The Call To Service in the Field of Sierra Leone
For me to say I am called to the mission field in Sierra Leone sounds all too mysterious. I have asked men in various ministries to explain the “calling” and each has a different response though all follow a similar pattern. The man being guided by God’s Holy Spirit into a particular work will be almost obsessed with those thoughts and everything else in life seems paled in importance. I think those men are right on target, for them. Personally, I am thrilled that God has thought to entrust us with the awesome responsibility of ambassadorship. And I intend to take that “calling” as far as I can until the Lord tells me to stop.
NOW THEN WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST (2 Corinthians 5:20)
All Christians are “called” as ambassadors; Christ told all of his disciples to preach the gospel. We each need to be doing all we can wherever we are to bring souls into the Kingdom of God. Having said that, there clearly are times when God selects or singles out a particular man for a specific job. The Old Testament prophets are examples of men with a specific call from God. Jesus Christ’s apostles and specifically his inner three answered a special calling from God. I must say, I have never heard God call me specifically as he did any of the above mentioned. However, I believe the advice I received from Pastor Jesse Smith in Connecticut was as sound and simple as it gets. He told me, “Steve just be available and patient, God sees a willing heart and when the time is right he will let you know what to do.” So for the next 15 years we served as a family in every area available to us at Victory Bible Baptist Church.
To help explain the way the Holy Spirit guided me, I will chronicle the events leading up to our submission to that guiding and surrender to labor in God’s chosen field for us – Sierra Leone, West Africa.
HOW SHALL THEY BELIEVE IN HIM OF WHOM THEY HAVE NOT HEARD? (Romans 10:14)
In our December article (see archives) we detailed the means by which the Lord brought us to Florida for Bible school. After our arrival here, we soon settled into a routine at home while also beginning to familiarize ourselves with activities of our new church. For over 20 years Bible Baptist Church has mailed Bibles, books, and tapes to churches and missionaries the world over. They currently have shipments going to 110 countries! One day, I was amazed to see a large mailing which was being readied for shipment. Seeing this massive amount of material heading for needy countries (at no expense to the recipients) brought tears to my eyes. America we are blessed; “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more” (Luke 12:48). I was captivated as I began reading the shipping labels. Where in the world where some of these countries? They read like the index of the world atlas: Burma, Ghana, and Sri Lanka to name but a few. However, as I continued reading, my eyes caught a familiar name, how could this be? This label needed more than a passing glance: Pastor Michael Mansaray of Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. I stood staring in disbelief, I read it and reread it just to make certain. Now, allow me to provide you with the background for my amazement.
In 1989, the year my family and I were saved, Ray Williamson and I were on active duty in the Coast Guard and stationed together at the Coast Guard Academy, in New London, Connecticut. Shortly after I was born-again, Ray was transferred to Gulfport Mississippi. Ray had been instrumental in bringing me to the Lord and so we stayed in touch after his relocation. While stationed in Mississippi, Ray attended Bible School at night and after graduating, he was transferred to a Coast Guard training facility in Petaluma California. Unable to locate a sound Bible teaching church for his family to attend, Ray used the opportunity to start one himself. He located a small building to rent not far from the base thus making it convenient for students from the training center to attend.
Simultaneously and half a world away, civil war was erupting in the little country of Sierra Leone, a war that will last over ten years before they are done. Meanwhile, Ray was working at his Coast Guard job as well as conducting church services and pastoring his newly formed church. Then, one day two soldiers from Sierra Leone reported for military training at Ray’s base. They also began attending Ray’s vibrant little church, and it was not long before these two soldiers from West Africa were enlisting in the army of the King of Kings as they called on the Lord Jesus Christ to save their eternal souls! Following their training, they returned to their country. They had come to California as Mormons but, hallelujah, they left as new creatures in Christ. Now fitted with the whole armor of God, they left armed with more than carnal military knowledge as Ray sent them off with a load of tapes, books, Bibles and other materials to aid their growth in Christ. Upon returning to Sierra Leone, they connected with Michael Mansaray, who later formed a church in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital city. As the pastor of this budding church, Brother Mansaray kept in contact with Ray who was able to regularly supply this poverty-stricken church with needed materials, clothing, and money. Ray also kept our church in Connecticut apprised of Brother Mansaray’s needs and we too regularly contributed to this effort (James 2:14-18). What rejoicing there was among our church members when a letter and photos would come in from Brother Mansaray and his church family!
Sadly, the war’s intensity became unbearable in Freetown and our dear brethren found it necessary to flee their country. As a church, they stayed together in a refugee camp located in Guinea, the country just to the north. Around 1999 we lost all contact with them but we kept them in our prayers, knowing that God’s eyes were upon them and would see them through their trial.
And now we fast-forward to August 2004 and I am looking at a box addressed to Pastor Michael Mansaray! Only God could have choreographed these events. Brother James noticed my astonishment and informed me that this was the very first time they had sent anything to Michael. I promptly contacted him via e-mail. I also called Ray who is now pastoring in Alabama, and told him that our dear brother had resurfaced and that not only was the church still together but also growing!
While I was talking with Ray and unknown to him, the Lord profoundly used him to plant a seed deeply into my heart. By this time, Laura and I had started our first semester classes at DeLand School of the Bible. The class having the most profound effect on us as a couple was New Testament Church History. The importance of Bible education kept surfacing as a theme speaking directly to both of us. In passing, Ray said, “You know, all that country needs is some solid Bible teaching to train pastors how to win and train their own people before they are overrun by Muslims.” Ray went on in the conversation but I couldn’t tell you what he said, my mind was fixed on that statement – train up their own and especially the children. It was the same theme that was so recurrent in our church history class as well as in the regular preaching services.
Here I would like to diverge a bit. It needs to be understood that when Laura Jean and I came to Florida, we had every intention of heading back to New England upon completion of Bible school. The further north in New England, the better! New England is our home and although that area is cold and rocky it is also lost and without the plethora of churches that the south has. Our desire was to employ our gift of helps in any of the small and struggling churches throughout that region.
However, reestablishing contact with Brother Michael began a gradual shift in direction for us. The more we communicated with Michael, the more we found our thoughts and conversations centered around the small West African country of Sierra Leone and the more unsettled I became in my determination to return to New England. I could not tell you why but I just believed there was more at work than I understood.
After that semester of school, Laura and I traveled back to Connecticut to spend the December break with our family. Upon returning to Florida, I continued my job search while working sporadically through a temporary service. Throughout that time we both realized the Lord was working on us but neither could entirely explain what was going on. It seemed as though we knew something was about to radically change but we simply did not know what.
For me, the early morning is my preferred time for prayer and meditations. On the morning of February 10, 2005, I was particularly restless and unable to sleep so around three o’clock I got up. I tried reading my Bible but I just could not concentrate. I found myself pacing from the living room to the porch and then outside and staring up into the stars. I felt a knot in my gut and knew I needed to spend some time talking to the Lord. I returned to the living room, lay down on the floor and began to seek help. I was afraid. I had surrendered my ambitions and left them in Connecticut. However, I had not given up my intentions. I was convinced God needed us on the home missions field in New England. That is until things changed February tenth.
It was that morning while on my face crying, seeking some answers from God regarding employment and direction that God answered a previous prayer for wisdom. Laura had said she would go wherever the Lord led me. I, in turn, had told the Lord I would go or stay and do whatever he showed me. But now I think it was mostly lip service; my heart was still in a snowy mountain village church in Vermont, New Hampshire, or Maine. God kept bringing my promise of submission into my prayer time. I was gently reminded that He had recently given us similar choices when we decided to move to Florida. We had two good options, neither one was wrong, but as often is the case, one benefited me and the other benefited the cause of Jesus Christ, need I say, my natural tendency was to the former. However, before the sun was over the tree line, I knew what I needed to do and had it settled in my heart before Laura got up. Now I just had to trust the Lord to give me wisdom in breaking the news to her – we were heading to Africa!
Our bedroom was an east facing room and very comfortable for morning prayer. Laura often took her prayer time there while I would be in the living room. That morning she came out around nine o’clock. As I began to tell her what I thought the Lord was showing me, she sensed something had changed, as if some heavy burden had been released just as when we decided to attend Bible school. I told her I thought it was Africa and not New England. Praise the Lord she was not shocked. During the next few months we both questioned this new direction especially because of the heat and with no air conditioning in Sierra Leone, this would be a difficult transition for two snow-loving New Englanders.
We both started reading and learning about Sierra Leone. We made more regular contact with Brother Michael and started entertaining the idea of a fact-finding trip to meet him and evaluate our adaptability. We consulted with our pastor who gave us outstanding advice and encouragement. He highly recommended a survey trip.
THAT YE MAY STAND PERFECT AND COMPLETE IN ALL THE WILL OF GOD (Colossians 4:12)
At the writing of this installment, we are just two days away from our December 14th departure for a 29-day visit to Sierra Leone. We are asking the Lord to use this time for fine-tuning and clarification of our direction. Sitting on this side of the Atlantic, it is easy to have plenty of grandiose ideas and layout the plan of operation for the ministry. However, we need to analyze the feasibility of what we have in mind and for the direction of the ministry and above all we need time alone with God in country before we try anything. We are eager to see how the pieces of the “puzzle” continue to fall into place.
I am glad it is only a puzzle to us and it is confidence inspiring to know God has the finished picture in clear view. We only need to stay sensitive to His leading and submissive to His will. God gains nothing and the cause of Jesus Christ would suffer loss if God were to keep His will a mystery. If you are desirous to serve Him, He will faithfully lead you each step of the way (II Thes. 3:3). While it is true that He could more efficiently accomplish things without us, He has marvelously chosen men as the instruments he uses to accomplish the fulfillment of His purposes and therefore, He has every interest in making His will plainly known to His children.
In our next segment we bring a report of our trip along with photos of the field of our calling – the country of “ The Lion Mountains”, Sierra Leone!
