Before Timothy arrived this morning Kandie had me get out two-2.5-gallon buckets of white emulsion paint to mix up in preparation for Iddrisu to start painting the main hall in the mission house. She likes to mix her own colors to achieve her desired tint. Somehow, I have managed to misplace my nice paint stirrer from the states so I had to resort to using my makeshift stirrer which throws paint everywhere. That will be another item added to our “Bring Back to Ghana” list.
We got word from the DVLA man late yesterday, that our vehicle documents that I sent to Tamale for renewal would not be in Yendi until Monday. I didn’t want to take a chance and drive the green pickup through the barriers and have the police see our sticker expired. The DVLA man said he would talk to the policeman if we were stopped and tell them my tags were in Tamale being renewed. The police would laugh at that excuse while they were fining me. Having say that, I drove the old van without air conditioning to the village today and it was hot.
Our destination was the village of Bakjon which is located on the same bad road we have been traveling on this month. It takes 2 hours to get to the village. When we turn off of the good road and onto the dirt road the potholes will eat up your vehicle. It has been a long time since we have visited this small congregation. They have had their problems; some members moved to a different village up the road leaving just a few people in the Church. We carried a signboard with us that had been requested some months ago by the church leader. We arrived shortly after the bible class was finished. My lesson was taken from the book of Job. The majority of the people present were younger children so they were captivated by the story.
There were more people visiting from the congregation down the road at Attado , than members at Bakjon. The congregation at Bakjon only has 7 adults/teenagers that attend with approximately a handful of children. The Church presently worships at the school block. Today, we worshipped under a large Mango tree.
After services we were treated to a meal with rice and spiced oil along with some dried fish. I will have to say I enjoyed the rice but neither of us are fans of smoked or dried fish. After Kandie and I ate some of our rice we gave our remaining portion to the children; they enjoyed the fish. Meat is a delicacy. We have never been hungry! The Church provided a gift of yams tubers and a chicken; such a big gift for a small congregation. On our way back to Yendi most of the visitors loaded up in the van so we could drop them off at their village of Attado which is about a mile up the road. They were singing spiritual songs loudly, and having a big time.
In His service,
Stephen, Kandie, and Skeeter
