Determined to Stay
by Daniel Osei-Yeboah CSSp
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is a small country wrenched apart
by a ghastly civil war. Innocent civilians and foreign nationals have
been terrorised. In 1994 the rebels killed an Irish Spiritan, Fr
Felim McAllister, together with a doctor and his family. They
continue to kill anyone who resists them. They loot entire villages.
They rape women and girls. They sever the hands and legs of
non-combatants. In civil war rage overwhelms reason.
Arbitrary
arrests and detentions are common. Little or no food is produced.
The cost of living remains high; the standard of living is incredibly
low. Black marketing, profiteering and prostitution become the norm.
School dropouts are at an all time high. Crime, disease and poverty
are now the hallmark of the people.
A brutal civil war
I had my own baptism of fire at the hands of the rebels in 1999. Around 4:00 a.m. they broke into my residence. My only escape was to run and take shelter in the church. About 5:00 p.m. another batch of rebels arrived, desperate and unfriendly. They beat me up and held me at gunpoint, ready to kill me. All I could say was, "Jesus, save me." I narrowly escaped death.
One day two rebels came to see me. They needed money for medicines. One of them asked for prayers for the atrocities he and others had committed. He was haunted by what he had done and could not sleep at night. I promised to pray for him, but also advised him to stop his involvement in the war.
Another day a young man met the rebel who had amputated his left hand. For some time neither could utter a word; they just looked at each other. The rebel broke down and asked for mercy. The mob began to beat him but the young man intervened, "Please, leave him alone. I have forgiven him."
Sharing their suffering
I can do nothing for most of these desperate, displaced people. But they have a lot to offer me. They teach me to move from theory to practice, from the world of dreams to the world of reality. They tell me, "Father, I have lost everything, but thank God I have my life." And here I am with my vow of poverty and some training in detachment and I can't stop thinking about all the things the rebels have taken from me.
My role as leader has motivated me to stay. I visit my fellow Spiritans cut off from the capital, Freetown. On my travels I constantly come into contact with rebels and other groups manning roadblocks.They demand money, but also rosaries, bibles and prayers. They too need God, the Church and people to listen to them and accept them.
More than once my priestly cassock has saved my life. Our Spiritan motto "One Heart and One Spirit" has also been a life-line linking me to other Spiritans around the world, praying for us, and supporting us financially. Such solidarity has given me courage and determination to stay on.
Even when we had nothing to offer them our staying with the people became a morale booster. One young girl said to me, "Father, I thought you had run away. Thanks for sharing our suffering with us. We feel encouraged to see you."
The Lord of the storm has been our strength. We have been worn out and traumatised, but never really alone. His words have become so real for us: "I am with you."
