[Home] [Newsletters & Updates] [Prayer Requests] [Contact Us] [Ghana News and Information]
[Westover Home] [Westover Worldover]

This newsletter is also available as an MSWord document, 2004q1.doc.

Report from Richard & Linda Benskin with Joanna & Daniel

Dear friends,

The last few months have been very busy. They have also been quite unusual and refreshing in several ways. In December we went to Burkina Faso to visit fellow missionaries. January and February each brought visits from friends, and substantial rain: one inch one time and about an inch and a half the other. Rain at this time of year in Yendi is very odd. The old men visiting the clinic were confident that it had not happened in at least 100 years. Many were convinced that the rains were coming early, and the Harmattans (when dry air from the Sahara smothers the region in a cloud of fine dust) were over. But, a few days after the second of these freak rains we had about the heaviest Harmattan we have seen this year, and the Harmattans are still frequent and heavy. While unpredictable weather is normal in much of the world, it is truly strange here, especially in the dry season.

VISITORS!

In January the Lermas and Depwes came for a two-week visit. On the trek north, Richard plus the six of them were packed into our mini-pickup. Here they are at a lunch stop. Despite ten hours of bouncing over rough roads, they arrived in Yendi cheerful and ready to help. They brought WBS Introductory Lessons for every middle school student in the entire Yendi District, as well as treats and supplies. They also laughed, played and cried with us, and in general shared in our lives. Having four younger visitors was a special treat for Joanna and Daniel. They enjoyed going on walks and spending time together; the object behind them in the picture on the right is a termite mound.

Two weeks later a group of four Westover members came to team up with our Ghanaian coworkers, going to every single middle school and high school in Yendi District and teaching about Jesus for two hours. The photo below shows the teams preparing to leave for the schools (those traveling on motorcycles wear protection from the Harmattan dust). The teams provided the students with a six-page handout summarizing the life and teachings of Christ to help them study for their exams on religion and cultural studies (and to help them learn more about our Savior and Lord). Most of the students had completed the WBS lessons the Lermas and Depwes had distributed. These lessons were collected and taken to members of our sponsoring congregation, Westover Hills, who will do further teaching by mail. In all, about 7000 students ages 12 – 30 in this predominantly Islamic Community are learning a great deal about Biblical Christianity, thanks to the combined efforts of Ghanaian evangelists and American visitors. Saturday members of the Yendi Church of Christ hosted a full-day WBS follow-up seminar. Of the 380 World Bible School enrollees who attended, over half had completed several levels of WBS work. Many had been introduced to WBS by previous campaigners.

CHRISTMAS IN BURKINA

Our trip to Burkina Faso was a grand adventure. It is a French-speaking country, but hand waving and gestures worked well enough, and there were even a surprising number of English-speakers there. Usually the holidays gradually unfold in the USA. Of course, there was no hint of Christmas as we left Yendi in the morning. Later that day, as we drove into Burkina’s capital city, Ouagadougou, Christmas seemed to envelop us instantly. The city was full of Christmas decorations and festive lights adorned the utility poles. Christmas permeated the stores and even open markets.  We have been told that Christmas is celebrated, though to a lesser extent, in southern Ghana, but we had spent the past four Christmases in Yendi, so the overall effect was pretty amazing to us. Despite the irony, hearing songs like “White Christmas” and “Let it Snow” blaring in the grocery stores was strangely refreshing. We enjoyed a variety of wonderful restaurants and the wide selection of products available in the stores, but we are glad we usually buy our groceries in Ghana where the prices are much lower. The missionaries in Dano were wonderfully hospitable. We felt very blessed to share an American Christmas in their homes, complete with generous helpings of homemade Mexican food.

MOVE TO CENTRAL YENDI

When the church first started in Yendi, the only land available to Christians was on the outskirts of town, which is where the clinic was built and where we live. Later, when the Yendi church had established a good reputation in the community, they were able to buy land in the busiest part of town, adjacent to the market. For many years, the community has been asking the church to organize a private school. The church decided to build this temporary structure on the property “downtown” until they have the funds for a larger building. The plans are to use one building for both the school and church meetings. At the beginning of this year the school opened, starting with preschool-aged children, and a few weeks ago the church started meeting at the market-area site as well.

LOTS OF SHOTS

Yendi is in the “meningitis belt” and periodically epidemics of the disease sweep through the area, usually from the north. While the campaign group was here, the government issued vaccine due to one such epidemic. This photo shows a group from an area girl’s school packing into the clinic for their shots. Linda gave over 300 vaccines to students and others at the clinic on that day alone. Many of the students coming for vaccinations also dropped off completed WBS lessons while they were in the neighborhood.

ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD

Two weeks ago Asana, who works at the clinic, got word that her brother-in-law had died in a terrible roadway accident near Yendi. She rushed to the scene and found Sadif unconscious among the carnage, but definitely not dead. She prayed as she sought medical help for him, first at Yendi Hospital and then in Tamale, and she stubbornly refused to give up until the Tamale Hospital finally admitted him and gave him medicine to reduce the swelling in his head. When he regained consciousness the next day (a Saturday) and it became clear that no one would treat his deep lacerations, they returned to Yendi. Some nurses at the Yendi hospital agreed to put a few stitches in his back, but they did not clean the wound first! Sunday morning Sadif told Asana he was tired of the way he was being mishandled. He asked her to take him to the Christian clinic. Since then we have been treating his wounds and he is making good progress towards a full recovery. Asana and her husband are the only Christians in her family, but her Muslim relatives credit Christian prayers and compassion with saving this young man’s life. Since Sadif cannot yet return to work, he is using his spare time to read the gospel of Luke, which he is finding very interesting and enjoyable.

Prayer requests

• A few days before the WBS campaign group arrived, Richard apparently pinched a nerve in his right shoulder. It was incapacitating for a while. But, by God’s grace he was able to pick up the campaigners as scheduled. Praise the Lord! Please pray for the last of the pain to subside and for all of his strength to return.
• Samson Laar continues to recover from his stroke, but he tires easily and still asks for your prayers.
• Please continue to pray for our health, and that of our patients, especially in this dry season.
• Hamidu’s father accepted Christ as his Lord through baptism. He thanks all of you who have prayed for him.
• We came through our season of many travels without any accidents or vehicle breakdowns. Thank you for your prayers on our behalf.
• Please pray especially for our longer-term wound patients, Alhassan, Fati, Hamidu, Karim and Ali this quarter.
• Please continue to pray for Godly wisdom and continued spiritual growth for the many Christians in this area.

In the Service of Our King,

The Benskin Family

[Home] [Newsletters & Updates] [Prayer Requests] [Contact Us] [Ghana News and Information]
[Westover Home] [Westover Worldover]