Ghana Conferences
Dear Prayer Warriors,
I am so grateful for you all. Some of you I know and many I do not. Yet our Heavenly Father knows each of you, and whatever eternal reward is received for this ministry, you all share in that for all eternity. What a wonderful reunion that will be!
Your prayers had tremendous impact. The Lord answered in so many ways. For example, on my flight out of Dallas, a young Indian woman sat down in the middle seat next to me even though it was not her assigned seat. She was traveling with a young man and wanted to be seated next to him. When the man assigned to that seat boarded, he was happy to switch with her and take her window seat further back. Our Heavenly Father totally arranged that because we ended up in a long discussion on the gospel.
Upon my arrival in Ghana, I had an opportunity later that same day to be interviewed live on a local Ghana TV station to discuss the gospel and the Christian life. A pastor named Ebenezer, who listened to the broadcast, reached out afterwards to Cyprian for more information. He ended up attending the Pastors Conference at Bold Grace Bible Institute (BGBI) the following week.
The first pastors conference in the farming community of Kpeve went well. A small group of pastors and local congregants attended; they were very hungry for God’s Word. One pastor at the end of class told me that he disagreed with what I had taught regarding eternal security because true believers reach sinless perfection. Then he gave himself as an example. It was the first time I had ever encountered that.
At one point, due to questions asked, I spent extra time on sins of the tongue and the importance of not judging other believers (Matthew 7:1–2). At the end of the conference, the pastor came up and said that he especially appreciated the time spent on judging. He said that many in his congregation were wanting him to excommunicate others because of their sins and that excommunication is frequently used for that purpose.
One pastor brought his five young children. I was concerned that they might distract, but decided not to say anything unless it became an issue. His children had the best manners—they all remained in their chairs and were disciplined and quiet. I was amazed!
Back at Bold Grace Bible Institute the following week, we had our core group of pastors plus one older woman, named Sarah, who faithfully attends every time the doors are open for Bible teaching. She always sits on the front row and takes very detailed notes. She has a ministry with her family and children in her neighborhood.
Cyprian decided to let me do all the teaching since he is in Ghana and has many opportunities for teaching. Again, your prayers were answered with God the Holy Spirit providing the energy, focus, and recall necessary for the teaching.
This was my fourth trip into Ghana. One thing noteworthy is that the Ghanaian people seem to be very content even though their circumstances are nothing near what we have in America. Since Ghana has no government welfare system, everyone works. If you remember from the Doctrine of Work that Pastor Bobby taught a few years back, mankind is designed to work, and when we do that, there is contentment from a job well done. The Ghanaians are examples of that. Below is a picture of girls helping their mother carry bottles of water and other drinks home from the marketplace.
Ghana, like America, is a country of freedom with the right to own personal property. Interestingly, about 20% of construction for new homes never comes to completion. So uncompleted, unoccupied homes are everywhere (like the ones below). Since money in the bank loses value quickly due to inflation, Ghanaians, in essence, deposit it in land and the beginnings of a home to preserve the value of their capital. Good-paying jobs are scarce, so it can be 10 to 20 years or more before they have the funds to complete their new home project.
There is no place like America. Oh, that the citizens of our great country who hate America could spend a year living in Ghana to get some capacity for the advantages and privileges America offers. But even worse are believers who have no spiritual impact and are totally unaware of the advantages and privileges that our citizenship in heaven offers during our temporary assignment in this foreign land we call earth.
Cyprian is a very gracious host. Besides driving me to and from the airport, which can take up to 2.5 hours and is no easy task in Ghanaian traffic (think Houston traffic on steroids, with few lights and no real observed speed limit, and chaotic lane changes as the norm), he takes care of all of the logistics. Please continue to pray for Cyprian and his teaching ministry at Bold Grace Bible Institute.
Thank you again,
Terry Wilson and Cyprian Antwi Awuah
“The Lord your God goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go” (Deuteronomy 1:33).