We were both up early this morning. We were trying to get some things done toward getting the house ready to be closed up. Kandie got several loads of clothes washed and hung out before we headed for Timothy Niligrini’s house to pick him up and continue on to the village of Nalongni.
As we were passing through the village of Nadundo Kandie spied a burial taking place. Men were holding up a casket on their shoulders while other people were in a circle dancing the Kinachu; traditional Konkomba funeral dance. The Konkomba tribe has a pagan custom of carrying the casket with the corpse around house to house to see who caused the person to die. Supposedly, if that person caused the death the men carrying the corpse will be forced by the corpse to touch the house with the casket designating that person to be the guilty party. Can you see where all of this can lead? If someone carrying the casket has a grudge against a person it is a great way to cause grief and even death to an innocent person. Well, anyway, Kandie was able to get some video of the dancing casket before we moved on to nearby Nalongni.
At Nalongni we were greeted by Brother Bernard, who is one of the church leaders. We worshipped inside the church building but there was a nice breeze blowing so we stayed comfortable during the service. I preached about how the marriage between a man and woman is a good example of how the Church is the bride of Christ.
After finishing the question and answers we walked over to Brother Joseph’s house to say hello. Joseph used to be a church leader until he had a stroke which has incapacitated him. His wife and family attend the church so we were glad to see them.
From Joseph’s house we drove to the chief’s house to greet him. He was sitting on the veranda with a little boy around 6-7 years old shelling corn in preparation to plant his field. The little boy was doing a good job! In the chief’s compound two guys were making a sacrifice for the twins that were born in the village. This is an annual event. Black chicken feathers stuck on the outside of three upside down calabash gourds cut in half located in the middle of the compound. The sacrifice is to protect the twins. The birds had been cooked and the twins are supposed to eat some of the sacrifice.
After eating lunch we worked on putting up a blind to shield the monkey cage from neighbor children who have been pestering Skeeter, the monkey. It was hot! I ended up changing two shirts because they were both wringing wet with sweat from the project.
Tonight at the bible class at Kulkpeni our topic was about heaven and who will be permitted to enter. We also gave the men a copy of the list of the building costs of the 4 room house that was built on the church property. Most were very surprised how much building materials had increased.
Please keep us in your prayers. We will be leaving Yendi and flying down to Accra on Tuesday. Our flight is scheduled to leave at 10pm Thursday night.
May God bless!
In His service,
Stephen and Kandie Taylor
