Baraka and Melanie Hall Prayer Letter: The Work and Workers

Mepa wo kyεw! Or in other words, “I beg for your forgiveness.” Please allow me to apologize for this long overdue update. These past four months have been our busiest season to date, and that’s an incredible understatement. As we stated in our last prayer letter, we have secured a new location for our church, which has been and continues to be a whirlwind of work for us. What we didn’t mention yet is that we were preparing to move out of our apartment into a house. Yes, we are indeed crazy, as both locations have needed such a great deal of work, but we are really pleased with the outcomes.

“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.” (Psalm 122:1) In April, we began meeting at our new location on Sundays only because the room we had planned for Wednesday night services was not quite finished. Praise God, at the beginning of May, we fully moved into our property. This has been such an answer to prayer. We thank God for your faithful support and the faithfulness of our Deaf members’ giving toward our building. This month we are in the process of putting on the finishing touches, such as plastering and painting, securing the property, putting up signs, and building a permanent platform and a baptistery. We cannot wait to get the baptistery waters stirring again.

“For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” (I Corinthians 3:9) As we are thrilled to have a building, we are even more thrilled to have laborers in God’s house. We have now hired two men to work on staff. This is truly a crucial step for our ministry and one we didn’t want to rush into hastily. In Ghana, men and women literally work 10–12 hours a day, 6–7 days a week just to make a meager living. This makes it incredibly difficult to teach and train ministry workers, soul winners, preachers, and church planters. The men of our church have stepped up and have sincerely partnered with my family and me to accomplish God’s work by giving every spare minute they have to serve, learn, and grow. They often take time off of work, losing money for their families, to serve alongside of me. Please allow me to introduce our new staff members.

Bro. Ali Rashid is a man with a passion for souls. He comes from a Muslim family. Bro. Jason Maloney of First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana, was able to witness to him two years ago at our first Deaf Conference when he came as our speaker. He has since become a master soul winner, leading many to Christ. He has a servant’s heart and is very humble and teachable.

Bro. Jonathan Osei Poku came to us about the same time as Bro. Ali did. He comes from a Baptist heritage but, unfortunately, didn’t have the communication skills to understand the full truth about salvation. He has an incredible knowledge and thirst for the Word of God. He, too, has become a master soul winner and a fine preacher.

Please continue to pray for the completion of our church property. We also ask for your prayers that God will work in the heart of the landlord to sell us this property. He does give us a considerable discount as long as we do the work to beautify the property. The property is actually in a prime location for our church, being that it is centrally located in Kumasi and very near to our team.

We covet your prayers, as we are now preparing for our team’s annual Pastors’ and Workers’ Conference to be held August 10-13. The theme is “Building Stronger Marriages.” If you remember prior to the pandemic, we conducted our first Deaf Conference to coincide with our team’s conference. Our Deaf members genuinely profited and enjoyed it very much. We are planning to have it again, focusing on marriage, as it is truly needed among the Deaf here. Unfortunately, it is all too common for Deaf people here not to even know the true definition of marriage because of the lack of communication, much less what it takes to have a God-honoring, successful marriage. So again, please pray! We have invited the Deaf Pastor at First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, Bro. John Cooper, and his wife Jane to come and teach. We are looking forward to what the Lord will do!

Our school ministry has expanded. Now that we have Bro. Ali and Bro. Jonathan on staff, I am thankful to report that we have a school ministry to the residential school for the Deaf in Obuasi (about two hours from us) every Friday instead of once a month. Madam Genevieve, the headmistress, is thrilled to have us. The men are preparing and teaching each week. We may not be able to have Junior Church on our church property, but we do bring Junior Church to 40-plus Deaf children and school staff each week. Please keep Madam Genevieve and her school in your prayers. This school is a real blessing to our ministry, and we pray that we can be a blessing to theirs as well.

We are so thankful for your prayers and faithful support. Please continue to pray for our health, both physical and mental, as we continue to press on. We need our strength from God day to day.

Your co-laborers for Christ,

Rocky, Melanie, Rocky II, Malachi, Tyler, and Marissa