Sunday April 5 with Tommy Harrison and Courtneys at Village of Dwni

Sunday we went to Dwni a Konkomba village South East of Nalerigu. It is a very poor village. Even the school is substandard for the area. It has only a floor and a roof. Tommy Harrison preaches there on a regular basis to a small group, mostly women and children with two or three men. One of the men is quite old and nearly blind. when we arrived there were only 4 or 5 children there at the school where they worship. we went to a compound to invite others to come. Outside the compound there was a fetish with a cat's head on it. The lady witch doctor put it there. She was in the compound we visited, but was without a top. Tommy asked her to get dressed and come hear us preach from God's word. She did and you can see her dancing in the green dress and a white head wrap. Tommy asked her if she ate the rest of the cat and she just laughed. After a while a crowd gathered and when the singing and dancing ended A.L. and I shared Bible stories through a translator who helps Tommy at several churches. It was a good experience and the witch doctor seemed to enjoy the service. Maybe Doctor Jesus will cure her of the sickness called sin.

Roof for the roofless

Sat. we went to a building materials/hardeware store in Nalerigu and picked up the tin (Called zinc here) for the roof on Haruna's church. Then we delivered it to the members at the compound where Haruna lives when he is in the village. They put it in his room so when he goes to the village this weekend he will have to move it or sleep on the roof in his room! I could not resist the sign in the hardeware store. A wonderful example of Ghanaian humor.

Open air Church at Jowani

Last weekend we visited the village of Jowani, South East of Nalerigu. One of my seminary students is the pastor of a small Baptist church there. The building is made from mud and it had a grass roof on it, but weather damaged the roof and it had to be removed. Now thanks to the goodness of the people of New Harmony Baptist Church outside Savannah, TN, where our son Chris is pastor, the missing roof will be replaced with a metal one. A good friend of ours in Nalerigu will help insure the work gets done, and when it is completed we will go back to photograph the finished job.

Video from Nyerizgu

Raising funds to raise a roof at Nyerizgu village Baptist church

Sunday March 29, 2009 Joseph, Peggy, A.L. and Myra Courtney and I went to Nyerizgu, a small village West of Tamale, for a joint service of 6 sister churches to raise money to roof and plaster a building for the mission church there. This new work is the result of the out reach of Kasulyili Baptist Church. Nyerizgu is several miles away from Kasulyili. The building is made of mud. It will have a metal roof over a wooden frame, and the inside and outside will be plastered to waterproof it. The services were delayed about 45 min because of a much needed rain. The dry season is coming to an end, praise God. We took cover under a huge wild mango tree where they have been holding services. The rain was so heavy for a little while most of the men went to the chief's hut. I joined them and storyed about Noah and the Ark! When the rains stopped we held the services around the Mango tree which was still dripping. About 180 GH cedees was raised for the project. Several builders who were attending pledged to do the labor for free.

More from Zoggu and Jegun

The young girl setting alone in one picture and with a friend in another had the sweetest smile and every time I looked at her she lit up the room with it. At the close of the service Ayuba asked me to pray for her because she has eplipsey. My family has a history of this condition so I felt even more drawn to her.

Storying in Zoggu and Jegun

Sunday Lansah, Joseph, and I met Ayuba in the village of Zoggu north of Tamale. Ayuba took us to Jegun, a village where he started to work last month. There we met with a group of about 25 villagers under a large tree. We sang and praised God and then I storied using the story of the man who had two sons (Prodigal Son). We then returned to Zoggu to worship with about thirty people who had gathered in a school classroom. I storied with them using the Creation to Church story (Panorama story) and again the man with two sons. There was a young Peace Corp nurse in this group. She is from Austin Texas and is working to help lower the infant and child mortality rate. Ayuba has two other villages where he has started works and we hope to go to them soon and visit at Zoggu and Jegun again also. Ayuba graduated from our seminary last year and it gives me great joy to see God working through him.