets of Bo, Sierra Leone, located in West Africa. Bo is the second largest city in Sierra Leone and has far fewer resources for war recovery efforts than the capital city of Freetown.

In addition to nurturing the 46 resident children at the center, the CRC provides educational funding and health care for 100 additional children in Bo who live in family settings. During the 10-year civil war, education was not available for most childrren. One of the primary goals of the CRC is to provide educational opportunities that help the children gain education and life skills training. The CRC also provides the family that the children lost. The CRC functions under the direction of the Sierra Leone Conference of the United Methodist Church.

The CRC facility has undergone several changes since initially providing safe haven for the children during the war. From a small secure building, the CRC moved to a much larger, newly renovated building. In the summer of 2006 the children moved to a new complex of buildings that expands the available capacity for housing, training and administration. The CRC model includes a safe and spacious residential facility with recreational grounds, dedicated, well-trained and caring staff as well as primary, secondary and vocational and/or university education for the children.

Health needs of the local Bo community are currently addressed by a small medical clinic at the CRC, and by ongoing educational programs provided by CRC staff. Expansion in these services is also deeply needed, including advanced training of the staff, equipment and supplies to stock a larger primary care and maternity clinic that will soon be established.

Beyond meeting the basic needs of life, one of the most important ways to help protect and nurture the future generation of leaders of Sierra Leone is to provide education and life skills. As a majority of the children move into Junior and Senior Secondary Schools, funds are being established to provide university or vocational school education for each child.

"Our mission is to provide for the spiritual, intellectual, physical and social needs of children and youth who have become victims of neglect, abuse, poverty, hunger, culture, war and corrupt political systems. Our primary goal is to provide food, shelter, clothing, health care, education and skills training for orphans, street children, school dropouts and children and youth in extremely difficult socio-economic circumstances."