When Sara Sylvester was born, in a village in the Carpathian Mountains, her grandparents agreed to take care of her, because her parents had to flee time and again from the Communists.

The problem was that Sara’s father was a minister of the Reformed Church who disliked the cruel government of the time in Budapest.  That was well known.  The secret police chased him and his wife, so that they had to live in hiding.

It was virtually impossible under these circumstances to look after their baby girl properly themselves.  Nevertheless, Sara’s mother often came to see her.

Also the local doctor, who was a member of the church, kept an eye on her.  He, too, would have nothing to do with the Communist oppressors in his beloved country.  In his opinion the Second World Was had never ended; only the occupying force had another name.  There was always enough food in the house and in that way Sara knew no shortage while she was growing up; the doctor saw to that.

When Sara reached the age of ten years, her father died in a car accident and her mother was imprisoned by the secret police.  Two years later Sara’s grandparents received a message that Sara’s mother had died too.

This gave Sara a shock.  It took several months before she got over it.  Her grandparents then sent her to a farm higher up in the mountains, where the church had founded a Christian school for secondary education.

One day she came across an old book about the faith and works of Hungarian missionaries in Africa and South America.  She was deeply impressed by what these people had done and risked in foreign lands.  She wondered greatly if she could get the opportunity to witness of the Gospel to others without interference from Communist or other secret police.

Sara was also acutely aware that not only would it be difficult to get out of Hungary, but that money was a problem too.  Where could she find enough money to travel, let alone maintain a mission house or a small hospital?

Sara trusted and prayed the Lord to provide and show her what He wanted from her.  She would prepare herself by studying as much as she could.

She not only was absorbed in theology, with the help of an aged retired Reformed minister, but was also interested in medicine.  With the help of friends of her late father, she could go to a hospital in Budapest and train to be a certified nurse.  Her studies were a lot of work, but yet she managed to learn English and French as well.  After graduation, three years later, Sara went back to her grandparents and mused about the next step she would take.

Her English and French languages stood her in good stead as they enabled her to act as interpreter when there were discussions with visitors from the West.  These people entered Hungary as tourists, but they were theologians who brought money and literature.  With their help she escaped to Switzerland and went from there to Scotland.

It was obvious; she was quite intelligent and adapted easily to new surroundings and other cultures.

She received training as a physician.  Then she was posted in Sierra Leone, a country at the West coast of Africa (formerly a British Colony).  She lives in Kassiri and is happily married recently.  Among the people there are some Muslims, but they give them no problems.