JEFF”S JOURNAL – March 2009

                                           All the (Spiritually) Important News and Views from Kumasi, Ghana

To Go, or Not To Go?…To Togo. 

7:05 a.m. Thursday, March 13^th.  Pulling out of our compound for the long bumpy road to Togo, our neighboring country to the east,  we finally settled the question of whether or not we could make this journey.  One must carefully count the cost before making such “adventures” in Africa.  Traveling is a BIG DEAL here.  People’s No.1 prayer requests here is for safe travel and delivery of babies. (Unless they are more spiritually minded and mature - then they pray for Bible studies.)  With me were my wife Sherrie; Caleb Wilson, our 16 year old Missourian; Allyssa and George, our newlyweds; Beth Ann, our North Carolinian volunteer; and five of our boarding students from the town of Ada, who were getting a free ride home.  (This is a small group, for us.)  For the first time ever, we stopped overnight to visit our preacher Gabriel and wife Rita, in Ada, since we were returning his children, the abovementioned boarding students.  Ada is a district capital located on the road from Accra to Lome, Togo.  Here Gabriel’s been laboring for the past 11 years.  I showed video on the side of a mud hut that night, and then we enjoyed the “hottest hotel in the world”, or so it seemed until the power came on.  Gabriel lives only a stones throw from the mighty Volta estuary - beautiful wetland country. 

  On Friday, Gabriel joined us for the second part of our trip to visit Kwame and Dela  Afakule and their family in Togo.  It was a great relief to arrive safely that evening in Vogan - especially for Sherrie, whose knees were very sore – and also for me, who felt “done in” by malaria parasites and hours of survival-driving on arguably the “world’s worst roads in the world” .  (Chiropractors should make a killing here!)  Anyway, I was able to recover enough to play basketball with the young men in the church, and pray with them afterward. Nothing like basketball for a near miraculous recovery!

  The next couple of days were good, with excellent and edifying conversations and fellowship with the Togolese saints, especially with the Afakules.  They have gone through many trials through the years, and overcome.  Dela is in good health for the first time in four years, after undergoing several operations.  Hammer has fought off several attempts by a power–hungry coalition of carnal minded conspirators within the church. They  wanted to steal his ministry from him – to point of ignoring I Cor.6:1-3 and taking Hammer to court.  Thankfully, the Lord powerfully stood by Kwame Hammer and supported his cause.  Thus the bad guys are now all out and only those with good attitudes are left in the church, and they constitute a definite majority.       Such pruning is usually needed before a church can really be effective winning the lost and perfecting the saints.  The Afakules need our support and encouragement due to the intense spiritual warfare of doing ministry in Togo.  Kwame Hammer is my first convert in Africa, being immersed when I was only 15 and he when he was nearly 18 years old.  Dela is Sherrie’s special “girl”, and its fun to see their special relationship.  We are so proud of both of them.  Soon they will have the assistance of Amy and Bruno Kumedjra, who are also my disciples, (and were immersed in the bathtubs here in Kumasi), in starting a Christian school there after they return from their visit to America April 16^th.  Truly the work in Togo, like that in Cochin India, with the Thomas’, is an extension of our work in Ghana, and we are so grateful to God for them.  I had trained Hammer in our Practical Evangelism Program (P.E.P) back in 1987-8, at which time I had the privilege of wedding them also.  (Jessica and Rebecca, our daughters, were the flower girls, and Sherrie baked the cake and made the dress!)

  Hammer does prison ministry, visits the villages, and cleans ugly, festering tropical ulcer sores every day, nearly.  He is a humble man, and still strong from years of weight training and running.  His left bicep is legendary.  (He’s southpaw.) He can also still beat all the young guys in pushups, doing about 75 at one go!  His laughter and humor and some mannerisms remind me of the famous movie actor, Danny Glover.  What a guy!  And he loves to feed you his pet rabbits and if you give him advance notice, cat...meat. (Yep)  Dela is a truly great cook, with enormous pancakes and sweet tea, foods she learned from Sherrie, and local corn mash with okra soap.  Yumm!  Please keep them and their three children in your prayers.

Legal Hassles Over Atia With Wily William

Can you imagine a court that looks like the living room of a very, very run-down house, with dirty walls and no room for spectators and litigants alike?  Where hundreds of people crowd the small porch, with no a/c or even fans in 90 degree heat, and where reluctant criminals fist fight and have shoving matches that make the WWF look tame, right there in front of you? The latest chapter of my struggles to wrest control back fur properties at Atia took another interesting turn lately.  Before going to Togo, I had to go to court for a preliminary hearing as the complainant against William Amoah for a charge of breaking the locks on our doors of our school/church mission buildings on the site. (I’d gone the week before, but they cancelled hearing any and all criminal cases for some reason on that day). After the police women prosecutor woodenly read the charges against him - and he plead not guilty - his haughty lawyer basically trashed my good name, saying I was running an illegal NGO, had told Godwin to go and break all of the desks and chairs of Willie’s own school (which he is actually illegally running in our building), didn’t know or follow the laws of Ghana as an outsider and foreigner, and didn’t deserve to be called a pastor – (which I am not, since I am called an evangelist).  I thought of Matthew 5:10, and rejoiced inwardly, while groaning outwardly at the bodacious audacity of all his lies.  The case will reconvene April 16^th, and I appreciate all prayers.  In the meantime, some men at Atia who were In the church have met with our preacher Opoku, (the man who led William Amoah to Christ), to ask for us to support their efforts to take back control of the building on Sundays.  Pray for wisdom and success in keeping the property for its rightful use.  The entire town of Atia has learnt of Willie’s conspiracy with his “teachers” to have the children break the chairs and tables and then try to frame Godwin and I as the culprits.  I had to go to the Central Police Station in town to defend myself and Godwin against these charges, which I did with God’s help successfully.

More Hassles with the Landlady, Patricia Konadu

You know the T-shirt that says:  “I Didn’t Wake Up Grumpy This Morning - I Let Her Sleep” would definitely apply to our landlady, a very grumpy and greedy individual.   After finally taking the payment agreed upon last year, $7200, (or $600 per month), she now demanding $800 per month, or else she’ll refund our money and continue legal proceedings against us to evict us.  (She has already delivered a threatening letter earlier this month.)  Pray for peaceful resolution, or I’ll be in court again – not fun or especially profitable use of my time or money. The truth and right Is on our side, because she had verbally agreed to taking $600 for two years, through her son-in-law, Joshua Asante.

Lazurus is Raised – Again!

It was a joy to see my son, Jeremiah, immerse a young man, the brother of Augustine Avasong, into Christ this month.  Making disciples who can make disciples unto the fourth generation is the key to exponential evangelistic growth.  I got to help by holding the down his feet in the bath tub next door, in our school building.  Akwaaba, (Welcome), new babe and brother in Christ, Lazurus Avasong!

March 6^th, Ghana’s Independence Day = Real Freedom?

Back in the day, 1957, Ghana was led by card carrying (in England) Communist, Kwame Nkrumah, mouthing proud promises of a United States of Africa, a Socialist paradise.  But by 1966, the year my parents entered Ghana, Ghanaians overthrew his increasingly tyrannical one party state.  Like Saddam Hussein, his statue was overturned in the capital and a new era of freedom was begun.  Hence at time my father’s family could come and preach without let or hindrance, and in 1983, so could my own family.  Since then, we have gone through many governments in Ghana, but now Ghana has had its fifth elections with relatively little problems – when compared to even the 2004 USA elections and the Florida fiasco. We thank God for this open door that no man can shut, but we also understand that political freedom is not the most important, but spiritual liberty in Christ from the love of sin, the consequences of sin and the practice of sin is what II Cor. 3:14-18 is all about.  If the Son of Man sets you free, you shall be free indeed!  John 8:37 – “The Truth Shall Set You Free!” - has been on my  personal business card since 1987, when a 1800’s British printing press in Sunyani, Brong-Ahafo, first made them for me.  Thank you for helping us, as true freedom fighters for Jesus, do what we do in ringing the true Liberty Bell here in Ghana since 1983.  God bless and keep the ammo coming!

Announcements:

- Shipping container. We are planning to bring a 40’ steel shipping container back from the States in September this year.  We will need to have you begin gathering items if you wish to participate in helping us.  All items can be sent to Christ’s Church in Greenville, N.C, c/o Travis Taylor.  He will store all donated items at the church site.  You can write him at: t2_ecu@yahoo.com or call:   Here is list of some of the things we need (or would like!):

- canned fruit, vegetables, meat; peanut butter, jelly, jam; pie fillings;

-children’s vitamins; over-the-counter drugs (esp. rubbing alcohol and bandages; gauze;) toothpaste, toothbrushes;

- used clothes/shoes (please sort and box, tape up neatly, and label); paint; carpentry tools or other tools; garden tools;

- paper for computer printers, photocopying; notebooks;; notebooks, pens, pencils, crayons; NASB Bibles;

-  Dollar Store type gifts for all ages children;

- 50 gal. drums – clean, please, no chemicals or paint!)

We will be taking these things for our big family, with five orphans, plus other missionary families and the various schools, plus some of our preachers here.  Thanks for helping us help many others in a very tangible way.  It will cost about $5000 to ship the container and clear it from port, then truck things to Kumasi.  If we fill it full enough, that will still be cheaper than buying such things here.  Sherrie and I would also like to ship a car and some needed furniture.  We can use the car in the States, and furniture is extravagantly expensive for any quality here.  These things must be paid for in full before shipping!

You can contact our forwarding agent, Don Malinowski (301-665-9629) or call us (011-233-51-26878) with any questions.   Please also check out our website, www.gloryinghana.com.

In the Service of King Jesus,

Jeff Hostetter