HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN GUINEA
BEGINNINGS IN LIBERIA
The story of the involvement of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in Guinea begins in the neighboring country of Liberia. Around 1981 Rev. Robert Roegner began to work with the Kissi people in the north west corner of that country. God blessed that work and the Kissi church grew strong and fast. But the work was about to be put to the test.
In 1989 Rebels burst from the eastern jungles and would in time overthrow the government of Samuel Doe and plunge Liberia into a long and bloody civil war. The stories of what the common people endured during these times were incredible and horrible. Human life seemed to lose all value amid piles of corpses and the atrocities inflicted on innocent bystanders.
At that time all missionaries were evacuated and a young church leader named Nathaniel Tamba Taylor was left in charge of the mission station at Torlorning. He tried to keep everything from being lost, but was turned over to the rebels. He found himself locked in a cell with a small group of others, in a place where innocent people were killed almost daily without trial or regret, often dying in horrible ways.
That night the guard fell asleep. The door must have been left unlocked since as the wind blew, the door squeaked open.
The guard was awakened by the sound and jumped up threatening to shoot everyone. But they assured him no one was trying to escape. He immediately slumped back to his seat and went to sleep leaving the door unlocked. Nathaniel made a decision. He told the others he was leaving. They tried to talk him out of it. They told him it was a trick. He said that it didn’t matter. They were all dead there anyway, so he opened the door and stepped out.
First he tapped on the guards shoulder and said, “Chief? Chief?” When there was no response he looked back once at the others and then began walking across the long field to the forest at the edge of town. After a moment the others followed. Everyone reached the woods without further incident.
So it seems the very hand of God spared Nat Taylor that night. He struggled on through rain and darkness until, in the morning he was able to cross into the neighboring country of Sierra Leone*. He found Lutheran missionaries there, was reunited with his family, and began helping in strong evangelism work among the Kono people.
But again his life was thrown into confusion. Liberian rebels attacked into Sierra Leone. Nat was trapped in the town of Kono for a month while Sierra Leoneans hunted Liberians, putting them to death while Sierra Leone itself began the slide into civil war. While he was in hiding, the refugee camp where Nat’s family lived was destroyed and he lost contact with them. Months later he had news. His oldest daughter Sia was dead. The family had fled to Guinea but because of starvation conditions Nat’s wife tried to return home to Liberia. There Sia fell into a river and drowned. Nat returned to Liberia behind enemy lines, gathered his distraught family and finally crossed into the last haven of safety – into Guinea and the life of a refugee.
Nat and his family settled in Guéckédou, a very large town swollen to 3 times its original size by refugees. Guéckédou is a Kissi town as Kissis are found in all three countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, and Guéckédou is near where all three countries meet.
Now Nat had worked for God in Liberia and had suffered and almost been killed. He worked for God in Sierra Leone with the same result. Some would have concluded that now was the time to sit down and quietly try to survive the life of a refugee. Not Nat.
He began to work with the local Protestant Church. Later he started a small Lutheran church under a tree – the first Lutheran church in Guinea. That church would grow until it would have a weekly attendance of over 300.
Nat brought together other displaced Lutheran leaders, and then began attracting other rudderless Christian leaders to his banner, leaders from a variety of different churches. Many went on to become Lutheran. When this small group of Lutherans reached the size of 5 churches they began what they call their “Macedonian Call” to the LCMS. “Come over and help us, we have five churches.” But the LCMS had no plans or resources to begin work in this new and difficult country. But the call continued, “Come over and help us, we have 15 churches.” “Come over and help us, we have 25 churches.” Finally in 1995 the call could no longer be ignored, and the LCMS began planning to call a missionary for Guinea.
THE HEINEYS BECOME INVOLVED
Meanwhile we were living over in another country of West Africa, Ghana.
We arrived there in 1984 and spent 10 years in the northern part of the country among the Konkomba people. God blessed the work there. We were able to learn the language and the culture of the people and be part of a work where we were able to see the harvest that so many laborers work for but never see.
Then in 1994 Beth became pregnant with our fourth child. Due to medical concerns it was determined that the birth needed to be in the US. Beth would leave in Oct. and Tim would follow at Christmas and stay for the birth, then return.
On January 10, Andrea Joy was born. Soon after that, as Tim was preparing to return, the phone rang. War had burst out in Northern Ghana. Five large tribes were trying to wipe out the Konkombas. Our return to Ghana was delayed.
The return was delayed month after month. Until, in June, the mission board decided that we could never return to Ghana. Tim had been accused by the other tribes of running guns to Konkombas. They knew who he was and even though the case was cleared before government and chiefs, it was believed that many still might try to kill him if we returned. God had probably saved our lives by Andrea’s birth.
We agreed to return to another West African country, then agreed to learn French as the fastest growing Lutheran work in West Africa was in the French speaking countries of Togo and Côte d'Ivoire. The choice of country was put off, since we would have to study French for a year before returning.
We spent the 1994-1995 school year at the University of Montreal in Quebec learning French. Half way through our course we received a message that Ghana had asked that we not return to a country that bordered Ghana because of security concerns. This included both Togo and Côte d'Ivoire. This might have been a concern but the mission board had just decided to act on the Macedonian call of Guinea. And we were the obvious choice.
The Lutheran Church had no contacts in Guinea, so it was decided that our family would first move to the Lutheran mission in Côte d'Ivoire, in the town of Toulepleu. From there, Tim would make trips into Guinea until all papers were arranged, a location could be chosen, and housing could be set up.
We were in Côte d'Ivoire from November 1995 until July 1996. On July 22 we packed our things and made the move into Guinea, to a house in Guéckédou, a large Kissi town near where Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea all meet.
THE MINISTRY
The work here in Guinea was much different from our work among the Konkombas in Ghana. There the ministry was new. People didn’t know who Jesus was. Few spoke English. But here in Guinea we had many refugees who were well trained and educated and knew theology, even though many had not come to Guinea as Lutherans.
One big thrust of our ministry has been to get the work out of the refugee camps where it started, and get it planted among the Guinea citizens in their villages so that the church will remain here after the refugees are gone. The refugees had actually begun working in that direction before we arrived.
Also, when we arrived most of the talented and trained manpower was centered in Guéckédou. So we decided to decentralize. We chose market center towns near our work where markets were held once a week. We assigned a well trained man to each of these market areas. Each week people from all around come to these markets to buy and sell.
Each leader was given 3 goals:
1. To get to know what towns come to his market and get to be known by them.
Especially to find out what villages may be interested in churches and begin evangelization.
2. To set up a weekly class in the market town to train leaders. If a village is interested in having a church they send someone or several people to the class. When someone from a village begins coming regularly to class then we are ready to begin a church there.
3. To search for a man of God in his class that can someday take over that market and give him extra intensive training.
We started with 10 market centers but they quickly grew to 14.
Each month Tim would gather the leaders for a couple of days for a seminar. They studied lessons for the coming month, discussed methods, problems and solutions, and spent time in fellowship and prayer for each man and his area. There were 2 seminars a month, one in English for refugees and one in French for Guineans.
Since many villages didn’t have churches because no one there was literate in either French, English, or Kissi we often use picture books like 100 Bible Stories and lesson books that teach in symbols.
RELIGION
The religion in this area of Guinea is basically animism.The Kissis believe that there is one creator god but that he is far off. Their lives are more directly affected by the spirits of their ancestors which continue to live in the surrounding bush in trees and mountains and rivers. Soothsayers can tell you what sacrifices to make to keep these spirits happy or to get their help. The also use a variety of charms, juju, shrines, magic, and sorcery. There are also secret societies in which men dress in masks and dance pretending to be bush devils.
Islam is also strong and growing in the area. A 2005 report stated that 85% of Guinea's 7.8 million inhabitants are Muslim.
CHURCH LEADERS
THE FIRST CLASS OF GUINEANS TO ATTEND THE LUTHERAN SEMINARY IN TOGO
JULIEN KOTEMBEDOUNO
Julien was one of the first Guinean believers that worked with the refugees when they came. He lead several market area classes and then was sent to Togo for seminary training. He should complete his vicarage in Spring '07 and become the first Lutheran Guinean ordained pastor before summer.
Julien is young, but intelligent and wise. He will probably be the first Guinean president of the church.
Julien has a wife and four children.
ROBERT MILLIMOUNO
Robert is well educated and joined the church in Ouende Kenema. He became the leader of the church there and the leader of the market class that met there. He and Julien Kotembedouno were the first Guineans sent to the Lutheran seminary in Togo.
Robert finished his studies and was well into his vicarage when a moral issue arose. It was serious and his vicarage was suspended for at least two years. This was a great blow to the program of the church. While leaders who are disciplined often rebel and go to other churches where they can often continue and get paid more, Robert repented and worked hard at putting things to rights. We pray that he will be able to make it through the suspension and be returned to his ministry.
THE SECOND CLASS OF GUINEANS TO ATTEND THE LUTHERAN SEMINARY IN TOGO
(These men will complete their studies in the Spring of '07 and begin vicarages that will last for about 2 years.)
THOMAS TOLNO
Thomas lived in Kamaya, the site of a large refugee camp. Lutheran refugees started a church there. Thomas joined the church and as the years went by he became a strong leader.
THOMAS KAMANO
Thomas is from Fangamadou. At the seminary he had a bicycle accident that almost crippled him. It took several operations to get him walking again. This whole situation made seminary life more difficult for him. We were not sure he was going to make it for a while, but he is now at the end of his studies. He is the oldest Guinean to attend the seminary and was known there as "the old man".
FELIX MAMADOUNO
A refugee named Alfred Salloe started a market class near his village and Felix answered his call to come to the class and learn about Jesus. Felix began the church in his village and later took over the class when Alfred left. He has a quick wit and is a lot of fun. What do you expect from a guy named Felix?
THE THIRD CLASS OF GUINEANS TO ATTEND THE LUTHERAN SEMINARY IN TOGO
(These have completed their first year of studies and a year of field work. They are hoping to get to go back to Togo in the fall of '07 for two years of pastoral studies.)
TAMBA DEUX (Deux means "two" in French, or Tamba, the second)
Tamba is a quiet and respectful guy. He is first in his class at the seminary. Early in his ministry he was crushed by the fact that every time his wife became pregnant they lost the child. Either the pregnancy went bad or the child died within a year. Tamba went through difficult times as his Christian faith was blamed especially by her parents. We prayed and prayed with him, but each time the child was lost. He lost six consecutive children in this way. Finally the parents took their daughter to a sooth sayer to ascertain the problem. He told them that the spirits showed him that she was a witch and that she was "eating" the children to gain power. She then ADMITTED IT!, and ran away. Tamba made several attempts to bring her back, but she refused to see him. People from there say that she is unrepentant, so the church accepted this as desertion, and Tamba has since remarried.
BERNARD LENO
Bernard started with us as a fairly young "kid". I really only started to think of him as a grown up leader during the Gueckedou War in 2000. We were boxed up in Conakry, and he ran messages between us and the church. He stayed with us some in those days. I taught him Bible, and he taught me Kissi. He now has a wife and kids and is becoming a great leader.
ANTOINE TEMESSADOUNO
Antoine was discipled by a leader in a market class quite a bit to the north of us. I only met him once that I can remember before the war. After the war when we settled in Kissidougou, he turned up attending the high school there. (It's not like here. He already had a young wife and kid.) He had already begun teaching his fellow students. We had not really planned to expand the work into the Kissidougou Prefecture at that time since there was already so much to do in traveling around and trying to pull the church back together. Once Antoine started rolling, he just kept going. He started about five new market classes in the area, each comprised of several preaching points, and manned many of them with classmates that he had taught.
OTHER GUINEAN LEADERS
BANDAWA
Bandawa will probably never go to the seminary. He is older and does not have the educational level in French that they require. He probably is not a great theological teacher. But Bandawa works for God in ways that I wish other leaders would emulate. He just gets out there and does it. His market area was the biggest in the church. He had 12 villages coming. His people also support him. Once when I visited a village with him, they loaded up a full bag of rice for him to take home. You can tell how the people respect and appreciate him.
NESTOR
While all of the above men are Kissis, Nestor is a Kpelle. We have had a branch of our church in the N'Zerekore area where the Kpelles live for a long time, but while it has a lot of potential it has struggled a lot with internal fighting and has never developed the Spiritual strength or leadership that we have prayed for. Nestor is young, but all factions agree that he should be the first Kpelle that we will sent to the seminary. He is quiet and steady and earned the respect of even the elders as he never took sides or attacked anyone in the earlier struggles.
MAXIM MATAU
Maxim, though also Kpelle, is the opposite of Nestor; not as calm and steady, but a real firebrand for the Lord when he gets on track. He needs prayer to stay on an even keel, but he could develop into an incredible evangelist for the Lord.
REMAINING REFUGEES
JOSEPH YASSEH
Joseph was a Sierra Leonean Mendi man living in Liberia and working for a major international corporation when the Liberian war hit. He became a Lutheran in the refugee camps and was elected president of the church when it was formed. He has been a great leader to work with. He is not really a church worker, but that has been very helpful in some ways. He, as an elder, has been able to stay above the frays and keep a steady hand on the helm when the younger leaders got hot and involved in various rivalries and disputes.
JAMES YASSEH
James is the son of Joseph. He has now returned to Sierra Leone and has become an important leader in that new church, but he left his mark on Guinea. He was gentle and intelligent, and he worked hard to begin the work among the Kurankos when the refugees were moved out of the Gueckedou area into camps in the bush.
JAMES MANSO MARA
As I mentioned above, when the refugees were moved out of the Gueckedou area to camps deep in the bush, they decided to evangelize the Muslim Kuranko people that they found themselves among. But none of them could speak the Kuranko language. But then they found James in the camp. He is a Kuranko, and he had been exposed to, and been intrigued by Lutheranism in Sierra Leone. Since then he has been the spearhead of our Lutheran work among the Kurankos. Since they are Muslims, it is hard and sometimes discouraging work, but we have seen some incredible progress. James is very anxious now to return to Sierra Leone and work with his people in his own country, but even though most have returned, he wants to stick it out here until the Kuranko church has a good base before he goes home.
ALFRED SALLOE
The name Salloe means "dung heap". Alfred's mother had lost all her previous children and expected that he too would soon end up on the dung heap. But it did not happen. Alfred is Kissi and has been a strong leader for us. His ministry has seen God move in powerful ways. He has had several power encounters with local Juju men who have tried to curse him, but were unable. One even became a Christian. Once his young son fell into a well, but the man who lowered himself down to "recover the body" testifies that he found the boy sitting safely on the surface of the water. Alfred has also trained several men that have become strong leaders in their own right. He is now working to strengthen our Kpelle work in the N'Zerekore area.
DAVID SIAFFA
David was a Muslim teacher in Liberia before that war, but in the refugee camps he was converted and became a strong Lutheran teacher. He is still in the refugee camps here and is one of our most important leaders there.
T. G. MOUMOU
T. G. is an older Mendi from Sierra Leone and has a Lutheran background from even before the war there. He has always been very influential among the refugee community.