IN 1991, my wife, Satta, and I fled for our lives as rebel soldiers overran our hometown, Koindu, Sierra Leone. Over the next eight years, we lived in many different refugee camps. There we endured food shortages and sicknesses and were surrounded by the immoral activities of our camp neighbors.

In each camp we asked the authorities for land to build a Kingdom Hall. Sometimes our request was granted, and sometimes it was not. Nevertheless, we always arranged to have a meeting place for worship. We were determined to serve Jehovah. Eventually, we built four Kingdom Halls in the camps.

When the war ended, we could not return home. Years of fighting had turned Koindu into a wasteland. So we were sent to yet another refugee camp near Bo. There, with funds supplied by the branch office, we built our fifth Kingdom Hall.