CRWM Missionary Returns Home to Sierra Leone

At a time when many people were leaving Sierra Leone to avoid the threat of the deadly Ebola virus, Alusine Bundu was returning there. That’s where his family was and that’s where God was calling him.

As one of Christian Reformed World Mission’s newly-appointed missionaries, Bundu began service as the principal of Kabala Christian School in December 2014, a time when classes had been postponed for an uncertain amount of time to prevent the spread of Ebola.

Bundu’s powerful story of God’s work in his life has made him want to share his story,  especially with children in his home country.

As his father’s only surviving son, Bundu’s village expected him to become the next imam, or Muslim leader in his town. For the first 10 years of his education, he studied the Quran and learned the Arabic language.

Then the brutal civil war came in 1991 and Bundu watched in terror as rebels killed his father for speaking out against them.

“My world came crashing down,” he recalls.

Bundu fled to Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, where he confided in a group of priests who took interest in him when they saw that  he wasn’t joining the war. One of them even offered to pay for him to go to school.

This act of kindness stuck with Bundu. When it came time for him to continue studying Arabic, he asked for special permission to study the Bible instead.

Because he had already had so much Arabic training growing up as the son of an imam, the principal allowed this exception.

“[The priest] was very caring and loving to me,” Bundu said. “He made me want to know more about the Christian faith.”

A few years later, Bundu came to faith in Christ. His mother supported him in his new faith and eventually he met his wife, Mariama.

In 2011, Bundu felt God calling him to continue his education in the United States. Attracted to its biblical approach to learning, he enrolled at Calvin College and graduated with a master’s degree in education in 2014.

Today, Bundu is in his third month of service as principal of Kabala Christian School. Classes are scheduled to resume in March now that Ebola cases are dwindling.

“My prayer is that through Christian education, these children will encounter Jesus’ love and compassion,” he said.