The first “waters” of truth began to flow in Mali during 1962 when the Society invited four Ghanian brothers to open up the field there. After a ‘crash course’ in French at Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Brother Ewuley Sarpey and his three companions were eagerly anticipating their new assignment. Would it be very different from Ghana?

It certainly proved to be! At first the scorching sun seemed almost unbearable, but the four Kingdom proclaimers soon learned to take advantage of the cooler hours of the day. Meetings for field service were at seven o’clock in the morning. After about three hours of service, trudging along in the hot, loose sand, it was time to head for the cooler protection of home to rest, eat and take a much-needed siesta before preparing to leave for the field again at four o’clock in the afternoon. Often, the work would continue into the cooler hours of the late evening.

In September of 1965, just as the Kingdom-preaching work came under the care of the newly established branch office in Senegal, the four special pioneers were deported from Mali. All were reassigned to Senegal.

But the Adversary has not been able to burn up the seeds of truth that were planted and then sprouted in Mali. Brother Sarpey remained in Mali and carried on faithfully there as a special pioneer, also caring for his wife and two children.