Trials on the Mission Field

In this blog I want to share some of the recent trials that we have experienced in Africa.

Americans take for granted many of the common conveniences in life like running water, and electricity. Living in a developing country can be frustrating at times. Last year, in Ghana we were on power sharing because the Akosombo dam, which supplies the country with electricity, was at record low levels. For more than six months we experienced light on for 12 hours and light off for 12hours every other day. Sometimes they would not follow the schedule and we would have lights off for longer periods. Once we were without power for more than 36 hours. It makes it difficult when the children are doing their school on dvd's. Eventually we were able to get us a generator which is necessary on the mission field.

The last three weeks we have been without running water. The government has put in new gutters down the road from our house and then they begin grating the dirt road to match the gutters. In the process they destroyed all the water lines in the area which are buried only about 6-8 inches under the ground. Water was left flowing out of broken pipes for many days, flooding the road. Even after many complaints by area residents, the workers took there time doing the work.

This created a challenge for us as we only had a small water storage tank. Our landlord brought us another tank holding 1500 gallons. This was a blessing but it was not hooked up to our house, so we had to carry water in the house by buckets. With a large family of seven, this became quite a chore every day. In the evening we would have to fill all of the toliets, and bring in water for baths. Since we had no water in the house, all the laundry had to be done by hand in buckets and hung out to dry. Though this got old after a few days it gave us a new perspective on modern day conveniences. You never really know how much a blessing something is until you don't have it.

We have also had our trials with our vehicle being repaired in Africa. Last month one of our ball joints on the van broke right out of the socket! This is not surprising when you consider the bumpy roads we have to travel on to go somewhere. We have a repairman in Accra that searched for the parts to repair our Dodge 15 passenger van. There are no Dodge dealerships in Ghana, though there are an increasing number of Dodge, Ford and Chevrolet 15 passenger vans being imported into Ghana. Because it is hard to insure them in America they are being sold and shipped around the world to be used as passenger vans. Luckily, he found three ball joints which he replaced and the fourth was broken and had to be welded together the African way. Here they just weld old parts together and make them work! Now, we have another problem - our water pump leaks. After searching we found one but the price was very high- $250, and in America it sells for about $90. It can be frustrating trying to find the right mechanic and the right parts to repair your car. Even after some experience at it, we still seem to end up with a bush job on the mechanic work. One of the men in our church joked that we now have an African car! It creaks along as we hope things will hold together.

Though there are many frustrations for an American missionary on the mission field, it is worth it all when we consider the souls that are saved and the lives that are changed by the Word of God. When we surrendered to be missionaries, we agreed to make whatever sacrifices are necessary to get the job done!

Deaf Sunday School Class

This is a picture of our deaf Sunday School Class. The deaf man in the black suit is the teacher. His name is Remy Kayang and has been training under our ministry for two years. We average around 15 to 25 deaf on Sunday Mornings. Two of the deaf men have completed one year of institute studies. Our goal is to train faithful men to go and teach others.

This past Sunday Remy went to the deaf school to preach at 7:30 AM and finished in time to come to church for his Sunday School class. We are happy that he is willing and desires to go to the deaf school to preach. It was his idea to go there on Sunday mornings. For that we are happy. Now, we will be ministering the Word of God to the deaf students on Friday's and Sunday's, as well as an occasional Saturday to visit the students one on one.

Pray for our deaf group that the Holy Spirit will give them understanding and help them to become established in the faith.

Bible Institute

This week we are finishing up final exams for the second semester of our Bible Institute. Classes offered this semester include Bible Doctrine 2- (the Doctrine of Christ & the Holy Spirit), the Epistle of Romans, New Testament Survey, and Practical Christian Living. We are thankful for the faithfulness of our students and pray that they would continue to be students of the Word.

All of our students are looking forward to the semester break. With six hours of classes every week in addition to our regular weekly services and various ongoing mininstries during the week has kept everyone busy. We plan to redeem the time wisely, however, and work on our building project and devote more time to evangelism in the area. We plan to organize some evangelistic services in the villages surrounding our area. There are over 150,000 people living in the Cape Coast area.

Pray that we will receive our land documents soon, so we can begin the work on our foundation. We have over 1400 cement blocks waiting to go in the foundation. Our building plans are still in the works as we consider what the Lord would have us to do. It is an exciting time for our members and we are thankful for the Lord's blessings.

Building Blocks

This past week the masons have made over 800 building blocks for our foundation. Here in Ghana most all of the buildings are made of cement blocks with metal roofs. Our goal is to make 1500 blocks to lay the foundation of our church. We are planning a two-story building that will serve the various ministries of our church. There will be a sanctuary, classrooms for Sunday School and our Bible Institute, offices, and a dormitory for our Bible Students.

We have been meeting in a school for two years now. The school has no lights, electricity, fans, or screens on the windows. This is no problem in Africa for our morning services on Sunday, but can sometimes be a problem in the evening services and for our Institute classes. The rechargeable lamps sometimes will burn out during the services leaving us in the dark. Mosquitos are always a nuisance and at times we can hear them singing "Nothing but the Blood." (just kidding).

However, we are grateful that the Lord has provided us a place to meet these past two years, rent-free. Also, we are excited that He has given us two plots of land to build our own building. Pray that the Lord would continue to provide through His people and give us wisdom for the building project.

Cape Coast School for the Deaf

This is the last service at the school for the deaf before they take a short holiday break. School is different here from the U.S. They go to school year round with about 4 breaks during the year. Junior high school is called junior secondary school 1-3 (JSS1-3), and Senior high school is senior secondary school 1-3 (SSS 1-2). The jss3 students just finished taking their nation-wide exams to see if they passed to sss1. The school for the deaf in Cape Coast only goes to jss3, so we bid our goodbye's to the students that are going home in other regions. Some of the students who live in Cape Coast area are coming to our church on Sunday's.

Two Sunday's this month we transported all of the JSS3 student (19 in all) to our services during the two weeks they were taking exams. Since all the other students had vacated, they did not have services at the school. The Headmistress gave us permission to bring them to our services. We had 36 deaf people in those services. Now, they have finished their exams and have gone home. This past Sunday we had 16 deaf along with 64 hearing people. In two weeks the schools will open back up and we will continue our chapel ministry at the deaf school.

Also this month we had a deaf visitor at one of our Wednesday night services who is from Sweden. She is in Ghana for 6 months to help at the deaf school in Mampong. One of our deaf ladies brought her to church when she was visiting in Cape Coast. What a blessing to preach the Gospel to a Swedish deaf girl.

Pray for us as our deaf ministry has continued to grow since our camp this last December. We need to see deaf leaders trained to carry the Gospel to the deaf scattered about Ghana.

April Prayer Letter

April 2008

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This month we wish to report on the blessings, the battles, and the burdens of the ministry here in Cape Coast. Without the blessings we would be discouraged; without the battles we would be proud; and without the burdens we would be self-sufficient. The Lord truly knows how to keep us balanced in our ministry.

THE BLESSINGS!

This past month has been filled with preaching opportunities that we trust will one day bring forth fruit that remains. Besides our regular Friday chapel services at the deaf school, we have been going on Saturday’s to have question and answer sessions with the students. They have been asking some really good questions about salvation and practical Christian living.
Recently, I had the opportunity to preach at a deaf lady’s funeral service. It was sad to hear that this young lady died at the age of 29 years old of typhoid fever. The mother did not get an interpreter to find out what was really wrong with her until it was too late. Many of the deaf suffer in Ghana because the parents do not care enough about them to learn sign language and to help them. The families are poor and have many children, so the deaf are pushed aside and the hearing children are encouraged. Many of the deaf who came to the service were touched by the strong Gospel message and desired to ask me questions afterwards.

THE BATTLES!

With these open doors of opportunity to preach the Gospel are many battles with our adversary, the Devil. We had some heavy storms that caused electrical problems in our area. It took us five days to get the power company to come to our house to repair the lines. Because of power surges, we had over $500.00 of damage to small electrical appliances. These battles have thoroughly tested our patience and have caused us to retreat to the everlasting arms.

THE BURDENS!

We are making preparations for a six-month furlough (tentative July 2008 to January 2009) to report on our work, to receive some needed medical and dental work, and to raise some additional support. After three years on the field, prices have increased significantly and the dollar value has decreased. We need your prayers for our Father’s provision of many needs that He already knows about. Please pray about the need for the funds to purchase round-trip tickets, a van to use on furlough, and for our national leaders here to carry on the work in our absence. If God should lead you to help with these needs, please send to our church labeled for Johnny Widener-furlough.

All of our supporting churches who wish to have us report in person or for a special meeting can email us at the address below, or contact our sending church. If you do not support us and would like for us to share our ministry with your church, we would be happy to do so. Please let us know in the next two months so we can schedule your church on our calendar.

Grateful for His Grace,

Bro. Johnny Widener

Funeral for a Deaf Lady

This past Friday I preached a funeral for a deaf lady named Rosemond. She died of typhoid fever at the age of 29 years. It was sad to hear that her mother took her to the hospital 3 times and the doctors gave her medicine without really understanding her condition. The mother failed to get an interpreter to explain the symptoms to the doctor. She was already dead before they found she had typhoid fever.

In Ghana many of the deaf suffer great hardships because their parents do not care enough to learn sign language. Most families are poor and have many children, so the deaf are pushed aside and the hearing children are encouraged. I am thankful for the opportunity to preach the Gospel to the deaf in Ghana and to show them about a Saviour who cares for them.

Early on Sunday morning before our church services, I preached to a group of deaf adults at the association for the deaf. They had come for the funeral and on Sunday had a traditional "thanksgiving" service for the life of the departed. There were about 45 deaf people who heard me preach a strong gospel message from Luke 23:32-43. After the service many of them wanted to ask questions about the message, but we had to leave for our church services.

In the past two years of our work here in Cape Coast, we have had about 60 deaf people who have visited our services. There have been 38 public professions of faith among the deaf in our services, including our camp this last December. We have 3 deaf students in the Bible Institute along with our hearing students. We thank God for giving us this ministry to the deaf who are a neglected and forgotten people. Pray that God will raise up more laborers to sign the Gospel to the deaf.