Notes From My West African Diary

Abstract

"It was my privilege to represent the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Baptist Missionary Society at the Independence · Celebrations. As their representative I was received by the Governor, Sir Maurice Dorman, and granted a long interview. His .· Excellency was very interested to hear that the first Baptist Church on the African Continent was founded in Sierra Leone in 1792 and that one of his predecessors had expelled a Baptist missionary from the Colony. The (]overnor hoped that history would not repeat itself! Of the many notable events of the Independence Celebrations three were of special significance to me:- · 1. A few moments before midnight on the eve of Independence Day the President of the Muslim League, the President of the United Christian Council, the Archbishop of West Africa who was also Bishop of Sierra Leone,· and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Freetown and Bo, stood side by side in the Arena of the crowded Sta,dium. The first three offered a prayer and the Roman Catholic Archbishop gave a message from the Pope"