Today we traveled south to the village of Jakpumba. It took about 45 minutes to reach our destination. As we drove by the church building, we noticed there were not any people in it or around it so we decided to drive down a couple hundred yards to the chief’s house. Just before we stopped at the chief’s house a brother from Jakpumba hailed us from the school block across the road so I pulled into the school property. This brother, whose name is Isaac, told us the church had invited the neighboring congregation at Niliyundo to join them for services. We knew it was going to be a while before services started so we walked across the road to greet the chief.
The chief’s compound was bustling with activity. As we walked into the compound, men were standing around an area looking down at the floor of the compound. You know curiosity killed the cat so we all walked over to where the men were standing. A lady was sitting on a stool and at her feet was a grain bag spread out with a head pan full of freshly caught catfish. On the bag she had divided the fish into small piles. Each pile costs 5 Cedis (equivalent to .50 Cents). You have never seen so many 6-inch catfish for sale. We were told they used a fish basket to catch the fish. We bought Timothy 6 piles of fish for him to take home. He said his wife Rita, would smoke and dry the fish and boy was he happy. At the same time there were several girls who were pounding yams into fufu using a big mortar and pestle. They didn’t mind us taking some video as they worked. The chief was waiting for us in his round room so we chewed the fat with him for a few minutes before going back to the school block.
There was still some time to wait for the visiting congregation to arrive so in the meantime Kandie , with Timothy’s interpreting , asked the ladies about some taboos their tribe have concerning pregnant women. She loves to compile bits and pieces of the people’s culture. You would be amazed by what we hear from the older women.
The total attendance including children was 100. I gave the Jakpumba congregation their gifts but I was sad that I didn’t know the brethren from Niliyundo would be attending or I would have brought them the same gifts. I did have an extra Bible so I passed it on to the church members at Niliyundo. They were pleased to get something from us.
After services when we had finished the question and answers, Brother David, a church leader from Jakpumba told us there were 14 people, mostly females, that wanted to be baptized. Wonderful News! We loaded up the green pickup and headed out of the village toward Niliyundo until we found a rainy season creek running under the road that was deep enough to baptize the candidates. After taking their confession that Jesus is the Christ, Brother David began the process of baptizing the people. This was his first time to baptize so Timothy helped him along as to what to say and how the people should hold their noses and hands so they were completely under the water. He did a great job! Before we started moving again, I led a prayer for the new Christians and we congratulated each one.
We dropped off a truck load of people in Jakpumba on our way to Yendi. As we passed through the village of Bakpaba I stopped at Brother Zack’s house to see if he would have any hogs to sell for the seminar this year. He wasn’t home at the time but he called Timothy while we were at class tonight at Kulkpeni and he said he had 2 so next month I will go see if I can work out a deal for one or two. It’s hard to believe the seminar will be going on in less than 2 months!
That rounds out our day and a great Lord’s Day it was. Thanks for your support and most importantly your prayers for this work. May God bless!
In His service,
Stephen and Kandie Taylor
& Skeeter
