"The West African country of Equatorial Guinea last month expelled a Seventh-day Adventist missionary who was serving as president of the denomination’s local mission in the capital city, Malabo.
Manuel García-Cáceres, an inter-division missionary from Spain, was deported May 23, according to Pedro Torres, communication director for the church’s Spanish Union. The pastor left the nation without being able to say goodbye to his wife and daughter, both of whom are waiting to return to Spain for a reunion with Garcia.
García had been serving as president of the Equatorial Guinea Mission headquarters for 13 months and was expelled from the country after being falsely accused of "attempts against national security.”
According to Torres’ report, García was summoned to the nation’s Justice Ministry on May 21, and accused of bringing "special equipment for satellite communications,” into the country. He was alleged to have to equipment “to report outside of the country ‘internal information’ of Equatorial Guinea.”
“The single object they found similar to what the detractors described was a radio FM transmitter, donated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Villajoyosa, in Spain’s Alicante province,” Torres reported.
Torres said, “The FM radio equipment was correctly reported at customs when imported from Spain. In fact, the equipment was still packed when the search took place.” At the time of the police raid, the gear had not been unpacked or used in the country, he added.
The next day, May 22, García was again summoned to the Justice Ministry, and this time ordered to pay a fine of one million Central African Francs, or approximately US$2003.85. Despite paying the fine, authorities jailed the pastor that day.
The first Adventist missionaries arrived in Equatorial Guinea in 1960. The work was interrupted by the political situation in 1972, but resumed two years later, according to the Adventist Encyclopedia. As of 2011, there are 19 Adventist churches and nearly 2,500 baptized members in the nation."
AdventistReview
If the world hate you,
ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
John 15:18
Manuel García-Cáceres, an inter-division missionary from Spain, was deported May 23, according to Pedro Torres, communication director for the church’s Spanish Union. The pastor left the nation without being able to say goodbye to his wife and daughter, both of whom are waiting to return to Spain for a reunion with Garcia.
García had been serving as president of the Equatorial Guinea Mission headquarters for 13 months and was expelled from the country after being falsely accused of "attempts against national security.”
According to Torres’ report, García was summoned to the nation’s Justice Ministry on May 21, and accused of bringing "special equipment for satellite communications,” into the country. He was alleged to have to equipment “to report outside of the country ‘internal information’ of Equatorial Guinea.”
“The single object they found similar to what the detractors described was a radio FM transmitter, donated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Villajoyosa, in Spain’s Alicante province,” Torres reported.
Torres said, “The FM radio equipment was correctly reported at customs when imported from Spain. In fact, the equipment was still packed when the search took place.” At the time of the police raid, the gear had not been unpacked or used in the country, he added.
The next day, May 22, García was again summoned to the Justice Ministry, and this time ordered to pay a fine of one million Central African Francs, or approximately US$2003.85. Despite paying the fine, authorities jailed the pastor that day.
The first Adventist missionaries arrived in Equatorial Guinea in 1960. The work was interrupted by the political situation in 1972, but resumed two years later, according to the Adventist Encyclopedia. As of 2011, there are 19 Adventist churches and nearly 2,500 baptized members in the nation."
AdventistReview
If the world hate you,
ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
John 15:18