Today we visited the congregation that meets at Salinkuga. It is located east of Yendi in the Zabzugu District. The trip takes about 90 minutes to get there. We have to travel the Gnani Road to get to this congregation .Some of you who have been following the Notes in times past might remember the road is always rough with big pot holes from the dump trucks hauling gravel and sand from the Oti River basin. To our surprise the road conditions were much improved since our last visit. Thank the Lord for small favors!
When we arrived at the school block where the Church meets the men who had already arrived were happy to see us. We unloaded the communion table and gifts we had brought to the Church.
I was asked to preach to the congregation about living the Christian life. I have a lesson that I taught that supposedly given to a young Abraham Lincoln by an older man that discussed “Moral Excellence”; goals an individual should strive for in life like telling the truth, living righteously, abstaining from alcohol, and fornication.
A visitor came to the service and it didn’t take long to figure out the man was not mentally stable. He asked for us to pray for him so he could get a wife. Later, we found out he was a brother to the chief of the village and his mental illness had been going on for some years; probably why his wife left him. Of course, we prayed for him; everyone needs prayer.
While visiting the new chief of the village after services we found out the family had sent this same man to prayer camps and to Juju people to fix the mental illness. I told the chief for the family not to waste their money on such things but to go see a mental health nurse at the hospital for treatment. Ghana is filled with these “snake oil” people making money from unsuspecting, uneducated people. During the course of conversation he asked if we were going to help the church rebuild their building that collapsed before it had been fully constructed. Over a year ago this congregation asked for help to build their building. We told the men that if the building was made of mud ball walls the dimensions of the building had to be narrow or it would collapse. Well, they didn’t take our advice and they built a large square building instead of a long narrow one. Guess what, a storm came before they finished the building and the roof collapsed. Mud ball buildings have to be made during the dry season because rain weakens the walls. The men of the church didn’t rebuild the walls during the dry season as they should have but they are waiting for us to do something. They have everything they need to rebuild the building and we told the chief straight up we expected the church to do their part before we put our hand back into it. The chief agreed with us.
Just before we left the village the Church brothers brought out a nice bunch of yams. We thanked them for their thoughtfulness and headed to Yendi.
At Kulkpeni tonight I taught the children the story of Elijah being taken up into heaven. They enjoyed it. I also taught the adult devotion.
Thanks for your support. Have a good day. May God bless!
In His service,
Stephen and Kandie Taylor
