We thank the Lord that He sent rain our way. We got enough rain to eliminate the water crisis that Yendi and the surrounding areas have been experiencing. God has been very gracious. Please allow us to give you some of the details of the work that was accomplished this month.
Let me begin by thanking our supporters for the money that has been given for work. We know that you sacrifice in order to help the work and we appreciate everything you do. We thank God that he has blessed you with the desire to help.
The blessing of rain brought strong winds. The new roof on the mission house protected us from the wind and rain. Some families were not as fortunate. With your help we were able to help repair minor roof damage to the church buildings at Kulkpeni, Jagrido, and Mepeasum. We also helped repair the roofs of the paramount chief of Jagrido, Red’s in-laws (the part time driver), and the brother of Tichak (the night watchman). The scripture commands us to do good to “all men” (Galatians 6:9). This kind of assistance does not go unnoticed by the worldly community. Our hope is that these acts of kindness will help spread the borders of His kingdom.
This month we helped two young men who completed their courses at Tamale School of Biblical Studies start small businesses in their homes. When the men graduate they think will be put on full support even though the school makes no such promises. The churches in this area are not large enough to hire even a part time preacher. We cannot put them on payroll but we can help them with a small business to supplement their incomes so they can preach. Brother Simon wanted to sell frozen fish so we gave him a small used freezer. Brother Anthony was given money to start a small store at his home. Anthony will sell a variety of items; sugar, salt, bouillon cubes, tinned tomatoes, and soap. He said that there is no shop in his village. If anyone needs these items they have to wait as long as a week for Sambu’s next market day.
Moses, a church leader from Bakpaba, has been making the communion bread for the congregation. Recently he taught one of the church ladies how to make the bread. We were very proud of him and told him that he could start making more bread and sell it to the other 9 churches in that area so they did not have to come to Yendi to buy from Sister Rita, Timothy’s wife. He said that his problem was how to get it rolled out. We had an extra hand crank pasta maker. We told Moses we would give him the machine to make communion bread. He came to the mission house and we made bread and showed him how to work the machine. We even showed him how to make pasta with the machine. He was very excited.
During the monthly class session for evangelists and church leaders Timothy taught how the church contribution and expenditures are to be recorded. It was also emphasized that the whole congregation needs to be made aware of the account to help reduce the temptation of the treasurer to use it for themselves or to loan it out. The money is usually not kept in the bank. During my half of class we studied the subject of fornication and all its forms. The culture is permeated with this problem. It is partly due to polygamy, paganism and their marriage practices. It is very difficult and costly to get married. We had a wonderful discussion on the subject. The brothers will take the scriptures back to the home congregations and teach the church.
This month we personally visited the congregations at Bakpaba, Nakpa, Bungbali, Tumbu, Jagrido, Duuni, Kulkpeni and Kulkpanga. The brothers reported that seven people were baptized and nine were restored back to the Lord’s Church. A total of twenty-one congregations were visited.
We were fortunate to find and purchase English Bibles in Tamale; sometimes we have to buy them in Accra. We had to pay 33% more for these Bibles because they had thumb tabs to make it easier to find the books.
The Lord continues to bless the work even when we sometimes get discouraged ourselves. The Lord is in control and we thank Him for all He does. Please keep the work in your prayers.
Let me remind you that we can be emailed at:
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Keep our good friends Jimmy and Mary Stroud in your prayers. Jimmy is having to deal with some health issues.
In His service,
Stephen and Kandie Taylor
