I thoroughly enjoy serving with my family here in Ghana. Ben is 1½ and says umbra to remind me to take an umbrella each time we go to church. (We’re in the rainy season.) Faith will turn 3 on November 20, and is so thoughtful that she says, “Thank you, Mommy, for the breakfast” at lunch and at dinner too. Joy turns 7 on November 4, loves reading, and is doing great in first grade. John is 11. He is learning to play the piano, loves to tell jokes, and will be in two different Christmas plays this year. Maria is an excellent partner in life and in the ministry; Ben and Faith keep her pretty busy nowadays.
Maame Serwah
Have any of you ever known a delightful but feisty grandmother? Maame Serwah is such a lady. She is about 70 years of age and lives with her daughter, Elizabeth Antwi, who is an extremely faithful church member. Maria was visiting Elizabeth and met her mother several weeks ago. Maria learned that some of our soul winners had spoken to Maame Serwah about the Gospel; Maame would seem to understand, but the next time a soul winner spoke to her, Maame would again profess good works. Now that Maria has gone through the Gospel with her a couple of times, Maame professes faith in Christ alone. We thank the Lord for opening her eyes.
Maame at first told Maria that she would never come to our church because she has been in the Methodist church all her life, but then the next Sunday morning, she walked to church AFTER her daughter Elizabeth had left. When she arrived, she did not see Maria because Maria was working in the nursery. So Maame got mad and walked back home! Another Sunday she got part of the way, but the rain had made the ground wet and the rocks slippery, so she turned around and went back home. This past Sunday she took a taxi to church and found Maria!
Nana
We went soul winning in Ampambame this past Saturday. John and Eugene (one of our church teens) started witnessing to a young girl named Abena. I went to visit Nana Kwadwo Asante (age 72). He had missed several weeks due to illness. That Saturday he had just received word that his younger brother (age 60) had passed away. This younger brother’s twin, Atta Agyemang, was there with Nana. I decided to ask Nana about his salvation again; he answered that one must obey the commandments in order to go to Heaven. His brother Atta agreed. Julius, my soul-winning partner, and I spent over an hour explaining the Gospel to them, and I believe they understood.
As evidenced by Maame Serwah and Nana Kwadwo Asante, it is very challenging to get through to these elderly folks who have been taught all their lives that one must be good to go to Heaven, but the Gospel is so powerful! By the way, Abena also got saved! Amen. Keep praying for us!
Michael, Maria, John, Joy, Faith, and Ben