God’s embrace ends all tears
Before 2018, I had never heard of Gorée, as it is located thousands of miles from Korea. However, as our World Summit Africa 2018 approached, I forged a profound relationship with the island and its history.
The bean-shaped island of Gorée is now a tourist attraction drawing visitors from all over the world. As the ferry sailed from Dakar Harbor across the azure sea, tourists from various countries, enthralled by the scenery and atmosphere, were chattering in wonder and taking photos. However, an intense pain arose in my heart. I already was feeling that the bitter tears of grief shed by thousands of captives in transit through that island could fill the world’s oceans. The beautiful site that we were approaching must be the most sorrowful island in the world.
Dakar is located along a continental protrusion on the west coast of Africa. It is the closest point of transit from West Africa to North America and Europe. This geographical location may be used for good today, but for nearly 500 years it was a linchpin of the transatlantic slave trade, one of history’s cruelest and most inhumane episodes.
When European missionaries came to Africa in the name of Christ, the great majority were righteous, but there were also people who failed to remain true to Christ’s essence, who prioritized the monetary interests of their respective nations over Jesus’ teachings. As European colonizers and their local collaborators exploited the God-given natural resources of Africa, they invested little in educating the people. Instead, they dehumanized and enslaved many of the indigenous people. From the fifteenth century on, European colonial powers flocked to Africa, plundering the continent’s resources and enslaving the local populations. Men, women and children were placed in chains, forcibly taken to Gorée Island and shipped off to slavery in Europe and the Americas.
While at Gorée Island, captives were chained so heavily that it was nearly impossible for them to walk. They were starved until just before being sold at auction, when they were force-fed a diet of beans so they would gain weight. If they became seriously ill aboard the slave ship, they were thrown overboard into the ocean. The once-peaceful island of Gorée was a slave camp filled with screams, tears and grief.
The slave trade continued for hundreds of years, and it is estimated that more than 20 million Africans were sold into slavery, many passing through the House of Slaves on Gorée Island. No one knows how many innocent lives were lost at sea during the voyages. As the True Mother, it broke my heart to know that such atrocities were committed by many who prayed in the name of Jesus Christ. Knowing these things, I wanted to visit Gorée Island and liberate the historical agony and heartbreak of all the Africans who suffered due to the scourge of slavery.
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What is now a tourist site was the epicenter of the West African slave trade. I looked at the beautiful houses built for the European slave traders, and the contrast with the slave camp located barely a hundred feet behind them could not have been greater.
The House of Slaves is a two-story building. The slave traders lived on the second floor, while innocent Africans captured and brought there from throughout the continent were kept on the first floor while awaiting to be boarded onto slave ships. Most visitors and dignitaries tour the second floor, but I spent my time in the slave cells on the first floor.
The slave house was built with stones and contained cramped, gloomy holding cells. The cells were like caves—dark and damp, with no natural sunlight and ceilings so low that one could not stand up straight. At the end of a narrow corridor with cells on either side was the infamous Door of No Return. The men, women and children who went through this door onto slave ships sailing for the Americas never saw their families again.
Holding onto the frame of the Door of No Return, I shed tears, along with the mayor of Gorée and everyone in our party, as I prayed for Africa to be freed from the pain and resentment caused by slavery. As I stood at that door, I could hear the cries and weeping of countless Africans taken against their will.
My grief increased when I witnessed tourists laughing and joking as they passed by the slave cells. But I also saw families frown and sigh in sadness at the sight of these reminders of human cruelty. One mother leaned over a red brick staircase and offered a tearful prayer. She seemed hopeful that her prayer might contribute to healing centuries of cruelty and misery.
Liberating those who have ascended differs from comforting those who are alive on earth. Both are possible through the earnest prayer of God’s only begotten Daughter, who carries the mission to save humanity. Facing the silent, grieving walls of the House of Slaves, I forever broke the miserable chains of Africa’s oppression.
January 19, 2018: The Door of No Return at Gorée Island, Senegal
The anguished cries of Africans should be heard and their plight embraced. Humankind’s long, painful history of exploitation and deprivation of freedom must come to an end. This was my motivation as I traveled thousands of miles to come to Gorée Island and walk in this still pitiable and sorrowful land of Africa. Having seen the slave cells and the Door of No Return on the first floor, I did not take the stairs going to the second floor where the slave owners lived. I instead made my way to the courtyard. There, together with Gorée Island Mayor Augustin Senghor and his wife, and many local officials, I offered a prayer for the liberation of all Africans who died as victims of slavery.
A short walk from there brought us to a small square. Along one of the yellow-painted walls were several small plaques honoring eminent leaders who had visited the island, including Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, Mother Teresa and John Paul II. As they unveiled a plaque with my name and read the inscription, Mayor Senghor said, “This doesn’t fully embody how grateful and indebted we feel, but it will stand for eons as an enduring symbol of the precious heart you have brought here.” Many among the crowd expressed their thanks to me for liberating Africa from the weight of 500 years of suffering. It was a heartfelt token of appreciation from the people of Senegal and, I felt, the continent.
Following the unveiling, the Little Angels moved everyone to tears with beautiful Senegalese songs they had learned and rehearsed over many hours. As we made our way to the pier to depart, I told the mayor I wanted to leave a gift behind that would benefit the whole island. When we reached the pier, we could hear the sound of a motorboat approaching. It was a water ambulance I had prepared as a gift to Gorée Island for passenger and emergency patient transport. Christened with the name Victoria, it reflected our common hope that, although innumerable lives have been lost over the centuries, no others will be lost for the lack of a medical boat.
In Africa, the plight of many remains bleak. Despite abundant natural resources and wondrous scenic beauty, poverty is rampant. Nevertheless, Africans are kind, compassionate and diligent. God has called the peoples of Africa to shine as bright, immutable, heavenly creations. Africans make me feel the heart of our Creator, our Heavenly Parent.