"Unity, Freedom, Justice"

The blog title is the Motto of Sierra Leone.  From an outsiders perspective it seems contradictory considering the prevalence of discord, slavery, and injustice in the nation's history.  Then again, perhaps it is precisely because of those things that the nation chose a motto that cries out for the things Sierra Leone seems to need most. 

Trouble seemed to start for Sierra Leone shortly after it's 'discovery' (people had been living there for at least 2,500 years) by the Portuguese in 1462.  Not long after it became a major slave trading post, which it remained until the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 (The film Amistad, involving slaves taken from Sierra Leone, can give you a glimpse into that world).  There is a plethora of history that follows, including the government sale of diamond mining rights to Sierra Leone Selection Trust (run by the De Beers company) in 1935.

Sierra Leone gained independence from Britain in 1961.  In 1991, after 30 years of tumultuous political instability, the nation erupted into a 10 year civil war that left 50,000 dead and hundreds of thousands wounded or displaced.  Amputation of limbs and other body parts was a fear mongering tactic used by both the rebels and government forces during the war.  In a nation of about 5 million, there are few who were not directly impacted by the ravages of the war. 

Dara, Malachi, and Xavier were on the dock today and spent some time playing with a 12 year old boy.  Dara asked him about his family and he said his mother and father were both killed in the war.  She asked about brothers and sisters and he said that they were killed, too.  Our hearts are so heavy with a burden of love for these people.  There is so much pain, suffering, and sorrow running just under the surface. 

Also, 60% of the nation are Muslim, 30% practicing indigenous religion, and 10% profession Christianity as their religion.  There is a spiritual heaviness here and the light of Christ is desperately needed to brightly shine.  Thankfully, the Mercy Ships' model is well suited to bringing the reality of Christ's love through action and example in a place where proclamational evangelism is not effective.  We are in no way fearful to verbally proclaim our faith and we pray for the opportunities to do so through established relationships but recognize that displaying the love of Christ unconditionally speaks louder than any sermon we could ever give or tract we could distribute.

We pray for God's Kingdom to come into this nation and to individual hearts during our time here and long after we have departed and we are thrilled at being a part of this portion of the journey of Sierra Leone.