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Jul. 28, 2002 Dear Friends, We want to share a glimpse of how the LORD has been working in Ghana in the past few weeks. As we were closing out the PHCW course in Kumasi and attending the West African Missionaries' Retreat which immediately followed, several highly qualified people volunteered to review the draft of the health handbook we are preparing. We were incorporating many great suggestions into the book as we received them. We soon realized that our self-imposed deadline was making us a bit frantic, limiting the quality of the final result. So, we decided to allow a few more weeks for suggestions and finishing touches. With our adjusted time-frame, the handbook should still be in the hands of the Primary Health Care Workers by November. Extending the deadline on the Handbook allowed us to concentrate more fully on the World Bible School campaign. Due to the State of Emergency in Yendi, the number of visitors joining us from our home congregation in Austin was reduced to only five. But, the LORD worked with the small group, and they accomplished more than anyone would have thought possible, including special devotionals for small groups, one-on-one Bible studies, lectures in the schools, and a large Saturday seminar. The campaigners' schedule was intense: they arrived in Ghana on a Tuesday evening, after two days of flying. The very next morning at dawn we all started what became a 14-1/2 hour journey in two full pickups over rainy pothole-strewn roads to Yendi. We had only one minor vehicle problem (a flat tire) and everyone stayed healthy the entire campaign, for which we thank the LORD. On Thursday (the morning after the long drive), the campaigners were up early to teach in the junior and senior high schools. They joined missionaries and local evangelists in three teams that day, as well as on Friday and Monday, reaching almost every older student in the entire district with their lesson on the Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ. Imagine standing before a crowd of students at the Islamic School, speaking for a full hour about how we can be confident that Jesus really is our Savior! Not only was this scene repeated over and over again, but sometimes the Muslim teachers or headmasters would interrupt the speaker, only to encourage the students to pay close attention, or even take notes. They also encouraged the students to ask questions after the lecture, and even asked the campaigners to lead the group in prayer! Younger students were left on their own as their teachers flocked to listen to the campaigners' message. At the end of each school visit, everyone received written copies of the lesson, and most signed up for further studies through World Bible School. In all, about 4,500 people heard the Gospel or were given an opportunity to study through WBS as a result of the school visits. Saturday, despite July being the height of the farming season, the Yendi church meeting area was overflowing with small groups as 170 WBS students plus parents and interested members of the community joined church members and campaigners to study the Bible and praise God. Several were added to the Lord in baptism that afternoon, and many more expressed interest in further studies. The campaigners were not allowed to rest on Sunday, either: in addition to leading worship at the two largest congregations in the area, they taught special classes and went to the prison congregation. They also helped meet the needs of the "people at the door," as countless soldiers came for Bibles, students came to drop off lessons, young friends came to borrow books from our "library" and still other students came to meet their WBS teacher (Sharon Gardner is a celebrity in Yendi). Tuesday we stopped at one last school (for a total of 24 in three days!) on our way south to take the campaigners back to the airport. It had been a terrific time of encouragement, fellowship, and evangelism, and we were all tired, happy, and grateful to God - we were so blessed by our time together. Of course, we are already planning the next WBS campaign!
In the Service of Our King, |
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