At the beginning of the month we attended a seminar that was sponsored by The West Coast School of preaching in the southern part of Ghana in Takorida. We also paid for Timothy Niligrini, Francis Waja and Divine Gamalan to attend the 4 day seminar. Kandie’s brother paid for 4 men from Wa in the Upper East Region to attend. When we left the seminar we flew to Accra and spent a few days getting our resident permit (visa) documents renewed. I (Steve) had to have a physical and lab work to satisfy the visa requirements. This time we did not have to have a Covid test to enter Ghana but they required one in order to renew our visas. It is very strange that I did not have to have a Covid test to come to Ghana but had to have one to stay in Ghana. We are always a little anxious when our visas are being renewed because they keep our passports while they are being renewed; we cannot leave the country if an emergency arises. We were able to “fast track” the process by paying a fee. The fee included sending the passports to Tamale so we did not have to make another trip to Accra. We got our passports back in 4 weeks instead of 6-8 weeks. We were able to get a 3 year visa this time; that is a blessing!
The congregation at Kulkpeni has given us the go ahead to hold the seminar this year. We are still under a mask mandate so we will provide the attendees with a mask everyday to comply with the law. It has been 2 years since we have had the seminar due to the Covid and everyone is looking forward to attending it.
The month of September usually brings us our heaviest rainfall before the dry season starts to move in the month of October. It makes traveling treacherous and dangerous. Four of the men that came to the monthly class are from the Saboba area; they had to hire a canoe to carry them and their motorcycles across the flooded area. I was quite surprised to see 30 men who were able to attend this month. During class there was a 10 minute period that Timothy and I had to stop teaching because it was raining so heavily that we could not hear anything except the rain. The church buildings don’t have ceilings in them so the rain hitting the metal roofs make for a deafening noise that drowns out anything that you say. The men reported at class that 17 people were added to the Lord’s Church by baptism and 5 were restored to the Church. This month’s lesson was a continuation of the “Husband’s responsibility to the Home”.
In September we visited the congregations of Kapande, Sobitido, Sakpei, and Kulkpeni. Timothy Niligrini’s brother passed away so we were not able to visit Kapande on the 4th . We worshiped with Kulkpeni instead.
Kapande’s building was looking very good. They have put a lot of time and money into the structure. We were able to provide money for paint and brushes so they can finish the work.
At Sobitido on the 18th we had an exceptionally long Bible study class answering questions that the brethren had. Timothy and I love questions because it is a good way to find out what is going on with the church. The brothers said they wanted to put up a cement block building. We agreed to provide money for the cement if they provide the gravel or sand to make the blocks and pay for the mason’s work. They were more than happy to agree to the terms.
Shortly after we arrived at Sakpei on the 26thwe met a young male church member that squatted using his hands to help walk because his legs were crippled. After worship service we asked him if he would like to have a handicapped tricycle. He was very excited about the prospect of being able to get around in a more dignified way. We promised to send him a handicapped tricycle the next Friday. Friday could not come quick enough for him. On class day we sent the tricycle back with Brother Joseph. He managed to tie the tricycle on the back of his motorcycle. We gave Joseph the money we would have given the bus driver.
Our continued “thanks” go out to all of you who support this work. “We couldn’t do it without you” is an old cliché but so very true concerning this work. May God bless each one of you!
In His service,
Stephen and Kandie Taylor
