Jeff's Journal

                           September 2007 

SEPTEMBER SHOWERS - A BLESSING AND A BANE

     For most Ghanaians and for us, the heaviest ever recorded rains brought renewed hydroelectric power supply,(yeah!)devastating destruction by rain and flood of the mud huts in the far north.(boo!)  Can you imagine hunkering in a sodden mud hut while relentless downpours soften the earth until it collapses around you? This is what happened to Daniel, one of our Christian brothers in Bolgatanga, who subsequently lost his life and left five children behind, all under 14 years old.    Also a widowed mother one of my disciples, Tim Anebakim, lost her house in another remote northern area, Chiana-Asuna. (This abuts the Burkina-Fasso border. So now in addition to my preaching, teaching and operating BCA daily, involved in a disaster flood relief effort. I'm working with IDES and with WWHA (Worldwide Humanitarian Aid)to offer timely help that will promote the gospel in these areas. So far they given me $3500 altogether for emergency response.

      We have several congregations in and around Bolga, with Abraham and his wife Maggie Ghasie there as African missionaries.  (They are Fante's, originally from the far south, Accra ,and don't even speak the same language or eat the same food as the Frafras in that area.)  With intelligent and timely help, we can open doors for a hearing of the message of Christ's glory and encourage the saints there.  We hope a new congregation will eventually result in Chiana-Asuna through Tim's efforts.  We will be providing: mosquito nets, as the insect population - of mosquitoes and blackflies - has exponentially multiplied to Biblical plague-like proportions - due to all the stagnant water; also tools such as pickaxes and shovels, for rebuilding their broken huts; then emergency food, as most of their crops are ruined;  And medicine to combat the vector borne diseases caused by the multiplied insect population.  Please pray for this effort to be more successful than we could dream or imagine, and that more precious living stones can be added to the Lord's worldwide spiritual temple of praise and prayers - the church, which will reveal His awesome glory at its completion on the last day!  That is our motivation.  So while you enjoy a nice sleep in a warm bed under a dry roof tonight, keep the poor suffering people of northern Ghana in your prayers and pray that we can truly show them Christ's love at this time.  It is our good deeds that reveal our true character and expose the reality of the Holy Spirit living within us.

 

SPIRITUAL WARFARE UNABATED - FROM UNWANTED PREGNANCY TO PRAISE

     Returning from preaching at the Montana Family Camp in Bozeman, I was to learn of Margaret's pregnancy due to the rape that she encountered.  It became necessary to let all the saints know of her story, since they would find out anyway and some might assume that she'd been fornicating.  I counseled Margaret to forgive the rapist, his relatives who forced a settlement on her parents, her parents for accepting the out-of-court settlement and trying to force her to get an abortion, and to forgive herself for being naive and somewhat foolish.  (The rapist's family will only give Margaret $43 per mth. until the baby is 6 months old!!)  And her parents accepted this settlement! We talked about turning something evil into something good through the redeeming power of God's love through Christ.  She is still in school and will need much help and encouragement to bring this unexpected life to full-term.  In our loving acceptance of this "unwanted" baby, we can show the compassion and loving-kindness of God, who lives within us.

 

HELP WANTED

    We thank God for volunteers!  This month, we have Alyssa Sears from Missouri, and Laura Swift of Chicago, living and working with us in our school. Not only do they cheerfully provide free "slave labor", but even support themselves.  (Laura even bought us a new watchdog, a Rottweiler/German Shepherd half-breed to replace Sheba, who died of food poisoning(?), the day before she bought the pup, unaware of Sheba' death and of our request to bring one.)  God works in mysterious ways.  Having a dog here is no luxury, since we've had three attempted armed robberies since 2001. Sheba literally saved the day last September when she warned Gordon of three intruders before they could waylay him.

  Pray for also for several others who are working on coming:  Justin Stenger from Missoula, Montana, and Travis Taylor of Greenville, N.C.  Also pray for Faith Stregge, who is still seriously contemplating coming back.  Also praise God for her immersion into Christ in September!

 

OPERATING EXPENSES DEFICIENCY

   This month alone, the American dollar has lost approximately 4% of its former value, as compared with other currencies.  (In an age of fiat paper money without gold backing, this is the only way to value it.)  Meanwhile, oil per barrel is over $82.00.  Ghana is going to raise petrol costs monthly, and there is a 60 -100% electricity increase starting this month. We need help. Last month I suggested that all of our faithful supporters increase our support 10% per year for the next three years.  (One responded to that suggestion.) This would make a significant difference.  That amounts to less than 1% increase per month.  At that rate, at $100 per month, less than  $1.00 added per month would suffice.  So little would help so much... if most supporters do this. In the meantime, we'll continue trusting God.  We're still more than 30% under our monthly operating expenses. We are extremely grateful for individuals who have (generously) given us one-time extra offerings to meet this need.  May the Lord bless them richly!  If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to write, or call. (011-233-51-26878) Thank you for your concern and love: first for Jesus; then for the lost souls here in Africa; and then also for our family as well.

 

FINAL NOTES

- The newspaper, Daily Graphic, Thursday, September 13, 2007, reported that 21,282 Ghanaian children under fourteen are suffering from HIV/AIDS!  This is according to consulting physician, Dr. Lorna Renner of the Child Health Dept. of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

- Ghana has discovered offshore oil.  It continues to have an expanding economy due to this and major gold reserves.  Pray for wise development and lesser corruption.  A new Holiday Inn is being built, plus the first new shopping mall in the capital. 

-  We pray for jobs for our graduates.  One of them, Stephen Jantuah, was flown up to Kumasi by his boss.  

 Stephen oversees all the computers in six FM stations in three major cities.  He is our first Ghanaian graduate from BCA.  And he loves the Lord and His church, and his wife Kukua and new baby, Zoe, coming up every weekend from Accra (usually by bus, returning at 2:00 a.m to be back at work in time on Monday!). 

-  Tim Anebakim successfully fought off three men with knives while surveying the flood damage up north last week.  He is a martial arts expert.  Praise God he was only scratched! Pray for our safety in a crime-ridden country.

- Jessica Osebreh, our firstborn and teacher in our school, is doing well in her 7th month of pregnancy.

-  It is very nice to have Jeremiah, our son, and wife, Brittney, and grandbaby Hannah, all back from their USA tour.  He's back to classes at UST, and Brittney is working every morning in our school Monday through Friday.

-  Gloria and Godwin are doing great work in our new ACE School of Tomorrow at Atia.  She is pregnant,and had some typhoid.

- Amy Morris Koumedjra was able to visit from Togo for five days, due to Laura's generosity.  They are doing well in Togo.  Pray that she can become pregnant and learn Ewe bit by bit.  They will soon start another school there, God willing.

- Pray for plans and finances for new school startups in Togo; Fumesua; Bolgatanga; (Upper East regional capital); Accra(Nat'l.capital) and Ada.(A southern district capital) Things are falling into place.  We will need to finance the startups. Also pray for others existing schools in Sunyani, Goamu, and AKokoaso.

- Pray that IDES continues to help with the monthly feeding our needy school children.  This costs about $1200 per mth. in three places. If the cannot do so, then we will have a challenging problem.

               

All of our love to you all in Christ our Lord,

Jeff Hostetter