First Baptism for converts from Wayamba

After services Sunday October 11 we took Adam Issah and Sanatu Napadoo to the Seed Ministry Compound to be baptized. It was a wonderful experience for all of us. Hopefully these are the first of many in the future. We hardly recognized Sanatu without all the traditional coverings. The group picture shows Peggy, Sanatu, Adam,Pastor Baako, Pastor Daniel and myself. Pray for these two and all those God will touch at Wayamba.

The Renovation Work Complete

This week we saw the completion of the renovation work at the seminary library completed. These pictures show how nice everything is now. Peggy and Sue are shown cataloguing and cleaning the books before we reopened it.The renovation work and the books that have been purchased for the library are the result of the generosity and mission spirit of the members of Pinedale Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL.

Renovation of the Library at the Seminary

For the last couple of weeks we have been having renovation work done at the library of the Northern Ghana Baptist Theological Seminary where I Peggy and I have been working for almost three years. The first picture was taken after the old wooden door was removed and the opening enlarged to take the new glass door. This also gives a good shot of the ceiling which was installed last week. Before there was no ceiling and the rafters and metal roof were visible. The next picture shows the holes in the walls where the old windows have been removed. The third picture shows two of the three new sliding glass windows that have installed. The last picture shows the new door being installed. The young man doing the masonry work and plastering in the pictures is a Muslim and he is now painting the walls and putting a finish coat of paint on the ceiling. Pray that he will be influenced by his exposure to believers. All of this work is made possible by the generous members of Pineview Baptist Church who also gave the funds three years ago to purchase most of the books in the library. Their gifts were processed through the Cooperative Program of the SBC. Peggy and I along with the staff and student body wish to express our thanks to everyone who had a part and we pray that God will richly bless you from the depths of His matchless grace.

Opposition at Wayamba

Peggy, Sue Jaynes, Baako and I went to Wayamba at the regular time today after not having services last Sunday because of heavy rain. John was there to open the classroom for us but he also had some disturbing news. Last week the leaders at the mosque in Wayamba had a special meeting and told all the parents they should not permit their children to go to church anymore. This affected the attendance at Adam's bible club Sat. and it was evident in our attendance today. There were only 12 children rather than the thirty or so we normally have. We did have three adults from the village. The elder who has professed Christ, the grandmother who is a believer and Adam who is a new convert himself. Sue led the children in some new songs and John led them in some Ghanaian songs. I told the story of Joseph, and Baako preached. When we first came to Wayamba there was no open opposition to what we were doing now we have seen acts of opposition for the last three weeks. This tells us that the devil and the Muslims are concerned about what God is doing. All we can do is be faithful and keep going back with the gospel. The rest is up to God. It is His battle not ours. Please pray that the new believers will not become discouraged. We are talking about having baptism for those who are ready on October 11, hopefully at the Seed Ministry Baptistery. Keep us in your prayers.

Sept. 6, 2009 at Wayamba

The bottom picture is of Adam and his new bike. Adam is one of our early converts at Wayamba and he is being discipled and trained to start and lead a Bible club, by the Seed Ministry. He needed a bike to travel from the village to the Seed Ministry so we used money given by the children in VBS at New Harmony Baptist church near Savanah, TN to get him one. A teenaged girl was being trained with him. Call her "S." When her father found out she had become a believer he punished her and told her she was not to attend church anymore. She is also being shunned by family and friends. They are all Muslim. She came to me and apologized and asked forgiveness for not coming to church. I told her she had done nothing wrong. She is still a child under her father's authority. She must obey him but no one can undo the change that took place in her heart when she accepted Christ. When she is an adult she can worship God as He leads her. For some, the cost of being a Christian is difficult. Pray for "S" and pray that God will change her father's heart. The top picture is of Peggy sharing the story of Zacchaeus.

T4T class at the Seed Ministry in Tamale

This past week I was privileged to teach T4T to 22 young men and boys from villages around Tamale. Each morning Monday through Wednesday I taught them stories from the Bible from 9:00 am until about 12:00 pm. In the evenings they were taught F.A.I.T.H. To start the first session I helped them write their own story about their salvation. Then I taught them God's Story through stories from the Bible. After each story there was a question and answer session about the story. Then we arranged the chairs in a circle and I had them one by one tell as much or all of the story as they could. John Haruna served me well as translator. Once the circle was completed we would go back around doing the same thing in the opposite direction. By the time we had completed this process they all knew the story well, and we had all laughed until our sides ached as they ribbed each other for their mistakes. I used what I call "Creation to Christianity" as the panorama story. Some of the other stories they learned were; "The Story of Jesus," "Jesus and Nicodemus," "Jesus and the Demonic Man," "The Story of the Good Samaritan," and "Philip and the Man from Africa." Wednesday night the students were divided into two groups. Each group spent the next four days in a village. One of those villages was Wayamba. There was a leader with each group and they went through the villages using the F.A.I.T.H. evangelism method along with storying to tell people about Jesus and how to become a believer. One of the young men who participated was Adam who lives in Wayamba and was one of our first converts. He is now sharing Jesus with others. Pastor Daniel Haruna and his son John worked with the group at Wayamba. They slept in the school at the village at night on mats on the concrete floor. It is a blessing to see young people so loving, dedicated and fearless as these. The group at Wayamba will worship with us this Sunday in the village. I hope that God will move in the hearts of young people around the world to adopt the caring attitude of these guys. Maybe this will inspire someone out there to go and do the same.

Birthday for the Triplets

Thursday August 27, 2009 marked the first birthday of the triplets at Anfanni's Children's home. We had a little party and presented each of the three sisters with a baby doll. There was also birthday cake. The pictures show the volunteer staff along with Emelia, the manager of the facility which was started by her aunt, and all 9 of the children that are being cared for there at this time. The white lady in the center is Kay Raybe from B.C in Canada. She has just returned from 3 weeks in a hospital in Accra. She will be going home in September. The other white lady is Vera, a volunteer from somewhere in Europe. Peggy and I get a turn holding some of God's precious little ones. Its one of the fringe benefits of being here.

Storying with the Chief

The first of this week Pastor Daniel of Zagyuri Baptist Church suggested that I attend the Friday meeting of the Chief and elders at Wayamba, because we needed to ask a favor. Next week I will be teaching a group of young men storying using Training for Trainers. The training sessions will take place at the Seed Ministry operated by Bob and Bonnie Parker. The young men are being trained by the Seed Ministry as part of their Children's Bible Club ministry which is reaching over 6,000 kids in over 160 villages in Northern Ghana. There will be about 20 in the training sessions and half of them will go to Wayamba to practice what I teach them in the village. The other half will go to another village. We needed to get permission from the chief and elders for them to spend Wed through Sat. night in the village school. Attending the meeting would also offer us an opportunity to share a Bible story with the chief and elders, all who are Muslim. This morning after a short rain delay we went to the meeting at the chief's palace. This gave me the opportunity to dress in my smock and cap that was presented to me when I was made an honorary elder of the village last week. We were granted permission to have the trainees stay at the school and I told the chief and the elders the story of Jesus and Nicodemus. Daniel suggested I use this story because most of these men are older and have said that they were too old to become followers of Jesus. I wish you could have been there. The Chief was siting on his throne of animal skins on an elevated platform and the elders were all seated around on the floor. While I storied, they shelled corn which had just been harvested, and was piled all around the interior of the building.I told them that Nicodemus was not a young man but older like them and that he became a follower of Jesus even though he at first had doubts and fears just like them. They expressed appreciation for the story and I look forward to telling them other stories in the future. They told me that they liked the fact that followers of Jesus love their fellow man and they said they were glad that I showed them that love, and that they wished me to know that they considered me their brother. God is at work in Wayamba. Pray that the harvest of souls will be as blessed as their harvest of corn.

Sunday Afternoon at Zagyuri Baptist Church

Sunday afternoon I had scheduled a Storying class for those who would come at Zagyuri Baptist Church where pastor Daniel is the leader. He had invited me and I agreed, but Sunday afternoon I did not want to go. I just was not into it. Maybe I was tired. Maybe I was lazy. Maybe I just did not feel like it. I had a bad attitude. The missionary needed a missionary. In my defense I went even though I did not want to. When I got there there was no one but the pastor. We waited 15 or 20 min. and still no one. I said God I'll give youe 5 more min. and if no one shows I'm outa here. I need a nap. In the next few min. 3 womwn and one young man came in. We started. God took over and I got excited. Five more women came along with their small children. It was maybe the best teaching on storying I've been a part of. I told the story, Daniel translated. Then he told the story with out a hitch, and then the young man, Zakaria told the story to perfection. I turned to the ladies and said, "ok ladies your turn." They did a group thing each one told as much as they could remem,ber then the opthers would help them. They all promised to be back next week and I promised God I'll have a better attitude. Here is the story they learned
Creation to the Church:
In the beginning there was only God. God spoke and created the world and everything in it. The last thing He created was man and woman. God loved them greatly. He supplied everything they needed in a garden, and visited them there. One day they disobeyed God and broke their fellowship with Him, so He banned them from the garden. The man and woman had children and their children had children, and their children had children, filling the world with people, but they also disobeyed. God stilled loved man so He chose one named Abraham and told him that He would give him a son and make Himself a people from his descendants. God promised to bless the whole world through Abraham’s descendents. Abraham was old and had no children, but he believed God. Because Abraham believed God, God counted Abraham righteous. God gave Abraham a son, as promised. Abraham’s son had children and his children had many children and God made them His people. They also disobeyed God. God sent messengers to tell His people how to be right with Him. One of these was a man named Isaiah. Isaiah brought a message from God about a promised savior. He said, “We have all gone against God, but God will send a Savior who will take our sins on Himself. He will be whipped, beaten and will die for our sins, but God will give Him life again, and because of Him we can have a right relationship with God.” From that day on, God’s people waited for the promised Savior to come. God remembered His promise and sent Jesus, His very own Son, to be the Savior. Jesus proved to men that He was that Savior by His message of love and repentance, and by performing miracles such as healing the sick. Not every one recognized who Jesus was, but many followed Him and He taught those who did. He told them if they followed Him they would have eternal life. He said, “Those who believed in me are in my hand, and no one could take them away from me, and He said, “I and the Father are the same. When He said that, it made those who did not follow Him angry, and they plotted to kill Him. Just like the prophet Isaiah said, they beat Jesus and whipped Him and killed Him, and just like he said, Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus proved that He had come back from the dead by showing Himself to His followers for forty days. He told them that soon He would leave them, but He would send God’s Spirit to empower them to tell people about Him. Jesus told them to go into all the world, telling people about Him, and teaching them to obey everything He told them. Those who believed were baptized to show that they had obeyed God and were following Him. Later, Jesus went up into heaven. As His followers watched Him, two angels said, “Jesus has gone but one day He will return the same way He left.” From that time the followers of Jesus have waited for His return and have told others about Him. Those who believe in Jesus are baptized, showing that they have obeyed God and are following Him by faith in Jesus Christ. That is what believers do, they tell others about Jesus, and those who believe are baptized showing their faith in Jesus. Believers also come together to worship God, to learn about Jesus and to take care of one another’s needs. I am a follower of Jesus and I tell people about Him. I hope you will think of these things and also become a follower of Jesus.

Sunday morning at Wayamba

Sunday morning we were encouraged to see not only repeat attenders but to also see some that came because we invited them Saturday. The two young men next to the door in the second picture and the older lady siting in the middle of the group in the last picture all came as a result of the visits Daniel and I made on Saturday. The two younger ladies behind the older lady are repeats from last week as are all of the older children. John has his hands full with so many in the younger children group so Peggy and Lansah gave him some help. After telling the Creation to the Church story I had several very good questions like, "what is the church," "how is a Christian able to obey God," and "what did the man and woman do that caused God to ban them from the garden?" it is an encouragement to see thy interest and thirst for knowledge on the faces of those who are willing to come from their Muslim surroundings and attend a meeting led by those who follow Jesus. Keep us and the people of Wayamba in your prayers.

The making of an Elder at Wayamba

We were summoned to go and meet with the chief of Wayamba on Thursday, August 6, 2009. When we arrived at the chief's palace we were informed that the chief wished to make me one of his elders in appreciation for the gift of water we had brought to the village school. It is a great honor and I was presented with a smock and matching cap to designate me as one of the elders. I have been given the name "Zosimli Naa" which means " Good Friend of the Chief." There is a great feeling of family between us and the people of Wayamba, and they have extended to us the place of kinship. We visited the chief's two wives. The lady on the left is the senior wife of the Chief. The second lady is the junior wife. This will open more opportunities for us to share Jesus with the people, and our words will have more influence with them now that we have the support of the chief and the elders. We praise God for all that He is doing and will do.

Zagyuri Baptist Church

If you have been keeping track of our blog you know that Pastor Daniel Haruna and his son John of Zagyuri Baptist Church , pictured here, have been and continue to be instrumental in our work in the nearby village of Wayamba. Daniel was the one who made us aware of Wayamba in the beginning, who got us an audience with the chief, and has been faithful to go with me anytime I need him. He goes there on his own sometimes making visits in the village. He led his church to become the sponsoring or mother church for the work there. He and John worked all day one day loading block, sand and cement into our truck so I could haul the materials to the sight of the water project. Without his assistance and dedication we would not have been able to accomplish what has been done. John who is 22 works with the children of Wayamba in a Bible study every Sunday morning and he gets there early and opens up the school building for us. Recently Peggy and I attended church at Zagyuri and I preached there. This church was started by Daniel over ten years ago and he is the only pastor they have had. Notice in the picture of the front of the church, there is a speaker mounted on the wall above the door. This is used to broadcast Christian music and scripture readings in the local language every morning at 5:00. That is about the time the Muslim Mosque are broadcasting their call to pray to Allah. If you look closely at the pictures you can see structural cracks in the walls of the church building. This building is constructed of mud. Mud balls are formed from the ground and are stacked to form the walls then additional mud is packed into the voids to make a solid wall. When this dries it is covered with plaster and whitewashed. The mud has a high clay content so it gets quite hard, but it's load bearing capabilities are not the best. This building needs major repairs or it will soon become unsafe to occupy. Daniel and his small congregation want to renovate their building by replacing the walls with locally made concrete blocks which are much stronger. After the water project at Wayamba was completed we had some concrete blocks and funds left over so we checked with those who contributed and got permission to turn these resources over to Zagyuri Baptist Church to get them started on their rebuilding program. They still are a long way from having all that is necessary, but on behalf of Pastor Daniel and the members of his church, we want to thank all those who made this beginning possible.

About 10:15 there were 9 or 10 boys in the 11 to 12 year old range so we began with them. Lansah was my translator and he did a very good job. I told them about the Bible and we sang the B-I-B-L-E song. Then I told them the story of Jesus about half the way through three young ladies arrived and joined us. After I finished the story I asked everyone to lower their heads and close their eyes and I asked all those who believed Jesus was the Son of God to raise their hands. Six responded with raised hands. Then we sang some songs led by John who had joined us. After this three men came. The oldest of them told us two weeks ago that I believed in Jesus as God's Son. The next eldest was working with some others behind the school making cement blocks. I have talked with him several times in my trips through the village and I know I have storied with him at least once. The youngest man I don't recall seeing before. After they arrived I asked the children questions from the story of Jesus. They did very well especially the young lady in the pale blue blouse and white head wrap. Then I told the story of Philip and the Man from Ethiopia. I made sure to point out that this was the first known black believer and that it happened 2,000 years ago. After we finished this I prayed for them and we dismissed. It was an encouraging morning for all of us. God is at work.