The time we spent at home this summer just flew by and we are now back in Yendi for the second half of the year. We enjoyed seeing and talking with many of you about the work in Yendi that you help us to do. It was wonderful to be back with our family and friends as well. We spent several days in late June with Kandie’s brother Buz in Houston, Texas. Buz and his family are struggling with the effects of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). While in Texas we flew up to Lubbock and enjoyed a family reunion; we were able to touch base with supporters of the work. One of the highlights of our summer is spending eight days at Limestone Bible Camp near Guntersville, Alabama.
We arrived in Ghana on the thirteenth of August. We spent two days in Accra. We had to pick up our resident quota renewal from the Ministry of Interior and we made a quick trip to Koforidua to the bead market so Kandie could do a little shopping. We flew up to Tamale on Friday; we were met by Red the part-time driver. Before heading to Yendi we stopped at the Lands office to check on the property lease and the employee’s pension office to make sure their contributions were being properly credited to their accounts.
The first Sunday we were back in Yendi we visited the congregation at Kpanjamba. It had been some time since we visited them. The Church asked for assistance to help repair the church building; we are having two metal doors made to replace the ones that have been eaten by termites. The following Sunday we were asked to come to Yowando for services. There was a naming ceremony after services. We were given the honor of naming the child. The father’s name is Elijah; it seemed appropriate to name the baby Elisha.
Classes for the church leaders and evangelists took place on the 30th of August. It was very well attended considering it rained the night before and was threatening to rain that morning. There were thirty four of us in the class. Class attendance for July was twenty-two and June was twenty-three. For the three months the evangelists/leaders reported there were twenty-one baptisms and six restorations for which we give God the praise. During the August class one brother speaking on behalf of the class thanked me for the t-shirts and other small gifts they have received in the past. I was quick to let the class know that without God’s help and the help of our faithful supporters and their generosity we would not be able to help in even the smallest way much less have classes for all these years.
We would also like to thank those who gave us baby/children’s clothes. The clothes were distributed to the mothers at the Child Center the first week we were back. There were literally hundreds of babies that received these gifts. Because of airline luggage weight restrictions it takes us several trips to get enough clothes for distribution. On Wednesday of the clothing distribution we crushed our records by seeing 192 children!
Last year we were given permission by the church members at Kulkpeni to enclose the western veranda of the church building so it could be used for additional sleeping quarters during the seminar. The mason was able to get the block laid but we didn’t have time to plaster the inside and outside walls. This month we finally got the plastering finished and the church members are pleased with the results.
Daniel Batoln’s wife got bitten by a snake. Daniel is one of the evangelists; we were able to help Daniel with money for his wife’s treatment. We thank those of you that give us money for emergencies to help others. He was very grateful for the help!
Thank you so much for your prayers for our safe return to Ghana. The Apostle Paul was grateful for the support the Philippians brethren gave him in his mission work and in like manner we also are grateful for your prayers and support!
In His service,
Stephen & Kandie Taylor
