Andrews Abdulai, Jan-Mar 2011, Report from Yendi, Ghana

NSAWAM ROAD CHURCH OF CHRIST EVANGELISTS QUARTERLY REPORTS TO MISSIONS MINISTRY, ACCRA-GHANA.

MONTHS: JANUARY TO MARCH 2011.

INTRODUCTION:

We thank the Lord God Almighty for ushering us into the 2011 year. To Him is the glory, the power forever and ever, Amen. In this work report include the work I have done in the first quarter of 2011 which might not capture every bit of the activities I have done yet to some extend it covers most of what the Lord has led me achieved. These include edification (re-opening of Project Timothy, annual ministers and wives party, visitation to village congregations, the unspitual attitude of Thomas, Campus ministry in Yendi Senior High) and on evangelism (WBS 2011 campaign, plans to form a youth club-Friends of Christ-FOC, preaching at Macheleyili, reactivation of hygiene volunteers in the village community to be led by church members through Church of Christ Rural Water Development Program.

EDIFICATION:

Once again Project Timothy resumed on the 14^th of February to 4^th March 2011. The evangelists have continued teaching the students as leaders who hold the village congregations.

By the grace of God I was able to visit Bro. James Taphamba in Tatale (148km) on the 9^th of January 2011. Service there was great as the congregation sang beautifully to glory God our Father. I was given the opportunity to preach which I did as the Lord led me. Tatale is 74 km from Yendi.

On the 16^th of January 2011, ministers of the gospel in Yendi town gathered at the Catholic Church bishop’s residence and had an annual party. This party is an annual one for ministers and their wives which is a time of reflection on the past years activities. It serves as an opportunity for the iron to be sharpened by another iron. Individual ministers who are touched with any message of encouragement are permitted to deliver it to the other ministers for their edification and upliftment.

While we are praying and working hard to unite the church, there are still some elements whose parochial interest will dent the church and negatively affect it if left. One of such is Thomas Yigmam at Tamambiya who resides at Ngani now and was working with the Reynolds family but no more works with them. He wanted to change some the names of the Churches of Christ in the villages to a denominational church (Victorious Child Evangelical Ministry International) which I was called to help solve the problem. Indeed we put in our little effort which the Lord used to explain to the congregations that it will be unwise to follow such self-centered interest of Thomas. His intention as he moved around where formally Brother Adams was working to spread his diabolic message. Thanks to God that all the brethren understood him and fully avoid him.

On the 3 March I was in Ngani village to meet with the brethren and to encourage them as they have stood firmly for God for the past years.

The campus ministry in Yendi Senior High is also going on well. In order to be meeting the student for Sunday service we have fix their worship time at 7am so that one is able to be part of the school service even when he is leaving for village. On the 12^th of March was the handover day from the outgoing students’ leadership to the incoming ones. It was a moment of oneness. We are praying that this ministry should grow to serve as a tool of evangelism in the school. Attach is a picture of the handover program.

I visited Bacheborido congregation on the 13^th of March to worship with them. It is one of the big village congregations that are very spiritual. It also a place the Prestoncrest Church of Christ is assisting to have a worship place. We further had to discuss how they can step in in contributing towards the building of the church. I humbly ask them to think about how much they can contribute in the building of the church which they agreed to contribute financially and labor. The blocks are molded and we will soon try to put up the church building. One of the setbacks in our rural evangelism is our inability to build their worship places which we are now doing. It is serving as a tool of edifying and evangelizing as well. Many at time rain will drive us away when worship is in progress or when it is in the dry season and the trees shed their leaves and the members will not have shade to sit. This has been a hindrance to church attendance but we thank God we are gradually helping in that direction. Even such congregations are not able to worship at nigh which would have help in building their faith up.

The evangelists were able to fast and pray for the work on the 16^th of March as usual, praying for the church in Ghana and outside Ghana. We have had several fruits out of fasting so we think it’s a tool to invite God’s approval in whatever we are doing.

Yashagu village was the place I worshiped on the 27^th of the month. This is a small village congregation whose leader is a physical challenge product of Project Timothy. He is John. John is doing fine with the church and I will be glad if all who read this work report will be praying for this little congregation. They have been seriously challenged by idol worshipers. This is a village where a big idol is worshipped. The door to the room in which this idol is kept is never closed and any leaving thing that walks in there will be strike dead immediately. This is some of the challenges we face but we appreciate the hand of God in our lives because in all this the Lord has shielded us from such dangers. This congregation is given some roofing sheets to roof the worship place which was rip off by a storm this year.

I will still be asking prayer for Bro Kofi and Bawah who were once member of the Lords church and have falling. They come once in a blue moon and never appear until some other time. I know the Spirit of the Lord will fish for them as we add them to our prayer list.

The evangelists are teaching at the church school as part of our evangelism. That is teaching of the gospel to the pupils preparing them for Christ in the years to come.

With assistance from Westover Hills Church of Christ the evangelists have been able to assist Boadiyili and Kpanjamba congregations with roofing sheet. Also some are assisted with cement to plaster and floor their worship places.

Before Bro. Tom Carr arrived in Ghana he had already send some funds to me to fix a new overhead tank at the clinic guest house which I purchase in Tamale to Yendi. The arrival of the 8000 litters’ tank calls for mounting on a tall tower ment for it to supply water to some of the residence. The local brethren and the Bros. Kent, Gordon, Michael and Thomas participated to help mount the tank. It was not an easy task as it took as a long time to be able to achieve this. In all, we thank God because the tank was sent to the rightful place and now supplies the clinic and the guest house clean drinking water.

As part of the ongoing village ministry, I visited Bakpaba on the 30^th of January to preach. Bakpaba is 16 miles away from Yendi. Bakpaba is one of the old congregations of the Church of Christ which has survived with all the difficult and hard times. It’s always a good time for them to see one of their preachers.

As one of the clinic management committee member we had a meeting on the 20^th of March to see how best we can absorb the two new nurses who have just completed the nurses’ training school. Looking into the salaries and sectors of work within the clinic and also planning towards the clinic expansion. All went all.

EVANGELISM:

I met with Elder Nathaniel Adams of the Rural Water Development Program on the 30^th of March when he came to Yendi. We had a fruitful discussion on the hygiene volunteerism in the village communities. This was once inaugurated some year’s back and many volunteers are in the villages but the CEO will want the church volunteers in the villages to lead in it so that Christ can be preached.

The evangelists fasted and prayed on the 12 January for our partners in Ghana and overseas especially the World Bible School campaign. It was a moment to pray for a save trip, peace for the American brethren coming and their families, praying for a receptive hearts among the students and teachers who are predominately Muslims and a generally smooth campaign. One of the impending ugly heads was Zohe Islamic Junior High School where the Proprietor told me they will not need us teach their students because when Christians are allowed to teach the students they will eventually convert them. We left them and never boarded until the headmaster met me on the 14^th February after our brethren from States had gone and told me that they are waiting for us to come and teach at their school. I was highly surprise yet that was the reality. This result did not come on silver platter but rather as a result of fasting and prayers. Further to that was, I went to collect the WBS introduction lessons which was given to the school so that it could be given to different students in another school but to my surprise the headmaster told me that they have distributed the lessons to the students and I appointed a day with the headmaster for the collection of the lessons. Surely when I went the students had answered them and gave them to me for posting. If not the intervention of God what could change the hearts of the modern pharaoh’s than the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. We give all the glory to God our Father.

John Kambunja, one of the evangelists working with the Reynolds family died on the 7^th and was buried on the 8^th of January 2011. I had a number of phone calls to come and do the committals which I honored. By the grace of God it attracted a sizeable crowd. I was given the sermon which I preached leaving the committals to another preacher. I thought that a time has come when the Lord is uniting and building his church that was cracked in the past years. We will be glad if brethren will continue to be praying for us that the Lord should unit his laborers working in His vineyard that all within should be harmonious in the Yendi area. Even though it was a funeral ground I preached Christ for the village folks to understand that without Christ there is no peace on earth and life after death. At the time of the sermon every living soul was quietly listening and when we finished a number of the people came and shook hands with for the message that was delivered.

Our major evangelistic tool this quarter was the World Bible School campaign. The pre-campaign activities was fasting and prayer, meetings to plan for the campaign, meeting with Ghana Education Service officials and the delivery of WBS lessons to approximately 8 thousand Junior High Schools students in addition to two Senior High Schools. I must thank God for giving me the grace to deliver all the lessons to the 31 Junior High School in the Yendi Municipality. I have attached a picture of the lessons sitting on my motor bike. The real campaign started on the 7^th of February 2011. We first and foremost visited the Municipal Director of Education with all the officials of the directorate who have assembled to welcome us and know how long we will be teaching in the schools in the Yendi municipality. The funny thing was that most of the schools thought that the visiting brethren were going to be in their respective school for one week each, which we could not have done because the number of the campaigners could not give room for that. This is also an indication that more campaigners need to be coming to augment the efforts we are putting forth. There were four brethren ( Bros. Gordon Ganzael, Michael Everist, Thomas Graham and Kent Chambers) from the West Over Hills in USA. We divided ourselves into four groups and each visited two schools in a day. This gave way to us reaching over ten thousand souls with the word of God. Even though we did not baptize anybody but the word was able to reach people who would for some reason not have the opportunity to hear it. We also took the opportunity to donate academic books to the Yendi Girls Junior High School through the Municipal Director of Education. The kind of books donated was Mathematics, English Language and Religious and Moral Education (RME).

The books donated by the American brethren were presented to the school by the Municipal Director of Education on the 22 February 2011. At the presentation was the “Parent Teacher Association” to receive the books on behalf of the school. I was happy when the director told the students that it was their friends in the Church of Christ who have sacrifice greatly for them to have their future built to take over from the elderly tomorrow.

Generally the people we visited were the Director of Education, the Municipal Chief Executive, teachers and students in all the Junior High School and the two Senior High Schools in the Municipality. The visiting brethren also took time to visit Papa Musah Dawud who is our eldest evangelist but lost his sight in the recent years. They prayed with him and encouraged him to remain steadfast in the faith. The joy among all the officials could be seen in their interactions and call for more visit in the years to come.

The group also had the opportunity to visit the Yendi Government prisons where two (2) dust bins were donated to the inmates for the collection of garbage in the prisons. The officer in charge at the prison was so happy because many have come there with big promises which were never fulfilled. They were therefore glad for the two garbage cans and requested disinfectants for cleaning the inner covered gutter in the prison yard. Last but not lease was the visitation of the Yendi leprosarium where a bag of 50kg rice, soap, water hose and charcoal were donated to five (5) lepers who are living there unattended to. The lepers could not hide their joy by telling us that they now have food to be cooking to supplement the food they get from the government through the Yendi government hospital.

The evangelists took time with the brethren from the USA to have a review meeting so as to evaluate the whole success and challenges of the WBS program. It was also a moment to encourage both sides in sacrificing for God. This followed the evangelists fasting and praying as thanks giving for God bringing the brethren from the USA safely and sending them safely too, having a successful campaign and reaching not less than about ten thousand people with the word of God.

As a regular program the evangelists fasted and prayed for the work in the north and our partners both in Ghana and the USA.

With so much thought in expanding the coverage of the WBS lessons, the evangelists with Bro. Fusheini Musah have come to an agreement to send the WBS program to Gusheigu district through him who works there. We are praying for God to lead us and prepare the ground so that word will be accepted.

One of the saddest but joyful things is that Bro. Boachi Jaakum who was working with the clinic pass away of the 7^th of March 2011. Bro Jaakum was an elderly person and a member of the Yendi Church. His burial attracted a great crowd at his home village (Gbungbalga). I did the committals It is been told many times here in Dagbon that Christian do not perform funerals which some though is not a good thing if a group of God followers do not pay their last respect to a person who has labored and leaving the earth for his final rest in heaven. As a result of this we have always tried to gather as large as we can to diffuse this negative mind set. This point is one the reasons some of the Dagomba people (tribe) do not like Christianity. Bro. Jaakum funeral will be performing on the 29 and 30^th of April at Gbungbalga. The church will be there in fullness, inviting the village congregations in addition to the Yendi church. It will be a ground to preach the word, encourage ourselves and preach the word to the non-Christians.

Lord willing the a member of the Yandi church lost her mother last year and the funeral took place in Sandema in the Upper East Region of Ghana where three ladies and two men making a delegation of five were assigned to attend the funeral which I was one of the five. We left home at 5: 30am and returned 8:00pm travelling in and out of about 750km on that day. This was a long tiring journey as we travelled on a road that is not totally tarred. Our presence was an encouragement to the sister and her husband. They are both members of the Lord’s church in Yendi. When we were going to return the elderly women in the family fetched some quantity of groundnut (peanut) and added two guinea fowls for as a symbol of us reaching the funeral ground. We turn the guinea fowl back. It was a display of African culture when the elder gave us those gifts.

We received sixteen (16) boxes of the World Bible School lesson for some Junior High School in the Yandi Municipality and I was able to distribute twelfth (12) of the boxes to the various schools with Bro. David Wumbei giving the other four (4) boxes to one of the schools. We gave them the dates on which we will return to collect the answer sheets but the Junior High Schools closed before the date we thought we could collect it. Even with the early closure of the schools we were able to take some of the lessons. This is aimed at facilitating the flow of the lessons from the students to their teacher in the USA. We hope brethren will join us in prayer in the regards so that the Lord will touch the hearts of the students to surrender to Christ who will give us the full peace and joy we need here on earth and in heaven.

I have thought of coming out with a youth club “Friends of Christ (FOC)” to accompany the WBS lessons. It may help in the sustenance as it should be directed towards Christ and the future of the children. One of the topics that I thought will be good is carrier awareness with which we will engage some of the times the Ghana Education Service Office in Yendi but this will depend on the kind of topics to be treated. I have discussed this with the preachers and will see how best we can coordinate this in our work to serve as a backup to the WBS program here in Yendi.

As part of our rural evangelism we went to Bacheborido during the visit of the brethren from Westover Hills Church of Christ to show Jesus Film in Konkomba language but the generator developed a fault which did not permit us do the video. We are handicapped in showing the village cinema due to the lack of means (van) to carry the cinema gadgets to the village communities. While we still grapple with other needs and challenges we still will need to lay this before brethren for prayer as it is one of the methods we use to evangelize in the rural communities.

We need prayers as you have always done for us to lead us in the rightful direction as we struggle as human to beauty the name of the Lord among those who do not see him in His total beauty. We give all the glory to God as our Father and Christ our Lord through whom we have life and hope forever.

CHALLENGES

Our major challenge is the completion of the Yendi church building complex. We are appealing to brethren in Ghana and outside Ghana to pray with us in getting funds for the completion of the project. The completion will give way to the church service within town and the church nursery school to move in. Also is the building of worship places for some of the village congregations.

Shalom,

Alhassan Abdulai Andrews

(Preacher, Yendi Church of Christ)

History of the work in Saboba (written in 2006)

HISTORY OF THE WORK IN SABOBA

(March 2006)

Following is a systematic report of our new mission field for your perusal and study.

Immediately after my graduation, my wife and I had a Macedonian call to a place called SABOBA to do missions. We saw it as an opened door but to be sure of God's involvement in the calling, we gave ourselves to prayers and fasting and also told the vision to brothers like; DAN MCVEY, TWUMASIANKRAH and others for advice, suggestions and supportive prayers for God to speak to us. After much prayer, we accepted the challenge to move to the area. We were directed by the Spirit in obedience and moved with all my family finally into this new mission field last year April 5, 2005 respectively. The place is situated eastward of my formal place Yendi in the Northern Region. It is 36 miles away from Yendi. With all humility, we have to leave our comforts, privileges, and all other opportunities behind us and move to fulfill the great commission of our Master and Lord.

THE MISSIONARY'S FAMILY INFORMATION.

Mama Victoria and I have been married for sixteen years now. We have three (3) sons and three (3) dependants who are permanently staying with us. In all, we are a family of eight- (8) people. Victoria and I have pledged our lives, energy, time and resources to the great commission of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. By the grace of our Lord, we pledged to witness or share the salvation grace of our Lord to many people within our reach. My wife is so wonderful and I am thankful to God because, she is a great encouragement to me in ministry. We are ender the stress of learning new culture, new language, and everything to be able to communicate Christ effectively. Following are names of us as a family;

EVANG. NIIPAAK LAAR
VICTORIA K. LAAR
DAVID G. LAAR
JONAH G. LAAR
PAULS. LAAR
NATHANIEL M. DUUT
AKUYAD. DUUT
RUTHN. SUUK

THE MISSION FIELD INFORMATION.

Saboba is one of the most deprived and neglected communities in terms of human resources and economical activities. It is just sharing a river boundary with Togo. The language spoken in Saboba is KUNKOMBA. The common religion practiced is idol worship, while Christianity and Islam are also penetrating.
Because of the deprived nature of the area, there is a widespread illiteracy, which is making Christian witnessing very difficult. Satan has operated in the area for so long such that, the area needs Christianity for God's deliverance. The people are very friendly and loving. Besides all other problems in the area, poverty rate is so high such that, the Lord's Church is struggling with financial crisis always. But again, the people are receptive to the Gospel.
It takes me 100 miles now to access my mails. Fortunately, space phone is operational within the area, so that is my easiest medium of communication. Because of lack of good roads and other social amenities, everything is costing higher than normal such as fuel, accommodation etc. No fuelling stations, so fuel can only be found at the roadsides in bottles where the measurements is small and cost higher than normal. No good schools for my children. But it is a ripped field for missions. The Lord is adding to us daily such as been saved. Because of the rapid growth of the work, I am being encouraged and helped to rise above my challenges in the work.

THE CHURCH.

The Lord's Church was established in Saboba by joint efforts in 1997, with over 100 people been baptized. It was finally handed over to a trained leader to handle whiles we were visiting the Church from Yendi time to time when ever there was an opportunity. While I was then in Yendi, I was also working within the same area in the villages preaching and establishing Churches, training of leaders.
Because of lack of leadership skills and other related problems, the Church in Saboba could not grow. The Church was handed over to me last April 2005 when I finally moved there with only seventeen members. By the grace of God, however, the Church is back to its feet where we count roughly eighty to ninety every Sunday. Besides this congregation in the town, we can also talk of 27 congregations within the District of Saboba now. We are three Evangelists within the District where each has his own area of operation but we come together to plan. These congregations are far apart from one another yet, it requires constant and frequent visitations and encouragements. That is why the need for bicycles to enable leaders to help visit them regularly. The Church in Saboba Township is still worshipping in a public school classroom due to lack of funds to put up a meeting place.

CHALLENGES.

Our greatest challenge is to by God's grace defeat Islam and idol worship. It is also our prayer to enter our neighboring country Togo with the Gospel. We are also praying for God to empower the Church to establish educational institutions to help eliminate illiteracy in the area. Above all, for the kingdom of God to reign in the hearts of the people.
EVANG. NIIPAAK LAAR
CHURCH OF CHRIST, SABOBA,

NOTE: As of 2011, the Saboba Church of Christ now is worshipping in their own building that seats 400 and the attendance averages around 250. The Lord continues to bless this work greatly!

History of the work in Yendi and other northern regions of Ghana (compiled by Alhassan Abdulai Andrews)

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN THE THREE-NORTHERN REGIONS (NORTHERN, UPPER EAST AND WEST REGIONS) OF GHANA.

TAMALE

Mr. Kingsly Addo, at the Bomsu Church of Christ, father (name needed) was the first person to start the Church of Christ in Tamale in 1970. Mr. Kingsly’s father was a merchant and a Church of Christ brother who stayed in Tamale as a merchant. Mr. Bob Frahm, a missionary from the USA, converted Elder Christian Nsoah in 1968. These two men became friends and co-workers in the Lord’s vineyard. Bob Frahm heard of Kingsly’s father and went to work with him in Tamale.

BOLGATANGA

With the church started in Tamale, Bob moved to Bolgatanga in the Upper East region with Christian Nsoah on a survey in 1971. After this, a group of church workers including Joseph Fodjour and Cosmos Amoaku went and preached at Bolgatanga. Conversion was very slow, but two churches were established. Even though conversion was not as rapid as expected, the team never gave up and was even excited for the achievement the Lord has helped them accomplish. That was how these first two churches were established.

YENDI

Nsoah was a Senior Supervision Superintendent in Tema Cocoa Company at that time, but resigned in June 1982 (as a result an advice given to him by Elder Josiah Tilton) and became a full time minister of the gospel. In 1970, they (names needed) came to Yendi and started a small church of less than 15 people who were all from the southern part of Ghana and were government workers. The church that was established died due to the transfer of all her members from Yendi to some other part of the country. The leader was called Koomson (second name needed).

As a result, the group decided to use Tamale as a springboard to reach the whole of the three northern regions. In 1979 and 1980, Nsoah kept coming to Tamale with the hope of establishing a church which did not materialize. In 1981 Elder Josiah Tilton and a group of American and Ghanaians came to Tamale, yet the people in Tamale did not show any interest in the Lord (church). It was at this time that Josiah Tilton encouraged Nsoah to leave his lucrative job as a Senior Supervision Superintendent in the Tema Cocoa Company and he finally resigned in June 1982 after working there for 19 years.

At that point in 1982, brothers from the southern part of Ghana came to the northern part of Ghana to evangelize. This group in particular was made up of: Peter Anitey, Joseph Ampofo, Ocheame Akufu, Isaac Kpakpo Adotey, Stephen Nyamavor, Christian Nsoah, Doris Obeng,Tracy Martinez with her father Aaron Martinez, Josiah Tilton, Bill Yates, and Dennis Hamilton. The group mentioned above came to Yendi and converted 43 people. The only survivor among the 1982 group of converts in the Yendi church of Christ is Sister Ali Victoria Lardi. It was later that Samson Laar (the first preacher of the church) was converted. Jaminja Ndakar was one of the converts, but was not baptized. The group that established the church realized that Jaminja Ndakar was not baptized when he was made the church secretary. It was after this that he was baptized, bringing the total number of baptized members in Yendi church of Christ in 1982 to 42 (44?).

The first place of worship for the church was the Yendi court house, now the Yendi circuit court, which is still located in front of the Yendi Prisons. The church moved the worship place to the present day St. Kizito Junior Secondary School (J.S.S.) and later moved to Yaro (second name needed) house in Yendi. Yaro’s house was rented for the purpose of a mission house. That is a place for both for accommodations and worship. The church was then moved from this place to the present day Church of Christ site in the south of Yendi, after that land was purchased.

YENDI LAND PURCHASE

The Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) church farms was the residence for all the group members who were coming from the south and the USA to Yendi until the EP staff of the farms found that the activities of the missionaries were unacceptable. That is, they were converting the EP members to the Church of Christ when officials of the farms detected it. This then brought about the ejection of the evangelists from the place, because their stay at the EP church Farms was a threat to the Evangelical Presbyterian church growth. One Mr. Bakari, (second name and department needed?) a pig farmer, then accepted the group and accommodated them in some of the government bungalows in the east of Yendi until other government officials disagreed with Mr. Bakari. This risk Mr. Bakari took almost ended his job in an untimely fashion. One of the reasons the other government officials were against Mr. Bakari was that they were from other denominations and were not happy because some of their members might join the Church of Christ as the truth was being taught. Because of this, they tried to find a way of getting the evangelists out of the bungalows so that they probably would not have accommodations and that alone could force them out of Yendi. The group then went to the north-east of Yendi. , the Gusheigu barrier, and pegged their tents to stay and worship. That ejection brought about the purchasing of the church site at the place it is presently. As the evangelists were ejected or rejected, they struggled to buy a piece of land. The first land purchase was twelve acres. The next purchase was also twelve acres, thus 12 x 2 = 24. These 12 X 2 lands were purchased by Bro. Dan Lesely McVey and Elder Josiah Tilton respectively. This is the land on which the Church of Christ is located today.

KUMASI CLINIC

Glenn Boyd, director of African Christian Missions, was called in to assist in the work in the north. At this time the medical organization already had a clinic in Kumasi. Nsoah’s relationship with Glenn started when Nsoah was asked to pick him up at the Accra airport to stay with him in Tema on his arrival and departure from the USA. At this time Nsoah had already bought his house in Tema from the labor of his sweat as a worker from Tema Cocoa Company. Nsoah capitalized on his relationship with Glenn and requested a clinic in Yendi, but Dan Lesely McVey and Ted Wheeler were asked to do a survey at Kwamedasu. This trip did not yield anything at Kwamedasu, but the attention of the medical organization shifted to Kumasi… hence the clinic at Kumasi.

MOBILE CLINIC/YENDI CLINIC

The northern mission workers continued talking with Glenn Boyd as the director of the African Christian Missions (ACM) to help Yendi with a clinic. They went further and invited him to come along with them to the north, so that he would see the needs of the area with his naked eyes. They did this to motivate the coming of the present day Yendi church of Christ Mission clinic. The first move of Glenn was a donation of medical supplies to be use to help the people of Wanjuga, east of Cheriponi near the Ghana-Togo border. This was the beginning of the mobile clinic of the Church of Christ in the north and finally resulted in the establishment of the Yendi clinic in 1996.

WENCHIKI/CHERIPONI

The group started a church in Wenchiki in 1986 with a membership of 87; this was the largest of the congregations in the north. The church was established through one Kofi Ka who was working with Ghana Linguistics and was doing Bible translation at Cheriponi. Kofi Ka by the divine grace of God visited Jaminja Ndaka (secretary to Yendi church) in Yendi and the evangelists met him there and had a study of the word of God with him and he said even though he was doing Bible translation he did not know that the Bible was good as explained. He went home and told the people of Cheriponi and they were very happy. He therefore proposed that the group of evangelists come to Cheriponi and establish a church there. The invitation was made when Nsoah and Nyamavor were leaving Yendi to Accra and they promised that they would visit them on the next trip and even gave them the date they would be coming back to Yendi.

When the evangelists arrived, but were tired and could not proceed immediately to Cheriponi, the people of Cheriponi hired a truck to transport them the following day. On their way to Yendi (while traveling to Cheriponi), the evangelists met a delegation coming from Cheriponiat Sunson. At Sunson the delegation from Cheriponi joined the evangelists and returned with them to Cheriponi while the hired truck proceeded to Yendi because of passengers who boarded the car.

These evangelists were Nsoah and Edward Nana Quansah. Before this they were working in Wa, Sandema and Weiga, all in the Upper West region. During one of the evangelists’ journeys, the evangelists met a motor bike rider coming from Bolgatanga who directed them not to travel from Bolgatanga to Tamale on their way to Yendi. His reason was that the road was long and there was a short way they could take to Yendi. He advised them to pass through Wulugu through the Gambaga road to Nalerigu then to Gbindiri to Wenchiki and to Chereponi. (The other alternative given was Bawku through Garu to Nakpanduri to Gusheigu, then to Chereponi.) At Wenchiki, while taking the advised route to Chereponi, a gentleman came to Nsoah and Seth Okyere as he saw the sticker of the Church of Christ on the car when they were driving to pass. He asked the following questions: “What is the Church of Christ doing?” Nsoah and Okyere responded that they preach the gospel. The man again asked “to special people?” The evangelists responded no, but said their supplies were finished so they wanted to go back to Accra and come back later. The man again asked “What if we die before the arrival of the evangelists?” These questions compelled the evangelists to make a decision to come the following day. On the next day they left Chereponi and went to Wenchiki. Seth was then preparing breakfast (tea) while Nsoah was preaching. At the end of the teaching they thought they had baptized 85 instead of 15 converts. The reason was that many of the people had never boarded a car before, so while they could carry 5 people to be baptized, when they returned two would alight and then three will remain for another baptism just because they wanted to ride again. This occurred unnoticed. The evangelists ended thinking they had baptized 85 people not knowing that it was 15 people who were converted.

WALEWALE

In 1987, Christian Nsoah, Josiah Tilton, Joel, Aaron Martinez, Kpakpo, Baah Okyere Kwame in Tamale and Joe Odai were working in Walewale. Baah was on a World Bible School (WBS) follow up in Walewale so he and the group worked together. In Walewale they had no meat and Baah went to buy chicken in the market. A member of the group shot and killed 10 partridges on their way back to Walewale while coming from a village doing evangelism work. When they got to Walewale, Baah and Joe were not happy buying fowls while there were 10 partridges on the way to the cooking pot. It was in May so the place was very dry and dusty. Ten to twelve people were baptized in Walewale while the evangelists were there for eight to ten days.

RURAL WATER DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

The year was a very hard one and many did not have resources in hand, including food. Nsoah told the group he wanted to inform them about a problem when they reached Wenchiki. This was the genesis of the Church of Christ Rural Water Development Project (COCRWDP). When they arrived at Wenchiki, they worshipped there on either a Wednesday or Friday. The car they were using did not have an air conditioner, so they were always dusty anwhere they went. After the worship service, Nsoah brought two cans of milk for two mothers of malnourished babies and then asked guinea worm infested people to stand up… which they did. The Americans among the group were confused with this kind of disease, because they had not seen such a thing before in their lives. One unusual aspect of it was that the church leader himself (Peter Akor) was also infested. Josiah asked where this strange disease came from. From here Josiah Tilton (Si) asked Nsoah to take them to the pond where the people got this strange disease. When they got there some of the people were washing their clothing while others were fetching water home for consumption. Si asked whether they could do something about that, and Nsoah said he had already reported it to the Ghana Water and Sewage Cooperation (GWSC), but they had not done anything. The evangelists estimated that three boreholes could serve the entire community satisfactorily. They traveled back to

Chereponi, on through Tamale, and passed the night in Kumasi. At that time of the age, there was only one man in Techiman who had a fridge for commercial purposes. The evangelists stopped over there for a coke before they reached Accra. In Accra the group visited McVey for a discussion on the guinea worm problem at Wenchiki. McVey and Nsoah said they needed to see the UNICEF country office for something to be done positively about the plight of the people of Wenchiki. They went and met one of the UNICEF officers called Mr. Bawah (full name needed) and requested three boreholes on behalf of the people of Wenchiki, but Bawah said that they id not drill boreholes… however he would give the evangelists pipes if they wanted to drill for the community.

At that point, Si decided to speak to his home congregation (full name congregation needed) in the USA for assistance. After Si left back to the States, within 3 to 4 weeks Nsoah had already gotten World Vision International to assist with the boreholes. Si spoke to his congregation (who accepted the challenge) and within two months they raised $85,000 US. World Vision accepted the task to drill, but at $10,000 US per borehole. This would have been very costly to the congregation, so they(by the grace of God) found Kevin (second name needed) in California who knew the head of World Vision. The influence of the World Vision officer (name needed) changed the contract to 15 boreholes for the same $85,000 US. The grace of God brought more and more donations towards the well drilling. This encouraged the elders of … to look for rig/machine that would now be the property of the church and be used for the borehole drilling to needy communities irrespective of their religious backgrounds. Nsoah put together the first drilling crew comprised of Alfred and Stephen Nyamavor. These two men were sent to World Vision to work on practicals, pending the arrival of the church drilling machine. It was later Nathaniel Adams was added to the crew. In January 1989 World Vision agreed to move to the north for drilling at the Wenchiki area. Kevin, director of Manna International, knew Curt King who was a driller all over the world. Some of the places he was drilling were in Ethiopia, Sudan…. He trained Alfred and Stephen. World vision drilled the 15 boreholes in 1989 in and around Wenchiki.

In July the same year the congregation shipped the rig. It went through Dambaya to Yendi. In the same year in October, Curt King came to Yendi to train Alfred and Stephen some more. The first ever borehole drilled by the crew was at Yaro’s home on the South-West of Yendi, which was a rented mission house as well as church auditorium. After the landlord (Yaro) ejected the missionaries, the borehole has not been rehabilitated and is not in use. Curt stayed for two months and later came back in March 1990. In April and May of 1990, he gave Alfred and Stephen additional training. The crew and evangelists went to Saboba for both evangelism and drilling. In Saboba, after the evangelist set their tents, a young boy had a monkey as a pet. When Curt saw it, he developed an interest and within a short time Nsoah could not be found…Curt not knowing that he had gone to the bush to hunt for a monkey. He surely got one monkey for Curt on his return from the bush in about two hours time. Curt would always sit the monkey on his shoulder while drilling. In a village around Saboba they drilled at 200 feet and did not get water. (The crew drilled at two places and did not get water.) While they were leaving the village, both men and women wept. Out of 45 trial boreholes, they hit 15 wet wells.

All along, it was Alfred, Stephen and old man Amponsah (needing the second name) who were working together. Old man Amponsah would rebuke them where they were wrong and if it was necessary. They moved their families to Yendi in 1994 but the Dagomba- Konkomba conflict made them send their families back to Accra. The other reason for them sending their families was the standard of education at Yendi. It was not qualitative as compared to that of the south (Accra) where they were from. At that time, the electricity corporation of Ghana had a power generator that supplied Yendi electricity, yet the present church site did not have light. Electricity was supplied from 5am to 6am and from 6pm to 10pm in Yendi, so they were living without electricity at the church site.

By 1989 Kpakpo’s house, the present water project guest house, was built. Samson Laar was already there before Ibrahim Johnson then came from Bolgatanga in 1994, but his first week was the 1994 conflict. By 1992 the UNICEF officer, Mr. Bawah, told the church that UNICEF could not continue to supply hand pumps. This left a big challenge to the leadership of the Well Drilling, both internationally and locally. The Well drilling project then took up the responsibility of drilling wells and have since worked alone up to 2001. From 2001, the bombing of the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in New York, USA affected the businesses of donors to the project. From then onwards, the leadership of the project again partnered with UNICEF in the rehabilitation and drilling of boreholes in Ghana.

VILLAGE OF HOPE/HERITAGE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

The Village of Hope (VOH) was taken over in 1992 after the one who established it had abandoned it. In 1992 Nsoah and Kpakpo looked for Musah Dawud to attend the then National Bible College, which was later named Nationwide Bible College (NBI) and presently the Heritage Christian College (HCC). Dugbagy Chaitey, Adams Abdulai, Alhassan Abdulai Andrews, Musah Fusheini and Musah Alhassan followed.

PROJECT TIMOTHY

In Zabzugu/Tatale district, the church by then had drilled 102 boreholes which attracted the then DCE. He invited the leaders of the well drilling and requested more assistance, but the resources in the hands of the organization was scanty hence the request could not be met. The church did not have resources as at that time and could not do otherwise. James Taphamba was then converted and sent to the Project Timothy leadership training in Yendi and later left for the NBI. His son Chendiku and Emmanuel Wumbee Buwalte were classmates in the project timothy in Yendi. Emmanuel Wumbee Buwalte later went to the H.C.C. too.

TRANSPORTATION

The first motor bike bought for Samson Laar could not be put inside Nsoah’s car, because the room in the car was small to accommodate the motor. Si and Nsoah had to ride Samson’s motor bike with Samson from Accra to Yendi through the Volta region on an exchange. At Damanku, they passed the night and Samson had to sleep on his motor bike, because it had no lock and for the sake of thieves he would not leave the motor to sleep somewhere. Another greater grace was in 1982 when Nsoah and Si were coming from the north to the south. At Damanku the river had run down so the ferry could not reach the normal place to load and off load. There were over 50 cars packed to be transported across the river and the ferry could only carry 3 to 4 cars on each trip. Nsoah and Si’s car was as far as the fiftieth back and when they got to the people/passengers at the river side, the people were picking stones to support the docking of the ferry. Si as a white man also participated in the picking of the stones and that attracted the attention of the passengers who were also picking the stones. He did this because the Lord teaches that he who wants to be the greatest must be the servant (Mark 10:43). Because of that example, even though they were as far as the fiftieth car, the whole group of passengers called them to be the first 3 or 4 cars to board the ferry.

Heritage Christian College, 2010 Progress Report

HERITAGE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

Progress Report - 2010

Trained 273 Evangelists to-date (2010) who serve in 10 Countries.

Graduate Performance Survey (2002) indicates 96.1% of graduates remain active in ministry. Graduate – church ratio: (a) 1:7 in north of Ghana; (b) 1:3 in south of Ghana.

Prescribed Curricular Offerings in Bible/Ministry Program: Certificate in Leadership (One year); Diploma in Biblical Studies (2 years); Higher Diploma (3 yrs. Equivalent to AA degree); Bachelor of Christian Min. degree (4years)

Practical Training Programs: Joint evangelism with local congregations; Seminar for Sunday School Teachers (SSSST), Leadership Seminar, WBS Follow Up, Blood Donation, Community Hygiene/Sanitation Campaign.

Project Timothy: Satellite schools established in 6 remote locations nationwide designed as modular grass-root evangelist training program for less educated rural church leaders who cannot leave farm or family nor has the requisite academic qualification and financial support to train at HCC campus.

Fusheini Musah, May 2011, Progress in Gushegu, Ghana

Hello elder,

I am very much grateful to sent you this email.

How is life and the entire family please? Elder just to tell you about my work in Gushegu. The Churches are doing well and even the Church in Gushegu is doing well, I am with them now having different activities with them. Bible classes every Wednesdays with the nearby villages and seminars with the Church leader once every month market days because the market days are mainly for rest. They do not go to farms. We always meet in my house I live in Gushegu in the yard because we have no Church building yet we are trying to look for money to buy a land. A brother is selling his land to the Church and the Church itself has no money to buy the land. I am trying to deposited some amount of money every month in my support may be at the end of the year we may buy the land for the Church and if possible two or three be rooms for myself.

Also I have introduced the world Bible school lessons to Gushegu District now. I have five J. H. S in Gushegu town with total number of one thousand five hundred (1500) student and we have one S.H.S is also two thousand (2000) students and outside J.H.S will be two thousand (2000) students which total of 5500 students. The lessons are not up to the number of students and asked for more lessons for the District. Now I am going round these schools for the W.B.S lessons together the village Churches in Gushegu, and it’s the fuel money you sent us helps me to runs these works thank you very much God bless you.

About my wife coming with me to Gushegu she will come she want to write her private exams to better her results and because of that she is doing serious studies to seat her exams in Yendi and also she is attending extra classes in Yendi. I am sure she will come to Gushegu to help me do the work.

Thanks

fusheini

Paul Dokurugu, Jan-Mar 2011, Quarterly Report

NSAWAM ROAD CHURCH OF CHRIST EVANGELISTS QUARTERLY REPORT TO

MISSIONS MINISTRY: ACCRA-GHANA..

PERIOD: JANUARY - MARCH, 2011.

1. NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS:

I wish to extend my New Year's greetings to you all. The New Year started on a sound note. Because of the New Year's eve activities, there was no worship on New Year's Day. However, my family welcomed the New Year by preparing a meal of rice with some soft drinks to go with. We shared the meals with our neighbours- both Christians and non-Christians.

In the afternoon I visited Brother Abdulai Adams(Kuga-Naa). We had a long brotherly conversation. I left for Brother Musah Dawud's house where I had an hour's conversation with him on the progress of the work in the Yendi municipality. We stressed on visits to Brother Adam's area and his. I got to my house at about 6.15 p.m.

CONGREGATIONAL VISITS.

I visited the Kanimo congregation with my youngest son, Benjamin, on Sunday, 2nd January, 2011, at about 9.20 a.m. G.M.T. I conducted the Sunday School and preached the sermon. It took us about two and a half hours to conduct the worship. I had a forty-five minutes meeting with the church leadership. I streesed on the need for children's classes to be held outside the church building while worship was in progress.

Adult classes will soon be in progress. I also suggested the formation of a youth group in the church.

I suggested that the church meet on Sunday evenings from 4.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. . On Wednesday evenings and Friday evenings I suggested the same time- 4.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.

On their economic improvement, I advised that they should form farming groups or co-operatives in order to be able to raise capital for farming, since it is their livelihood.They were very happy with these suggestions.

I encouraged them to hold joint worship with Diisikura congregation every last Sunday of the month and that they shoul alternate. I further suggested to them that they should fast, at least, once in a month to strengthen their faith. I finally left Kanimo at about 2.00 p.m. G.M.T.

On 9th January, 2011, I preached the sermon in Yendi Church. Brother Andrews went to one of the outstations.

We went through the normal worship procedure. Brother Peter Bombande conducted the Sunday School and I preached the sermon. I also did the Sunday school interpretation in Dagbani. We finally ended the worship at about 1.15 p.m. G.M.T.

I went back to Yendi Church at 4.00 p.m. G.M.T. to take part in the evening Bible classes session.We closed at 6.05 p.m. G.M.T.

I went to Jagrido with my wife to worship on Sunday, 16th January, 2011. We reached Jagrido at about 9.00 a.m. G.M.T. The leader of the congregation, Brother Daniel Nilibrin and, a church member, paid me a visit in my home earlier on. My wife and I therefore took this opportunity to reciprocate their kind gesture.I gave the church four copies of the Konkomba Bible. For the second time, I held discussions with the church leadership. On that day, the late Brother John Kambonja conducted the Sunday school and I preached the sermon. A member of the church who left for a long time returned to give his testimony about the church. Everybody was excited that this brother had finally acknowledged that the Church of Christ is the "True Christian Church".

My wife and I left Jagrido at about 1.30 p.m. G.M.T. and By 3.00 p.m.

we got to Yendi.

I preached the sermon to my school's Scripture Union(S.U.), before going to Kuga. We had a short Bible quiz after we ended our worship at 8.30 a.m. G.M.T.

I preached the sermon in Kuga church on 23rd January, 2011. My family and I all went there because, it had been a long time since we did so.

After we closed at 12.30 p.m. G.M.T., my family and I went to greet Brother Adams(Kuga-Naa). We spent only thirty minutes with him before leaving for home.

On 30th January, 2011, I went to Diisikura for Worship. I conducted the Sunday school and preached th sermon as well. All the women had gone in search of water and had not yet returned and we had to wait for them. After the worship we discussed the bad water situation. I suggested that the leader of the congregation see Brother Nathaniel Adams Jnr. to present their problem before him, since he is in charge of the Church of Christ Rural Water Development Programme in Northern Ghana. I also promised to relay the message to Brother Nathaniel Adams Jnr. as soon as I returned to Yendi.

On Friday, 4th Febraury, 2011, I met Brother Nathaniel Adams Jnr.

presented their problem to him. He suggested that the community should write an application to his office before he could take any necessary action on their request. He also said he was aware that their borehole did not have enough water in the beginning.

I relayed the message by phone to the leader and he followed up with the application. After the discussions in the church I went with the leader and other members of the church to pay my condolences to the bereaved family of a youth of the church who passed away the previous week.

At our discussions in the Church, I advised them to hold joint worship with the Kanimo congregation on the last Sunday of every month since the two congregations are very close. I left Diisikura well after 2.00 p.m. G.M.T. and got home at about 3.05 p.m.

On Sunday, 6th February, 2011, we had four visitors from the USA. I was in Yendi church that morning to welcome them, so I did not go out.

Brother Peter Bombande conducted the Sunday school and Brother Andrews preached the sermon. I did the interpretation. In the evening, at about 4.15 p.m., Brothers Andrews, Fuseini, Alhassan, David and I, went to formally welcome our visitors in the persons of Brothers Kent Chambers, Gordon Gaenzle, Thomas Graham and Michael Everest.

We exchanged pleasantries and discussed the week's programme of activities, especially our visit to schools in the Yendi municipality.

Materials to carry along were put in place. Our visits and preparations for our visitors will be discussed later under the heading, "Other Activities". We left for our homes at about 7.00 p.m.

G.M.T.

I worshipped at Yendi church on Sunday, 13th February, 2011. I went early with my family to introduce them to our visitors. They were all very happy to meet my family. It was the last day that our visitors spent with us.

Brother Michael Everest delivered the sermon, and Brother Thomas Graham also conducted the Lord's Supper. The sermon was a touching and inspiring one.

After the worship our visitors left with Brother Andrews. From there they were to leave for Accra and onwards to America.

In the evening, at about 4.15 p.m., I returned to Yendi church to conduct the evening's Bible classes.The Project Timothy students had started reporting for the commencement of their three weeks classes.The Bible classes ended at about 6.25 p.m. G.M.T.

On Sunday, 20th February, 2011, I went to worship with the Bachibodo congregation. I went with Sister Victoria, a nurse of the Church of Christ clinic in Yendi. Before the worship started, the two of us, in the company of the church leader, went to greet a church member who lost his son in December, 2010.The boy's final funeral rites was performed on December 31, 2010. The man was very happy for our visit.That day, all his family and close relations attended the morning's worship. After the worship the family head thanked us for the visit.

The day's worship started at 10.00 a.m. I delivered the sermon/Sunday school. After the worship, Sister Victoria met the women to give them words of encouragement. I also met the church leaders to discuss their church building with them. Money had been released for the church project. I asked them to continue with their monthly fast( last Friday of the month ), and the formation of farmers' groups. I also stressed on the need for adult and children's catechism in the church during and after worship.

After everything had ended at the church premises, Sister Victoria and I went back to say good-bye to our host. We spent about an hour sharing the gospel with the family. We got to Yendi at about 3.00 p.m.

G.M.T.

I went to Yendi church for the evening's Bible classes. We closed at approximately 6.20 p.m. G.M.T.

I was taken ill on 27th February, 2011, and for that matter I did not go anywhere. For the whole week I went nowhere.

On 6th March, 2011, I worshipped in Yendi church where a day of fasting and prayers was organised to thank God for the safe arrival and deprture of our four visitors from the U.S.A. in February. This was after we had information from them that they had safely arrived home. There was no Sunday school, but there was a sermon followed by the Lord's Supper. We sang beautifully that day to the admiration of the whole congregation. The worship finally ended at about 12.30 p.m.

I went to Boaduyili with Brother David Wumbei. Brother David comes from Boaduyili. I went with him to see how the congregation is doing.

Brother David also gave a report on how the congregation put up a place of worship, but fell short of roofing, plastering and cementing the floor. We, the preachers, promised to help with roofing sheets.

Hence, I went to see the place and the urgency it needed.

I preached the sermon in Dagbani, after which Brother David interpreted the sermon in Konkomba. After the worship was over, the whole congregation went with us to see the building. It really needed urgent attention as the early rains had set in. We proceeded to Brother David's family house to greet his mother and uncles. We departed from Boaduyili at about 1.30 p.m. At about 3.00 p.m. we were in Yendi.

The followig Sunday, 20th March, 2011, I went with Brother David, this time, to Diisikura. I left him there and went back to Kanimo. I provided bread for the Lord's Supper for both communities, because they requested for it. Brother Joshua Sanjah conducted the Sunday school and I preached the sermon. We closed from worship at about 12.

20 p.m.

I went back to Diisikura to pick Brother David. He was meeting with the church leaders when I went. I was invited to participate in their delebrations. We ended in 20 minutes time. We left Diisikura at about

1.15 p.m. G.M.T. and got to Yendi at about 2.55 p.m.

On Sunday, 27th March, 2011, my family and I attended Kuga church for worship. Present there were Bother Musah Dawud and Musah Fuseini. I conducted the Sunday school/ sermon. It was very interesting and inspiring as I could see from their contributions in the Sunday school and their facial expreesions in the sermon. I did not end my sermon topic as time was far spent on the Sunday school. We closed at 1.00 p.m. I went with my family to greet Brother Adams( Kuga-Naa ), but he had visitors.

OTHER CHURCH ISSUES.

VISITORS:

Since the day we were made aware that our visitors from the U.S.A.

were coming, we prayed and fasted relentlessly. We fasted and prayed when there were uncertainties about some of them (our visitors) coming.

Brother Andrews and I went to the Municipal Director of Education to seek clearance for teaching Religious and Moral Education in the Junior and Senior High Schools in the Municipality, should our visitors come. He granted the permission and issued letters to the schools we chose to visit. The two of us also distributed the letters on the days scheduled among some of the schools. I made a follow-up to Dagbon State Senior Technical School and Yendi Senior High School on Friday, February 4, 2011. The visitors arrived in Yendi on Sunday, 6th February, 2011, in the morning. In the evening, all the preachers in Yendi met them to welcome them. We also prepared the meterials for the next day's work.

The next day, 7th February, 2011, we met early in the morning to pair ourselves with the visitors. I was to move with Brother Thomas Graham to Kulkpini-duli and, on to Nalogni( Machelayili ). After our meeting in the mission house, we went to the Municipal Director's office to greet him before departing for our various communities of visit. The Municipal Director received us nicely and took us to see the Municipal Chief Executive( The political head of the municipality ). Our visitors donated some textbooks to the Junior High Schools.

After all was over at about 9.20 a.m., we departed for our communities of visit. Brother Thomas Graham and I left, first of all, stopping at Kulkpini-duli to inform them of our mission and that we would be back there on our way from Nalogni. We got to Nalogni at about 10.45 a.m.

Brother Thomas taught while I occasionally came in to explain what the students did not understand due to his foreign accent. He delivered a very nice lesson. The students asked very intelligent questions. We collected some World Bible School(W.B.S.) materials from the children.

They had been given to them earlier before our visit.

We returned to Kulkpini-duli at about 12.45 p.m. Brother Thomas Graham taught his lesson again. I helped in explaining some parts that the students did not understand. At 2.00 p.m., the lesson was over and we left for Yendi. We got toYendi at about 2.45 p.m.

In the evening I returned to the mission house where all the preachers met our visitors to pray and assess the day's work. Everybody was pleased with what we did. We dispersed at about 7.00p.m.

The following day, 8th February, 2011, we all met in the mission house again for the day's mission. I was paired with Brother Michael Everest to go to Jimli and Zakpalsi, respectively. This was about the longest journey so far. Jimli is about sixty kilometres from Yendi. We departed for the journey with all our materials, stopping first at Jimli, since that was a straight route from Yendi to Tamale. The children were on break when we got there at about 11.05 a.m., so we had to wait for them to come back. They came back from break and Brother Michael conducted a very successful lesson. They asked many challenging questions since Jimli is a predominantly muslim community.

However, we were able to handle their questions to our best. After 1 hour, we finished our lesson and collected the W.B.S. study lessons from the children. At about 1.20 p.m. we got to Zakpalsi, about ten kilometres from the Yendi-Tamale main road and Brother Michael delivered his lesson again. The teachers were in the class to help control and also participate in the lesson. The lesson was expertly executed and we collected the W.B.S. lessons from the children. At about 2.30 p.m. we left Zakpalsi but we had a puncture mid-way between Zakpalsi and the next village, Kpiljini, to the main road. We had to push the motor-bike five kilometres to the village, but there was no vulcaniser to mend the tyre for us. I called Brother Andrews on the phone and he came with the Church of Christ clinic pick-up to take us to Yendi. We got home at about 4.00p.m.

We all paid a visit to Brother Adams (Kuga-Naa) in the evening. We spent about one hour and thirty minutes wtth him.

On 9th February, 2011, I was paired with Brother Gordon Gaenzle to go to Adibo and Nakpachei Junior High Schools. We got to a dibo at about 9.20 a.m. Adibo is a distance of approximately eleven kilometres south of Yendi.They were already aware of us, so they were ready for us.

Brother Gordon delivered his lesson very well and the children asked many probing questions. In about an hour's time he had finshed with the lesson. We left Adibo at about 11.00 a.m. because we were still collecting the W.B.S. lessons.

As soon as we finished, we left for Nakpachei, a distance of about five kilometres from Adibo to deliver the second lesson for the day.

The road was bad, but we managed to get there safely. Just like Jimli, when we got to the school, the children were on break, so we had to wait for them to return.

Brother Gordon begun his lesson at about 11.40 a.m. It was very interesting and lively as the children contributed in the course of the lesson. We ended the lesson at 12. 45 p.m. We collected the W.B.S.

lessons and left Nakpachei at about 1.00 p.m. Because of the bad nature of the road, we were involved in a minor accident about half a kilometre from Nakpachei.

In the evening we all met to pray and thank God for another successful day.

Brother Thomas Graham and I went to Nuri Anwar J.H.S. and Saint Charles J.H.S. with Brother David Wumbei the following day, 10th February, 2011. Before leaving for our destination, we went to Yendi prison to donate some dustbins as they had earlier made an appeal for sanitation materials. The prison officers and in-mates of the prison were very happy and thanked us. They, however, asked for more. We got to Nuri Anwar first, since it is on the outskirts of Yendi town. With the help of the assistant headmaster, sanity was brought to prevail throughout the lesson. The students asked funny questions which were new to Brother Thomas and I because of their Islamic background. Their headmaster had to come in to stop noise when Brother Thomas said he did not know the answer to a question that was asked. We ended the lesson and collected the W.B.S. lessons in the school.

We then left for Saint Charles J.H.S. where we had our second lesson.

Students here were more co-operative as they already had good background knowledge of Christianity. The message was brief and precise. We collected our W.B.S. lessons and left. We spent not less than five hours teching in the two schools. At about 4.30 that evening, our four visitors led by Brother Andrews, paid me a surprised visit.

The following day, February 11, I made a follow-up to Kulkpini-duli J.H.S. for the W.B.S. lessons. Some of our visitors went to Ssboba. In the evening I went back to the mission house to meet them and hand over my lessons. I did not stay for long there. There was supposed to be a film show at Bachibodo in the evening, but our electric generator developed a fault.

On Saturday, 12th February, 2011, we met in the morning to assess our work for the whole period and to see if there could be some improvements the next time we have such an opportunity. It was a lively meeting. It took us far into the day when we broke off, only to re-convene in the evening again. We discussed a lot of issues which could strengthen the work in the north.

On Sunday, 13th February, 2011, our visitors left for Tamale, and onwards to Accra.

PROJECT TIMOTHY CLASSES.

The usual Project Timothy classes which was scheduled for the 7th to 25th February, 2011, was shifted a week ahead, because of our visitors. The classes therefore started on Monday,14th February, 2011, and ended on 4th March, 2011. All preachers were involved in the lessons delivery. I continued with the Book of Acts. I was not able to complete the book before the end of the session. The classes took three weeks.

FUNERALS.

On 7th March, 2011, we lost our old man, Jaakum, who worked as a watchman for the Church of Christ clinic. We buried him at Gbungbaliga. The final funeral rites will be performed later this month, April.

We also lost a member at Diisikura in February. He was baptized late last year by Brother David Wumbei when he went there. The final funeral rites is yet to be performed. The church is expected to play its part in the funeral.

We lost a sister in the Bible Church of Africa at about the same time that Dada Jaakum died. She was very close to my family. On 18th March, 2011, her final funeral rites was perfomed. In the funeral programme, they wanted a member each from all the churches present to play their roles, so I represented the Church of Christ at the occasion. This helped to make people aware that we are not as isolated as people see us to be. We cannot work in isolation of the other denominations in the north if we are to expand. On Thursday, 3rd April, 2011, we attended Sister Gifty's mother's final funeral rites at Sandema in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Though I did not go myself, my wife went with the delegation. This is to create awareness in people that we care for one another.

FASTING AND PRAYERS.

We still fast and pray every first and second Wednesday of the month.

We also fast and pray every last Friday of the month as scheduled. The rural congregations have also been encouraged to do same. On 23rd February, 2011, 3rd and 16th March,2011, we had special fasting and prayers in Yendi Church.

PREACHERS MEETINGS.

This is still going on. Wednesdays are the scheduled days, but we sometimes meet on Saturdays, Sundays or Fridays. When we have emergencies we meet on any other day.

EVANGELISM IN SCHOOL.

I do evangelism in school through the distribution of scriptural materials. Through my moral talks at morning assemblies students, including teachers, get to know more about the word of God as I make references to the Bible.

On March 16, 2011, 1,255 pocket size copies of the New Testament and the Psalms & Proverbs were given to me to be distributed among students and teachers. Even though a predominantly moslem school, both teachers and students rushed for them.

I gave out 200 copies of the same Bible and, 50 copies of the Holy Bible(NKJV), to the Scripture Union(S.U.). The 50 copies of the Holy Bible were given by Brother Tom Carr when he came last year. This year too, he came and donated some Dagbani and Konkomba translations of the Bible.

ASSESSMENT OF WORK & SUGGESTIONS.

On the whole, the work in the Yendi Municipality and its environs is going on well as we have time to visit the congregations as often as we can. I have not mentioned any church projects this time round, because we have done the best we can to assist the needy communities.

Some have been given roofing sheets while others have also been given cement.

I, however, suggest that follow-up visits by our partners would go a long way to evangelise the literate population of the area - both adults and, the youth in particular, since they are very interested in reading scriptural materials given to them.

CONCLUSION.

I would be very grateful if particular attention is paid to the north and, Yendi in particular, as we grapple with how we can get peace in the area.

May the Good Lord Bless you and bring peace into your homes. AMEN!

Yours-in-Christ,

Paul, Yendi.

NB: I have tried to attach pictures of our school visits for the past three days, but failed. Brother Andrews tried to help me do it, but the network was not good. I will try to send the pictures when all goes well. I have a second draft on my PC.

Thanks.