NEA just hosted its second Christian Chiefs’ Conference. This year about 120 chiefs were present from 13 tribes; 60 of the chiefs were new to the conference. Just as last year, our days together were rich and full.
Some of the chiefs shared how last year’s conference had impacted their lives. These testimonies were encouraging for us and we wanted to share them with you:

“I want to encourage you with how the Lord works. Last year when we came together there was a very difficult situation in my place. The village was divided into two and it was very tense. I asked many to pray and now the whole town is together!”

“Even though I was a Christian before I came here last year, my faith deepened and I think that helped me know better how to speak to people because the Lord’s Spirit was speaking through me. It brought we more respect and people always wanted me in their midst before taking decisions because of the way I was trying to bring them together in Jesus name. Not just in my community but wherever I go.”

“I learned that I may not be able to create cement fish ponds but I can start somewhere. I called some sub-chiefs together and was able to get hold of some land in a valley that wasn’t being used. I was able to get rice seed and tractor services and formed a co-op of 80 women and 20 men who farmed in the area and when each farmer harvested their crops, they gave me a bag of rice. I’ve used the proceeds of that rice to send 3 boys to secondary school.”

“The way I live with my wife is different now that I have seen Dr. David and the wife. The important lesson I learned was that I need a partner to work together with for the Lord. Now we are together more and work together. Even in the village people are wondering what has happened!”

Apart from testimonies, the days were filled with discussions of common concerns, learning together from the Scriptures, touring the NEA project site, communion, and even a baptism!

Once again, as we closed, it was unanimous that we should meet again next year. The chiefs have gone so far as to elect zone coordinators to help facilitate organizing next year’s event.

Please continue to keep the chiefs in your prayers as they seek to be salt and light and to declare His praises in each of their corners.

He started by saying “If you are going to be a Christian, BE A CHRISTIAN,” and then the story began:

“In the 1970s World Vision sponsored my village and did so for 8 years. In 1983, Pastor George from the village of Zuarungu came to minister to the mothers and children at our clinic and paid a courtesy call on me. We went into the Scriptures for about three hours and the pastor dragged me to the front of Christ. Pastor George went and organized some other Christian brothers to come back to speak to anyone who was interested in hearing his message. Mostly the young men and children came to hear the pastor.

“Beware of the devil and his manipulations! The evening the pastor was to speak in my town, my beautiful daughter, who was married and living in a nearby village, died. Her mother-in-law had gone to market leaving her at home sick and for some reason my wife decided to go and visit her that day. When my wife got there she found the daughter very sick and returned home to get some things to go and take care of her. By the time she got back, our daughter was gone.

“Prior to this event, I had invited a soothsayer to empower me. I had given him a ram, bull and heifer. He was there before the pastors came, feeding well in my palace and his job was to see to the welfare of the family. When the news of the death came the soothsayer was resting comfortably in my house and I questioned myself , ‘If he is to be protecting us, how is it that he couldn’t see this coming?’ As the family went to the burial I sent the young men of the house to tell him to leave and not come back. Beware of these people! You know them!

“On July 8, 1984 I was baptized. Other churches were let know that a baptism was planned. It was a big gathering. The Chief of Teli came with his people. I was told I had to give up all connections with idols. I heaped a huge pile together in front of my palace and saved two large bottles of petrol. I sent the young men to search every corner of the palace and anything related to idols they should bring out. It was all there outside the palace gate and as the believers were singing and dancing around, I poured on the gas, lit a match and there was a big explosion!

“What did my people think? They didn’t think I was serious. I hadn’t told them I had planned to follow Jesus. Others were surprised when visitors started to come from all over for this occasion. So we went to the local stream – myself, others and the pastors – and were baptized. People thought the idols had power and that something would come from the heap to destroy me. They reasoned that if I had come to the position of chieftaincy by contesting with 20 others and if I had all this witchcraft I was a strong man. Surely something would happen when the fire was set but nothing did! I knew that God had preserved me to become chief and not those idols.

“The day I became chief, my wife was ripe with pregnancy. People were saying ‘Alright, you’ve given yourself to the Lord. See if she delivers safely.’ The next morning as I dressed in my smock, labour pains came and the birth was as simple as simple could be, the Lord being faithful.

“People thought I would die suddenly, but I did not want or allow any soothsaying to reach my ears. Fortunately for me, no shrine was in my care. I was free indeed and trusted in the Lord only. I’m now 77 years old. I’ve never really fallen ill. I know Jesus and Jesus knows me in and out – better than I myself. He is my physician.

“But Satan did not leave me alone. He instigated a faction to rise up against me. I went with my family to harvest dawadawa (a spice from a special tree) and that faction came with bows and arrows to attack us in the bush. I was resting under one of the trees with a group of elders when I saw them coming. One of my young men sneaked back to the village to raise and alarm that if they didn’t come quickly we would all be wiped out! My people came armed and shooting started. The Lord is great. He is my defense. I had to go and pick up a young man that was wounded and yet I wasn’t hurt. The people were saying, ‘He burnt his arrows (witchcraft) but the power is in him! But I told them it is the power of Christ that is within me.

“Two people died and I along with six others were accused of killing them. We were taken into police custody and the seven of us were condemned to death. We were six months in the Navrongo prison. We were handcuffed and whipped. There is power in Jesus! The other six were worried but I was not because I knew I had done no wrong. The pastor visited us regularly and told us to rely on the Bible and be praying. I had the confidence to remain cool. We were awaiting hanging or the firing squad but we made an appeal and were sent to Accra. I told my people to be calm. When we went to court I was the only one who could understand the proceedings (note: he is a teacher and speaks English). The enemies’ counterparts were in Accra and would come to the court to listen to what was happening. We were there in the prison awaiting the judgment date which finally came. Three appeal court judges sat on the case. The charges were dismissed by all judges. Finally they said, ‘Dussi chief you and your people have been set free!’ The judges condemned the police and lower court judges saying they didn’t know their left from their right. When I got home to my village and asked about the troublemakers I found they had all left town. I gave glory to God!”

The Dussi chief concluded his talk with his hand pointed to heaven saying, “You are my armour, my provider, my rock, my fortress. I hope in you alone. Beware of the frauds. Jesus in the only power. Trust in Him and Him alone! Don’t tempt Satan! You know what you are about. Hold on to your faith! I faced powerful witchdoctors who have tried to destroy my life but the Lord has allowed me to see that they have failed. Be strong in your faith!

Many eyes were full of tears at this moving story of God’s intervention in the Dussi Chief’s life. We all left the room sobered by what we had heard from this giant in the faith.

Brenda Mensah has lived and worked in Northern Ghana for over 20 years, serving side-by-side with her husband, David. She keeps the GRID-NEA program running administratively and is very involved in both the women’s programs and health sector.

Over 100 chiefs and 40 of their attendants met, despite the tribal differences that so easily could have separated them.  They were able to share their unique challenges with one another and receive encouragement to continue as faithful leaders in their communities.

Thank you for your prayers for this event. We provide an in-depth report with our next newsletter later this spring.

Chiefs in Northern Ghana are vital community leaders.

From February 25 to March 1st, more than 140 Christian chiefs from across Northern Ghana will meet at NEA’s project centre in Carpenter for a conference. This is the first conference of its kind in Ghana, and one that we’re excited about.

Christian chiefs in Northern Ghana face many challenges. Their position as chiefs would normally link them closely to the traditional religious practices of their communities.  Their choice to follow Christ is a radical decision that impacts how they function as chiefs.

Christian chiefs also face serious pressure from those who resent their chosen faith. Some chiefs have been offered money, gifts, and expensive holidays if they would convert from Christianity.

It’s an isolating, lonely position for many chiefs.

It’s understandable, then, that these chiefs are excited to meet together. Over 140 of them have confirmed that they will be attending the conference in Carpenter this week, where they will participate in several days of teaching, worship, and sharing together.

Please pray for this unique event: for safety as everyone travels to Carpenter, for strength for those preparing for this conference, and for the participants’ spiritual encouragement.

However, anyone who meets Abraham is impressed by his warmth, exuberance, joy and determination. He overcame many obstacles just to be able to get to secondary school and when his results came in, there were a few courses that he needed to improve on before he could be accepted in tertiary level institutions.

In an effort to support the local clinic at Bamboi, NEA hired Abraham as a record keeper. This freed the medical staff from many administrative tasks and enabled them to concentrate on the patients’ medical needs. While working at the clnic, Abraham continued to study and sit exams again to improve his grades.

Two years ago he was accepted into the Rural Health Training School, Kintampo. He is in his final year of the Health Information Programme and will graduate as a Technical Officer in 2010. He is committed to working in the Deg area and will be a valuable team player in promoting health once he graduates.

Yaws is an infectious tropical disease that affects skin, bone, and cartilage. Its primary victims are children under 15 and it can lead to chronic disability.

Consulting with local health care workers, the medical team determined that what they were seeing was indeed Yaws.  Their Ghanaian colleagues hadn’t seen any cases of Yaws for over 20 years, and the discovery caused real concern that this contagious infection might be returning.  Team members began treating patients for this condition.

The medical team members also carefully documented 81 cases of suspected Yaws, which David and Brenda Mensah then submitted to the Regional Director of Health Services.  In a meeting with the Director, the Mensahs learned that health officials are concerned about a resurgence of Yaws in the country.

Although treatment is a relatively straightforward and cost-effective injection of Penicillin, it can be difficult for Ministry of Health personnel to locate patients afflicted with Yaws in order to give them the necessary treatment.

The Ministry of Health is thankful for the contribution that NEA and the medical team have made by sharing important information about the incidence of Yaws in the Deg region.  They also expressed deep appreciation for the team’s treatment of afflicted patients in the Deg Region.

Successful surgery made this man feel young again

In their recent mission in Ghana, members of the 2009 medical team were blessed by  a man who calculates himself to be 120 years old.

The surgeons with Operation Hernia, who were once again a part of the medical team, had completed a successful hernia repair on this gentleman. The elderly man was very emotional when he addressed the team, explaining how he wished he could give them something to express his gratitude for the team for coming to help him.  The hernia had caused him great suffering and now he was pain free and felt like a young man again!

He went on to say that the only thanks he had to offer was to ask that the Most High, Almighty God would bless the team members and their children with every possible blessing, and that he considered them all to be adopted members of his family from that day forward.

For more stories from the medical team’s two weeks in Ghana, you can download our latest newsletter [PDF].

They received four rams from the villages that they held clinics in. During their last clinic yesterday, a small red car pulled up and the chief from another village stepped out with another ram and yams. Several people from his village had visited the clinic that was closest to them so he wanted to show his appreciation.

The team was able to contribute to the community in an unexpected way this year: by purchasing a cow. An expense they had already paid for before their trip ended up costing less than they were quoted and the team unanimously decided to put the extra money into purchasing some sort of bovine for their Ghanaian friends.

Jennifer and the team thank everyone for their prayers. Mid-afternoon during their final day many team members were close to hitting the wall. She knew it was the prayers of their supporters (aided by some instant coffee) that kept them going.

The team plans to leave Carpenter at 5:00 on Friday for the 10 hour bus ride back to Accra, where they will spend some time at the market and then begin the flights home.