A Personal Reflection On Faith, Persecution, Purpose, And Destiny
PHOTO: The Author Jefferson T. Koijee
There are moments in the life of a man when destiny and suffering meet, when purpose is misunderstood as rebellion, and when a gift from God becomes the very reason for persecution. In such moments, one is left to wrestle with a painful question.
Why does the very gift God placed within me become the reason I am hated, attacked, misunderstood, and targeted?
This question has stayed with me for years. Yet every time I search for an answer, I am reminded that what God ordains for purpose, men often resist out of fear.
I was born in Lofa County, in the northern region of Liberia, to humble and struggling parents.
I did not come from privilege, influence, or wealth. I was raised in the harsh realities of the slums and streets of Montserrado. There, I did not study poverty. I lived it. I did not hear about suffering from a distance. I experienced it myself.
Those streets became my classroom.
The struggles of ordinary people became my education.
The cries of the vulnerable became my calling.
Because I lived among them, I understood them. Because I suffered with them, I could speak their language. Because I walked their path, I carried their pain.
From my earliest days as a community organizer, I felt a deep responsibility to stand with the voiceless. That journey grew into national youth and student activism, where I became a voice for the hopes and aspirations of many young Liberians. In time, I was entrusted with the leadership of the Revolutionary National Youth League of the mighty Congress for Democratic Change.
But influence, especially when it comes from the grassroots, is often seen as a threat by those who believe power belongs only to them.
For nearly twelve years under the Unity Party government and the presidency of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, I endured slander, mischaracterization, persecution, and repeated incarceration. My crime was never corruption or violence.
My crime was connection. It was my ability to relate to ordinary people, to inspire young people, and to mobilize those who felt forgotten.
When I later became Mayor, the youngest in the history of our country during the last six years of our administration, I became an even greater irritation to entrenched arrogance.
To them, it was difficult to accept that someone they considered a nobody, someone who grew up in the slums, could rise to become the chief administrator of the capital city.
I did not fit their expectations.
And so they decided I had to be brought down.
What God placed within me as a gift to connect, to uplift, and to lead was redefined as a threat. What heaven intended for service was presented as a crime.
As Scripture reminds us, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20).
Over the past six years, a deliberate and sustained effort has been made to destroy my reputation both at home and abroad. I became, in their eyes, an obstacle to power. They launched continuous campaigns of defamation, which eventually led to sanctions being placed on me without a single proven piece of evidence.
The approach was clear. Attack the man until the people begin to doubt the mission.
But even in this difficult season, God has remained faithful.
Despite everything that has been done and continues to be done against me, He has sustained me. Even under sanctions, He has opened doors for me to travel abroad and continue my academic journey. This is proof that what God has purposed cannot be limited by human decisions.
I have come to understand that truth has endurance. Falsehood may rise quickly, but it does not last. Time has a way of revealing what is real.
As the Word of God says, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn” (Isaiah 54:17).
I do not claim to be perfect. I am human, and I acknowledge my imperfections. But I remain grounded in faith. I believe that purpose is greater than persecution, and that God’s judgment is greater than human opinion.
The Liberian people remain the ultimate judges. They know my journey. They have seen my sacrifices. They understand that my strength does not come from privilege, but from shared struggle.
History will separate truth from propaganda.
Time will distinguish accusation from evidence.
If my gift to mobilize, to inspire, and to serve has become my crime in the eyes of men, then I accept it with humility. Because I know that what God has ordained cannot be undone by human hands.
So I stand today unbroken, unbowed, and unwavering.
Anchored in faith.
Strengthened by adversity.
Committed to the people.
My gift may have become my crime in the eyes of men, but in the sight of God, it remains my calling.
And a calling from God can never be cancelled by man.
To God alone be the glory. JTK.