Philip Abubakar, a local branch leader, and six African missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Elders Menti, Meyers, Gaye, Nyanforth, Selli and Forkpah) are stuck in Monrovia during the First Liberian Civil War. Prevented from conducting missionary work due to the violence in the area, they create a plan to escape to the northern Sierra Leone border, so they can continue preaching without the fear of being killed. Elder Gaye is a Krahn tribe member, which is being targeted for execution by rebels from the International Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL). The local rebellion leader, Ansa, kills both male and female Krahn tribe members on sight, blaming them for the war started by President Samuel Doe, a Krahn, as well as for the killing of his father, mother, and two younger brothers. Luckily for the missionaries, one of the other rebels, Momulu, a member of the local branch, is able to convince Ansa to spare Elder Gaye's life. The missionaries are taken away, then released to join Abubakar and the four other missionaries on a trip to the border. The seven escapees crowd into an old, red five-seat sedan driven by Abubakar, with the Biblical passage "Mark 9:24" written on the back ("And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief"). Ansa, furious over the missing missionaries, tracks them to the border to ensure Elder Gaye does not leave the country to Freetown, Sierra Leone.