My name is Pastor Niouma Leno. Born in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa, I am the father of three boys and a girl, and married to my sweet wife, Marguerite.

In February 2004, my uncle invited me to attend Saturday prayers. I was surprised to learn that some people go to church on Saturdays. Raised an Animist, I was not a Christian, and I drank heavily. Whenever I heard there was to be a traditional ceremony somewhere, I would go just to drink wine and eat.

One day, I went out with a brother to drink. I drank so much that I vomited on myself. I reeked. Since then, I have refused to drink. People at ceremonies became surprised, asking, “How were you able to give up wine?” My answer was, “I don’t know.”

In October of 2004, an AFM career missionary opened the Fria SDA School for the young people of the church. My family could not afford clothing or supplies, so the missionary gave me money to buy my school uniform and what I would need. After a year of attending the school, he asked us to choose what career each would like to pursue. I chose to become a university professor.

One day, while I napped, the love of God overcame me in a way I had never felt before. I dreamed I was sitting shoeless, with one person in front of me, one to my left, another to my right, and a fourth behind me. The one before me had his face veiled and asked me questions about the Bible. One question I vividly remember. “Is there a righteous person on earth?” “According to the Bible, no one on earth is righteous,” I answered. After discussing several more topics, the person to my right handed me my shoes and emphasized Ephesians 6:10-17. When I woke up, I explained the dream to the AFM missionary on this project. He told me it was a call. From that day, I understood God wanted me to be a teacher of the Word in a worldwide missionary field. I was baptized on April 22, 2006, at the age of 20, and in 2008, upon passing my university entrance exam, God confirmed my calling. I told the missionaries I intended to serve the Lord as a pastor. In 2009, I left to take pastoral studies in Cameroon. I returned to Guinea in 2015 and served as a pastor until 2023.

I have seen repeated confirmations of God’s calling in my life, helping deliver many people from the power of darkness. I could tell countless stories. God’s words to me from Ephesians have helped me understand that the Lord wants to use me to preach His word, heal the sick and deliver the captives.

Through AFM, my family and I will serve as missionaries to the people of Kono, Sierra Leone, who believe spirits inhabit plants, animals and people and control their lives. Because they fear angering these evil spirits, they perform animal sacrifices and ceremonies and spend much of their livelihood seeking to appease them according to instructions from local witch doctors. Turmoil and instability do not end there. Warring tribes and rebel factions make economic and social progress very difficult.

If they are to learn about Christ’s love and power to defeat the evil spirits, someone from the outside will need to lead them into a saving knowledge of Him. We will go. Raised as Animists living in fear of the spirits and having planted many congregations among Animists in Guinea, we are ready to lead in planting Adventist congregations among the Kono of Sierra Leone.