Singing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land: Christianity among Liberian Refugees in Ghana

Abstract

The Liberia civil war, which started in December 1989, led to an influx of refugees in the West Africa sub-region. In Ghana, a considerable number of Liberian refugees settled at the Buduburam Refugee Camp specially set up for them in 1990, in the Gomoa District of the Central Region of Ghana. The refugees in the wake of their traumatic experiences tried in various ways to build up their fragmented lives, partly through their religious beliefs and activities. Religion therefore provided a beacon of hope in their struggle for survival. This paper examines the Christian environment created by the refugees at the Buduburam camp in Ghana and how it served as a conduit of survival for the refugees. The paper first looks at the religious ferment in Liberia prior to the civil war. It reviews the coming of the refugees to Ghana against the background of the response of the Christian community in Ghana. It then discusses the emergence of church and paraChurch organizations at the camp and concludes with an analysis of how faith helps the refugees to cope with the situation and shapes the way of life of the people at the camp.