Building, Building, Building

Discussions in our house these days revolve around truckloads of river sand, bags of cement, iron rods, watering blocks, building estimates, etc. The cement dust covers our floors in Yendi, the floors of our car and can even be found on the bottom of Samuel’s bath at night. What is happening? As it is now, we have three building projects going on in Tamale, the village of Sang and in Yendi, all for different purposes.

In Tamale, we (the Bible Church of Africa - BCA) together with the help of ‘Stichting Verrekijker’ in the Netherlands (see the link to their website under “Other sites to visit”) have started to build the first phase of the Hostel ‘Home of Hope’ or in our local Dagbani language ‘Tahima Yili’. Many Christian youth from rural communities, having finished their primary or junior secondary school education, do not have the contacts (people to stay with) or finances to continue their education away from home as this type of education is not provided within their rural setting. Some do have family members they could stay with while continuing their education, but often they are not Christian and under peer and family pressure the young ones will give up on their Christianity. Some youth are able to find a place to stay in so called ‘boarding schools’ but places are limited and there too the peer pressure to indulge in social vices or give up on Christianity is high. Even if they acquire a place in a boarding school or with family, the study environment is generally poor affecting their results. Others, who have recently become Christians, are in need of a temporary place to stay because they have been rejected by their families or communities. Because of these problems, many children who have made a start in education and who have the wish to continue will not get that opportunity. The purpose of the Hostel, therefore, is to provide a safe environment for youth from the villages to study in the regional capital Tamale. The Hostel will provide:

• a home to live in
• a Christian environment
• formation and growth in faith
• Christian literature
• support and encouragement in studies
• parental care, guidance and counselling
• skills and material support for those in need
  

'Abukari and Samuel inspecting the building work in Tamale!'

'Mixing sand and cement'

'Binding iron'

In the village of Sang, BCA has a small church congregation. Last year one of our evangelists moved to this village to lead the church. Because this evangelist moved from his own village it is necessary to build a house for him and his family to live in. With the help of the Chief of Sang the church has acquired a big plot of land to build the house and hopefully in future a church. At the moment a three room house is being built. The funding for this house was provided by ‘Salt and Light Presbyterian Church’ in the US.

'The house in Sang with our evangelist, Neindoo'

Because of the expansion of our family and the regular visits of guests we need more rooms in our house in Yendi. We are building another two bedrooms and a bathroom. Just last week we were able to make a start on this “third” building project, with the help of supporters in the Netherlands. We hope to be able to put a roof on this building before we go on furlough in March and the rainy season begins. Please pray with us for the remaining $1,000 that we need to finish it.

'Building in progess at our home in Yendi'

'Carrying blocks'

'Samuel helping to fetch sand'

PRAYER ITEMS:

Thank God:

• for people who share in the burden to reach out to the people in Dagbon in diverse ways

• for the ability to start the projects

Pray:

• that we will be able to finish all projects well

• that the different projects will really serve the purpose they were built for

• for Micah’s health, he has had a fever for the past few days and it is not quite clear what it is caused by

• for funds to build a church for the Sang congregation