Everyone has a Story

Every shape, size and color is present. From the ivory white of the Scandinavian to the ebony black of the West African, the jet black hair of the Chinese to the bright red hair of the Irish. People are sharing their stories. Faces are lite up with joy and the bystander can see head nod and eye brow raising and a million other cultural ways of giving agreement.

Language after language is heard, some in the clicking Xhosa, some in flowing French, even others in languages to exotic and rare to be named or described, but each one tells a story.

This last two weeks three stories where added to the ones that all believers will hear someday. Each one might one day be told in a different language: Kasim-Nankana, Nzema, or Asante, but the end will be the same, each person received eternal life.

The first stories main character is a a middle aged Nzema lady named Veronica. Veronica's sons have been attending our Bible study for over a year now, and because of her sons, she decided to attend a few months ago. After attending my wife started the Way of Peace Bible study with her. Veronica seemed to be very interested, and learned very quickly. Though she said that she had a lot of questions, she wanted to wait until the Bible study was completed. She told my wife that she knows from being a teacher, that many times questions will be answered if the student will just listen.

The weeks quickly passed and the truths of salvation began to become clear, but still though Veronica knew that she was as sinner it was hard think about dying and what would happen afterwards. No one naturally wants to think about a subject that for many brings doubt and fear.

This two weeks ago Veronica became sick. At first she thought that it was just a another case of malaria, but after two days it would not go away. Could it be more, she thought, as Wednesday came, the symptoms became worse. She told her husband to just go to work, and that she would stay home and rest. (Her husband is a teacher also). Her oldest son Moses had gone to school already, and her younger two boys where getting ready to go to school when she collapsed on the couch. She could not breath! So matter what she did, the air would not come. She felt the lungs closing, and her chest tightening! The two young boys just began to cry and say, "Mommy, don't die, please don't die!"

Veronica, said that only one thought kept coming to her mind, "If I die, then what!" She said that she prayed to God, "Please God let me live, and I will listen, I want to know how I can know what will happen to mean after death! Please let me live!" Just then as she finished her prayer, her lungs opened and she could breath again.

She told the boys to go to school, and she went off to the hospital. At the hospital they told her that she had typhoid, and gave her the proper medicine. By that Saturday, her strength had returned, and she was ready for my wife's visit.

After one hour of study, Veronica would not let Patty and Emily go. She kept asking question, and then told them the story. She told Patty that no matter how long it took, she wanted to understand that day. So after a few more hours of study, Veronica placed her faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and added her name to the Book of Life.

After some time of rejoicing and prayer. Patty told her to take care of herself, so that she could regain her strength, to this Veronica said, "I want to get better, but I am not worried about death anymore, so even if I don't, I am fine, because now I have peace!"

The second stories main character is a Kasim-Nankana man, that is a brother to one of our converts. He arrived in Kumasi a few months ago to gather enough money to start a farm in the north. His family has the land, but if he is to take care of his elderly mother, he would need to money to buy the seed crop for the farm. For this reason he came to Kumasi to stay with his brother.

Andrew and I knew that we only had a short time to reach him, since he was only planning on staying in Kumasi for four to five months. Bismark his older brother, started to bring him to Bible studies right away. Peter, for this is the name of this young ma, does not speak much Twi, since he is from the north, but luckily for us he speaks semi-fluent English along with his local language. Andrew began English Bible studies with him and worked at braking down the false Tradition and Charismatic teaching that had been filling his mind.

Last week on Friday, our little team made the two or three mile walk to they family shanty, hoping that Peter was around. This morning the Lord was at work, and Peter would be working the evening shift at work, so he was available to talk. Andrew sat with him in the small one room wooden house, as I spoke to his senior brother outside. After about two hours, Andrew and Peter came outside.

Peter is a fairly well built man, much like his brother. They both look like body builders, so when he came out with a child like grin, that a person would she on a young child in the United States at Christmas, I was hopeful. After greeting them, I asked Peter why he was so happy.

This is what he told me. "I am happy this day, cause I know truth now. Before I did not know, that a curse was over me, that I was a sinner, and that I could not brake curse with my own power, but now I knows that Jesus blood has broken this, and paid for my sins. He is my only hope, this is why I am happy."

Pray for Peter has Andrew and I seek to have him taught and baptized before he travels. Also pray for the Lord leading for him and us, after he travels to the north.

The finally story for today centers around an Asanta man named Asamoah. I have written about Asomoah and his accident in past journal entries. It has been almost a month since his accident, and the doctors have told him that he is fine for now. He does have a skull fracture, but the hospital has said that they want to wait for the swelling to reduce before they make any further actions.

This last week Asomaoah's story has had a good chapter added to it. Many people have been telling Asomoah that he has been cursed. That someone cursed his grandfather. They tell the family that the reason that they all drink so much is because of this curse, and until this curse is broken, they will never be free from it power.

Taking this idea, I took Asomoah to the Bible. I showed him that no one has cursed him, but that because of the sins of Adam and Eve, we all have been cursed. That this sin curse is in all of us, and covers and controls everything in this fallen world. I showed him that just like in traditional thought, the Bible says that forgiveness and the braking of this curse can only come through blood.

This teaching seemed to be making ground, but there where times that I was not sure how much his head injury was affecting his memory. But finally after tree weeks, the pieces began to fall in place. On Friday, while some young school children in America where praying for me and Asoamoah (I was told this by the teacher, that they where pray at the same time that I was witnessing)the Lord became to really open Asomoah damaged eyes.

After two hours he eagerly prayed and accepted Christ has his eternal hope. Afterwards I tried to encourage him to tell friends of the decision that he has made.

It is a joy to relive these three story again today, but it will be a greater joy to hear them again someday in heaven.

Complete Spiritual Family

My wife and I have come to another first in our time of ministry here in the new Bible Study. This last week one of the wives of our converts finished our "Way of Peace' Bible study and trusted Christ. With her conversion, this marks the first time in our current ministry that there has been a complete nuclear family that are converts.

Bismark and Matilda have been attending now for about six months. They attend Sunday on a regular basis and my wife and I visit then on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It has been amazing to see how God has worked in their lives. He allowed their son to get sick and almost die, so that they could see the power of God to answered prayer. (I read a book awhile back entitled "Power Quest', that spoke about this topic. The author said that for many Africans to grow in faith, either before they convert or after they will see faith in God tested so that they know God is more powerful they other things). He has allowed Matilda to providentially meet other Christians so that she could help her to see that being poor was not a curse. These things are just a few of the things that God has brought into their paths as they have come to faith in Him.

It is exciting to see a home that has been claimed for the the Lord. Now that they are saved, the next step is Matilda to be baptized (her husband was baptized in December). Also we are encouraged that though Bismark cannot read, each night, his wife reads to him. She has a junior secondary education, and can read basic English. After reading the Bible together they discuss the reading and try to understand it. Please pray that they will continue to follow the Lord. Pray that their son, Benedict will come to understand salvation when he is old enough. Pray that this small one room shanty that they live in, will be a place that God's light shines brightly. Pray that Bismark's younger brother Peter that has come to stay with them will listen and come to Christ.

The Way of Peace

Luke 1:79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

This was Jesus Christ's mission, and here in Ghana it is our mission also. We have been sent to guide people, to teach them the gospel truth's of the Bible so that they can understand salvation and be guided into the way of peace. Some say, but why is your family going? Are not the churches in Africa growing, are not many new 'converts' being saved each day. To this we say these verses...

Isaiah 59:8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.


Romans 3:17 And the way of peace have they not known:

Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

This path of peace is what they have sought for and not found. They have been given religion. I believe Africa to be one of most religious places in the world. They been given many things: The Word of God with no understanding, the works of spirits without the Holy Spirit, the Cross without the Redemption, the New Testament without the Old, and Christiainity without conversion!

But one thing that all these programs, aid groups, and denomational investors have not given is Peace- and along with it Love, Hope, and Joy!

The African might have a song on his lips, food in his stomach, and clothes on his body, which is all good, but he has NO PEACE in his heart!

Here in Africa peace is King. It is what is most sought after. Even in our past it was the highest virtue to obtain. One might not have had peace outside of his tribe, but he always sought for it inside his community. Even here in the Akan, our highest diety that interacted with man was Asasa Yaa. She is the goddess of Earth. Her rule was over the laws of community and her main concern was in mantaining order and peace. But, no matter how much the African wants it, weather he be Traditional, Muslim, or 'christian', the peace he seeks is always alluding him. He seeks to cover transgressions, but the heart boils. He seeks to gain favor for his life from the gods, or God, but peace never comes. It is a phantom that casts its shadow across the path, but can never be felt or seen. He works hard going to prayer camps, church meetings, even 'witnessing' to the lost. But no matter how many times he is delievered from spirits, no matter how long he speaks in tongues, not matter how much he obeys the commands of the missionary, it still does not come to his heart.

What they do not know is that this is not the way that they are to go. THE WAY that Christ has set before us, and given unto us, has not been shown to so so many here in these great lands.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Christ and His sacrifice can bring peace to these hungry souls.

Even those that know the truths of the Gospel and Divide the Word rightly, are so often bound by church practices and procedures that are so deeply rooted in Westerner Culture, instead of Bible Culture, that we never think to do more than copy the patterns that we have seen and heard in our Bible colleges oversea.

This is not intended to be a rant that is given about the wrongs of missions, but a post about the need of the people of this great continent. Even now as I write this post, I can hear the sound of singing. The children in the local school are singing and drumming. They sing loudly and speak in unison. They are not singing the old songs of the past, but new songs of the present. But, though I can hear the 'amens' of the students, and understand the 'praises' in Twi to Almighty God, I hear no peace. I see no joy. Once the drum beat stops, the pulse and excitement is reduced, so goes the happiness that is the only distraction that they have. The body is touched, but the spirit is empty.

For these our new people, we cry! We beg! For those that have been placed in a greater darkness. Not the darkness of witchcraft and magic, but the more dangerous and deadly darkness of the pre-dawn. In the early morning fog, where it is not quite day and not quite night. Here they sit filled with religion and DEATH! With Amens on thier lips and cruses in their souls! For these that are walking without peace we cry and ask... WHO will come and help?

Romans 10:13-15 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

The Light

(My wife read this off another missionary blog, and it was a very encouraging story. This story gives great hope. Though a person can wounder very far from God, it is encourage to be reminded, that if they are truly saved, the light will always be there. Once that light has been lite, it cannot be blown out!)



By Michael Dawson

I was speaking with Carlos from the village of Seducudawä. He paddled down to bring his wife to the medical dispensary as she had been stung on the foot by a large stingray and was in a lot of pain. Carlos, at one time had been one of our most promising believers in Seducudawä and was a big witness for the Lord there. His grandfather, uncle and younger brother were all powerful witchdoctors but we had believed the power of Christ had allowed him to break the cycle. Then a number of years ago he had an affair and later on divorced his wife and married the other woman and since that time has not wanted much to do with us. Then about 4 years ago he almost died with malaria but slowly recovered. After his recovery he attended one of our seminars and publicly made things right with the Lord and the church here, but for some reason, as soon as he returned to Seducudawä he fell off the deep end. The next thing we knew, everyone was saying he had become a witchdoctor. It is hard not to take these defeats personally and frankly, setbacks like this are always hard to take, so we were feeling very defeated as far as both Carlos and the work in Seducudawä was concerned. So I was surprised when he came in yesterday and sit down to talk with me. For the last three years or more our relationship has been strained and cold, to be honest, he mostly has avoided us.

I invited him in and after some small talk I asked him how he was really doing. "Not good" he admitted. I am not happy anymore. "Yes, I heard you had now become a 'shaboli,' (a witchdoctor)" I told him. He shook his head no. "I tried," he admitted, "but I just never could make it. I chanted and chanted, the jecula came close and taught me many chants to use, but they kept telling me I had to get rid of the light. I made my heart as dark as I could, I took dope almost non stop, I chanted all night long but every time the spirits would approach me the small little light in my heart was still shinning and would neither go out nor go away. I did all I could do, but the spirits finally even just quit coming. So to answer your question, I am not a witchdoctor but I did try."

"What do you think the light was?" I asked him. "I know it is God's Spirit. In spite of all I have done, HE has never left me, so the jecula would not come. My heart is so heavy, but I just don't know what I can do." God's Word says if we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins." I told him. "Pray for me." he said, "I need to take my wife home, but I will come back and talk some more soon." he told me.

Practical Advice About Gospel Context and Presentation-

The way that a person visions the world is very important. Each culture is built from a collection of its experiences, religions, environment, and history. These elements greatly influence how the person in that culture sees teaching and communicating. What is a virtue in one culture can be a curse in another. What is a taboo in speaking can be an appealing plea in another. The missionary needs to learn these things, and adopt new styles (inside Bible guidelines) so that he can be an affective communicator.

Let’s give a few examples to paint the picture.

In China, if a missionary starts preaching to a follower of the Tao Te Ching, and he tells him, that John 14:6 says “I am the way”, he is telling the Chinese man, that Jesus said, “I am the Tao”. He will not think about God, but will contact this statement to his current religion, for in China, Tao is the WAY!

If a missionary is preaching in Japan, and is trying to communicate to an audience and starts by stating a theory and then moves to the practical application, most people will be gravely insulted, and will not hear another word that he is saying. In Japan, if a person moves from theory to practical, or practical to theory, he is telling the audience that they are so stupid that they can not think things through.

In the case of working with the Sawi people in West Irian, missionaries Don and Carol Richardson, found it difficult to communicate the message of Christ to the Sawi people. They discovered that when the spoke of Judas betrayal of Jesus, the people where very interested and attentive, because in their culture treachery was an appealing and high virtue.

This portion is taken from a conversation between missionary George W. Peters and Bakht Singh, (how was a former Hindu leader, and is now a pastor and conservative evangelist). They where talking about how Singh starts to witness to people.

As we talked about evangelism and a message for India, I asked him: “When you preach in India, what do you emphasize?” “Do you preach to them the love of God?”
“No,” he said, “not particularly. The Indian mind is so polluted that if you talk to them about love they think mainly of sex life. You do not talk to them about the love of God.”
“Well,” I said, “do you talk to them about the wrath of God and the judgment of God?”
“No, this is not my emphasis,” he remarked, “they are used to that. All the gods are mad anyway. It makes no difference to them if one more is angry!”
“What do you talk to them about? Do you preach Christ and Him Crucified?” I guessed.
“No,” he replied, “they would think of Him as a poor martyr who helplessly died.”
“What then is your emphasis? Do you talk to them about eternal life?”
“Not so,” he said, “if you talk about eternal life, the Indian thinks of transmigration. He wants to get away from it. Don’t emphasize eternal life.”
“What then is your message?”
“I have never yet failed to get a hearing if I talk to them about forgiveness of sin and peace and rest in your heart. That’s the product that sells well. Soon they ask me how they can get it. Having won their hearting I lead them on to the Savior who alone can meet their deepest needs.”

From these examples it can be seen that each missionary needs to study his host culture and its modes of communication if he is really going to learn how to communicate the gospel successfully to his people group.

Here are a few points of practical advise to aid the reader:

1. Try to learn about the People Group that is trying to be reached:

Here are a few sample groups-
The Naturalist Worldview- this includes all atheist and many Agnostics
The Tribal Worldview- This includes all African, Australian, Asian, South American, North American, and Island Tradition Religious groups. (This group is the largest in the world, making up 40% of the world's population, and is diverse in formers and names, but startlingly similar in thinking, ideas, and focus)
The Hindu-Buddhistic Worldview- This includes many of the far east religious branches and splinter groups.
The Chinese Worldview- Includes the follower of Lao-tzu and Confucius
The Monotheistic Worldview- this includes Jews and Muslims
The Syncretism and Mutli-religion Worldview- very common in the first world, and third world.

2. Learn the Language:
This seems simple enough. Most missions agencies seem to push this concept, but in reality this teaching only goes so far. In many countries of the world, there are national languages, and then local languages. This is true from Hong Kong, to Morocco, and from Brazil, to Ghana. Most nations of the world have in the past been controlled by a foreign power, and with that control came an official language. Many times this language is the language of business and school, but not the language of home and heart. The most striking evidence of this truth is seen in Africa. Most mission boards and agency will encourage a missionary going to Togo to learn French, since it is the national language. But, once the missionary has mastered that language, he is not seen as Togolese, but a Frenchmen. If he is to communicate to the hearts of the people, he will need to learn one of the local languages, such as Ewe or Hausa.

3. Ask the Meaning of Terms and Use Definitions
Ask questions, find out what the people think words mean. This is important anywhere in the world. Just because something means something to the person speaking, does not mean that is what it means to others.

Let me give an example- We met a young lady that is from South Africa. She was attending a Bible school in the capital, and was visiting Kumasi. She was living with our neighbors for a while, and my wife and I had a good opportunity to witness to her and talk to her.
One day while we where talking she told us this funny story. She was telling us about culture shock, and said that one thing that really bothered her when she first came was hand-gestures. Here, in Ghana, when ever a person wants to show respect, they will make the hand gesture in sign language for please: which is done by striking the top of the hand to the palm of the other hand. Most people will do this, when they are asking for something. Mary, this South African girl, said that this had totally shocked her, and offended her at first. She, told us that in South Africa, this is a very lud gesture, and if a man makes the sign to a women, then he is asking to sleep with her. Needless to say the first time a man made this sign, she was very angry.
So, as a missionary, before we start speaking and using body language we need to ask what these things mean.

4. Take time
It is never wasted time, when a missionary takes time to learn about his people group before he begins to teach and preach. In most nations, this time waiting is facilitated by having to learn the language, but in nations where the missionary can use his own national language, time should be taken to first learn about the people, before he rushes off to reach them.

5. Teach people the foundation of the Bible
Once a person has truly learned about salvation, and with some people groups before, they should be given a proper foundation in the progression of the Bible. Many missionary unknowingly divide the New Testament from its Jewish Old Testament Worldview, and do not understand why their people just take Christ and place him into their own worldview. The basic point is this, we are willing to teach Bible stories to children in Sunday School, but forget that many of the adults that we are reaching have never heard these stories clearly.

One should also keep in mind the question by a Shintoist who asked, “If you want us to understand the Christian way, why do you not open your Holy Book to the beginning and start there?”

6. Study different gospel approaches
There are many groups that have different ways of presenting the gospel without changing the message. New Tribes, Regular Baptist Press, the Divine Drama 1 and 2, along with many others are examples of different ideas. The key here is not to merely tell Bible stories, but to tell “HIS-story” and to lay the foundation for redemption. I personally suggest using a format that best suits the readers personal situation, and then modifying it to better suit their ministry and focus.

7. Listen to the Holy Spirit
This should probably be at the beginning of the list. The missionary needs to be very sensitive to God and His Spirit. No plan is flawless. He needs to be personally reading his Bible and praying, and asking God to guide him in his ability to reach his people group.

8. Let people pray on their own
This point is very important when reaching people influenced by African worldviews. In a society where social pressure and peace in the group is king, many people will just repeat a prayer, to keep peace or because they feel it is required. The best practical advise that I have seen, is that if the person is not serious enough to pray on their own, or do not know enough of the basics to do so, they are just praying for the leader, not themselves. This point also stands true with African peoples in other parts of the world.

9. Ask Questions, in ways that do not have a yes or no answer
The best way to gather real knowledge of the person’s understanding is to ask the right questions. As I have learned from personal experience, many times trying to lead a person to the decision to follow Christ, the gospel presenter is guilty of asking shallow questions. Many times this happens, because the person presenting, wants a decision more than really knowing if the person understands the message being presented. When the gospel giver is talking, ask open ended questions, that allow the other person a chance to express their thinking.

10. Let the ‘learner” do the talking
This is very hard for me, since I like to talk so much, but it is very important. Let them talk, sooner or later, the teacher will become the learner, and will gline very important information that can aid his teaching.

11. Use story methods
Most people in the world are not fully literate. Use story methods to convey truth. This is what Christ did, and it is very affective in the developing world, and inter-cities of the first world.

12. Understand how the people group learns-
Every group gains and learned new information differential. Study and find the way that local teachers present knowledge. Find successful public communicators and try to study the style or form in which they communicate. Find out if they think from practical to theory, or theory to practical, so on and so forth.

The point of it all is the communicating of the truths of the Word of God, and Jesus Christ, in ways that are understood by the local people in their own context. This will help the missionary to be seen as reaching people where they are at, instead of seeming to present a foreign gospel that only speaks of foreign problems. If the world is to be reached, it must be reached by people that have really been changed, and have embraced the gospel as their own.

*** For further study in Cross Cultural Communication- the reader can prices David J. Hesselgrave’s book. It is available at http://www.amazon.com/.

(EXTRA POINT)- The reason most missions have adopted African Traditional Music styles (i.e. drumming, dancing, and performance, that is straight out of ATR) is that they present such a foreign Gospel, that the people complain of the church being non-African. The missionary without knowing that his gospel presentation and preaching is based more on Western style and thought progression, moves to a less dangerous area in his mind, music. Soon he adapts his music forms to ATR music, and then social harmony seems to return.

Little Steps

(NOTE- THERE IS IS A NEW BLOG THAT I POSTED CALLED--NO MORE RAMADAN. (BECAUSE OF THE DATE THAT I STARTED IT, IT IS A FEW POSTS BACK, JUST CLICK ON THE NAME ON THE BLOG TITLES)

Matilda is a 25 year old women that has been attending our Bible studies. She was raised as a Traditional Religious follower, and is related to Dora. She has attended our Sunday Morning Salvation Bibles and is very close to understanding salvation. I wrote about her husband a few blogs ago, he has trusted Christ, and we are hoping that she will soon join him.

The hardest things with Matilda has been that she has attended many Charismatic churches, which has hindered her progress. But, despite this she has been faithfully attending with her husband. It has been amazing along the way to she her taking baby steps.

Sunday was a great day! We where able to see alot of baby steps at one time, and it encouraged us. After our first hour of study time, Matilda gave my wife a booklet, and some papers that looked like tracts. At first my wife just thought that they where Pentecostal books that some many people here hand out, but she was surprised. Matilda works at a transportation station. She sellers cokes and energy drinks off a buck on her head, to help her family with money. The station is very busy, and the work bring in pretty good money. Well, on Saturday, she saw a man handing out booklets and he when he came to where she was selling, he asked her what church she went to. She told him that she was a Baptist. After hearing her answer, he told her that he was a Baptist also. He gave her a booklet, and some tracts. When she showed the booklet to Patty on Sunday, Patty read the back. And not only was the national man a Baptist, he had been lead to Christ and trained by a Fundamental Missionary in Nigeria (he was a Nigeria on a trip to Ghana). It was a great testimony to her, and it helped to encourage her to take more steps to faith in Christ.

The other amazing thing that we have seen in her life, even before her salvation, has been a teachable spirit. A few weeks ago we finished teaching about tongues speaking. As we finished our study on 1 Corinthians 14, we showed that God forbids women to speak in tongues. In the passage it also talks about women asking questions in the church. The passage says that if a women is married and she has a question, she should ask her husband, and learn at home. After hearing this, Matilda, has started doing something very strange for a modern Ghanaian women. She has decided to submit to the teaching, and to her husband. Sunday when she had a question, she asked her husband first, and when he did not know the answer, she let him ask the church in her place. It was just so amazing to see. We had not pounded on this point, we had just made it in passing, in the weeks before. But, it was amazing to see her sensitive nature to the teaching. They are trying their best to learn. The encourage thing was that the question was about John chapter 3. They had been reading it together, Bismark had tried to explain it to Matilda, but she had not understood. She thought that it meant that she needed to be born again in the womb physically. She was confused. So we had a great opportunity to witness again about the gospel. It was great to see Bismark, nodding the whole time with understanding.

Please pray for her. My wife and I are hoping to get to speak with her about accepting Christ on Tuesday.

How we go on Visitation in Africa

Visitation-
Here we have come to follow more the Lancaster Baptist Church, idea of visitation. As a person can see from the pictures, there are always tons of people around their homes. Given the social climate of Ghana, no one will turn a person away that wants to talk about the Bible, even if they are totally uninterested. Given these facts, our visitation program is done in the following manner:

1. We hand out tracts to as many people as we can. (In taxis, tro-tros, and at town).


2. We visit from door to door, room to room, and person to person. We try to give each person that we see or meet a piece of gospel literature. Then we invite them to our Bible studies. (We focus on the location that is closest to their current location).

3. After the person attends the group Bible studies, we gain information about their home and community. Then if possible try to start the first Bible studies with them, during our main Bible study time.


4. After they attend our Bible studies, someone will bake a loaf of bread (this is part of the cultural make-up) and we will bring it to the home thanking the person for attending. And will set up a weekly time to start personal Bible studies with the person and his family if possible.

5. After about 5-6 weeks of Study, either one of two things will happen. The person will see the difference of our gospel from that of their church, religion, or cult and start to run away because of conviction, or they will be very open and ready to receive Christ. (These Bible studies are mostly based on 5 story in the Old Testament, and they culminate with Christ on the cross, and His fulfillment of each story, i.e. Abraham and Isaac, Passover, Brazen Serpent, so on).


6. By this time we have developed a new but strong relationship with this convert, and we step right into the discipleship role. We followed the normal steps of baptism, Bible reading, and church attendance. Once a person becomes baptized, and is attending weekly, we try to connect them to the people attending in their area, and allow the group to help continue their growth.


This is not the only way, but is the way that we have found to be very effective for our ministry here in the culture of Ghana. The Bible Study method does extend the time that it takes to give the gospel to people, but we have found that it greatly aids the growth of the new converts. Currently about 40% of our total converts get baptized, and 80% of the people that attend group Bible studies, will get baptized.

This past week has been great. Sunday night Bismark, one of the men that attends our weekly Bibles trusted Christ as his Savior. Pray for his wife that she will trust Christ also. Also Dennis trusted Christ as his Savior during the week at a personal in home Bible study. Pray for Dennis, we wants to marry the women that he has fathered a child with, and also wants her to attend services.

African Rainstorms

How does one find the words to describe an African rainstorm?

I guess one most start with the word- African. One thing that all Africans know, is that this continent (it is not a country by the way, no matter what Paris Hilton thinks) is a land where nature always deals in absolutes. From the Sahara Dessert, with it scorching hot sun, to the dense rain forest of Congo; Africa is all or nothing! Flooding or draught, heat or cold, war or peace.

I think that this extreme nature, is what is so appealing. In this modern world of homogenised, chemical infused, plastic covered life, people are drawn to this mystic land of raw, undiluted, intensity. The blessing and curse of Africa is this intangible gift, INTENSITY! If I could brand the nature of Africa with a quote it would be from the Bible, Ecclesiastes 9:10 "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might...".

So, when the reader hears the words "African Rainstorm", please do not imagine the little sprinkles of the outside world, he must think of an AFRICAN Rainstorm.

Now to the next word... rainstorm. This word is made of two parts, rain and storm, of which I will deal with the former first. As I read from a Polish journalist once, I wish Africa could have been described and recorded in it's own words, for our western words seem to give it such injustice. Words like 'foliage', 'Savannah', and others just do not seems to truly grasp the meaning, or paint the proper pictures. So is the case with the word 'rainstorm'. This elicits the idea of claps of thunder, and rain fall. But the rainstorm here is so much more than that! Picture this...

First the rain drop- here the drop is not even that, it is not a small piece of water that falls from the sky. It is as if the sky is dropping cannon balls of water on earth seeking to pound the ground into submission. One direct hit in this kind of rain storm, and the victim is dripping, three or more and even the person's sock are wet (if he is wearing any). This is African rain, intense, constant, heavy. When rain comes, the sound is deafening. The percussion of sounds removes all sound, but that of the thunder. It is the sound of a million tribal drums, beating off every zinc roof, and concrete slab.

Next the word storm...
The African equation for storm is: wind + lightening/thunder = storm

First wind-
The African rainstorm's wind makes the umbrella thoroughly useless. This wind seemed to be demonic in its creativity. It moves all places at the same time. It is intense at times like a hurricane, bending the palm trees, but then it will stop, seem calm, and then change directions in an instant, and begin to swirl and twist. It does not howl, it blows, with such intensity at times, that a person must wonder if it is trying to take everything along with it. The wind pushes until every last trace of heat is siphoned from the ground, and a slight chill enters the air, the kind that only comes to West Africa after a rainstorm.

Last the lightning and thunder- So much less thunder, then lightening, but the few explosions are so intense that they rattle your bones. They rebound in the ears like the thudding of fireworks on 4th of July. But, overwhelming these sounds, are the lights. hundreds of bolts of heated light! Jagged lines that cut through the sky, and lighten the densely dark sky with a flash of bright light. They do not drop from the sky, they pass in all directions. Side to side, top to bottom, it even bends at times going first to the side, then down, and finally up.

All these put together helps a person to understand just what someone means when they say the words, "African Rainstorm."

Sunday at church we had such a storm. The rain disturbed our attendance, but not God's working. Pastor Andrew was able to witness to a adult man that has been attending the services. We are thrilled to say that Bismark trusted Christ. As Pastor Andrew was able to finish with Bismark, Joe and I, carried all our bench back to their storage place. Needless to say, after just one trip we where drenched. But, it was great, we where laughing the whole time, like two little boys playing in puddles. (We did play a little bit).

New Creatures in Christ

Part of this post is borrowed from Patty's blog.

Today I wanted to tell you about some of our new believers and ask you to pray for them!

This is Joe. He is an Asante. He is 14 years old and in junior high school. He was one of the first people that accepted Christ near our meeting place. He faithfully attends every Sunday morning and evening. He was also one of our first converts to get baptized. He has started reading through his Bible with the church reading program. Please pray for his spiritual growth.

This is Dora. She is a Kasina, from the northern part of Ghana and was raised in an animist home. She was raised worshipping idols and going to the "witch doctor" if there was a problem. She found no peace or fulfillment in this so when she moved to Kumasi a few years ago, she decided to attend church. Sadly, she found no peace there either. She tried many churches, but felt like most of them were no different than what she had been raised in - the music was the same, the thinking was the same, the attitudes were the same. The only difference between the churches and her old ways were the use of "Christian" terms for everything! Even though she has never been to school, she bought an English Bible and started teaching herself to read with a little help from the Indian people she worked for. John met Dora while inviting some girls at a sewing shop to come for the Thursday night Bible study. She started coming to the Thursday night study, and we began witnessing to her. She accepted Christ and was baptized. Her employer recently moved to the other side of the city so she now lives very far from the meeting area. She still faithfully attends every Sunday morning, but cannot come to any other services because of the distance. Please pray for her to get a job closer to the meeting area, and please pray for her continued growth.

This is Martha. She is a FraFra from the far north, near Burkina Faso. We met her through a bus driver we used during a missions trip last summer! The bus driver quit coming, but Martha didn't! She struggled greatly with fear, a common problem here, until she accepted Christ as her Savior a few months ago. She has not yet been baptized, and right now she is very sick. Please pray for her health, and pray, too, that she takes this important step of obedience at the end of August.

This is Fred. He is half Asante, half Nzema. He is a student at the city's Community College. He was raised in a Convention Baptist church, but had never heard the way of true salvation. He accepted Christ a little while ago, but is really struggling with baptism. He is heavily involved in a Charismatic Baptist Church, and it will be a big step to break with them. He loves coming to the Bible study, and he goes out witnessing every Saturday with John and Andrew (our co-worker). Please pray that he will let the Lord work in his life, and that he will follow God completely, even though that means breaking with his old church.

This is Richard. He is Asante. He has been attending all three Bible studies weekly for six months. Richard was Andrew's taxi driver. He decided to stay one week and listen, and after he told us that he had never heard the things that we talk about before. He has attended the church of Christ for years, but had left after feeling no peace. Richard speaks English and Twi very well, and has been successful in live. He has his own home, is married with three sons in school, and owns his own taxi. We began to pray for him to receive Christ. The main fear that we had, was his church back ground. It seemed that he was learning new things, but pride was seeming to keep him from admitting that he was unsaved and ignorant of Christ completed work. Well, finally after finishing some salvation studies at church, I decided to take Richard aside privately two Sunday nights ago.

To make a long story short, after about 45 minutes Richard accepted Christ as his Savior. Had had done most of the talking, (if the reader knows me, this will amaze him). Basically he told me of all the wonderful blessing God had given him in his life, and at the end, he said, "If God has been so good to me, I have only one thing left that I can do, ask him to be my Lord and Savior". So he did. Please pray for Richard, he seems to be at peace now. Pray that he will be willing to be baptized in five weeks.

Would you please pray for these people? Yes, they are new creatures in Christ, but Satan does not let go easily! Even though he can never take them to Hell, he wants them to live a life of defeat here on earth. He doesn't want them to grow or bring others to Christ. He wants them to "forget that they have been purged from their old sins" (paraphrase of II Pt. 1:9). All of these people carry much baggage already from their past. Pray that they can "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Pt. 3:18).

More than a Strong Foundation!

I saw this house on Wednesday when I was out on visitation, and decided that I had to take a picture of it. So I brought my camera along with me and took some of these pictures.

This house has an amazing story. I heard the story about two weeks ago. Here is the story: this year we have had a good rain season. The area that this house is located in is very near a river. Some of the people that attend our Bible studies live in this community, and whenever it rains heavily their homes fill with the flood waters and everything they own needs to be removed. Well, about two weeks ago, we had a very strong rain storm. It rained most of the day and almost all night. The river flooded, and the waters kept rising. David, one of the young men that attends our studies, said that on that night he woke up at 3:00 in the morning with 6 inches of water all over his house, and more water pouring in.



On that night this house fall down. A family was sleeping inside, when they felt the waters rushing in their room. They started to hear the roof make noise, and right before the house fell down on their heads, they ran outside.



See, here in Ghana, people build the foundation of buildings very strong, but many times they do not have time our money to build the walls well. Cement here has become very expenses, so when they make the blocks for the walls they will reduce the cement and increase the sand content. That sounds like a good idea if a house is in a dry area, but if a flood comes, that sand is not strong, and though the foundation is strong, the house will still fall down.



Foundation are very important, but they are not the only part of a house. Just because it has a strong foundation does not mean that the house is safe. Ask these people that used to live in this house!



Here is the point. As I was looking at this house, I started to think. Most missionary that I know really try hard to lay a strong foundation for their people. They make sure to preach Christ, and His death, burial, and resurrection, as foundation for Christian life. I have no doubt many of them try to build this foundation as deeply as they can. I just wonder if the things that we are using to build the rest of their lives after we lay the foundation, are made of quality materials.

I have learned as a missionary that it is possible to build people up cheaply and quickly, but just because they have a strong foundation, four walls, and a roof, does not mean that they are strong.



No plan is perfect, but I had to ask myself today: How am I building up God's people? As missionaries do we build our people by money, programs, activities, personality...
Or do we see people built by patience, pray, love, preaching, discipleship?



It is very easy to reach Africans, to get them to join something, to seem to follow the missionary and do his bidding, especially if the Africans feels his physically needs will be meet. But, is the blocks of his life strong. Will they stand the test of rain and storms? That is a hard question.

Yes, he or she cares their Bible to church, sings the song, and talks a good talk. But, what will they do when their child is sick unto death, or when they are in their home village for a funeral, or when the family calls them to go overseas to Europe? Will they seek the church to pray or will they go to the Fetish priest at night, like many 'christians'. Will they pour libations to the god's and ancestor, with the family, or take a stand for the Almighty God! Will they move to Europe and have no church and drift, or will they seek God's will, and go where He wants them to go! These are some of times that a missionaries will see how strong his people have been built.



Most people here do not buy pre-made blocks to build houses. Most of the pre-made blocks are just sand with a little bite of cement. If a person here wants strong blocks, they have to make them themselves, and after they are made they have to sit in the sun for quite a while. The hot sun will bake the bricks and help to harden them. Also after a few rains the person that wants to use the bricks will know if the bricks are strong or not. Once they are strong then they will build with them.



Basically it is the same way with people. Paul says in the Bible "Lay hands on no man suddenly!" This is Bible and good advise. Take every person as far as they can go, but do not built with them to quickly. Many new Christians need time to firm up. I hope that God helps me to be patient enough with His church, so that I will allow Him to build at His speed. If we will let Him build at His pace and in His way, then the foundation and blocks of His church and the lives of His people will be strong.



These last three pictures are just a couple of fun photos from our house.

When it Rains it Pours

The work here seems a lot like farming at times. There is a lot of preperation to do. The missionary tends the fields, weeds, and plants. The whole time he is praying for rain. He knows that all the labor of his hands are nothing if God does not send the rain. Sometimes it seems like it will never come; the intervauls between rain start to spread out. Then one day, he is outside working, and the rains come.

God blessed His work this week with some of that rain. Like the old saying says, "When it rains, it pours". This week we were able to see three people saved. It was like an African rain storm. One moment it is bright and sunny, the next minute, the sky is black, the wind is howling, and 2 inch rain drops are casacading down, and if a person does not find shelter in about three minutes, he is drenched from head to foot. (Nothing is done half way here, if it is is hot, it is real hot, if it is raining, it is really raining, etc.) That is how it seemed this week. We were working away, and all of a sudden the rain came pouring down.

Pastor Andrew and I have been having salvation Bible studies with a young community college guy named Fred. He has been attending all the Sunday services for the last few weeks. Saturday we went to his house and had a three hour study. At the end, all the pieces seemed to just fall into place, and we had the wonderful pleasure of hearing him asked God to save him. It was great!

For the last few months we have also been progressing through our salvation Bible studies with our Thursday night group. We have been praying for God to touch hearts. Last week on Thursday, I preached about the resurrection power of Christ over death. The people really seemed to listen. Martha (the young lady that Patty helped out last week) asked how a person can enter into this resurrecion power. I very clearly and plainly told her how a person receives Christ as Savior. I told everyone that if they wanted to speak to someone about trusting Christ, that they needed to speak with one of the leaders after we closed. After the meeting a young man named David that has been attending for about 6 months came up and told me that he wanted to get saved. I had the wonderful opportunity to lead him to Christ.

After the Bible study on Thursday, my wife was on the lookout for any ladies that seemed to want to talk, especially Martha, but none approached her. The good thing is that God knows what is going on, even when we do not. The next day came and went and it was now Saturday. Patty was a little nervous. She had been working so long with Martha, it seemed like the truth was never going to break through. Saturday afternoon, her group headed off for witnessing. At this point I will relate the story the way that it was told to me...

"We came to Martha's house for our final visit," Patty said. "We greeted her and started our Bible study by reviewing our earlier studies. After that I asked Martha a few questions." "I asked Martha, 'Are you sinner?' to which she said "Yes", and then I asked her, 'What is the punishment for sin?', to which she said "Hell", so then I asked her, "Martha, if you died where will you go?" Martha then said, "I will go to hevaen!" I was so shocked and frustrated that she did not understand, I just asked in Twi, "Aden?" which means why???? Even Gifty was frustrated and asked her why she thought that she would go to heaven, if she was a sinner and should be punished. Then Martha gave this answer. She said, "Well, Thursday night Pastor John said that if a person knew that they were a sinner, and should go to hell, but believed that Christ shed his blood for them on the cross, they could be saved. You said that I could pray anytime. I did not have to be with anyone, so Thursday night I asked God to forgive my sins. I asked God to cover me with Christ's righteousness and to place Jesus blood over my heart, and to forgive my sins. So I am saved now, and will not go to hell, I will go to heaven!"

Patty said, "Gifty and I were shocked! After all this time, it had finally clicked." Gifty grilled her a little, but after a few moments Marhta said, 'Look, I understand everything. I am saved. I am a child of God. I understand.' So Gifty and I finished the Bible study and told her that we would be back next week to start to talk to her about growing in Christ."

So finally after all these months the flash flood came. It has been a blessing to see, and we are praying and preparing for some more rain here in the near future.

The 3 S's of African Religion, Part 3 of 3

SALVATION-
You might be thinking, if they do not have a fear of judgment or sin then what is the need of salvation? That is a good question! Salvation for the Africa is not about a world to come, it is about his present world. The main need of salvation is in this life. The person wants a salvation that blesses in this life, and he does not worry so much about the life to come. Here is another quote to illustrate:

'Instead of speculating about life after death, salvation in African Religion is better located in this world. A big number of children who continue the family lineage, a healthy livestock and a good harvest are the expression of salvation, the assurance that God and the ancestors are blessing the community. Blessing and curse are defined from the perspective of the community, not of the individual. It implies also the just recompense of good and evil deeds in this world. In African Religion, there are no heaven and hell. Every evil is punished directly and executed either on the individual, his community or his children. The Luo tell a story of a family whose house was swallowed by the earth because they didn’t receive an old woman looking for shelter at night. The people say that this happened in reality, and the place of the incident is remembered.' (Mbiti, African Religion and Philosophy)

So to the African, he is not looking for a hope of forgiveness of sins or a hope of eternal bliss, but the hope of earthly blessings. The salvation of the average African is not about the future and the eternal, but about the present and the physical. This helps to explain the great spread of the prosperity gospel preaching that is fully embraced in most Charismatic churches.

To help you understand, let's look at the use of African language to express salvation.
'The main Twi term for salvation is nkwagye. It is made up of two words: nkwa and gye. Nkwa means vital life, vitality, vigor, health, happiness, and felicity. In short, nkwa means abundant life, that is, “life in all its fullness”. Gye has several meanings. But when used in the salvation sense it means to: rescue, retake, recapture, redeem, ransom, buy out of servitude or penalty; it also means to release, to free, to deliver, to liberate, to save. It could also mean: to lead, to conduct, to guide, to take along with; or to protect, to defend; or to preserve. The term nkwa-gye therefore is pregnant with rich meaning.' (Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Kingsley Larbi)

This term is correct, and when properly explained it lets the true believer understand that they have been rescued and given life. But when not taught or properly understood, the Asanti takes it to mean that God will give us all that we want for our ‘earthly salvation’. This is an area that the missionary must understand. The missionary needs to teach the real focus of eternal salvation and redemption.

From these blogs you can see the great differences. The African is not a person slaving away to get approval of God so that he might obtain forgiveness. He feels that he already has what he needs for eternity. His main focus is happiness, prosperity, and harmony in this life.

This has been a long three blogs, but here is the gist of it all. We need to be very thorough with Africans when we speak to them of our precious hope. Just because you use the same terms does not mean you have the same definitions.

Sometimes we need to return and rebuild, as there can be no building without a foundation. Hebrews 6:1 “…laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God..."

Feeling the Nail

"I don't want to..."
Those would be the words to describe my feelings this morning. I was walking out of the house to go to the pharmacy and buy medicine for my foot - I stepped on a nail this weekend and have not enjoyed walking on it since! As I got to the junction and waited for a car, I kept debating with myself - should I go and see Inusah or skip it today? I had a good excuse! I had a hole in my foot and would have had to walk about 1/4 mile to get to his house. I mean, come on, did God really expect me to walk that far with a hole from a nail in my foot? Did I have to hobble around like a person with polio? I could just wait until Friday.

Then God put this thought in my mind. Jesus hung on a cross for hours, pinned by three nails for me, and here I was complaining about a small hole. That thought won the arguement. How could I fight against that truth? When I got on the tro-tro (mini-bus) Philippians 3:10 came to mind. 'That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.' I was not really suffering but simply getting to understand a little more of what Christ did for me. He bore the pain of nails for me, so couldn't I take the discomfort of one for someone else?

I am glad God won.

After getting to Inusah's house and waiting for him to finish the last few minutes of a movie he was watching, we started our Bible study. Currently I have been assigning him chapters in John to read and then he asks me questions about them. The goal was to get the Word into his mind and let It answer the questions that were still plaguing him about Christ.

Well, to my suprise he had some questions out of First Corinthains chapter six. After we talked for a while, Inusah looked at me and said, "I am going to become a Christian today, I am going to confess Christ!" Before I could say anything he said, "I today believe that Jesus is Christ, that He is God, and that He died for my sins, and I choose to follow Him, with all my strength, power, will, and mind. I am a Christian. I will not turn back!"

At first, I just sat there. I have witnessed to him for so long. I have asked him so many times if he was ready. And after all the waiting, it seemed so sudden. It had finally happened!

After a moment Inusah asked me what I thought. I took him to Romans chapter ten and showed him God's Word - if he really believed what he had just said, then God said he was saved. I asked him what would happen if he died, and he told me that he would go to Heaven. Then he added, "If my family asks me now if I am a Muslim, I will tell them that I am Christian now." Then, "Pastor now that I am a Christian, what do I need to do?"

I talked to him about the five basic things a Christian should do: read the Bible, pray, go to church, witness, and give. After that, we talked about baptism. On Friday we will continue our study on baptism. Baptism will be a big step. Confession is important to the individual converting from Islam, but not the family. Confession can be hidden, but when a person gets publicly baptized, there is no turning back. Often that is when the persecution starts.

I was still in shock when we parted, and he walked away with a big smile on his face. You never know when the fruit will be ripe, and God will allow it to be picked! I guess that is why faithfulness is so important.

I believe God wanted me to see the truth of Philippians 3:10 today. I must be willing to fellowship with His suffering and die to self, before I can taste the power of His ressurection. There is no resurrection without death, and there is no cross without suffering. God, please let us be willing to feel the nails so that we can see Your person and power!

Hind Sight is 20/20

It is always amazing to me how God can take the things that we think are annoying, frustrating, or bad, and make them work together for good. I have seen this happen before, but it still amazes me.

Well, we had another very personal and wonderful lesson about this again this week. We got back from Bible study last night around 9:30pm. Every one was tired like usual, and when the taxi pulled into our street, I heard the one thing that I hate to hear at night here, the generator was on at the hotel next store. Our lights where off!

Now for us this was one of the first things that God used on us when we came here, and we have really gotten used to it. But, we have been spoiled lately. I think that our power has been on for three weeks straight. Anyway, we started the regular power out at night routine, move the girls mattress and bed into our room where it is cooler, turn on the rechargeable lamps, and pray that the lights come on, or that it rains so that it is cool, and you can sleep. Well, I was laying there trying to be comfortable, frustrated, the girls where not sleeping, and I asked God: 'why do the lights have to be off tonight?' I never knew how important it could be for the lights to go off.

Well, Ella and I finally fell asleep, but Carey and Patty stayed awake, or should I say Carey kept Patty awake. Carey said that she was afraid and wanted mom to lay next to her, and after some time of talking Patty told her that if she was afraid that she could pray to God and ask her not to be afraid. Well, Carey thought about that for a while. Then Patty said that she bowed her head and prayed, "Jesus, please forgive me for all my sins, and wash me with your blood, I believe Jesus died for me, thank you!" Well, needless to say, Patty was stunned. She asked Carey why she had prayed that and Carey said that she was afraid of going to hell, and needed forgiveness. After talking for a while Patty felt that she had a firm understanding of everything. Patty said that the best part was after Carey seemed to be at peace. After blowing out the candles she just laid in her bed singing 'Jesus Loves Me'.

I was oblivious to the whole thing. The next morning I was in my office praying when Carey came out and said, 'Dad I prayed to Jesus last night, and He washed my sins away, so I am going to heaven.' We got to talk, and I could she that she was really happy. I have prayed since my daughter was born that she would trust Christ, and I never thought that the power going out would be so important.

You know if we are not careful we start to wish that we can remove the hard things in life, but the truth is that I am starting to learn that they really are a gift. Like last night, some times they give God the chance to do amazing things, that you praise Him for after, and sometimes I think that they are given to us to grow through. I do know one thing: they make life all the better. It is like the Moracon food we have come to love here, the spicy always makes the sweet more wonderful.

I just want to say: Thank you God for letting the lights go out for 12 hours on October 17th 2008, the day my daughter got SAVED!

The Beginning of it all...

How does a thing really begin? Is it the moment that the light-blub lights up and you understand, or is it a million things before that that add together and bring you to that point?

Well, I remember this light blub and a few of the things that caused it. I had been in Ghana for about nine months. I wanted to help people see their need of Christ, and I had been trying to accomplish this. Our group went out soul-winning in our community, and we split up in our groups. My wife joined me and Alex (one of the boys from our first church), and we went out door-to-door. After a while, we came to a door, and met a women named Doris. We asked if we could take some time and talk about the gospel. She ushered us right in and seemed to eat up my words. I took the next hour and a half in English and Twi and laid the simple foundation of the gospel, answering questions, and praying. At the end we asked her if she would like to pray and receive Christ as her Saviour. She said that she would. We prayed with her and gave her a few verses of encouragement. I left thinking, "Finally, I have spoken to someone and they really understood!"

The next week, we followed her up, but to my surprise when we asked her what she had done the previous week, she said, " I prayed with you." We asked her what can save her and take her to Heaven, to which she told us, "Going to church, being baptized, and asking for forgiveness!" Let's just say that I was a little crest-fallen. We explained salvation again, and she even offered to pray again, but there was no real understanding.

It was one of those times you either quit, make excuses, or make a resolution. Well, I told God I had to know what I was missing. I did not want to live a lie.

So I made a resolution... so began the journey.