Liberia Videotaping Safari -- Tim Kirkpatrick

Many of you prayed for and encouraged Dave Ryan and me on the trip to Liberia. We were conscious daily of God's intervention in our behalf. In our minds, the trip was a great success. Following are some notes from the journal one of us kept. I hope it lets you share some of the excitement and difficulty we were privileged to experience.

12/12/88

I almost have to pinch myself to be sure I'm awake and that this trip to video tape Sammy Morris' origins is not a dream. Dave feels the same kind of awe about it. He has never been further than Haiti in his travels.

When we arrived in the Monrovia airport we caused quite a ripple among customs officials with the $9,000 worth of video equipment. Two African friends who met us negotiated with customs and security for 4 hours to let us bring stuff into the country. The authorities finally let us through with everything except a $1,000 deposit (all my money, virtually) which they said we would reclaim upon leaving the country.

12/14/88

We got to the airport early for the 450 mile flight to Harper City which, we're told, is near Sammy's home. We were on a six-seater piper with twin engines. The weigh-in procedure was interesting. The people were weighed as well as the luggage. Our equipment came to as much in excess weight as an extra person, so the fare to Harper was $225 altogether. We don't have $225 for a return trip so we'll be coming back by road.

The flight was very good. Wolfgang, the German pilot, accommodated us by circling once around Garraway (our eventual destination) and once around Harper City before landing. We have some beautiful footage of both towns from the air.

We learned upon arrival in Harper that Joseph Theoway, the man who was to provide our transportation in the South, had a serious accident: wrecked his truck and put himself in the hospital. This meant that we had no ride to our next destination: Garraway, where the whole Methodist district was waiting for us in order to begin the centennial celebration. After half an hour, a local pastor found us a ride on a Ghanaian fishing boat. Dave was aghast at the thought of going by sea and at having to spend 40 of our precious dollars on boat fares. I was just as firm in arguing that we had to go. I won the argument but wasn't absolutely sure I should have insisted when I saw the boat.

We came ashore in Garraway at the same spot William Taylor and his missionaries did 100 years ago. Instead of spear-wielding warriors who greeted his party, we were met by smiling, welcoming Christians. Accounts of Taylor's arrival state the Garraway warriors put down their arms as a result of hearing the missionaries singing as they headed ashore in their surfboat. In 1988, it was the people of Garraway that did the singing -- what a contrast Christ brings. What a privilege to experience again the oneness He gives among believers of different cultures. We were first led to the newly re-decorated Methodist church and were royally treated with numerous welcoming speeches by church and civic leaders (including the Grand Chief of Garraway). The speeches were interspersed with lots of beautiful tribal and western songs of the church. Dave was more astounded by it all than I was. After the church ceremony, a parade formed with dancing, singing, and drumming.  We went to the town cemetery where we were reminded of the high cost in human lives that it took to spread the Gospel in these parts. There were a dozen or so graves of missionaries and their children. Then we were led up to the top of Yudo hill where the missionary dwelling once stood. The hill is a prominent one and attracted Bishop Taylor's attention as an ideal spot for missionary residence away from the mosquito-prone lowlands nearer the shore. The house today is just a decaying remains of cement blocks and beams. The last missionary left here in 1934.

We stayed in the home of Mrs. Felicia H. Badio, a prominent Methodist lay leader and civil servant. She offered us separate rooms each with a queen-size bed and went to great efforts to make us feel at home. We didn't sleep too well in the wee hours of the night. The mosquitoes didn't leave us alone in spite of our having plastered ourselves with Deep Woods Off repellant.

12/15/88

We were conducted on a sight-seeing tour of the town by 2 young men from the church. Garraway has some idyllic tropical beauty. The harbor mouth is guarded by some huge majestic rocks, some on shore and others sticking up out of the sea. Back at the house, we were told that arrangements were complete for us to go across the river to the village of Po River -- the town that may have been Sammy's home. We loaded our "precious" equipment into a leaking canoe and headed across. We were greeted by an enthusiastic group of church and civic leaders in "Sammy's home town". A group of women sang and clapped and danced their welcome. We went to the Methodist church and a pastor, who is also a local historian, recounted the same legend I heard of last year about "the man who never returned." Incidentally, if Po River is Sammy's home town, there is a building project that someone in the States interested in the Morris saga might want to take on. The main church building in town has the cement walls mostly up and could be completed with a roof for "only" $5,000 US dollars. Wouldn't it be great if current and past residents of Morris Hall would raise this amount and "build a church in Sammy's hometown?" The local church leaders would thank me for mentioning it.

After lunch back in Garraway we set up the recording equipment outside the church and taped the former great chief of the town (Weah Tieh Wallace) as he recounted in traditional style the arrival of the missionaries in 1888. Wallace's description makes clear the considerable influence that the missionaries had in putting an end to the tribal wars. The conflict that had been going on for 20 years gradually "ground" to a stop in the first couple of years after the Christians came. The church had a rousing farewell service for us at 8 p.m. It was a heart-warming spectacle of traditional music, speeches, dances and gift-giving. Dave and I each gave responses. He praised God for making the experiences such a good one -- for delivering him from his initial fears and helping him make some real friends in Garraway.

12/16/88

We were told to be ready for the return trip to Harper City by 8 a.m. We had everything packed on time but activities transpired at a much slower pace than expected. It was the true, leisurely, beautiful lack of urgency that I've come to love on this continent. Numerous people from town stopped in to greet us from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Mrs. Badio cooked a lavish breakfast with chicken and sauce, rice and plaintain bananas. I was offered (as well last year) the chance to have a local school named in my honor. Dave thought I managed to decline graciously enough. We were given additional gifts: a basket of oranges by Mrs. Badio and a huge avocado by another church "mother."

Finally we picked up everything and headed for the boat. The journey to Harper City was fairly uneventful. The first news to greet us upon landing was that Joseph Theoway was out of the hospital and arranging to get his truck repaired. We were taken to the home of Dr. Bolton Williams, where it was good to relax, sleep, catch up on writing, enjoy the scenery and have fellowship with some special friends in Christ.

12/17/88

Our last full day in Harper. We had been wondering since arriving if it would be possible to set up a showing of the "Angel in Ebony" tape we brought along. The pastor at Mt. Scott, the main Methodist Church in town wanted to make a whole evening service of it but our TV set is only 9-inch so I encouraged him to consider a private home showing. The Williams home would have been OK, but the [electricity] in town had not reached their house in several weeks. They had lights strung on their Christmas tree, but no power. To our surprise, power came on about 5 p.m.! It really seemed like Christmas when the tree lit up. When word got around the church leaders met at [the Williams'] and we showed the tape there. Everyone seemed impressed with the Sammy Morris story. Joseph Theoway was especially moved. Like the Taylor young people depicted in the movie, Joseph says he sensed God speaking to him about entering the preaching ministry full time.

12/19-20/88

Because we were short of funds and because we wanted to see Liberia between Harper and Monrovia a bit "as Sammy did", we decided to go by bus or truck. "Everyone" was trying to find rides home for the vacation/holiday season. We booked a ride on an open truck due to leave about 2:30; cost was $25 each. The operator promised that only 45 would be allowed on, but there were more like 65 people, plus chickens, goats, and masses of luggage on board when we finally left at 4:30.

At the edge of town Mamadee, the driver, stopped to pick up 30 more people. There was no room for them, they just had to crowd in. That began what will live in our memories as the most difficult part of the trip: 24 hours of dust, rough, tedious travel. We encountered 15 or more road blocks set up by various army, police and immigration authorities.

Often everyone had to get off the truck to have papers checked. The baggage was gone [through] over several times, and we feared further delay if the video stuff was found. It never was! At every stop the driver had to shell out bribe money, ranging all the way from two to 25 dollars!  Some stops consumed an hour or more. Anyway, we dragged into Monrovia Tuesday afternoon with our back-sides very sore from sitting on hard seats and with a layer of dust all over. Dave and I are overwhelmed with the thought that the local people put up with that kind of treatment all the time. Mothers struggled with their babies, some of whom were sick. Three chickens died from the heat and lack of air. One of the goats almost did.

12/22/88

We videotaped an interview with Joseph Theoway's dad (with the same name) who is a Representative in the National Legislature. He "wrapped it up," so to speak, relative to the research into Sammy's past. He comes from the Garraway area and gave us specific dates of tribal movements and Kru/Grebo battles that fit remarkably well the narrative Sammy gave of his boyhood years. Po River looks more than ever to us like Sammy's hometown. Garraway could not have been the "enemy" though, because the Grebos of Garraway were always allies of the Kru in Po River. Po River and Garraway were involved together in a long series of wars that lasted from the early 1860s til 1889. Most of that time they were harassed and dominated by a coalition of other Grebo clans located to the south. The Garraway/Po River faction won this prolonged conflict in a final decisive battle the year after the Methodist missionaries arrived in 1889. Rep. Theoway feels that the Grebo town of Nemeah is where Sammy was likely held and from which he escaped in about 1886.

The work of the Methodist missionaries began to bear fruit in the lives of the Garraway people right away. The Christians in town feel that God intervened to help them win against improbable odds in 1889. Following that battle, the Garraway warriors never fought a major tribal war again. They began to be known as peaceable Christians. In contrast to this, Grebo wars waged against Liberian government by other towns to the southwest went on til well into the 20th century.

We went to the home of Methodist Bishop Arthur Kulah for a remarkable evening. We showed "Angel in Ebony" again and I made a presentation to the Bishop of several gifts from Dr. Kesler and Taylor University: 1) the video tape, 2) a copy of Baldwin's book about S. Morris and 3) ways in which Christians in the US and Liberia should celebrate the centennial of Sammy's coming to the US.

12/23/88

Leaving day! We got to the airport two hours early so we could pick up the $1,000 deposited for the video equipment the night we arrived. The customs man who had the money was not there. Joseph was confident he could pick it up Saturday morning at 8. Neither Dave nor I was willing to miss the flight home to wait and find out.

We flew away from Monrovia after a warm send-off by Joseph and a friend named Samson who had come along. What an astounding trip! I feel it was a great success. I'll really think so if the money is recovered.

12/24/88

Christmas Eve and we are in the air over New York as I write this last entry. Just found out that Kennedy Airport is fogged in and we have to go to Philly. God only knows if I will make it home to my lovely family for all or part of Christmas Day! But in spite of the uncertainty (uncertainty seems to have been our "watchword" this trip), all is well. Dave and I just agreed on that with a Liberian handshake.

P.S.

We did not make it home until midnight on Christmas Day. We did get the $1,000 back. We are currently working on production of a half-hour documentary from the material gathered in Liberia, New York, and Fort Wayne. We will keep you posted on the progress of this venture.