November 20, 2025
Today was the first day of the seminar. We hope that all of the preparations and planning will result in success. This is something that the area congregations all look forward to each year. The seminar is hosted by the Kulkpeni Church of Christ, and takes place on the church grounds. Chairs and several large canopies were rented to accommodate the crowd. There were 456 people in attendance today, which includes men, women, and children. The theme for this year is “How to Grow the Church”. There were two lecture sessions, morning and evening, as well as time for a Question-and-Answer session. Perry was the speaker for both sessions, with Timothy and Nana serving as interpreters.
The church members from the outlying villages arrived throughout the day, riding on truck beds, rented vans, Motor Kings, and any means of transportation they could find. Many of the church groups were singing as they traveled and arrived. This is a wonderful opportunity for the brethren to fellowship with surrounding congregations, as there are several village churches that are relatively small in number, maybe only 15 or 20 members.
The members from Kulkpeni will mostly return home for the night, but those coming from the other villages will stay on the church grounds for the entire seminar. There is a group of 20 women who do all the cooking, three meals a day, over open fires, using water that has to be hauled in buckets. It is such hard, hot work.
Zorash and Mary continued to operate the Child Center while we were occupied with the seminar. There is a midday break during the seminar activities, during the hottest part of the day. We returned home to have lunch, and catch a quick nap before returning for the second session. Kandie and I made a stop on the way back to pick up the bread that had been ordered for today – 250 loaves of bread. There will be another 250 loaves to be picked up tomorrow. It takes a lot of food to feed over 400 people!
We are quite tired, but it is a blessed kind of tired. Thank you for your prayers, and please continue to pray for the remainder of the seminar and those attending.
Perry & Gina Martin
with Stephen and Kandie
