Paul: We wor too happy! It wor in November 1985, and we wor on our way to our first missionary assignment in Liberia, West Africa. Our plane stop in Senegal. Anne say “Maybe we will be in Liberia in one hour time!” Then we hear this announcement: “All the people who going Liberia must get down from the plane. The plane can’t land in Liberia because some people trying to overthrow the government.” So we stay with some missionaries in Senegal for the next ten days. We use to hear in the news that they killing plenty people in Liberia and that the government put curfew down. And they can shoot anybody who break the curfew.

Anne: Normally, me and my husband scary. In fact, from the time I wor small, people use to call me Scary Annie. I can even be scare to cross the road! But we still wanted to go to our assignment.

Paul: Me and Anne grow up in the same area in the west of England. My parents and Anne ma really encourage us. So two of us started pioneering right after high school. They wor really happy that we wanted to spend our whole life in full-time service and they gave us their support. I wor 19 years old when I went to Bethel, and Anne join me there after we got marry in 1982.

Anne: Even though we love Bethel, but we always wanted to serve where they need more people to preach. Working together in Bethel with people who wor missionaries before, made that desire more strong. For three years, we pray every night to be missionaries. So, we wor really happy when we receive our letter in 1985 to attend the 79th class of Gilead! And they assign us to Liberia, West Africa.

Paul: We get on the first plane that wor allow to go to Liberia. People wor still scare and the curfew wor still on. Even when car make loud noise, people will get scare and start running. For us to be calm, we use to read some part of Psalms together every night. But we really use to like our assignment. Anne wor missionary  and I was in Bethel, working with John Charuk. a I learn plenty things from him because he understand the brother and sister dem good-good and the problems they wor going through.

Anne: Why it wor quick for us to love Liberia? That because of our brother and sister dem. They show us love, they wor friendly and they wor faithful. We wor close to them and they became our new family. Their advice really help us spiritually. We really enjoy preaching in Liberia. People even use to get vex when you not stay long preaching to them! People use to talk about Bible business even on the street. And it wor easy for you to just go and join them in their discussion. The Bible students wor so plenty that it wor hard to get time to study with all of them. The territory wor really wonderful to preach in!

Paul: After enjoying some peace for four years, things change when they started fighting war in 1989. On July 2, 1990 the rebels capture the branch area. For three months we lost contact with people who wor not in the branch, including our families and world headquarters. Violence wor everywhere, food business wor hard and they wor raping people. This problem dem continue for 14 years and it affect the whole country.

Anne: Some people from certain tribes wor fighting and killing people from other tribes. Soldier people with guns use to be all on the streets. They wor dress in strange clothes and they use to loot. For some of them, they say “killing human being wor just like killing chicken.” Dead body use to be pack on top each other to the checkpoints and some of them wor even near the branch. They kill some of our faithful brother and sister dem, including two missionaries.

Some of our brother and sister dem risk their life to hide other brothers and sisters who wor from the tribe they wor looking for to kill. That the same thing the Missionaries and Bethelites do. To the branch, some of our displace brother and sister dem use to sleep downstairs and we and some of them wor living together in our rooms upstairs. We share our room with one family that wor having seven persons.

Paul: Every day, the fighters use to try to enter the branch to see whether we wor hiding people. Four persons use to be on guide. Two persons use to be to the window and two persons to the gate. If the two persons that to the  gate put their hands in front them, it mean everything alright. But if they put their hands behind them, it mean everything not alright. So the brothers who use to be watching from the window will go hide our brother dem quick-quick.

Anne: After some weeks, one group of fighters who wor vex, force their way in the fence. I lock myself and one sister in the bathroom. One cupboard wor there with small hiding place inside. The sister squeeze herself inside. The fighter dem follow me upstairs with their guns. They start knocking on our door hard. Paul beg them and say, “My wife using the bathroom.” When I wor closing the hiding place and putting the thing dem back in the cupboard, it take some time and it made noise. I wor scary and it made my whole body to start trembling. How I wor coming manage to open the door? I pray in my heart for Jehovah to help me. Then I open the door and I try to not be scary when I speak to them. One of them push me, went straight to the cupboard, open it, and start looking all inside. He wor surprise that he not find anything. Then he and his group start checking in the other rooms and in the ceiling. But still they not find anything.

Paul: For some months we wor only having small food to eat. But spiritual food continue to give us strength. Bethel morning worship wor just like our “breakfast,” and we wor happy for the strength it gave us.

If food and water wor coming finish, and it force us to leave the branch, then maybe they wor coming kill the people we wor hiding. Sometime, the way Jehovah use to provide for us wor just like miracle. Jehovah take care of us and help us to not be too scary.

The more the situation got worse, that the more Jehovah gave us strength. Even though our brother and sister dem run away plenty time to save their life, their faith remain strong and they wor calm. Some of them say that going through the war wor just like “practicing for the great tribulation.” Some brave elders and young brothers try their best to help the brother and sister dem. The brothers and sisters who wor displace really stick together. They started preaching in their new areas and they fix their own Kingdom Halls in the bush for meeting. The meetings encourage them and the preaching work help them to bear their problems. When we wor giving food, clothes and other thing dem, plenty of our brothers ask for preaching bags instead of clothes. It really encourage us. Plenty people who bad things happen to really listen to the good news. They wor suprise to see that the Jehovah Witness people wor happy even though they wor going through this same problem dem. The brother and sister dem wor shining like light in the darkness!  (Matt. 5:​14-16) The zeal the brother dem wor having even help some fighters who wor wicked, to be Jehovah Witness.

Paul: Sometimes we wor force to leave the country. Three times we leave the country for short time. And two times we leave the country for one whole year. One missionary sister explain how we wor feeling. She say: “They teach us in Gilead to put our heart in our assignment, and that what we do. So leaving our brother dem in that kindna bad situation really made us to feel bad!” But we thank Jehovah that we wor still able to help with the work in Liberia while we wor living in other countries.

Anne: In May 1996, four of us wor in the branch car that wor having plenty branch documents. We wanted to drive 16 kilometers (10 mi) to the area that wor safe. Soon we leave the Branch, they attack the place we wor eh. The fighters who wor vex bad way, started shooting in the air. They stop us, put three of us down, and they carry the car while Paul wor still inside. We wor really confuse. Then it not stay long we saw Paul walking among the people with blood coming from his head. First, we wor thinking that they na shoot him. But later on we say when they shoot him, then he will not be walking! That one fighter knock him on his head when they wor pushing him from the car. We tell Jehovah thank you that it wor just small sore.

One army truck that wor ready to go, wor pack with plenty people who wor scary. So we hang on it. The driver pick up heavy speed, and we almost fall down. We beg him to stop, but he was too scare to listen. We manage to hang on it until we reach, but we wor scary and trembling.

Paul: We wor not having anything. And all our clothes wor dirty and tear-tear. We look at each other and we not believe that we wor still living. We sleep outside near one helicopter that wor having plenty gunshot mark. It carry us to Sierra Leone the next day. We wor happy that we wor still living but we wor worrying about our brother and sister dem.

Anne: When we reach to Bethel in Freetown, Sierra Leone, the brother dem take care of us and we wor feeling safe. But I started thinking about the bad-bad things that happen in Liberia. In the day, I use to be scare and be feeling that something bad coming happen. Everything wor just looking like dream to me. Then in the night, cold sweat will just be coming from my body, I will be trembling and thinking that something bad coming happen. It wor hard for me to breathe. So Paul will hold me and pray with me. We will sing Kingdom songs until the trembling stop. I wor feeling that I wor getting crazy and I will not be missionary again.

I will never forget the next thing that happen. That same week we receive two magazines. One wor the June 8, 1996 Awake! It get the title “Coping With Panic Attacks.” Now I understand what wor happening to me. The second one wor The May 15, 1996 Watchtower that wor having one article with the title, “Where Do They Get Their Strength?” The Watchtower wor having one butterfly that the wing break. The article say that even though this butterfly wing wor having problem, but it still use to eat and fly. That the same way Jehovah spirit can give us strength to help other people even if we going through problem. Jehovah provide this article dem the right time and it encourage us. (Matt. 24:45) I look for article dem like this and put them together, and it really help me. After some time, the way I wor feeling started going down small-small.

Paul: Anytime we use to go back home to Liberia, we use to be so happy. The ending of 2004 make us almost 20 years in Liberia. That time the war finish. They wor planning now to do construction work on the branch office. But it not stay long they gave us new assignment.

That wor not small thing for us. We wor really close to our brothers and sisters, so we never wanted to leave them. But we na see how Jehovah help us before when we leave our own  family to go to Gilead. So we accept the new assignment. They sent us to Ghana and it not too far from Liberia.

Anne: We wor crying when we wor leaving Liberia. We wor surprise when one older mature brother name Frank tell us: “Yor must forget about us!” Then he say: “We know yor will never forget about us, but yor must put your whole heart in yor new assignment. It coming from Jehovah, so focus on the brothers and sisters that there.” This one help us to be able to make new friends because only few people knew us and everything there wor new to us.

Paul: But it not take long to love our brothers and sisters in Ghana. Plenty Jehovah Witnesses wor there! We learn plenty things from the way the brothers and sisters wor loyal and having strong faith. Then after we serve in Ghana for 13 years, we wor surprise to get another assignment. They ask us to go serve in the East Africa branch in Kenya. Even though we really miss the brother and sister dem in our first two assignments, we wor quick to get close to the brothers and sisters in Kenya. And we still serving here in Kenya where they need more people to preach.

Anne: In my life, I pass through plenty things that made me scary. When we pass through bad thing dem in life, sometime it can even make us sick, scary and worry. Jehovah can’t always protect us from bad things. Even now, when I hear gun sound, my heart can cut and my whole body can be numb. But I na learn to make good use of all the ways Jehovah can give us strength, like the help from our brother and sister dem. And I na see that when we continue studying, praying, going to meetings and preaching, Jehovah can help us to stay in our assignment.

Paul: Sometime people can ask us, “Yor really like yor assignment?” Some countries can be fine, but it can be dangerous and it can’t be stable. So, wetin we like more than the country? That our precious brothers and sisters, our family. Even though we coming from different-different background, but we can think the same way about Jehovah. We wor thinking that they sent us there to encourage the brothers and sisters, but to talk the truth, that they the one encourage us.

Anytime we move to new place, we can see modern-day miracle: our brother and sister dem. So long we part of the congregation, we get family and we can feel save. We sure that if we continue to depend on Jehovah, he will give us the strength to bear any situation.—Phil. 4:13.