In%my%?irst%week%in%Freetown%I%took%a%taxi%from%my%home%in%Wilberforce,%down%the%long% and%steeply%winding%Hill% Cut%Road% into%the% centre% of% Freetown.% A%bright% red%and%blue% sticker%was%attached%to%the%dash%board%with%a%warning:%‘No%More%Devils,%Praise%be%Jesus’.% The%radio%was%tuned%to%a%Pentecostal%preacher%hoarsely%bellowing% into%his%microphone% ‘let%Chelsea%win%the%Champions%League,%in%the%name%of%Jesus,%the%Father,%the%Holy%Ghost.% Let% them% prosper.% Praise% be% Jesus!’.% We% passed% under% a% banner% along% New% England,% advertising% the% ‘Battle% Axe% Ministry% Power% Jam% Power% Crusade’,% promising% to% hold% a% ‘?inal% battle%against%household%wickedness%and%bush%devils’% (?igure% 30).%I%remembered% this% journey% as% I% sat% and% chatted% with% Bertha19,% the% Acting% Curator% of% the% National% Museum,% a% few%days%later,% and% she% posed%the% question% which% was% to% follow%many%an% introduction% in% Sierra% Leone:% ‘are% you% a% Christian,% or% a% Muslim?’.% She,% along% with% an% increasing% middle% class%majority% in% Freetown,% was% a% Born% Again% Christian.% As% I% later% discovered,%so%too%were%many%of%the%staff%who%worked%there.
Gifford%(1994),%writing% in%1994,%spoke%about%the%‘Pentecostal%explosion’%that%had%swept% across% Africa% since% the% 1980s.% Writing% seven% years%later%in% 2001,% Casanova% predicted% that% the% Pentecostal% Church% will% soon% pass% Catholicism% ‘to% become% the% predominant% global%form% of%Christianity%of%the% 21st%century’% (2001:%435).%This%is%no%less%the%case% in% Sierra%Leone%where,%as%noted% by%Shaw%(2007),%the%country%has%seen%an%unprecedented% number%of%conversions%since%the%end%of%the%civil%war%in%2002.%The%Sierra%Leone%National% Museum% (SLNM)%is%a% hub% of%Pentecostal%activity,% with% the%two%senior%employees%being% committed% members% of% the% ‘Born% Again’% community%in% Freetown.% Posters% and% ?lyers% advertising% Deliverance% and% Thanksgiving% services% (?igure% 31),% Pentecostal% Crusades% and%fundraising%events%have%a%place%in%the%foyer%and%on%the%main%notice%boards,%and%the% SLNM% provides% a% venue% for% Pentecostal% book% launches% and% drama% productions.% This% relationship% with% the% Born% Again% community% goes% back% to% the% time% of% the% former%
Curator,% Celia% Nicols,% who% was%also% an% active% member%of% the% same% Church% and%would% allegedly%try%to%convert%unsuspecting%visitors%with%a% pile% of%Pentecostal%?lyers%she%kept% in%her%top%draw.%
It%was%not%my%intention%to%focus%on% this%global%phenomena.%Returning% to%my%taxi% ride,% the% Pentecostal% Church% preaches%against% those% elements% of% ‘heritage’% in% Sierra% Leone% which% remain% evocative% for% many.% Sierra% Leone’s% masked% ‘devils’,% or% debuls,% are% portrayed% as%representatives% of% the% Christian%Devil,%harking% back%to% the% 19th%Century% Christian%missionary%movement%in%Sierra% Leone%which%gave%these% esoteric%beings%their% now%widely%recognised%name.% The% Pentecostal%Church%shares%with%its%predecessors%an% unremitting% disregard%for%nonCChristian%tradition,% associating%it%with% danger,%savagery% and%darkness.%
As%I%progressed% through% my%?ieldwork,%it%became%impossible% to%ignore%the% Pentecostal% Church% and% its%seeming% centrality%to% daily% life% at% the% National% Museum% and% much% of% Freetown.%In%April%2011,%I%was%invited%to%church%with%Bertha,%a%member%of%the%Christian% Life% Era% Ministry% International.% The% Church% has% one% of% the% biggest% congregations% in% Freetown%and%the%service%was%conducted%in%temporary%premises%in%Brook?ields,%while%a% new%church% building% was%under% construction% in% New% England.% The% congregation% has%
Figure 30. Pentecostal banners are a common feature of the Freetown landscape, commonly advertising ‘battles’ and ‘crusades’. This one was erected along Jomo Kenyatta Road, near New England. Photo: author.
expanded% from% 1200% members% in% 2007,% to% over%3000,% and% the% new%church% building% anticipates% even% greater% numbers,% rumoured% to% hold% a% capacity% of% 5000.% The% new% building% is% entirely% funded% by% donation% from% the% expanding% congregation.% Even% the% church’s% temporary%premises%were% impressive,%of%a% scale% and% quality% which% is%rare% in% Freetown.% The% enormous% building% was% clad% in% white% patterned% tiling% and% lit% with% numerous%electric%bulbs%powered%by%an%enormous%and%expensive%generator.%
Pentecostalism% captivates% Sierra% Leoneans% in% their% t h o u s a n d s ,% d r a w i n g% unprecedented% wealth% from% a% community% who% donate% the% little% they% have% to% these% already%wealthy%institutions.% The%church%offers%something% deeply% evocative% which% neither% the% state,% nor% the% i n t e r n a t i o n a l% d o n o r% community,% delivers% for% the% sector% of% society% among% which%most%of%my%research%was%conducted.%The%National%Museum%struggled%for%nearly%a% year%to%procure%funds%to%cover%the%costs%of%the%paint%and%labour%to%spruce%up%its%peeling% interior%in%time%for%the%50th%anniversary,%and%met%a%wall%of%obstacles%related%to%the%lack% of%capacity%of%local%builders%and%the% sourcing%the%expensive%shelving%when%it%wanted%to% build%a%modest%storage%area%in%an%upstairs%room.%The%Christian%Life%Era%Ministry,%on%the% other%hand,%took%just%over%a%year%to%construct%its%sumptuous%new%church%building%which% sits%atop%a%grand%carCpark,%reserved%for%its%wealthier%congregation%members.
The% Pentecostal% Church% is% arguably% both% about% ‘development’% and% ‘culture’.% It%sells%a% future% of% transformation,% built% on% personal% success,% prosperity,% modernity% and% globalisation.% However,% rather%than%attempting% to%embrace% local% culture% and% build% on%
Figure 31. Posters advertising Pentecostal events were frequently displayed at the National Museum. This one is advertising a deliverance ceremony, and was mounted in the foyer to the SLNM. This may seem a somewhat contradictory location. Text on the bottom right hand corner reads: ‘bring the sick and oppressed and demon possessed! Witchcraft yolks and Satanic bondages will all be destroyed’. Photo: author.
existing% knowledges,% this%Church% encourages% its%congregation% to% break% from% the% past% and% leave% tradition% behind.% It% thus% appears% to% contradict% the% increasing% focus% on% ‘bottomCup’% intervention% which% currently% informs% the% development% and% heritage% sectors.%The%National%Museum%is%deeply%involved%in%this%contradiction,%despite%being%an% institution%which%might%appear%a%likely%space% to%champion%the%importance%of%‘tradition’% in% a% context% of% change% and% transformation.% This% chapter% asks% what% it% is% about% the% Pentecostal%Church%which%makes%it%so%popular%in%Sierra% Leone,%and%whether%there% are% any%lessons%we%can%learn%from%it%when%developing%a%more%nuanced%understanding%of%the% relationships% between% ‘culture’,% ‘heritage’,% and% ‘development’% in% Sierra% Leone.% I% begin% with%a% description%of% a%?ilm%entitled% The$Pains$of$Love,% which%was%produced%by%a% Sierra% Leonean%Pentecostal%?ilm%company%as%a%way%of% drawing% out%some% of%the%key%themes%of% this%chapter,%concerning%spiritual%warfare,%prosperity,%modernity%and%globalisation.