A few weeks ago during the Sunday night service, Pastor Speer asked who we were thankful for inside the auditorium? I quietly thought to myself about how thankful I am to have the ladies in our church/school to translate for me. I then began to think of how thankful I am for the missionaries who came before me to teach the ladies in our church the Gospel, so that I, as a new missionary, would be able to start right away in sharing the Gospel. It also made me thankful for the person who taught them how to share the Gospel with children, so that while I teach the missionary story, someone else can share the Gospel with those who raised their hands during the invitation.

Life in Ghana is very busy. School is going well and seems to go quickly. I enjoy tutoring students in the younger classes. I’ve started a sentence activity with the older students; it’s great to see their creative writing begin. My twice-a-week Twi language classes are going well. It is interesting to see many things when I go to town, such as unique fruits and veggies, items being sold by the roadside, and much more.

I would like to thank those who have been praying for me. On March 12, I started not feeling well after tutoring in the three-year-old classroom. I thought it was bad middle-back pain from sleeping wrong the night before. After lunch, the pain seemed to be worse, and it also made breathing very hard. That night, I stayed home and rested, thinking the heating pad was helping so much. The next morning, I went to the hospital/clinic here for my first time. The doctor told me that I had pneumonia, and I was surprised. I’d never had pneumonia that caused pain like I was experiencing. I praise the Lord that after a few days, I had no more trouble breathing and was doing much better.

WOW! I thought I knew so much about the distractions of Bible Clubs being held on the street, but I was very wrong! At the first Bible Club we led, the children sat on the curb facing me. I could see the entire street, the sheep eating in the bushes, and numerous people walking by. It is interesting. Sometimes distractions come—like adults interrupting asking for candy, the vehicles playing music or people speaking extremely loudly, or vehicles driving by and blowing up dust—but I am thankful for the man who came in the middle of us teaching a new song to ask if we could start a Bible Club at his house, and I am also thankful for another man who came over in the middle of my Bible lesson to ask if someone could share the Gospel with him . . . and he accepted Christ! Another thing that I have learned in doing Bible Clubs here in Ghana is that every time I teach a song or missionary story, it’s important for me to share the Gospel message, because it’s surprising how many children will arrive randomly in the ending part of club when we are singing or during the missionary story. I am thankful for the many children who have heard the Gospel for their first time and accepted Christ as their Saviour. Please pray with me that these children will grow in Christ! Would you please pray for our SMITE camp here in Ghana April 28 – May 2? Several of our schoolteachers and teenagers are excited to attend. I also am excited to learn more and see how we are teaching young people to do Bible Clubs.

In my last letter, I asked you all to pray for my visa. When I came to Ghana, I got a 60-day-visa. I applied for the one-year visa as the next step. Well, today I got the visa! It’s official, I have my one-year visa. Praise God! I have another answer to prayer. I had been praying for my taxi driver Julius to come to church. Julius drove for some of my missionary coworkers before he started driving for me. Our church here in Ghana uses discipleship booklets that explain the Gospel and basic Bible truths from God’s Word. I gave Julius the first booklet, which talks about salvation. When he drives me to the store for my shopping, we’ve been talking for the past several weeks about what he has been hearing on the public radio and asking deep questions. Finally, after a few weeks of his saying he would come to church, he came for the first time on a Wednesday evening and brought his fiancée Valentina. When talking to some of the other missionaries, this had been their prayer request too.

Thank you for your prayers! So much has been able to happen because of prayers! I am also praying for you and your churches.

In Christ,

Larae Hoff