Steadfast Under Ban

When World War II cast its shadow over Africa, Jehovah’s people in Sierra Leone took their stand as Christian neutrals. (Mic. 4:3; John 18:36) The British authorities falsely branded them as subversive, so they monitored their activities and banned their literature. Customs officials in Freetown seized one literature shipment and burned it. Some brothers were arrested for possessing banned literature but were soon released.a

Despite the ban, the Witnesses kept on preaching. Pauline Cole explained: “A brother who was a steward on a ship that visited regularly continued to supply us with copies of The Watchtower. From these we typed up extra copies for the meetings. We also printed leaflets on Bible topics and distributed them to the public. And the brothers continued to give public discourses and to play recordings of Brother Rutherford’s radio lectures, especially in the outer villages.”

Those efforts, while modest, clearly had Jehovah’s blessing. James Jarrett, a long-time elder and special pioneer, recalls: “During the war, I was working as a stonecutter when an elderly sister gave me the booklet Refugees. Since many refugees were landing in Freetown, its title intrigued me. I read the booklet that night and immediately recognized the truth. The next morning, I tracked the sister down and obtained copies for my three brothers. All four of us accepted the truth.”

When the war ended in 1945, the Freetown Congregation had 32 publishers. The publishers had kept their integrity and remained spiritually active. They were ready and eager to move ahead.