We praise God for the planned and unplanned opportunities that we had this week to speak of and teach God’s Word.  Since we return to the same places regularly, people come to know us as pastors and often open up with their spiritual questions.  Invariably, we have the blessing of applying God’s truth to their situations.

Providential Conversations

Opportunities inside and outside of teaching.

In the Ghanaian worldview, the physical world is controlled by the spiritual world.  And so, whether Christian or pagan, they are very comfortable talking about spiritual matters.  A waitress at our hotel told us at breakfast about a dream she had had the night before, hoping we could help her understand it.  Earlier in the week, this same waitress had asked us to pray for her since she has been told she needs surgery.  So, she knelt at our table and we prayed for her right in the restaurant.  Another time, one of the hotel clerks, recently married, had questions for me about her relationship with her husband.  We stood at the reception desk and had a great conversation about what “submission” really means - with the other clerks listening in.  Each of us had similar experiences during the week.  Thank God for such openness!

We have now finished our first week in Ghana and God richly blessed our time in Kumasi.  Mike Harper and I team-taught Romans to the Shiloh students and had the wonderful experience of explaining the gospel to over 100 eager listeners.  Seeing these pastors’ excitement and growing understanding of the marvelous work God has done through Christ Jesus is such an encouragement to us.  They received the notes on Romans and committed to teach what they learned to their own congregations.  That’s likely over 5,000 people who will hear what we taught this week!

While we were teaching in the sanctuary, Ray Warwick was upstairs in a classroom teaching the Shiloh instructors about the Doctrine of Man.  These instructors are the core of the MINTS students, working on a degree in theology.  They had some great discussions and meaningful applications as they went through the week.

At noon, the Bible school students went to their homes and jobs and we were treated to lunch in the Archbishop’s office.  We greatly missed the Archbishop since he was in Dallas receiving medical treatment.  But his staff took excellent care of us, feeding us more Indomie (Ramen noodles with veggies and fish) than we could consume.  We never left the campus hungry.

Each afternoon, Keith Greer taught the MINTS students, taking them through a study of the General Epistles of the New Testament.  Keith also reported a wonderful rapport with the students and much good discussion of these often-neglected NT books.

In the evenings, we four met together for a late “tea,” and had great fellowship.  We talked about everything from deep theological issues to movies we would recommend and most things in-between.  It has been a joy for me to have these men here with me.

Meanwhile, Stan Armes and John Southworth were in Sunyani teaching two different classes in the MINTS program there.  They also had a good week and we all met together in Kumasi on Saturday for a wonderful time of fellowship.  They will remain in Kumasi and teach their classes to that group this coming week.  Sunday morning, Sam Oppong drove the Kumasi team to Sunyani, and we settled into our accommodations, anticipating what God has for us as we teach here.

Thank you for your prayers as we labored this week.  We know you have been praying, because God so evidently blessed our teaching.  Please continue those prayers for all of us this week.

For Christ’s Kingdom,
Dan

Equipping Leaders International - East Africa