He went as a lone-ranger but leaves a number of pathfinders

What do a lone-ranger and pathfinders have to do with the gospel? In 1998, Abukari heard and heeded to the call of God and moved to the Yendi area to help nurture the existing first generation churches and their leadership. Abukari was a lone-ranger in the sense that he was involved in a wide range of activities from preaching to teaching, counselling to officiating marriages, leadership training to discipleship, ambulance driving (using a motorbike or car) to dispenser of medication, pastor to relief worker..... and any other activities that needed to be done as far as the functioning and growth of the body of Christ was concerned. In fact in those early years no programme or occasion would start without his presence. It was heavy, hectic and demanding work as all the churches and leaders looked to him for leadership and guidance.

As you may be aware, in August this year we as a family moved to Tamale to give our boys’ a better education. It also became necessary for Joke to be in Tamale to help in the administration and revamping of the literacy programme ‘Literacy and Development through Partnership’. Naturally there was a bit of fear as to how the work would continue and who would take over the responsibilities that Abukari was shouldering. Was there a future for the work and ministry that had started? The good news is that over the years the Lord has taught Abukari to pass on his knowledge and share the responsibilities in all aspects of the work with others. God gave him seven brothers who have qualified and demonstrated their willingness to pass on the good news to others, to be the torchbearers. Abukari calls these gallant brothers the “pathfinders of the faith”, praying that as the Lord helped him to pass on what he learnt, they too will be able to teach others (2 Tim 2:2).

At the National Annual Pastors and Leaders conference of the BCA church held last month, three of the church leaders of the Yendi District were officially recognised and licensed as pastors in addition to the four pastors who have already been licensed and commissioned into the ministry. What a joy it was to see that in God’s vineyard there is no place for lone-rangers, rather we are called to equip one another so as to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (Eph 4:11-14).

The certified Pastor’s of the Yendi District

We hope and pray that these pathfinders in their turn will equip others so that the Kingdom of God will grow and bear much fruit. Even though, as a family, we have now relocated, we still continue to pass on the same vision, albeit in different areas, among different people and in different ways but always with the same passion. Please join us in praying for the Yendi team as they lead the multitudes of believers to know and to grow in the Lord.

One of the Pastor’s, Paul with his wife. Paul is leading a
church very much involved in children’s ministry

Pastor Azindow (left), the Church leader of DC Kura (centre) and Abukari (right)
Pastor Azindow is Abukari’s right hand man and he will take over
the position of District Pastor from Abukari.

Reconnecting

During the past few weeks you have heard little from us. This was due to the holiday season and a number of journeys we undertook:

In June, Abukari travelled to Dallas for 3 weeks where he took part in the Global Proclamation Academy.

Abukari in Dallas at the Global Proclamation Academy

With founder Professor Dr Ramesh Richard

With some of the other participants in the 'Dallas Outfit'

On the 13th of July we to the Netherlands for 3 weeks where we celebrated the 50th wedding anniversary of our parents.

Samuel and Micah with their great grandmother who is 98 years old

Samuel and Micah presenting their paintings to opa and oma

Since returning to Ghana, Abukari has taken part in a BCA pastors conference and we have also been busy with preparations towards our move from Yendi to Tamale. We hope to transport our furniture and boxes by the middle of this week.

Packing up the house in Yendi!

However, we still found time to celebrate the boys birthdays last week.

Celebrating Samuel (7) and Micah's (5) birthdays

A busy period behind us and still a job before us but we hope to write more regularly once again!

Please pray for a smooth transition from Yendi to Tamale.

Malaria

Many of us are not very familiar with malaria and that is a good thing! However, in Ghana malaria is a very common disease. All four of us have malaria several times year. Malaria is an infectious disease caused by malaria parasites transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. In Ghana 3.5 million people contract malaria every year and of those approx 20,000 children under the age of five die. This makes malaria responsible for 25% of all infant deaths in Ghana. Over the years the Ghana Health Service in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and other organisations has done a lot of work to prevent and treat malaria. One of the things they do is to distribute insecticide treated nets to infants and pregnant women. They also distribute medication to community volunteers as a ‘home management of malaria’ strategy, so that people have prompt access to medication when necessary because in many communities there are no health facilities.

To stop the spread of malaria and to decrease its impact, there is also the need for people to change their behaviour and to be educated. For example, in the village where we live, mosquito nets have been distributed to families with young children and pregnant women. In the early years people were just given the nets to hang in their houses. However, that did not really work as many women and children often sleep on mats in the same hut but not in fixed places, so where were they supposed to hang the nets? Moreover, people have no hammers and nails in their houses to fix the nets properly, so many of the nets were never used. This has led to a new strategy being adopted. Today, when nets are distributed, they are also hung in place by those distributing the nets to make sure they will be used. This has made a big difference, as people start to see how nets will keep the mosquitoes away and gradually they appreciate the benefits of sleeping under a net. Besides the distribution of nets, people need to be trained on recognising the symptoms of the sickness as well. Often, people do not see the need to seek medical help when they have fever unless it gets really bad. In many cases, parents with young children respond too late and that is also one of the reasons why many young children die. So with pictures the government is trying to instruct the public.

In both the church work as well as the literacy work, we often advise people on how to take care of themselves and how to prevent common illnesses and diseases. For example, the common knowledge of needing to wash your hands with soap or the danger of high fever in children, is simply not there. Sometimes we invite community health nurses to our meetings to give instructions on health issues.

Community nurses instruct the women in the church on the importance of washing your hands with soap after using the toilet

A few weeks ago, travelling to one of our village churches, we came across another way of using old mosquito nets. Some children had hung the nets between the poles of a goal and so the old nets had found a new use.

Old mosquito nets have found a new use!

Reaping a Harvest

A few weeks ago, I (Joke) travelled with the car from Yendi to Tamale. On the way, in one of the villages, I saw Moses waiting for a bus. Moses is a Sunday School teacher in one of our churches and of course I stopped to give him a lift. He was also on his way to Tamale to visit one of his brothers who was in hospital. Besides the fact that it was nice for Moses to get a lift instead of having to wait for a bus (you are never sure if and when a bus will pass by), it was also nice for me to have some company during the journey. We started to talk and Moses told me a lot about himself, things which I had not heard before. The story of Moses is probably the story of many young people in this part of Ghana. The special part of the story is his strong faith and dedication to God.

Sunday School children

Moses Story: ‘When I was a young boy my father died. Shortly after that my mother also passed away. My brothers and sisters were ‘shared’ between the families of my father’s two brothers who continued to take care of us (a common custom here). The uncle with whom I lived had been to school himself and he supported me in my education. After a number of years, this uncle also died and all the children who lived with this uncle now moved to the family of the only remaining uncle. This was an enormous responsibility and burden for this one man. I had been able to finish primary education and was attending the first year of junior high secondary school. The other children in the family did not attend school but all of them helped with the farm. I really wanted to go to school and did all that was possible to continue my education. However, my brothers were strongly against my efforts. They told me, “If you will not join us in the farm, you will no longer eat from this house.” At first I did not take them seriously but my brothers supported their words with action. They instructed my ‘new’ mother to no longer prepare food for me. When I returned home from school in the afternoon there was no food for me to eat. Also in the evening nobody shared any food with me. In the morning I would go to school with an empty stomach. This persisted for three days but I had to give in to my brothers’ demand and since then I have been farming. That was the end of my educational dream. Even though this is an enormous disappointment, I did not let it get me down. I fully devote myself to farming and because I had wished to go to school myself, I do everything possible within my means to help other children in my village fulfil their dreams.’

Moses teaching Sunday School

Moses tells me with full enthusiasm about his three passions: farming, literacy and Sunday School work. He loves working on the farm. He is a good farmer and is able to support his wife, children and other members of his family. But he also loves his language and teaches children and women in the church to read and write in their mother tongue. He loves the Word of God and children and he teaches Sunday School every Sunday morning, trains new Sunday School leaders on his own initiative and travels to other villages and churches to share his enthusiasm about sharing the Gospel with children.

Children from another village church without a Sunday School leader

Some of the children who have visited ‘Moses Sunday School’ in the past, now attend Secondary Schools, some are teachers and some are studying at university. Every time these ‘children’ return to the village, they come to greet Moses. It is a sign of respect and recognition of the role he has played in their lives. ‘Who am I?’, he asks, ‘that they come to me? I have hardly learned anything. I am just a simple farmer!’

It is heart warming hearing Moses talk with so much enthusiasm and see his dedication and devotion to God and the people he loves. Often we hear this question, ‘What am I getting out of life?’ It is often asked by those who focus only on themselves. But as believers, we need to ask, ‘What am I putting into the lives of others?’

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Gal.6:9-10). May we all be encouraged by the life story of Moses and the appeal by the Scriptures not to give up in touching the lives of people that God brings our way.  

Please pray for:

• Moses and all the other Sunday School leaders that God will continue to give them strength, wisdom and enthusiasm to share the Gospel with the children in their communities.
• Moses' brother, Solomon, who is seriously ill (kidney failure) and there is little the doctors can do for him.
• Abukari who is currently in the USA attending the Global Proclamation Academy, he hopes to return to Ghana on 25th June
• Joke and the boys as Abukari is away.

Building Houses, Building Lives

As the rainy season fast approaches, many people are busy building their houses in the village where we live. The houses are being built from mud and can only be built in the dry season because if the mud is still wet when the rain comes then the houses will just collapse. The person who wants to build makes sure all the ‘building materials’ are at hand; water, gravel (if it is not found around the house) and sometimes some tools. One or two local professional builders come to build the walls of the houses and are paid a little money for their labour. Neighbours and friends come together around a heap of gravel which has been made soft with water. They form balls out of the mud and others transport those balls to the place where the house is being built. Passersby often stop for a while to join in the talking and to also help in the transportation of the balls.

A few weeks ago we observed the progress of the building of the house of one of our neighbours. Abukari joined the men in making the balls and Samuel and Micah carried them to the building.

Men come together around a heap of gravel

For Micah it is more like a game

I can even do two balls at the same time!

The walls of the house are almost finished

After the walls have been finished, the women plaster the walls and so everybody in the family from young to old, male and female get involved in the building process.

The women plastering the walls

We continue to be impressed by the willingness of people to help each other with the building of houses. It is a social event. It lightens the communal spirit and the ‘we’ feeling among the people in the community and it strengthens the unity and ties with one another. This is not only the case when building houses but also in working the land, for special occasions like the birth of a child or a wedding or funeral, and many other things which are hard to do alone. It stands in strong contrast with the Western society where in many cases it is everybody for him or herself. The involvement in each other’s lives, the willingness to help and the community feeling makes the Dagomba culture rich and we can learn a lot from it as we relate it to the uniqueness of the body of Christ as seen in 1 Corinthians 12.

On the other hand, in such a culture, it makes it very difficult to break with certain traditions, values or religions which are so strongly connected to this community life and unity. As such, as a Dagomba it is very hard to become a Christian as it is seen as a threat to the existing cohesion. As we live and work among the Dagomba we try to daily reflect in our words and actions that the good news of Jesus transcends all cultural and traditional values. Please join us in prayer and support as we seek to use every given opportunity to live out the love of Christ among the people we work with.

Christmas in Yendi

We are often asked the question “how do you celebrate Christmas in Yendi?” Because we live in an area where there are very few Christians there are very few Christmas celebrations. 95% of the people are not Christians and do not celebrate Christmas. However, within the churches Christmas is celebrated in a number of different ways. Some churches make it a large celebration with a big gathering of people (and churches joining together) to share food, whilst others celebrate a little less exuberantly. There tends not to be the long preparation towards Christmas, especially here in the north of Ghana and there is very little commercialism! However, to prepare our children a little for Christmas, as a family we do celebrate the four weeks of advent.

The church building at Jagando on Christmas Day

On Christmas Day we visited a church in quite a remote village. Whilst Abukari was preaching outside, Joke took the children inside the church building (here the building is also too small for the whole congregation) to talk with them about Christmas. Joke brought some advent candles and they talked about how Jesus brings hope, peace, joy, love and light to the world. We shared biscuits and toffees with the children to make our time a little festive. After we had shared the sweet gifts, there were still quite a few left over. Joke suggested sharing these gifts with the local children who do not attend church. However, the children’s leader had a different idea. He told us that if the children who normally do not attend church see that the children in the church have received some gifts, then next week they will join us in the hope that they will also get something. After three weeks or so they will share the rest of the gifts with them and so hope to attract new children to the Sunday school.

The Jagando church congregation

Some of the Sunday School children

After we came home, the activities in our kitchen began! In this area it is a tradition to share food with neighbours and friends when you celebrate a religious or traditional festival. We cooked a big pot of rice and made tomato stew with goat meat. We shared the food in small pans with our neighbours. Abukari also went to the prison where, together with pastors from the different church denominations in Yendi, they shared food and Bibles with the prisoners.

Presenting food and Bibles to the Yendi prison

Sharing food in small pans with our neighbours

Towards the evening we prepared our 'own' Christmas dinner and - as is our tradition each year - duck was on the menu. The next day, Monday, we had a number of visitors. Throughout the day people came to greet for Christmas. We offered them some soft drinks, biscuits and cake and talked for a little while. In the evening we put some meat (goat and chicken) on the barbecue and that brought an end to our Christmas celebrations for 2011.

Enjoying our family Christmas dinner

A BBQ on Boxing Day!

Maize Harvest

Abukari is currently in Germany. He has been away for almost four weeks now. He normally takes care of our vegetable garden but in his absence I am in charge. There is a song in Dutch which says: 'the difficult ploughing and difficult sowing is rewarded by you, oh Lord.' This song often comes to my mind as I try to loosen the very hard soil in the garden. But compared to the work most of my neighbours do in their fields, I have no reason to complain. Currently most of the farmers are busy harvesting and processing their maize. It is quite a job! Some pictures will guide you through the process:

When the maize has been harvested, the husk leaves
have to be removed by hand

The maize is carried to the processing machine which produces a lot of dust!

The maize ears are poured into the machine

The grains are coming out

After the maize has gone through the machine, the ears are checked for
any remaining grains

Before the maize can be ground to flour,
the chaf is sifted by the wind

Poverty and Riches

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 

But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.”  

(Luke 6:20, 24)

Even an old deflated football is better than none

Daily, we are confronted with people who are poor. This is a confrontation which is not always comfortable as it seems to point to us as being people who are rich and it also challenges us as to what our obligation/response should be to the needs of the poor. How much do/should we share? Is what we share enough? Can we ignore those who are in need because they are just too many to deal with?

Sharing maize with our poor neighbours

Abukari wrote a thesis for his MA in Theology on the topic, ‘In what ways can the Lukan Jesus’ response to the poor address the poor in Dagbon, Ghana?’ As part of his research he interviewed a number of poor people in the area. We would like to share with you some of the statements those interviewed made about poverty. We hope that these statements will help you to understand a little about what it means to be poor, even though most of us will never fully understand what it means to be poor. As one man described it: ‘Poverty is like heat; you cannot see it; you can only feel it; so to know poverty you have to go through it.’ 

Others explained:  

• ‘A person who is poor is dependent on others, always suffering, all that he does, does not prosper, he is always sick and lamenting. Households with a bad quality of life are always in crisis, and there is no happiness. The response of such a household to the crisis is that they have to consult spirits or gods to see why they are in such a state and to chase the evil spirits away.’ 

• 'A poor person has a lot of “ifs” in his life because to the poor person nothing is certain unless it is in his hands. A poor person cannot plan because the person lives at the mercy of circumstances and is very vulnerable.’ 

• ‘Poverty means exclusion – poverty is very powerful. Even if the rich man tells lies, it is sometimes taken as truth. Money commands respect, dignity and honour because of what money can do. Money negates character, it covers up bad things.’

On the way to the farm

• ‘A person who is poor has to go to his farm every day because everything he needs has to come from the produce of the farm. If he wants to buy something tomorrow, he has to go to the farm today to get some yams and sell them, so that he will get some cash to buy what he needs. But a person who has a good life can stay at home and solve his problems there. The poor person has to labour in the hot sun for all his needs. The person with more wealth does not have to leave his house. I am poor but I am still better off than some others because I have an old bicycle and some few clothes to wear but there are people who even cannot afford those. If I am able to one day change my old bicycle for a new bicycle people will know that I now have a better life. But a person who is poor does not even think of changing his bicycle or buying new clothes because he knows his abilities and capacities, he will not dare to dream that dream.’

Happy with some second hand clothing

• ‘A poor person has no friends, or as a Dagbani proverb says, “The poor man has no lover.” Whatever the poor person wants, he cannot get it. There is no food, no choice when it comes to what to eat or drink and the children are malnourished.’ 

• ‘There are certain roles I would have liked to play but lack of money killed those ideas – it puts the light off. I cannot do what I want to do. Sometimes I feel like being chained because I see opportunities or the way I want to go, but when I take one or two steps I am brought back to my knees.’ 

The goats' project helps to relieve poverty

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus responds to the plight of the poor in different ways. He challenged values inherent to possessions and status. He did not endorse the existing order between the rich and the poor in his time but rather saw the suffering of the poor as a result of injustice in the social order and in need of transformation. What about our social order today? Jesus called people to participate in the new order of the Kingdom of God and so transform injustices in society. We want to challenge you to read this Gospel of Luke and see how Jesus addresses both the rich and the poor. Discover how Jesus reinstates the self-worth and dignity of the poor and gives them new insight into the values of the Kingdom of God. Read how the rich are called to identify with values of God’s Kingdom and to start the process of reversing the material and social situation of the poor in the ‘here and now’. God’s Kingdom in both the lives of the poor and rich should transform the present. Something to think about?!

A few clothes to wear but a lot of fun

People dry their harvest to secure food during the lean season