Sunday, January 18, 2004
Back to war-torn Liberia
Timothy and Gail Gatling of Spotsylvania serve as missionaries in war-torn Liberia.
By JESSICA ALLEN
Date published: 1/17/2004
Missionary couple from Spotsylvania spreads Gospel
Gail Gatling remembers the strong March sun last year in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.
She remembers people sitting on the doorsteps talking and the women carrying baskets on their heads to the marketplace.
With a Bible in her hand, Gail Gatling was explaining to one of the women how God promises everlasting life.
Then gunshots rang out and her new-found friend knew immediately what it was.
"Gail, we need to go," the woman told her.
"Seconds later," Gail Gatling recalled in an interview last week, "everyone started running and screaming, 'The people coming,' meaning the rebel forces."
The rebels were less than 15 minutes away from Monrovia, where Gail and her husband, Timothy, had served as missionaries since September 1999.
Originally from Spotsylvania County, the Gatlings are Jehovah's Witnesses, a Christian denomination whose members are known for evangelizing door to door.
Gail said she was able to safely reach Timothy, who was waiting at the church, or Kingdom Hall, they attended.
They were then forced to leave the West African nation last April.
Despite the harrowing experience, they headed back this week.
The civil unrest has died down since warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor was exiled to Nigeria. The United Nations' peacekeeping force has sent thousands of troops to the country to maintain order.
The Gatlings said they had two reasons for going back: the love of God and man.
"We know that we can't really solve their temporary problems--death, disease and crime--but we can give them a greater hope for the future that God promises in the Bible," said Timothy Gatling, 39.
He and Gail, 43, had been preaching in the Fredericksburg area for years when they had the opportunity to preach in Africa.
The Gatlings, who attended the Westwood congregation that meets at the Kingdom Hall on Five Mile Road near Chancellorsville, were accepted in 1998 to participate in the denomination's foreign missionary school.
The Watchtower School of Gilead offers a five-month Bible education program to train ministers for missionary work. The school is in Patterson, N.Y., the worldwide headquarters of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, better known as the Jehovah's Witnesses.
The school, which started in 1943, teaches full-time ministers how to relate to locals and work with other missionaries, Gail said.
Participants, who are from around the world, must be married couples.
Halfway through the course the Gatlings learned they were going to Liberia. The couple had mixed reactions.
Gayle, who spoke Spanish, said she expected to go to a country in South or Central America.
But serving in Africa was always Timothy's goal.
"I recognized there was a great need in Africa when it comes to the preaching activity," he said.
Established in the early 1800s by freed American slaves, some of Liberia's first inhabitants were Fredericksburg-area residents. Its capital, Monrovia, is named after President James Monroe.
But in the past 14 years, Liberia has been engulfed in a civil war.
When the Gatlings moved to the country in 1999, the rebel insurgence to oust Taylor was in full speed.
They weren't discouraged, because most people were open to Bible teachings, Gail said.
"Many are looking for hope and want something better," she said. "We show that God of the Bible says it will get better."
There are about 6.5 million baptized Jehovah's Witnesses in the world--3,800 in Liberia.
Witnesses are known for their neutral stance on political issues based Isaiah 2:4. Although they weren't involved in the civil war, the Gatlings had friends in the Liberian congregations who were caught in the crossfire.
One friend lost his wife and daughter when their house was hit by rocket fire. Another was shot in the neck while looking for food, Timothy said.
On several occasions, the women and children sought refuge in the middle of the night at their Kingdom Hall.
"We heard how at 3 or 4 a.m., rebels would go in different homes and rape the women," Gail said. "The young boys would be carried away to join their forces," Timothy said.
Because of the violence, the Gatlings were sent to the Ivory Coast in May 2002. They returned to Liberia three months later only to be evacuated again last April.
Calmer days may be ahead in Liberia. Gyude Bryant is the leader until elections in 2005. The U.N. is expected to have about 15,000 troops in the country, which pleases the Gatlings.
"We hope that situation will bring a measure of peace so we could continue our preaching work," Timothy said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
To reach JESSICA ALLEN: 540/368-5036 jiallen@freelancestar.com
Date published: 1/17/2004
source: The Free Lance-Star
Timothy and Gail Gatling of Spotsylvania serve as missionaries in war-torn Liberia.
By JESSICA ALLEN
Date published: 1/17/2004
Missionary couple from Spotsylvania spreads Gospel
Gail Gatling remembers the strong March sun last year in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.
She remembers people sitting on the doorsteps talking and the women carrying baskets on their heads to the marketplace.
With a Bible in her hand, Gail Gatling was explaining to one of the women how God promises everlasting life.
Then gunshots rang out and her new-found friend knew immediately what it was.
"Gail, we need to go," the woman told her.
"Seconds later," Gail Gatling recalled in an interview last week, "everyone started running and screaming, 'The people coming,' meaning the rebel forces."
The rebels were less than 15 minutes away from Monrovia, where Gail and her husband, Timothy, had served as missionaries since September 1999.
Originally from Spotsylvania County, the Gatlings are Jehovah's Witnesses, a Christian denomination whose members are known for evangelizing door to door.
Gail said she was able to safely reach Timothy, who was waiting at the church, or Kingdom Hall, they attended.
They were then forced to leave the West African nation last April.
Despite the harrowing experience, they headed back this week.
The civil unrest has died down since warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor was exiled to Nigeria. The United Nations' peacekeeping force has sent thousands of troops to the country to maintain order.
The Gatlings said they had two reasons for going back: the love of God and man.
"We know that we can't really solve their temporary problems--death, disease and crime--but we can give them a greater hope for the future that God promises in the Bible," said Timothy Gatling, 39.
He and Gail, 43, had been preaching in the Fredericksburg area for years when they had the opportunity to preach in Africa.
The Gatlings, who attended the Westwood congregation that meets at the Kingdom Hall on Five Mile Road near Chancellorsville, were accepted in 1998 to participate in the denomination's foreign missionary school.
The Watchtower School of Gilead offers a five-month Bible education program to train ministers for missionary work. The school is in Patterson, N.Y., the worldwide headquarters of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, better known as the Jehovah's Witnesses.
The school, which started in 1943, teaches full-time ministers how to relate to locals and work with other missionaries, Gail said.
Participants, who are from around the world, must be married couples.
Halfway through the course the Gatlings learned they were going to Liberia. The couple had mixed reactions.
Gayle, who spoke Spanish, said she expected to go to a country in South or Central America.
But serving in Africa was always Timothy's goal.
"I recognized there was a great need in Africa when it comes to the preaching activity," he said.
Established in the early 1800s by freed American slaves, some of Liberia's first inhabitants were Fredericksburg-area residents. Its capital, Monrovia, is named after President James Monroe.
But in the past 14 years, Liberia has been engulfed in a civil war.
When the Gatlings moved to the country in 1999, the rebel insurgence to oust Taylor was in full speed.
They weren't discouraged, because most people were open to Bible teachings, Gail said.
"Many are looking for hope and want something better," she said. "We show that God of the Bible says it will get better."
There are about 6.5 million baptized Jehovah's Witnesses in the world--3,800 in Liberia.
Witnesses are known for their neutral stance on political issues based Isaiah 2:4. Although they weren't involved in the civil war, the Gatlings had friends in the Liberian congregations who were caught in the crossfire.
One friend lost his wife and daughter when their house was hit by rocket fire. Another was shot in the neck while looking for food, Timothy said.
On several occasions, the women and children sought refuge in the middle of the night at their Kingdom Hall.
"We heard how at 3 or 4 a.m., rebels would go in different homes and rape the women," Gail said. "The young boys would be carried away to join their forces," Timothy said.
Because of the violence, the Gatlings were sent to the Ivory Coast in May 2002. They returned to Liberia three months later only to be evacuated again last April.
Calmer days may be ahead in Liberia. Gyude Bryant is the leader until elections in 2005. The U.N. is expected to have about 15,000 troops in the country, which pleases the Gatlings.
"We hope that situation will bring a measure of peace so we could continue our preaching work," Timothy said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
To reach JESSICA ALLEN: 540/368-5036 jiallen@freelancestar.com
Date published: 1/17/2004
source: The Free Lance-Star
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