Set free

“Before we go out on an outreach, we go to the community the night before to pray,” MS explains. “We do a prayer walk at night so that the [spiritual] ground will be clear for us when we speak [with people about Jesus].” MS also shares about how there is opposition to Jesus in Sierra Leone, with over 75 per cent of the population following Islam and a mix of animistic beliefs. Blood sacrifices and the appeasement of spirits are a common part of life in many communities. Many people go to a mosque to pray, and then seek out a chief priest for physical healing and appeasing the spirits.

In Sierra Leone, the chief priest title is inherited through the family line, and is a spiritual leader for the community who is primarily responsible for performing human sacrifices to appease the spirits.

When Tamba* decided at the age of 10 that he did not want to be a chief priest, he fled and brought shame upon his family. Many years passed, and he was unable to visit his village. In his absence, another chief priest was selected by the spirits, but when that man died, the community used charms to draw Tamba back. Compelled to return to his village, Tamba was brought by the people as a blood sacrifice to the forest where the spirits dwelt. The spirits refused him as the sacrifice, instead telling him that he would be their spokesperson as chief priest. Still, a blood sacrifice was needed — Tamba called for a virgin to be brought and she was sacrificed and her blood used to appease the spirits.

It was into this community that MS, an OM leader in Sierra Leone, brought a small prayer team one night in 2020 to prepare for an outreach the next day. They encountered Tamba, who began yelling at them from his small house at the base of a mango tree. “What have you come here to this community to do? Who are you? Why are you here to harm us?” he yelled at the team in the darkness. “We just came here to bring love,” they replied. Tamba had been warned by the spirits of the coming of this ‘dangerous group’, and he had prepared charms to destroy them. He was amazed, however, when nothing worked to keep them away — he knew the spirits would be angry and that a blood sacrifice would be needed again. “Look, the spirits are angry with you for coming — now I’m going to kill you,” he threatened the group.

“We are here, let these spirits come and fight us. We have a God that you will never be able to fight…You are not going to kill us, but come outside to talk with us,” MS calmly replied. Tamba said that the spirits would not let him leave the house at the base of the tree, but the team offered him a hand regardless, and when he reached his hand out, the group was able to help him take a step outside. “When we brought him out, he fell down, like he was confused,” MS recalled. The group of Jesus followers surrounded Tamba and spent a long time praying over him. By the time the sun rose, Tamba wanted to join the group as they moved through the community and listened intently as they spoke about Jesus.

In awe of the power he had seen demonstrated, Tamba decided to follow Jesus that day, along with many others. The team stayed several days longer in Tamba's community to disciple the new believers. As there was no church there, when the team left, one OM team member stayed in the village to continue studying God’s Word with the new Jesus followers.

Later, Tamba attended a missions school where he grew even more in his faith and was equipped to share with others. When he returned to his community, Tamba continued reaching out to those who didn't know Jesus. The shrine under the tree that he had lived in is now abandoned. Tamba took a Bible and placed it inside the house, a sign that God had broken the powers that had kept him bound there.

Since then, no other chief priest has worked in Tamba's community, and many people continue to hear about Jesus. As of the end of 2024, 104 people have believed in Jesus because of the outreach and the transformation that happened in Tamba’s life. Tamba was a man who knew the darkness that came with appeasing the spirits — and now he knows the Light of belonging to Jesus.

*name changed