Recording in Africa - It's no joke...

... breakdown in rebel territory ...

In January 2000, the recording team in Sierra Leone (Sirajin, Andrew, Mohamed, Fredrick and Stanley) went to Cameroon by car. We encountered many difficulties on the way especially with the custom officers at the borders. We also had a series of problems with the car. No one among us was a mechanic. At one point we stopped in the jungle because of the condition of the road and a problem with our car. By then the peace agreement in Sierra Leone was a few weeks old but there was no confidence that it would hold and we had stopped in the middle of rebel territory. We prayed and trusted God to help us. We opened the bonnet of the car and began touching different plugs. Suddenly the car started. We thanked God and moved on.

... car accident ...

It took us 13 days to drive through Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria and finally to Cameroon. We arrived at the Cameroon border with little money and had to mortgage our video camera and a Marantz recorder to buy fuel for the car so that we could continue our journey. These things were later redeemed. Arriving at Yaounde we slept in the car because our host was not expecting us. Eventually we continued on to Bamenda but on the way we had an accident. We thanked God that we came out of it safely. We repaired the vehicle and continued on.

... stolen luggage ...

Our time in Bamenda was very fulfilling and the Lord helped us to record so many languages and dialects. However the enemy was not happy about this victory. On our departure from Cameroon we encountered serious problems. Our luggage was sent ahead of us while we stayed for two more days in Yaounde. After we received some funds we finally left for Conakry in Guinea by air, leaving the car with Godswill in Cameroon.

Arriving at the airport in Conakry, we were able to collect our luggage, though some of our personal items were missing. Going through customs we were arrested and accused of being rebels. I was able to call our contact pastor. He promised to come in the morning because it was late and they were having a curfew. We slept at the airport under the custody of a Colonel. We went through all this because we refused to give them the bribe which they were demanding. We were released in the morning. By then Sierra Leone was experiencing the civil conflict and our home airport was closed. The only way was to go by sea. We spent some time in Conakry preparing for our journey to Freetown by boat. On the eve of our departure we were arrested again at around 1 am. We had left our equipment in the church but decided to sleep with a friend. The following day the landlord asked for our passports. I refused at first but our friend persuaded us, saying it was for our protection and that he would return them in the morning. However, I suspected the worst. We later heard that the landlord reported us to the secret police, telling them we were rebels.

... arrest and imprisonment ...

At exactly 1 am, I heard a fleet of vehicles rush into the compound. I woke up the others saying, "They have come for us". The police surrounded the house and knocked on our door yelling, "Ouvre la porte! Ouvre la porte!" (Open the door). They came in, searched the room and under gun point we were directed to their Landrover. They took us to their maximum security cell. We were told to take off our clothes and sit on the floor. I told them, "We are missionaries", but they took all our belongings - money, organisers etc. They registered our names and pushed us into a cell.

Some of the prisoners told us that some Sierra Leoneans had been executed because the police thought they were rebels. They advised us to make contact with the pastor quickly or else we would suffer the same fate. It was 9 am. I asked the guards to give me my organiser so that I could contact the pastor. They refused, afraid that the organiser was a bomb. However we were not discouraged. I had a feeling that we would be released at around 1pm.

... amazing release ...

The guards gestured with their hands that we would be executed. I asked God to help me remember the pastor's telephone number. I had to think for a very long time and finally gave a number, not even confident that it was correct. There was no pen or paper in the cell to write it down, so one of the prisoners took a match, put it in his ear and wrote the number on the matchbox with his ear wax! One of the guards promised to call the pastor for us. It was 12:15 pm. Praise God - the number was correct! The pastor came at 12:30 pm. The Commandant was just leaving the prison for a meeting at 1 pm but he came back because the meeting was cancelled. The pastor spoke with him and we were released. It was exactly 1 pm! The next day we left for Freetown and home. We thank God for these experiences, counting it worthy to suffer for Him.

... and mission accomplished!