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This newsletter is also available as an MSWord document, 2004q2.doc.

Report from Richard & Linda Benskin with Joanna & Daniel

Dear friends,

The weather is now cooler and rainy in Yendi. Our formerly goat-beleaguered crepe myrtle tree is finally blooming! A donated solar-powered electric fence charger, left over from another project, is protecting it now, and we have really enjoyed its foliage and blossoms.

These past few months have been very hectic for us, mostly because Brother Peter, the Ghanaian nurse normally running the clinic, has not had time off of school, so Linda is managing the clinic and doing all the patient consults. Often there have been no doctors at the Yendi Hospital, so when a patient needs surgery or hospitalization, things can get complicated.

Joanna and Daniel are in the USA enjoying time with friends and family. They are also attending spiritual and educational camps, as well as planning for college. They should be flying back to Ghana in early August, just in time to help with the program for the little kids at the West African Missionaries Retreat (Ghana is hosting this year).

The WBS campaign and the other school visits which preceded it are already bearing fruit. Our evangelists, who were not all that warmly received in the High School before the campaign, have been asked to teach classes on a weekly basis. Moral education is a required portion of the curriculum. It is quite amazing that Christian evangelists are being allowed to teach these classes in this Islamic area. Several of the evangelists have divided the work so that the students hear from a variety of Christians over the course of the semester. What an opportunity! And, our WBS mailbox overflows! Diana, the clinic clerk (pictured here), is now in charge of periodically gathering the lessons into an envelope to be mailed to the USA.

Project Timothy is a three year Bible education program for village church leaders. The students attend classes for three weeks at a time, three times a year, for three years. The schedule is built around the peak farming seasons so that the students can still work their farms and feed their families. This is the second graduation we have attended in our five years in Ghana, and both times we have really enjoyed the colorful event, with the students in traditional "fugu" smocks and a good deal of beautiful singing in several languages. Richard was asked to present the certificates to this group.

Christian Nsoah, a very special friend to the Christians in Yendi, gave his oldest daughter away in marriage in April. At the urging of the staff, we closed the clinic for a day and went to Tema to represent them and bring their gifts to the wedding. It was much more like an American wedding than the ceremonies we have attended in Yendi, but the older men did wear their traditional "six-yard wraps." The bride, Asabea, has been our hostess as we stayed in Christian's home in Tema many times when we had business to do in the South, even when Christian and his wife, Lizzie, were away. We miss her already!

How Your Prayers are Being Answered

In our last report we asked for your prayers for many of the long-term wound patients. Since that report we have seen some truly amazing progress. Let us share with you a little of what God has done.

About two years ago, a young father named Alhassan brought his three-year-old son, Hamidu, to the clinic. He was desperate and fairly certain (justifiably) that his son was about to die. Hamidu had second- and third-degree burns covering most of his torso and much of his left arm. System-wide infection had followed the burns and he was barely alive. Through prayer and care at the clinic, the infection was soon brought under control. Still, the scope and depth of the burns seemed far beyond the resources/procedures available at our small Christian clinic. It was not at all clear that Hamidu would recover. Over the next two years we continued to pray and carefully dress the wounds almost every day. We literally watched Hamidu grow up as his burns healed. Now, this boy who would never smile smiles frequently and with incredible radiance. His father came to Christ a few months ago and regularly attends church gatherings. About two months ago, a new surgeon was assigned to the Saboba hospital (about 40 miles away). This surgeon agreed to do corrective surgery on the scarring so that Hamidu will have near normal range of motion in his left arm - what an unbelievable blessing! Last week the final spot on Hamidu's chest healed, so he is in Saboba now having his surgery. Please pray that it goes well and thank the Lord for the prayers he has already answered for Alhassan and his son Hamidu.

Ali is a fairly cantankerous but very friendly 82-year-old man. He rides to the clinic each morning on the British bicycle that he was given when he was discharged from the military service after WWII. The open sore covering most of his right foot and lower leg had been with him for years. At his age, healing does not come quickly, particularly as he is pretty set in his ways, and not altogether compliant with care recommendations. Nonetheless, he is making fairly steady progress and he is able to maintain a small farm. He also became a Christian as a result of his contact with the clinic. We thank you for your prayers on his behalf.

Karim suffered from leprosy, and the decreased sensation to his lower legs is permanent. This makes it difficult for him to avoid getting injuries, and it also makes it difficult for him to avoid harming already injured tissue. He has deep sores on the back of his lower legs - probably from the pressure of putting them on the edge of a bench, and it is likely that he continues to do this from time to time. He also is chronically malnourished because he is only able to farm a small plot. Despite these problems, his wounds are also gradually filling in now. Please pray that this continues.

Thank you for your prayers for Sadif. You may remember he was in a bad traffic accident and left for dead. He has now fully recovered and has returned to his work as a school teacher. He has obviously been very impressed with the care he has received from Christians and has asked a lot of questions about Christianity. He still lives in his father's house, and is not really free to explore Christianity openly. Please continue to pray for him.

Fati is a wizened woman who does not know her age, but she already had children during the festival installing a new Dagomba king in the 1930's. She has had a very painful large sore on the back of her leg for many, many years. It is not gone, but it is no longer infected and it is far smaller and less painful than it was when she came to the clinic. She is so grateful that she insists upon taking a few minutes out of our busy schedule each morning for her to properly thank God, and us, and you, indirectly, laughing with joy as she does so.

Alhassan came to Brother Peter at the clinic in 1999 to have his leg amputated. He had suffered with a large sore for 27 years, and he could not farm. He had no money. Peter explained that we did not do amputations, but we do pray and dress wounds, even for those who cannot afford care. After a few months of care, Alhassan became a Christian. His brothers told him he was making a big mistake and refused to speak to him for years. Then one day they saw Alhassan farming. His sore was very small now and no longer interfered with his work. His brother suffers from the same problem - poor circulation causes the feet to swell - but he is not yet willing to come to the clinic. Recently Alhassan was hired as the clinic groundskeeper, and he is a very hard worker, indeed! We are again seeing progress in the small wounds that remain - please pray that they will heal completely soon.

Current Prayer Requests

• Please continue to pray for our health, and that of our patients. We are finding more and more resistant malaria among our patients, but we ourselves have not gotten malaria yet.
• The rains are a bit scant so far this rainy season - please pray that the farmers can have a full harvest.
• Thank you for your continued prayers for our longer-term wound patients - we are seeing amazing recoveries!
• Please continue to pray for Godly wisdom for the leaders here as the church matures.
• We ask also for prayers for peace. As the USA prepares for presidential elections, know that many West African countries are also holding elections, and civil unrest is common in this area during such times. The chieftaincy struggles in Yendi also remain unresolved.

In the Service of Our King,

The Benskin Family

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