When our Lord Jesus gave the Great Commission of "Go ye …" (Matt. 28:18-20), His followers, initially called "People of the Way," coalesced into a church which spread to parts of the world. The church snowballed into a world-wide/catholic entity. Eventually, this entity faced a protestant movement which led to the emergence of the Lutheran Church.
In carrying out the Great Commission, Lutheranism spread throughout Europe and later, to the Americas. For instance, in 1748, Henrich Melchior Muhlenberg formed "the Pennsylvania Ministerium, the first Lutheran Church body in the American colonies. This German missionary therefore became known as Father of Lutheranism in North America.
More than a hundred years after the formation of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, The Great Commission was carried out further when, in 1860, Rev. Morris Officer, former pastor of First Lutheran Church of Springfield, OH, landed in Liberia. On April 27, 1860, he established the Lutheran Church in Liberia, LCL.
Devout Christians from the United States, eager to carry out the Lord's commission, left their comfort zones and followed the footsteps of Rev. Officer to Liberia. Among them were Rev. Dr. Wesley and Mrs. Roslyn Sadler.
When the Sadlers arrived in Liberia in the early 1940s, they went to the land of the Loma people of northwest Liberia. They first settled in the little village of Fasama. As Mrs. Sadler told me years later, from Fasama, they were visiting Zorzor when they met Chief Mamulu of Wozi. The chief invited them to Wozi and they fell in love with the place. Chief Mamulu gave them a house which later became the first office of the Loma Literacy Center.
The Sadlers left indelible marks on the land of Liberia, the mission of the Lutheran Church of Liberia, on the hearts of the people of Wozi, and on my personal life. Therefore, this tribute to Mrs. Sadler and her late husband is national, LCL based, Wozi oriented, and very personal.
The mission of the Lutheran Church to Liberia was threefold: evangelism, education/literacy, and health promotion. The Sadlers contributed prodigiously to evangelism and literacy. They built churches in Lomaland and taught evangelists. Likewise, they established an experimental "western" school in Wozi in the early 1950s. In addition, Dr. Sadler, a clergy and a linguist, wrote the Loma language in print and, among other things, translated the gospels into Loma. His book, "Untangled Loma" still is a masterpiece work.
The Sadlers were true citizens of Wozi as they and their children loved, and were loved dearly by the people of Wozi. Whenever I spoke with Pastor Sadler, known in Wozi as Saada, he always said, "Sakui, gaa gaa Wozi nuu", meaning, "I am a Wozi person/citizen." He meant it sincerely.
I was very little when the Sadler lived in Wozi. Therefore, as Rev. Sadler wrote in his booklet, "Three Citizens," once, he and his wife took care of me as a baby when my father was away. He wrote that, before my father left for a trip, he took me to the Sadlers and asked them to look after my mother and me. Saada said he was pleased my father sought them out to fulfill that honor.
Also at the personal level, I am indebted to the Sadlers because, thanks to them for starting a Loma Literacy Center in Wozi, many of us were able to read our language before we learned English. This is why I would like to resurrect the Loma Literacy Center for the benefit of more than a quarter million Loma speaking people in Liberia and Guinea.
In sum, words are inadequate to praise Dr. and Mrs. Sadler for their work in Liberia in general and Wozi in particular. Thus, on behalf of the Lutheran Church in Liberia, the people of Wozi, and my family, I say in our Loma language, "Ge te mama gaa tamaa," "We thank them plenty." In that light, we do not mourn Mrs. Sadler's home-going but celebrate her illustrious life. May she rest in perpetual peace.
Presented by
Sakui W. G. Malakpa Ph.D., J.D. (AKA The Wozi Turtle)
Professor, University of Toledo, OH
Roslyn Bradford Luce Sadler passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 24, 2018, at the age of 100 years.
Roslyn was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Wesley Sadler, and her sister Eleanor Mott.
She is survived by her sons Byron (Carol) Sadler of Ralston, NE and Roy K. (Ann) Sadler of Tehachapi, CA; grandchildren Brian Sadler of Tekamah, NE, Jenifer Sadler of Omaha, Kirsten (Andy) Lasnier of Tehachapi, CA, and Katrina (Adam) Briggs of Carlsbad, CA; 5 great-grandchildren and many friends she's made throughout the world.
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