Life in the City of Tamale

Moving to Tamale – we’ve talked about it many times over the past few years and now it’s become a reality! In August we moved to the big city. It was not an easy decision. For more than 14 years we have lived, worked and focused our attention mostly on the villages around Yendi. We love the people, the quietness of village life and the landscape. But we could no longer postpone our move. Samuel (7) and Micah (5) have both started their primary education. The options of a choice of good schools in Yendi are very limited, even though we really appreciated the wonderful work the school Samuel and Micah attended in Yendi did with their limited resources. However, our choice of education was a little different and we finally decided that it was important to move because of the children’s education so that we could make a better choice for them. But there were also other reasons. The literacy work that Joke is involved in is mostly managed and directed from the office in Tamale. To be able to support and advise the management it is important for Joke to be physically present at the office and have direct contact with colleagues. Abukari has already spent a lot of his time between Tamale and Yendi. The supervision of the churches in the area is now mostly done by Pastor Azindow. Abukari still visits the area on a regular basis and advises Azindow and his team in their work. One of the advantages of Abukari being in Tamale is that he now has more time to work at the office of Call of Hope and intensify and expand the work the organization is doing to reach many Dagomba people with the Gospel through literature and a correspondence course. So the move means a number of changes for all of us and we are gradually getting used to it.

Samuel and Micah ready for school

Yendi is a relatively small town. Most people know each other and except for bicycles and motorbikes there is not much of traffic, so you never have problems parking your car and you can easily do some quick shopping in the centre of town. Many people are farmers, life is peaceful and there is always time for a little chat. You do not need to lock your house door if you leave for a little while and if you park your car somewhere the closest shop owner keeps an eye on it in case anyone tries to take something of value out of your car. Tamale, on the contrary, is a very busy city. You never have to wait in long traffic jams, but the traffic is chaotic with bicycles, motorbikes, taxis and cars all fighting for a piece of the road. The traffic rules are not all that clear, which makes driving through town challenging sometimes. Every morning we drive along one of the busiest roads to take the boys to school and get to our offices.

On the busy road to school

With a mortgage and gifts we have been able to build our own house in Tamale over a period of ten years. This might sound a very long, but in Ghana this is common practice; anytime you have a little money to spare, you continue your building project. The house is not yet fully completed but it is still a very comfortable place to live. In Tamale we’ve built a wall around our house. This does have some advantages. Over the past years we have planted many trees from which we can now pick the first fruits and it gives a little more privacy (in Yendi anybody could walk around our house). The wall also gives a little more protection. The area where we live is rather like living on a new housing estate, as in this part of Tamale most of the land has been sold for building purposes but many people have not yet started building their houses. At the moment we only have neighbours behind our house. On either side of us people have started building houses but if it also takes them at least ten years…...... As yet, no tarmac roads have been constructed towards our house yet. It was a little scary during the last rainy season as we wondered whether the road would be washed away, but fortunately it remained just wide enough for our car to pass. We hope that something will be done about the road before the next rainy season.

The main road to our house

Even though our direct environment has changed, our mission remains the same. We continue to find ways to share the love of God with the Dagomba people. Tamale is a mixture of different language groups but most of the people living there are Dagomba. Like the Dagomba people in the villages, the majority of the people in Tamale are Muslim. Together, with the leadership in Tamale, we decided to start a church in the Eastern part of Tamale. The church is located in Tahima Yili. Tahima Yili means, “Home of Hope”. This home is owned by our church (BCA) and serves as a home for students that come from rural areas to attend school in Tamale but do not have a place to stay. Most of the students who are now Christians come from Muslim backgrounds and idol worshipping homes. This makes it very difficult for them to be accepted by their Muslim relatives in Tamale, hence the need for the home. So for now the majority of the new church members are the students. Abukari has taken on the role of being the lead preacher and he also leads the Dagbani Sunday school and a weekly Bible study. Joke, on her part, leads the English Sunday school and organizes Sunday school for the children during the sermon. We both enjoy investing our time and gifts in this young generation of believers. Indeed we are very excited about the new church. It is our prayer that the church will see more Dagomba indigenous Muslims receiving Jesus as their personal Saviour.

Bible study before the Church service

Dancing during the Church service

Some facts about Tamale:
Tamale is the capital city of the Northern region (one of the poorest regions in the country) of Ghana and mostly inhabited by the Dagomba people. The city is home to about 350,000 citizens and has a growth rate of 3.5%. Tamale is the fourth largest city in Ghana. The size of Tamale is approximately 922km sq. It is reputed to be one of the fastest growing cities in West Africa. The city attracts people from all over the northern region and its economic activities revolve around farming and trade.

There are more than one hundred local and international NGOs located in Tamale. This has earned Tamale the accolade ‘Headquarters of NGOs in Ghana’. However, few of those NGO’s work within the city. Tamale is also considered the main centre of education in Northern Ghana. Currently there are over 742 public and private basic schools within the city. Besides that there are 68 Junior High and 11 Senior High Schools, Technical/Vocational Institutions, 2 Colleges of Education, a Polytechnic, a Nursing and Midwifery Training College, one Community Health Training School, School of Hygiene and two Universities – University for Development Studies (UDS) and Islamic Technical University College. The city has a high dropout rate at the Junior High School level. Besides that, illiteracy is still very high in the city.



The centre of Tamale



The central Mosque in Tamale

Come to me....... you will find rest for your soul

‘For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.’(Eph. 6:12).

Abukari in reaching out to the Konkomba and the Dagomba people in and around Yendi works closely together with Azindow. His story is so remarkable that we thought it would be interesting to share it with you.

'Pastor Azindow and his family'

Azindow is from a village close to Yendi and is a Konkomba by tribe. He is married and has four children. When he was a child he did not have the opportunity to attend any formal school but when he was 20 years old he joined a Konkomba literacy class. He obtained two certificates, one in Konkomba reading and writing proficiency and one in English. Azindow came from a family of idol worshippers. The Konkomba in general believe in gods or spirits which direct their lives. In many families you will find a stone or carved image representing gods or spirits. They regularly make a sacrifice to these gods to appease them and then put some of the blood of the sacrifice on the image they have. They invoke spirits of the dead or the ancestors as a source of power.

It was in this environment that Azindow grew up. In 1981, Azindow’s brother was “married” to two gods, gulimade and kundi. This means that he became the owner of these gods and a medium through which the gods would speak to the ordinary people. He had to swear allegiance to these gods and went into a covenant with them. But two years after he received those gods he fell sick and died. It was then that Azindow became the sole owner of these ‘powerful gods’. Azindow had to follow the rules and regulations of these gods, bring sacrifices to them to appease them and by so doing he was able to help people by consulting these gods on their behalf. People from far and near would travel to Azindow’s village to seek help in marriage, sickness, preventing tragedies and to be empowered in their businesses. Azindow could make people become successful in their businesses in no time but with a price to pay.

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called: those he called, he also justified: those he justified, he also glorified.” Rom. 8:29-30. Azindow gives thanks to God for his mercy in delivering him from the bondage of idol worship. In 1989, a Christian friend constantly told Azindow about Jesus Christ and in response Azindow was urging him to accept his gods by telling him of the wonders of his gods. But one day Azindow was miraculously touched by the words from the book of Matthew 11:28-29, which says, “come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest”. On hearing that verse Azindow realized that the money and time he spent in sacrificing and appeasing the gods were a heavy burden on him. The words “you will find rest for your soul” kept ringing in his heart and with much resistance and opposition from the gods he slowly but confidently gave his life to Jesus in 1990. What a relief it was no longer to live in fear of repercussions from the gods if he did not fulfill the obligations in serving them.

After Azindow became a Christian, he denounced and broke all the covenants and contracts he had with the gods, burning all the artifacts of the idols and became fully committed to Jesus Christ. Azindow was encouraged to always pray and read his Bible, if not the powers of the small gods would torment him. Eight years later, in 1998, as a result of the gleaned education he had (night literacy classes) he gained admission to attend a Bible Training Centre at Chaina (a training centre of the Bible Church of Africa in the Upper East Region of Northern Ghana) and obtained a certificate in Biblical studies as the first step to equipping himself for the Kingdom of God. Even before he went to the Bible Training Centre, the Lord used him to establish four Churches for the Bible Church of Africa within the Yendi district. After completing his training, he came back and together with the Yendi team he took care of churches in the Yendi district in nourishing them with the Word of God. Eventually more churches were planted. Altogether the Lord has blessed the ministry in the Yendi area with about 20 churches among the Dagomba and the Konkomba people.

'The church in Azindow's village'

Since Azindow became a Christian, many people have seen the protection Christ has given him and the blessings of Christ upon his life. That has encouraged many people to also give their life to Christ. Why? Because initially people had told him that since he rejected the idols he would die, but when they saw that he continued to live many of them also burnt their idols and gave their lives to Jesus. They are part of the church today.

Notwithstanding all these challenges of ministry and personal development, Azindow saw the need for acquiring further knowledge and skills for the ministry, so he decided to go to Maranatha University College (MUC) to learn more so that he would be well equipped to train others as 2 Timothy 2:2 urges us. In the churches in the Yendi district and beyond emerging leaders need to be taught and nurtured and church administrations need to be developed for the holistic growth of the body. Despite the fact that Azindow never had any formal education as a child, he graduated from Bible College with a Diploma in Ministry just last week!

'Pastor Azindow and his wife at his graduation ceremony'

'Abukari with Azindow at his graduation ceremony'

Thank God for:

• how He has changed Azindow’s life and through him that of many others

• the sacrifices he makes for serving God in establishing and nurturing churches in the Yendi district

• the wonderful co-worker he is in our ministry

Pray for:

• protection of Azindow’s life and that of his family as he is engaging himself in a spiritual battle

• sensitivity to God’s calling, knowing where He leads him and doing what He wants Azindow to do

• a good working relationship between Abukari, Azindow and the other co-workers in the area

• wisdom in helping to lead the churches and nurturing them

• more financial support for Azindow, his family and ministry. Besides his work as a pastor he now has to farm for enough income to support his familiy and ministry, more financial support would give him more time and opportunity to reach out to those who have not yet heard the Gospel.

When 40 minutes became 24 hours!

What was meant to be a short trip of about 40 minutes turned out to be a muddy journey of 24 hours. Last week we had a meeting in Tamale about the hostel 'Tahima Yili' (Home of Hope) with some of the committee members. One of these members lives right on the other side of town and had no transport to get home, so I (Abukari) decided to take her in the car after the meeting. Her house is on the outskirts of Tamale and in that area no roads have been constructed yet. Even though we were aware that certain places are impassable at this time of the year because of the heavy rains, we were so busy discussing issues concerning the hostel that we forgot to dodge a certain place in the path leading to the house. By the time we felt the car sink away in the clay ground it was too late. Having just loaded the car with floor tiles for the extension of our house in Yendi there was no way the four wheel drive could pull us out.

'scene of the calamity'

What should we do? Fortunately the mobile phone network was working and I could reach a tipper truck driver. He came to my rescue. Getting close to the car he turned his truck but unfortunately his tyres also started to sink away in the mud and before we even had a chance to undertake any rescue the tipper truck was as stuck as our car. Abu, the driver of the truck, called one of his colleague tipper truck drivers. He gave us hope again. Over the telephone he assured us that never ever in his career as a driver had he become stuck with his vehicle. Quickly he made his way to our stranded vehicles. Observing the situation and being directed by a number of onlookers he brought his truck closer and closer. But in the last move to put his truck in the best position to start pulling, the mud started to swallow his wheels as well. Frantic efforts to save the situation on part of the driver did not render any result. In the meantime it was 8.30 pm, very dark and we were all very hungry. We decided to give up for the day. We called a friend who lived not too far away from the place of 'disaster' and he came to give all of us a lift home.

The next morning we went round Tamale to find somebody who would be willing to hire out his tractor for us to continue our rescue efforts. By 8.30 am we were back at the scene with a tractor, two monkey jacks, stones and two men to operate the equipment. Friends and family had heard about the adventure and some of the strong men came to see what they could do to help. A farmer on his way to his land got off his bicycle, shaking his head when he saw the stranded vehicles. He said, 'I was planning to go to my farm, but when I saw this there is nothing else I can do than help to get the vehicles out.'

'the rescue team'

Then the heavy work started on the first tipper - digging, putting blocks and branches under the wheels, pushing and pulling. At some places the men sank up to their knees in mud. Eventually, at 11.00 am the first truck was pulled out. Around noon the second one was back on solid ground.

'the rescued tippers back on solid ground'

That just left our vehicle and at about 2.00 pm in a second effort to pull our car out - which was successful - the tractor got stuck! It was at this time I got access to a camera to give you an impression of what the situation looked like. Eventually, after 4.00 pm all the vehicles were out of the mud and we all drove back to better roads. By 5.00 pm I finally got back to the house with an extremely dirty car. Even though it was hard work and a long day we had a lot of fun together sharing big stories about cars being stuck!

'rescuing the tractor'

'our car back on the road'

PLEASE PRAY FOR:

• Good health; all of us have been sick a number of times since we returned to Ghana at the end of June.
  
  
• Protection against floods; it has been raining a lot in the Northern part of Ghana as well as in countries North of us. To prevent flooding in Burkina Faso they had to open a dam yesterday, which will affect the rivers in Ghana in a few days to come. The government has already warned people living and farming close to the rivers to evacuate their belongings and harvest any crops which have been matured (instead of letting them dry on their stalks like corn). As the rivers have already started to flood in Ghana as well people fear another disaster like last year's flooding.
  
  
• Finishing and opening of the hostel 'Tahima Yili'; we hope to open the hostel for students at the start of the new school year (first week of September) and there is still a lot of work to be done. Pray also for the selection of students, that those who are in most need will be admitted (see our blog entry Building, Building, Building - 13.02.2008).

Supporting our work - how you can help us

We feel we are very privileged to be able to live, work and serve amongst the people of Northern Ghana. We know that we cannot do this work on our own and we are thankful to God that He provides people who are willing to stand with us and support us in both spiritual and practical ways. If you are interested in helping to support our work, here are the ways you can be involved:

By Praying:
We would be delighted if you would like to commit to praying for us regularly to enable us to accomplish the work that God has called us to do.

Our intention is to post our prayer requests regularly on this blog site, under the Prayer and Praise section, as well as giving details of prayer requests in our blog entries.

If you would also like to receive a copy of our newsletter, please contact us at yakubufamghana@googlemail.com and we will add your email address to our mailing list.

By Giving:
As a family, support for our financial needs comes from churches, individuals, family and friends. We believe that those who support us have been guided by God to do so and this causes rejoicing both for us, as the recipients, and our supporters, as the givers. The financial support we receive plays a crucial role in furthering God’s kingdom, as it enables us to continue to serve Him where we believe He has placed us.

If you are interested in supporting us, as a family, or wish to partner with us in one of our specific projects, we would love to hear from you. For more information, please contact us by email at yakubufamghana@googlemail.com.

Introducing ourselves and our ministry

Ghana has over 60 different languages and people groups. Abukari is a Dagomba, a people group from northern Ghana who number approx 800,000 and speak the Dagbani language. He is a Pastor with the ‘Bible Church of Africa’ and he oversees about 20 churches in the area around Yendi, training leaders as well as church members. Abukari also heads a Bible Correspondence Course with the organisation "Call of Hope", which is based in Tamale. Joke is from the Netherlands and came to Ghana in 1995 to work with Wycliffe Bible Translators in the Dagbani Literacy Project. It was through Joke’s work in literacy with the small Dagomba churches in the Yendi area that we met and married in June 2000. We continue to live and work in the Yendi area.

In the area we work, less than 5% of the people are Christian and most adhere to another religion. Many Christians are first generation believers and are often under enormous pressure to give up their faith. Also, only a very few of the church members have received any formal education. Discipleship and leadership training is therefore an important aspect of Abukari’s work, in order to strengthen the churches and make them sustainable by rooting them in the knowledge of God’s Word.

Also in our area, the illiteracy rate amongst adults is about 80%. There is a proverb in Dagbani which says, ‘Zilinsi ngmani yung, bangsim nye neesim’. This means, ‘ignorance is like the night, wisdom is like the light.’ Through literacy work the Word of God becomes accessible to the Dagomba and light shines in their darkness. Literacy also leads to acquiring other important knowledge about health, agriculture, trade, culture, hygiene, etc. All this knowledge is important to the Dagomba people to help them develop themselves and improve upon their living standards. Word and deed also go hand in hand in the literacy programme. Helping literacy students to set up small scale development projects such as soya bean farming or shea butter production helps address some of their financial burdens. Through this work a bridge is also being built to tell them about God.

We are always encouraged to see how, without a lot of theological knowledge, the young Dagomba Christians testify of God's strength and presence in their lives, His protection, help, healing and deliverance. The essence of the work is not in the fact that we (Abukari and Joke) have been sent out, but that God is gracious and His steadfast love never ceases and knows no bounds. God is the God of the entire earth and the real missionary is God Himself.