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BY VICTOR E. SAWYER

This past July, a 3-person Volunteers In Mission team traveled from the Washington, D.C., area to Sierra Leone. The Rev.Victor Sawyer headed the group, which included the Rev. Irene Pierce, assistant pastor at Asbury UMC, and Lynn Kim, a member of Foundry UMC, both in Washington. Below is an excerpt from his journal.

It has been raining continuously for the last three days, but this morning the sun is shining brightly, giving lovely warmth to the atmosphere. It?s as if to announce the great occasion that will soon take place here in Wellington, a town on the eastern suburbs of Freetown, Sierra Leone.

The occasion is a great reunion of two Asbury United Methodist churches in two different cities in two countries on two continents separated by 7,000 miles.

The story begins in the early 1980s with a group of faithful Christians worshiping under a tree in Freetown, and an American pastor, the late Rev. Frank L. Williams of Asbury UMC in Washington, D.C.

At that time, Williams was on a mission when he came upon the group worshiping under the tree. This open-air 'church' had been organized and chartered but had no place to worship.

Williams made the church a promise that he would help them to build a sanctuary. Shortly after this encounter, they acquired the land for a future church building. Meanwhile, Williams worked to raise funds at Asbury.

Over the years, he made many trips to Sierra Leone, bringing funds for construction of the Freetown church. Progress was slow, but the church was finally completed in January 2003. Aside from the sanctuary, the church compound also includes an elementary school with 300 children currently enrolled.

The great reunion event that our VIM team participated in had much to celebrate: the building of Asbury UMC-Freetown, the work and dedication of its congregation, and the help provided by its sister church, Asbury in Washington.

As our own mission group was preparing to go to Africa this past summer, the Rev. Louis Shockley, the current senior pastor of Asbury UMC in Washington, contacted us. He asked us to represent the mother church at this great reunion, and we were more than happy to accept.

Upon our arrival at Asbury in Freetown on the morning of July 23, we were greeted by the Sunday school teachers and more than 100 students, dressed in three different uniforms ? one each for the Sunday school children, the children?s choir and the youth choir. As we gathered in a church school classroom, the children learned their Bible lesson for the day and rehearsed songs for worship.

Next, we all moved into the sanctuary where worship started at 10 a.m. with the procession of the children?s choir, the sanctuary choir, the women?s chorus and the men?s chorus. More than 400 people attended, filling the sanctuary to capacity.

Rev. I.M. Kamara, pastor of Asbury UMC in Freetown, introduced us as special guests in celebration of the reunion. He expressed his gratitude for the moral, financial and spiritual support that the mother church had provided over the years.

The celebration was a great blessing for all participants.