Missionary profile – Deborah Sekyi

Deborah Sekyi – single missionary to Sierra Leone

As a child, I enjoyed missionary movies and storybooks. The stories mostly featured an evil force, fetish priests in a community, and sometimes people in a community who spiritually attack the work of missionaries who have traveled far to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them.

These missionaries faced hostility and attacks from the people; they had to suffer a great deal even after leaving their cherished possessions and coming to a people they did not know. However, in the end, the power of the Holy Spirit moved mightily in the whole community and everyone, including the main enemy of the gospel, most often a fetish priest comes to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

I found these stories interesting, although I didn’t fully comprehend them until later years. At age 14 and in my first year in Junior High school, I joined my elder sister at the Scripture Union fellowship meeting. It was a new experience for me; I heard for the first time that being born into a Christian family does not necessarily mean that a person is a Christian. At that meeting, I understood that I need to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

I accepted salvation, which brought a remarkable change to my life. I continued with my devotion to Christ; however, my walk with the Lord did not grow until 2009 during my university days in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

I joined Excellent Youth Outreach (EYO), a missionary focused group on campus, I saw a lot of growth in my walk with Christ. I understood the need to reach out to others with the gospel of Christ. This newfound passion grew with my walk with Christ; I also appreciated the need to get involved actively with missionary trips, allowing others to receive the Lord Jesus just as I had the opportunity to that Friday afternoon.

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scripture says, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” Romans 10:13-15 (NLT)

This Scripture made a lot of meaning to me as I studied the scriptures and grew more in my heart the passion for missionary work. I had a heavy burden to dedicate my entire life after my university education to missionary work. My missionary trip to Sierra Leone was not my first missionary trip; however, it was my first long-term missionary journey after school.

I raised funds for the trip, and with support from the EYO alumni, I paid for my flight and had some pocket money. This missionary trip was different from the previous short- term trips I have experienced. It required a lot of funding because I needed to have enough for my upkeep and some children in the house where I lived in Sierra Leone.

I took up a teaching job in Bo, the second major city of Sierra Leone and where I also did most of my missionary work as an English teacher in a Basic school. When I decided to take this missionary trip, the fears of my family were mainly because it was a foreign land where they knew nobody they could fall on in case of anything.

It was tough for my family to release me for this mission, especially my mum and dad, because they felt I was too young for such an adventure. I knew I just had to respond to the call, and so I committed all these in prayer to the Lord, and the Lord did answer. I finally received my family’s blessing on this missionary trip and went on the mission. I had this missionary trip shortened because Sierra Leone had recorded many Ebola cases and deaths in 2013 and the early part of 2014.

The epidemic brought a lot of panic to my family, and they became even more convinced I should return to Ghana. Externally, I received opposition from some of my friends. Two very close friends shared their disappointment in me for abandoning my National Service to travel to an Islamic nation to preach, knowing that my life could even be at risk. I was blessed to have a selfless “Man of Peace”; a native of Sierra Leone who worked with the Sierra Leone Fellowship of Evangelical Students (SLEFES).

He hosted me and was able to smooth my way on arrival. However, barely three months after my arrival in Sierra Leone, he had a near-fatal accident and relocated to Freetown with his family to receive medical attention. I had many challenges with my missionary work after that; however, my trust was only on God to see me through all I needed to do there. He gave me great success with my work.

Psalm 127:1-2 says, “Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builder is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.”

I continued to work with SLEFES and focused on starting a ladies wing at Njala University, Towarma campus. Here, I encouraged and empowered the young ladies to fully commit to the fellowship and take their place in propagating the gospel of Christ. Two years after I had left Sierra Leone, they had their first female president for the fellowship, which has happened many times since.

It always feels more comfortable to go with others and rely on others’ strength, but there is greater strength and many more results when our dependence is just on the Lord. We tend to reap more of the harvest for the Lord. My main encouragement is to the youth, especially ladies: I believe that God has given us more, and we can do more for the Lord when we have no children to take care of, a husband to honor and submit to, and a home to run.

I believe that God chooses who He desires to use at any given time, and that is irrespective of your race, sex, language, cultural affiliations, etc.; all the Lord requires from us is “Lord, I am yielded: send me, and I will go.”