This morning was one of those mornings that was dark and cloudy. We thought it was going to rain at any minute but it did not rain. We met Timothy Niligrini at his house this morning on our way to the village of Nalongni. Brother Divine has been staying at Timothy’s house to watch over the young teenager that had hernia surgery a week ago so he also joined us on this trip.
Timothy said they had reworked a short cut road that we could travel on this morning that is near Timothy’s house. It was hard to believe the road cut our traveling time in half. When we arrived in Nalongni we had plenty of time to walk over to the chief’s house and pay our respects to him. While we were walking we noticed a nice grove of banana trees. I have never seen such a nice cluster of bananas here in the north. They require a lot of water and most trees produce scattered bunches of fruit but this grove was the exception. The owner said the fruit would be ripe around the month of November. At first we thought the trees were plantain. They look like a banana but you eat them like a vegetable.
Bible class started around 10 am. Moses, who lives in Yendi but visits his home congregation at Nalongni regularly, was the teacher. His lesson was taken from the parable of the Good Samaritan. Timothy interpreted for me as I taught a lesson about Business Dealings for Christians. It was about not cheating people, being as good as your word if borrowing money or other items, and taking care of things you borrow from others and returning them in good shape as you got them.
After services we had an extended question and answer period. Most of the questions revolved around loaning money and merchandise and paying it back. It is a common practice amongst folks around here not to get in a hurry to repay what you owe. The people that owe you “feel shy” to come around you and they don’t feel compelled to come directly to you and explain their financial problems so you will understand why they are having difficulty repaying you. Also if you don’t lend someone money even though you don’t have any spare money to give them they will go around and say you are “wicked”.
When we first arrived this morning Kandie and I noticed the house that sets adjacent to the church building had part of the roof off of it. It was cause by a storm in May. It was the same storm that destroyed Emmanuel, one of the evangelists, roof that we helped repair. The owner is an old man who makes small bush wood chairs and wooden items to sell to support his family. We decided it would be a nice gesture to help with the building supplies like roofing sheets, nails, and lumber to repair the house. The man is not a church member. His son is a member but he had traveled somewhere today. The old man and his younger wife were happy to get the help. After dropping off Timothy and Divine we purchased some of the building supplies before getting back to the house around 2:45pm.
After arriving back I called Timothy to find out what time the naming ceremony was to take place at Kulkpeni this afternoon. Timothy said they had announced it would be at 3pm. Timothy said not to come out until 3:30 because they would not be ready to start so Kandie and I took off without eating lunch to buy three 2×6 boards to carry out to Kulkpeni. The plan agreed upon by the old man was for us to drop off the supplies at Timothy’s house so a motor king could them pick up the next market day Nalongni had.
The naming ceremony started at 4pm. It was for twin girls. The English names given to them were Felicia and Paulina. They were 3 months old.
That just about wraps it up for today. We hope you have had a good Lord’s Day. Thanks for your support and prayers.
In His service,
Stephen and Kandie Taylor
Email: taylorsinghana@gmail.com
Website: www.ghanamissionfund.org
