ACCRA, Ghana—Cape Coast Castle. It sounds like an attraction at Disney World. But for the millions of African slaves who were processed and imprisoned within its walls, there was nothing attractive about it. The suffering of mind and body was unimaginable.
Because the castle has become a tourist attraction and because Baptist World Alliance leadership understands the value of an object lesson, seven busloads of Baptists were driven about 75 miles from the conference center in Ghana's capital city of Accra to the fort where African captives were traded.
If it were not for the knowledge of what happened here, visitors would be captivated by the natural beauty of the setting. Powerful Atlantic breakers sweep endlessly onto the rocks below the fort sending sea-spray spewing like geysers. Looking south, the grey sea and blue sky meet and mingle on the horizon. The fort's stunning whitewashed walls and towering structures are impressive even by modern standards.
JIM WHITE
Cape Coast Castle, formerly the focus of a flourishing African slave trade, was the site of a BWA worship service.
Built initially by the Swedes in 1653 to trade in timber and gold, it was conquered by the Danes in 1663 and by the British in 1664. But looks are deceiving. Its pristine walls belie the horrors which came to be associated with its existence.
Guides escort visitors to the dismal dungeons one wing of which imprisoned males while the other held (not housed) females. From the glaring brightness of the central courtyard captives were forced into dark tunnels leading to large dungeon cells where they would be kept like animals.
Males who had proved themselves difficult for their white or black captors, were chained in a vaulted chamber where as many as 200 could be kept without danger of insurrection. Here, in total darkness except for the single vent in one wall high above their heads, they learned not to cause trouble. Shackled, they stood, sat and slept in the human waste and vomit their bodies expelled. In a half-hearted attempt to keep them alive until they could be sold, they were periodically doused with buckets of water to wash off the filth and disease and to keep their body temperatures from rising so high they would die of heat stroke.
Those who were not insolent faired little better except they were not chained within their cells.
But to focus on the physical horror is to miss the greater anguish. Their minds must have struggled to comprehend what was happening. Some believed they had been kidnapped to be eaten. Some committed suicide. Mothers of babies sometimes dashed them to death against the stone walls to keep them from the horrors they imagined.
JIM WHITE
BWA general secretary-elect Neville Callam leads a portion of the worship service at the Cape Coast Castle, a former slave trading site.
Standing in the dungeons, the sensitive visitor hears yet the cries of fury and the whimpers of fear. One easily imagines the bewilderment, confusion and anguish witnessed by these walls. What fervent prayers must have been uttered here and what hopelessness must have overwhelmed and isolated them.
In an upper room, they were paraded like cattle and sold. As they left the castle, the men on one side and the women on the other, they passed through tunnels to a small door so narrow they had to pass through single file. The door, opening to the sea, came to be called the Door of No Return.
From there, canoes transported them to the slave ship which lay at anchor beyond the rocks.
But the Baptists were unwilling to merely tour the site, and visit the museum. They ended their visit with a worship service in the middle of the courtyard. Black Baptists, some of whose ancestors had passed through these very walls, and white Baptists, some of whose ancestors had purchased and worked them, sat side by side. The worship was particular to the setting and recounted the abuses of slavery and the Christian's liberation in Christ.
Scripture portions, liturgical readings and hymns were accentuated by moments of silence. The service was made even more poignant by the presence of newly-elected BWA general secretary Neville Callam, who is descended from slaves taken from Ghana. The service climaxed with pledges of reconciliation.
In his closing prayer, Wallace Charles Smith said their captives made one mistake. They introduced their slaves to Jesus whose power ultimately set them free.