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Personal Stories

Rev. Sarah Fisk—Retiree, Liberia, Africa

Whenever a ceasefire occurred in their rural region of Liberia, Sarah and Winslow Fisk would return to their appointed congregation and "go up and down the countryside" to meet people.

Ragtag militia and child soldiers came in waves, bringing the war to the village and forcing people to flee to safety, only to return and be forced out again. This ebb and flow of death and destruction continued for nearly 20 years in Liberia.

"It was very hard," recalls Sarah Fisk. "In fact, when the war came, everybody scattered. And then later on, they would come back, but half the people had to stay away."

The family was displaced for seven years, and stress and dislocation took their toll. In 1991, Winslow Fisk, a pastor, suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed and needing continuing care until his death in 2004.

In the meantime, Sarah Fisk became a lay speaker and then a local pastor. She was ordained in 1991 and appointed to a church. Eventually, she returned to the church where she had grown up, but it is not the same as it was when she was a child here.

"It was a happier church because it was one of the bigger churches in our area," she said. "If you went there in normal times, you would be happy. But now membership is very small. Now God does his work through the few members."

"It’s always good to appreciate what God gives you," she says. "What the church can pay me is not much, but it’s something. A small thing can multiply and, you know, meet my need every day."