wfn.org | Civil war in Sierra Leone marked by stories of heroism and

[Daphne Mack <dmack@dfms.org>]

heartbreak

99-011
Civil war in Sierra Leone marked by  stories of heroism and 
heartbreak

by Margaret Larom
(ENS) Stories of horror and heroism, hope and heartbreak 
have emerged from Episcopalians since the terrifying weeks in 
January and February when sadistic rebels sought to gain control 
of Sierra Leone. 

Families and friends in the United States, shocked by reports of new
atrocities in the most recent flare-up of an ongoing civil war, began a
desperate search for news of loved ones in the Diocese of Freetown,
part of the Province of West Africa.

For two weeks they could not get through. The telephones 
were not working. Williamson Ade Ademu-John, a parishioner of 
Christ Church, Dayton (Diocese of Southern Ohio), heard from a 
relative in North Carolina that his nieces in Freetown had been 
killed. He prayed it wasn't true. He had seen them just a few 
months before, when he and three other Episcopalians participated 
in an ecumenical delegation.

Meanwhile, parishioners of St. John's, Gloucester, and St. Mary's,
Rockport (Diocese of Massachusetts) were appealing to the 
Episcopal Church Center staff for news on behalf of Marjorie 
Fergusson. With her sons, Nathan and Arthur, she had been living 
in Gloucester since August 1997, when she fled Freetown after the 
coup that dislodged President Tejan Kabbah. But her 84-year-old 
mother, an aunt, and two brothers had remained behind. "Please do 
what you can," begged Maud Warren of St. John's. "'These are 
very, very precious people to us." 

Then, on January 25, Richard Parkins, director of Episcopal 
Migration Ministries, received a collect telephone call from the 
Rev. Canon  Ajayi E. Nicol, vicar of  St. Charles Parish Church, 
Regent (outside Freetown). Parkins had visited this historic 
parish (founded in 1816) as part of  the ecumenical delegation. 
Nicol reported that, though stranded, he and his parishioners were 
safe. His church, bombed in February 1998 but repaired and 
rededicated in June, was unscathed. 

Holy Trinity Church in Freetown had been burned to the ground but
St. George's Cathedral was standing. Bishop Julius Lynch was forced
to abandon his residence and keep moving for safety, but was managing
to avoid serious danger. He would try to reach him, though it would mean
walking nine miles. (The next day, we knew he had succeeded. A hand-
written fax arrived at the Church Center in New York from Bishop
Lynch: "Situation desperate. Thank God for safety.. Urgent assistance
needed.")

Parkins and Nicol promised to keep in touch. The telephone 
became a precious conduit for news and encouragement. During the 
next call, we explained about Marjorie Fergusson and her family. 
"I know her," he said. "Tell Marjorie they are all safe. And 
their homes were spared."

But for Ademu-John, the telephone brought devastating 
confirmation of his worst fears. One brother, Daniel, was shot in 
the back but is recovering. The home of another brother, Joseph, 
was attacked by rebels. They made everyone lie down on the floor. 
They beat my brother severely, then shot his four daughters right 
in front of him. Two were killed, along with the husband of one, 
who was an American Methodist Episcopal pastor. Two were wounded.

"Because of the fighting, and the fear, the family, though 
members of St. George's Cathedral, had to bury the bodies in the 
back yard. Now, the Health Department has asked them to exhume the 
bodies and bury them properly." The girls who survived are in 
Netland Hospital, on the western edge of Freetown. The doctor 
caring for them is a good friend of the family. Ironically, he is 
using medical supplies sent by Ademu-John in a 40-foot container 
he had organized last year.

As people in Sierra Leone began to pick up their shattered 
lives, friends and family in the USA began to send money and try 
to mobilize other assistance. Canon Nicol has trekked into 
Freetown several times to meet with the bishop and assess the 
situation.  Two vicarages in Waterloo were burned. Of 47 active 
clergy in the diocese, only one had not yet been located.  On 
February 7, Nicol called to say, "We rang the church bells for 
the first time since January 6." But the situation in the country 
remained tense."

The Episcopal Church has joined with other denominations, 
relief agencies and refugee organizations in urging the United 
States to commit to "meaningful action for peace" in Sierra 
Leone. The February meeting of the Executive Council in Denver 
approved a resolution calling for a broad range of actions by the 
U.S. government and the United Nations. The council called upon 
our church community to pray for peace, and commended to God's care
"the brave leaders of our church who have so valiantly stood with their
people amidst this conflict, and have offered whatever moral and
material
support to relieve their suffering"

The Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief has committed 
$25,000 to assist the people of Sierra Leone. (Contributions may 
be mailed to the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, c/o 
Bankers Trust Company, Box 12043, Newark, NJ  07101.)

--Margaret Larom is director of world mission interpretation at 
the Episcopal Church Center.

http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens