Discipleship

'the members of the church at Sakpe'

Sakpe is a community in the Yendi municipality that we have recently reached with the Gospel. Before their acceptance of the good news of Jesus Christ the majority of these people practiced syncretism (trying to combine different religious beliefs). We visit them regularly to teach them the basic concepts of the Christian faith to set the foundation right. Whilst discussing Bible passages the people raise many questions that are very important to them, even to the extent that some of these issues were real barriers preventing them from accepting the Gospel. These are some of the questions they asked:

• How can somebody really die to save others? Within the context of the Konkomba and Dagomba people, they think that Jesus might have made this arrangement (dying on the cross) so that he himself gains something through it - for it to be a selfless sacrifice is difficult to understand.

• If I die, who will perform my funeral? This is extremely important to the people in this area. Culturally, when somebody dies, the person has to be sent off well so that the person's spirit will join the ancestors. If the funeral is not performed well the spirit of the person 'hangs around' causing all kinds of misfortune. When somebody becomes a Christian, family members and people from the community (non Christians) do not want to perform the funeral since they believe that the deceased is unclean. It is therefore very important to assure those new believers that the church will take up that responsibility and even more importantly explain that their spirit will go to God.

• Can I still marry more than one wife? Most Dagomba men marry at least two women which is accepted culturally and also because of their Muslim faith.

• What do I do with my three wives that I married before I became a Christian? We generally encourage them to maintain their wives, to take good care of them and of their children as they have already made that commitment.

• Can I use traditional medicine when I am sick? Also an important question. Some traditional medicine can be used without any problems (like herbs). However, sometimes a traditional healer will ask the sick person to perform sacrifices and the blood of an animal is used as a means of efficacy. If that is the case then that medicine cannot be used.

• Can I have juju (a supernatural power) to protect myself? Again, these supernatural powers can only be used if animal sacrifices are being made and it is therefore not acceptable within the church. Moreover, when one becomes a Christian the highest Power (God Himself) is the one who protect us.

Thinking about all the questions the people raised it made us realise once again that after people come to faith in Christ they need to be taught regularly. We cannot just take it for granted that they have understood everything by becoming Christians. There are thousands of people like the community at Sakpe whose salvation 'depends' on our response and commitment to the words in Romans 10:14, 17, 'How, then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?...Consequently faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.'

'because nobody within the church can read at present they use a hand wind tape recorder with cassettes to listen to the Word of God when they meet and there is nobody around to teach them'

A family holiday

A few weeks ago we had visitors from the Netherlands - Pastor Riemer Venema and Henk Bouwmeester from the Baptist Church Bethel in Hoogeveen (our sending church). We always enjoy visitors and like our guests to feel part of our life and work here. It is also wonderful to be able to speak Dutch whilst sharing a good cup of Dutch coffee together. Of course we also welcome the 'real' Dutch goodies like cheese, coffee, 'stroopwafels', liquorish, syrup, etc. The children also thought it was great, as they enjoyed the extra attention given to them. We will write more about this visit in our next newsletter.

As we took Riemer and Henk back to Accra by car (a journey of about 9 hours on 250 km unmade and 250 km tarred road) we decided to stay in Accra for about a week for a short family holiday. Life in a big city like Accra is a quite a change from our relatively rural life in Yendi. The big attraction of course is the Atlantic Ocean, diving in the high waves or playing on the beach. We also enjoyed looking at all kinds of goods which are traded by the beach sellers to the tourists and being amused by the drummers and dancers who try to make a little income. With a cold bottle of coke and a chicken kebab it is a perfect place to be.

'Accra beach'

'by the ocean'

'watching the waves'

But that is not all. What would you think of a visit to a supermarket with real departments for bread, vegetables and meat? The biggest supermarket in Yendi is about 5 sq metres. Sometimes the supermarket is full of goods but at times the shelves are nearly empty. However, in Accra there are shopping centres. This time we discovered a new 'shopping mall' with about 20 shops! We could not believe our eyes. There was one store which sold drills for our drilling machine, shelves for the walls, curtains, furniture, china, lamps, paint, car and bathroom accessories and foodstuffs. Goods in these kind of shops are usually sold at European prices and we mostly limit our shopping to yoghurt, chocolate, raisin rolls, cornflakes and cheese cookies. The children were also all excited when they visited a toyshop and Samuel found DVD's of Bob the Builder and Peter Post. A visit to the capital is also a good opportunity to enjoy pizza, french fries, a hamburger or a cup of cappucino. A visit to the hairdresser has also become part of the Accra excursion. Micah is starting to talk and one of the words he says is 'car'. He could not get enough of it in Accra, so many cars together! In Yendi only a few cars pass during the day time, but in Accra you can spend hours in traffic.

'before haircut'

'after haircut'

With the holiday over, last week we returned to Yendi and from the 1st - 8th of March Abukari is running two workshops in Tamale. The children and I have remained in Yendi. Over the past three months Micah has had three asthmatic attacks. With medication from the Netherlands we are trying to get these attacks under control but up until now we have not been able to do so and last Saturday he had to be admitted to hospital once again. Yesterday (Monday 2nd) he was doing much better. Please will you pray with us so that we get better insight into what triggers these attacks and what we could do to prevent it?