From the Valley to the Mountain: The Autobiography of Jeremiah Oruokoton Moshopeh Pratt, FVCM, B.A., MTh.

By Jeremiah Oruokoton Moshopeh Pratt

J O Moshopeh Pratt, in his book, From the Valley to the Mountain, encourages and motivates his young friends who might be labeled as drop-outs to prove that they are not drop-outs. Probably, they might be slow or late developers; or most probably, they might not have had people who were capable to discern that they had potentials in them that needs to be developed. Parents who have children who are slow in their development process are also encouraged to read this book in order to help their children in the development process rather than push them too fast. He discovered that he was in the valley and that was not the place he wanted to be. He took steps to travel from the valley up to the mountain. He might not have reached the apex of the mountain due to health conditions, but at least he is somewhere up there. He has come to realize that there will always be valleys in our lives. No matter what situation you might be in right now, he wants to assure you that armed with his testimony, God can still make all things work together for your good. God gave him the strength, courage, power and divine right to change the course of his life to the right direction, which leads to the mountain. He climbs! So must you. If he was able to do it, you too can do it. Stay blessed!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781644628508

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From the Valley to the Mountain

The Autobiography of Jeremiah Oruokoton Moshopeh Pratt, FVCM, B.A., MTh.

Jeremiah Oruokoton Moshopeh Pratt

Copyright © 2020 Jeremiah Oruokoton Moshopeh Pratt

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2020

ISBN 978-1-64462-849-2 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-64462-850-8 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

My Parents And Early Years

The Krios Of Sierra Leone

People Who Contributed To The Development Of My Life

Career Choice Begins

Part-Time Lecturer

Member Of National And International

Awards

Board Of Governors W.A.M. Collegiate School

Some Sermons To Remember

Some Krio Proverbs And Maxims

The Lord Jesus Christ,

To my wife, Comfort,

To my children, Joya, Olive, Olivia, and Melvin,

To those considered drop-outs,

With love and good wishes.

Foreword

I recommend the reading of this autobiography by all works of life. It tells the story of someone who succeeded against tremendous odds and whose life serves as an inspiration and a challenge to us all. He inspires us with this summary, which can be read in the chapter on CONCLUSION; "I was neither brilliant, nor was I able to comprehend easily.

Nevertheless, because of my determination to succeed, I devoted my time and energy to my studies. Also, I worked very hard in all my employment".

The book gives us an insight into Sierra Leone church history relating to the Methodist Church and the West African Methodist Church, into social conditions relating to apprenticeship, and to the relationships of obedience to parents, which characterized families in his early years.

Throughout his life, it becomes evident that he always strove to rise above the difficulties and setbacks facing him. In this, he is using the biography to challenge and inspire all to do the same and to achieve similar success. He emphasizes this theme in his introduction where he states, My achievements were by dint of perseverance and, hard work. It cost me sleepless nights. But I thank God that I am alive to put in writing some of my experiences. I pray that the contents of the pages following will encourage you to plod on. Do not relent. Do not give up. You will achieve success that will make others wonder at your perseverance.

The book contains brief sketches of the life and contributions of significant people in the course of his career. He names them as people who contributed to the development of my life. In this way, he brings alive people who influenced him, namely: the Rev. William Elkanah Akinumi Pratt, Rev. Canon J. P. Fergusson, Rev. Isaac Sylvanus Taiwo Fewry, Rev. Gustavus Buller Turner, Captain Joseph Nelson Edwin, Mrs. Gloria Olivette Anthony and her husband, Mr. Samuel Jonathan Anthony, Mrs. Motunde Angela Zenobia Pratt, Mr. Albert Francis Allen, Mrs. Esther Lily Coker, and Mrs. Elizabeth Comfort Alaba Pratt.

What an inspiration to us all, young and old. Many are watching us and are being influenced by our behavior and actions. As we read about these people, let us stop to ask ourselves about the quality of our interaction with others. A pertinent question is, What will you be remembered for long after you have left your various scenes of life?

The book contains a description of the Krio Society of Sierra Leone, which is important to be known by the growing population who would tend to forget the origins of the Krios and their culture. As he describes his origins, he emphasizes the overall patriotic responsibility for development, which I repeat in his own words: As can be seen from the Krio definition, my great-grand parents, and I are members of the Krio Society. Above this, is the fact that we are Sierra Leoneans, and I am a Sierra Leonean. This patriotic conclusion emphasizes the appeal of the book to all, not only to Sierra Leoneans, but to people everywhere.

The book contains a chapter on Krio proverbs which is very interesting. Indeed, many would not only refresh their memories, but also learn new proverbs from what he has listed.

Proverbs form a summary of historical, cultural and, social wisdom, and they are very helpful to preserve culture as well as to give guidance in social life.

The book also contains some of Rev. Pratt’s notable sermons. These are very instructive to read. Here are some extracts:

The struggle of our old fleshly nature against our new spiritual nature can be as intense as to bring about discouragement. We find it much easier to hate than we do to love. We find it much easier to grow weeds in the garden of our life than we do flowers. Our own personal failure to be what God would have us to be can contribute to discouragement.

We must not quit. The devil will not quit attempting to defeat and discourage us.’

The Holy Spirit is not going to quit. The living God is not going to quit loving a lost world. We must not quit. We must keep on the good work to which God has called us…

In one of his sermons, he challenges us to respond to the call of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here are extracts:"

Christ What a change he could bring about between husband and wife and parents and children! He stands at the door of your home. What a difference Christ could make to your family! He wants to help you experience the abundant life, which is more wonderful than the affluent life. Christ stands at the door of your vocation…

He stands at the front door of your house. You are the only one who can let him in. The door of the heart can only be opened from the inside. Christ will not enter unless he is invited.

Congratulations to Rev. Moshopeh Pratt for giving us this insight into his life. The life of the Lord Jesus demonstrates that in Christ we are more than conquerors. Let us rise up to this Moshopeh Pratt challenge, and in the name of the Lord Jesus, let us achieve our highest and our best.

Rev. Dr. Canon J. E. Modupe Taylor-Pearce

BA, MEd, PhD, DCL, GCOR

Acknowledgments

This autobiography would not have been written but for the fact that a few of my friends and colleagues wanted me to put some of my thoughts and life history in writing. I will not be able to name all of them here. However, a few needs to and must be mentioned: the Rev.

Donald H. O. Williams; Rev. Bonton A. S. V. Davies, and Minister Denise Webb who urged me to start the work and even offered to help me with editing. Unfortunately, I was unable to get on to her when the work was completed.

I am sincerely grateful to Debra Wood for her article Life Review: The Benefits of Recording Your ‘Autobiography in http://www.beliefnet.com/healthandhealinggetcontent.aspx?cid=13422&WT.mc_id=N...

Dated 4/16/2008. It helped me to get started.

Thank you to Olivia Pratt Dennis who contributed as an editor to this work.

To all those whose sermons in the Ministers Annuals, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, from which I developed some of the sermons in this project, I thank you all. Last, but also first, and by no means the least, am I very grateful to the Rev. Canon Dr. Modupe Taylor-Pearce for the Foreword" and most importantly for editing the entire project. To you all, I say a very big THANK YOU!

Introduction

This book is about me. Its purpose is to encourage and motivate my young friends who might be labeled drop-outs. It will enable them to prove that they are not drop-outs.

Probably, they might be slow or late developers; or most probably they might not have had people who were capable to discern that they had potentials in them that need to be developed. Parents who have children who are slow in their development process are also encouraged to read this book in order to help their children in the development process rather than push them too fast.

Although I was not a drop-out in the real sense, I considered myself to