October 2000
Dear Hull Congregation and FMC and other Churches:
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We
have nearly brought to conclusion another very
busy and a very eventful month. We have experienced in many ways the Sovereign care
of the living God
over the labors here for this we praise Him. The Missionary and his wife and the
Boumas have enjoyed the
many expressions of concern, of prayers, of love shown to us again in this past
month. And we are very much
pleased with the faithful labors of Hull’s Council and of the FMC in their labors
with a view to the field here in
Ghana. It is a great help to us on the field to know and experience that the ruling
bodies are striving in their
labors for the welfare of the Missionary and his helpers and for the development of the
field through the faithful
preaching of the word.
Every day but Monday is filled with
some sort of worship or study activity. Most of the extra activity that
we have on Saturday is limited to the teaching of children and young people in morning and
some afternoons.
Mondays for the large part lately are spent with official work with the government offices
or with the Chief of
Ashaley Botwe. We do usually try to take a part of Monday to do some shopping and a
little relaxation. The
pace continues to make the weeks fly by and we have had a somewhat hard time keeping up
with all the
emails, so if you have emailed me I will get back to you as soon as possible. Please
do not use this as an
excuse not to write us, we very much enjoy your notes either large or small. Some of
the letters from the
people of our calling Church in Hull have kept us up with the activities in our home
congregation and these are
very welcome and appreciated.
The other activity that has occupied much
of our Missionaries time is the visiting of the people that
worship with us, and doing some local evangelism in the area especially of Ashaley
Botwe. It becomes
obvious that the people really enjoy this and need this as they can express their concerns
and ask questions
about the teaching of the Scripture that they have heard on Sunday or considered with us
on a Bible Study. It
is also obvious it seems that if I were spend even more time with evangelism visits in
Ashaley, but also in other
areas we would have the fruit that some would also come and worship with us that have not
done so yet. This
does not mean they would continue to come, but many have stayed faithful in their worship
over many months.
This brings to mind two things. The first is that we will need a second missionary
soon to help with the labor in
Ghana. And secondly, it will be very helpful when we obtain a residence in the area
of Ashaley Botwe for then
it will be easier to spend some more time with those of the area in which our church shall
be located. In
these visits we spend time speaking of the teaching of the Scripture, and do pray for
those we visit often. We
also grow in the understanding of the spiritual needs of the people, and being as many are
quite poor we also
try to lead them in a proper Scriptural understanding of the lot that God has chosen to
give to them. Further,
we do encourage them to labor faithfully both in their daily labor and in Spiritual
things.
By the way many of these visits the Missionary
makes in homes where English is not very well heard.
But between my small understanding of the Akan and their small understanding of the
English we can manage
a visit for twenty or thirty minutes. I hear more than I speak as of yet. The
reason that I do not have a greater
knowledge of the Akan is time mostly, also the Ghanaians are trying to teach “an old
dog new tricks,”
However, we do manage quite well, as a whole in most houses there is someone that hears
the English to a
sufficient extent, and the Akan or Twi is becoming more known to me. When we have
something special that
must be carried out in instruction in one of these homes then often I will take brother
Acheampong with me to
interpret.
This brother is known in the area of Ashaley as
pastor Acheampong and since coming to us and
coming under the preaching for many months, plus having much personal instruction by our
Missionary he has
grown very much in the reformed faith. This is a great help to our ministry
here. He understands the
necessity of being discrete and of being very accurate in his interpretation of what is
spoken by myself. He
also is able to receive reproof or instruction with much humility and thankfulness,
something we should all
learn to do better.
While I have emphasized our labors in Ashaley
Botwe in this newsletter, we still have a very faithful
attendance by those in the area of Hatso, and we have also new people from this area
coming to worship with
us, and have done so for repeated times. Last week I believe it was I took home
three carloads to Hatso,
which was the largest number from this area coming all on the same Sunday. These
seem quite content in
understanding why we are moving to the area of Ashaley and have expressed repeatedly that
they will strive to
continue with us when we move. This will mean that they will be the ones that must
travel the greater distance
then. We pray that they will continue faithfully with us. Many of these have
been coming to worship with us
for near to or over a year.
As stated earlier I have had many meetings with
the chief of Ashaley Botwe, known as the Nii of
Ashaley Botwe and with lawyers and the government agencies in connection with the
obtaining of property for
our church building. We began this work with the chief in June, and I have visited
him at least fifteen times in
the time since. It took about three weeks to get to the point where the Nii believed
that we were someone that
he would like to “sell” the property to. And then another week or so to locate
property that was of the size that
we desired and in a place that he believed would work well for us and with which we would
also believe would
be good. It had to be a piece of property that he and the ruling families could or
would designate Church
property. After this then we had to make arrangements for taking the surveyor to the
property to measure the
plots and then make the site plan. Then it took two weeks before the site plan was
ready, then we paid for the
property, the chief gave it to us for a little under half of the going rate. He
liked us and trusted that we would
be good for his community. Then the legal indentures had to be prepared, it seemed
that this would only take
a short while, well in fact it was a couple of more weeks until the indentures were made,
and then the chief
informed us that he would have to have it signed by six others, mainly the heads or elders
of the royal families.
It took a month before the last signature was affixed and then we went to sign them and
then from their we
went to our lawyer to have him bring it to the High Court for its seal, and then to the
land evaluation office for
some taxes, and now the lawyer has it at the land registry for registration in the land of
Ghana. This is briefly
what took place to obtain the land, but now that process is principally done. I am
sure that I know the chief
better than many in Ashaley Botwe, and he knows me better than many in the village that he
rules. Now we
are also getting the building permits through some government agency and are proceeding
with the building.
John has kept almost frantically
busy since we received approval of our Hull Council and the FMC to
proceed with the work in the second week of September. John is so busy because he
will be returning to the
States on October 11 and he desires to have direction for the labor on the building while
he is gone. We have
placed a storage shed with extra room for someone to stay on the property. Here the
building materials will be
stored while the building is being constructed. Afterward it will serve as storage
for various items out of the
finished building and equipment. The septic tank is being dug; this was one of the
first things, because we
can store water in it while making concrete block and for the construction of the church
building and security
wall. A surveyor has come out and shot the elevations so that John can get the
preliminary work done in
setting up the property for the foundation of the church walls, etc.
Of course, I believe that many know that
John and Judy are coming back to Ghana, so that John can
continue the work on the building until its completion. John will come back in the
middle of November and
Judy somewhat later. We are thankful for that, further we will have more time to
have other volunteers come
to this land and enjoy this labor with us. We are presently looking into the
possibility of locating two houses in
Ashaley Botwe so that the volunteers can have their own house to live in. We believe
that the cost of
obtaining the two will not be greater than the one we presently have. The reason
being that housing is that
much cheaper in the area of Ashaley as it is not as developed of an area as the one we are
presently dwelling
in.
We want to encourage our people to
join us in this labor. Let the FMC know by writing to Rev. Smit.
One final note we will have a committee of two elders visit us in November and we do
look forward to
this visit. In this way proper supervision will be carried out and we will be able
to show them what the Lord has
been accomplishing in this field.
May God continue to bless our churches and we
do especially remember Lynden as this congregation
passes through the present trial.
God bless you and keep you,
In Christ’s Service,
Your Missionary in Ghana,
Rev. Richard Moore and the Mission
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