New Web Page

Dear Friends,

I want to announce that I have a new website which can be found at http://widener2ghana.org

I will be posting all of my future blogs on that web page.  Thank you so much for reading our news and praying for us.  May God richly bless you is my prayer.

Bro. Johnny Widener

God is so good!

The Lord has been so good to us!  He certainly gives us more blessings than we deserve.  When we came home for furlough, our needs list was very long!  Sometimes you wonder how everything is going to work out.  But God never fails to provide for those who patiently wait upon Him, (Ps. 37:7).  One of the things that we have learned living in Africa is to wait patiently upon our God.  Everything in Africa moves at a casual pace which is good in some ways.  However, it can be very frustrating to Americans.

I was finally able to get my new hearing aids after a long wait.  Now, I have to patiently adjust to the new sounds of these highly advanced digital aids.  In the long run I believe they will help me to hear better, though my hearing continues to grow worse over time.  If I lose any more hearing, the next step will be to have a cochlear implant because I am almost beyond the use of hearing aids.  But I praise the Lord for His grace and the burden that He has put in my heart for the deaf to hear the Gospel through sign language.

Hannah, our 11 year old, has received her first pair of hearing aids.  She had hearing loss before we went to Africa, but not enough to require aids.  But now they are needed and she can hear much better with them.  Becky got some new molds, but is waiting to get new aids when we get some more funds raised.  The audiologists cleaned up her old ones and adjusted them to have more power.

Next week Rachael, Hannah and myself will be going to the optometrist for eyeglasses.  All three of us need reading glasses.  I am getting where I cannot read the fine print.  Soon, we hope to get all of the children caught up with their dental work, and then Mom & Dad will need to go before we get back to Africa.  

The work in Cape Coast continues to move forward.  We are happy to hear good reports concerning the services and visitors continue to come.  The church had the meeting for the member involved in marital problems and all went well.  The member confessed his sin to the church and repented.  All the church members forgave him and received him with love.  But do continue to pray for this brother and his wife to put it all behind and for their marriage to be strengthened.  I will be needing to counsel them when we get back to Ghana.

Again, we thank you for your prayers for our ministry in Ghana.  May the Lord bless you all for your faithfulness.

Bro. Johnny Widener

Building Project is Moving Forward!

I received word from Bro. Emmanuel that they have finally received the land documents from the Lands Commission and are now working on the building permit. We have been working on this for almost one year. There are two other offices where our land documents must be filed and they are on that now. They have begun having sand and stones brought to the property in preparation for the foundation. The church's funds are almost exhausted now. Pray for God to provide the funds for the work to continue. Emmanuel is searching around for laborers to come and do the excavation for the foundation. In Africa we do not have the privilege of using back hoes. Everything is done manually. We give praise to the Lord for this progress that is being made in our absence from the field.

Bro. Emmanuel Ewur is the national in charge of our work in Cape Coast while we are on furlough. He has been a faithful servant working with us since we started the work in June 2006. He is not paid by the church or by us, but is doing the work out of his love for Christ. He graduated from the University of Cape Coast and is completing his first year as an English teacher at one the schools in Cape Coast. Pray for Emmanuel as he carries the heavy responsibility of the church, that God would strengthen and guide him.

The church is doing good in attendance, averaging in the 90's on Sunday mornings and in the upper 20's in the evening services. Visitors have been coming regularly to the services. Pray for the church as they go out every Saturday for evangelism.

There is one man in the church that is having some marital problems that has called for church discipline to be exercised. I am having to work through this problem by letters and through Bro. Emmanuel. They will be having a church meeting concerning this problem next week. Fortunately, the member has expressed his desire to repent before the church and get things right. For this we praise the Lord. But the church needs prayer as they work through this difficult problem.

We thank all of you who read our reports and pray faithfully for us. May the Lord bless you is my prayer.

Bro. Widener

Preparing for the Road

We are finally settling down into our furlough ministry. All the kids are in a Christian school and I have been booking appointments and preparing for the road. I have booked some new churches to share our ministry in view of support and prayer. I will even be preaching in a deaf church, which I am excited about. Pray that we can raise our support level to continue our ministry in Ghana.

One of our goals on furlough is to gather materials to help in our ministry in Ghana. We are in need of hymn books, Bible Institute materials, and children's teaching aids. After being in Africa for three years, I am amazed at the number of resources available here in America. Pray for the Lord to supply the funds needed to gather the resouces that we can use in Ghana.

We are still in the process of getting hearing aids for Hannah, Becky, and myself. There is a new hearing aid on the market that is water-resistant, which would be wonderful for a tropical climate like Ghana. That is the one that has been recommended by our audiologist, but the cost is very high ($5,386 for a pair). We are seeking the Lord for direction and His provision.

My hearing tests came back with discouraging results. I barely have any hearing left at all and was told that I am almost beyond the benefits of hearing aids. The audiologists told me that I needed to be considering a cochclear implant in the near future. At least I am thankful that God has allowed me to have some hearing and the ability to read lips well. All of these things are in the hands of our loving Father who works all things according to His glorious purpose. It has caused me to focus more upon the deaf world that is largely unreached with the Gospel.

I will be teaching some sign language classes at Spring Valley Baptist Church in Ft. Worth when I am not on the road. We have some people interested in learning so we can reach out to the deaf in the metroplex. There are a good number of deaf people in the area and a couple of deaf clubs. Pray with us that we can reach souls while we are on furlough.

The work in Cape Coast is moving on well. Some of the men are having some rocks and sand delievered to the property to prepare for the work on the foundation. It is encouraging to see them moving forward with the project in our absence. Pray for them that God would give them wisdom and to continue being faithful to the Lord. Also, pray for the visitors that have been coming and that souls would be saved.

Furlough News

Tears of Joy

The tears were hard to hold back at the joyful reunion with our families & sending church. We have certainly enjoyed this past month of fellowshipping with our church and visiting with our family members. The food has been wonderful– Texas Bar-BQ, Mexican Food, Country Fried Steak and fast food. Many times we do not realize how precious something is until we have been without it.

Doctors Appointments

We have also been busy with doctor & dentist appointments. Several of the kids had cavities filled and Rachael is needing a root canal done. Hannah has lost some more hearing and is now needing some hearing aids. Becky and myself are needing some new ear molds and hearing aids. The tropical weather got the best of my good aids and I am wearing one back-up aid until I can get some new ones ordered. Please pray that the Lord will provide the funds for these pressing needs.
The doctor found some skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma) on my face under my left eye. I had surgery to remove it on my birthday, August 1st. All went well and I will go for a check-up in four months. There was no charge for the diagnosis or the surgery– Praise the Lord! Pray for the open wound to heal quickly, so we can get a new picture made for our prayer cards.

Reporting to our Sending Church

We kicked off our missions month at Spring Valley Baptist Church by showing our video presentation of the work in Cape Coast. There was hardly a dry eye in the service as our sponsoring church saw the faces of souls saved and heard some of their testimonies. My wife and I cried the most as we have greatly missed the people to whom God has called us to minister.

The Mission in Cape Coast

The mission church in Cape Coast is doing very well in our absence. We are keeping in regular communication with the brethren there. The members have remained faithful and they continue to have visitors in the services. Be in special prayer for Sister Araba’s husband who has started coming to church and the Lord is working in his heart. He is in his upper 50’s and needs to be saved. The deaf class had 29 in attendance on a recent Sunday. Continue to pray for God to build them up in the faith.

Pray as we work on booking meetings with new churches and report to our supporting churches. If you would like for us to report on our work or share our ministry with your church, please contact us as soon as possible. My personal cell # is (682) 560-0872, or you can email me at: jwidener@fastmail.fm

Texas B-BQ, Family & Friends

We arrived safe in Fort Worth, Texas on July 3rd. What a joyous reunion to meet our parents, nephews, and church members at the airport. The first several days were spent visiting with family & friends, and eating some good Texas B-BQ. Our first Sunday was spent in our home church- Spring Valley Baptist Church- and what a blessing to see every0ne again! We enjoying hearing our pastor preach a great message and on Sunday evening the church had a fellowship for us.

The month of July is being spent with our families and taking a little R&R. In August, the kids will start school at Lakeland Baptist Academy in Fort Worth, while I will be traveling for meetings. We have been real busy trying to fill dental & doctor appointments in the midst of visiting all of our relatives.

The mission church in Cape Coast is doing well as people continue to visit our services. The men have been working on getting the paperwork all finished with the Land commission. There were some minor corrections that had to be made and it will soon be completed. They are also working on the process of getting a building permit for our church project. Please continue to pray for our mission church to be faithful and continue the work of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Preparing for Furlough

The past few weeks have been busy as we are making preparations for our furlough. It has been more stressful than expected as we are trying to get everything in order before we go. Cleaning, and preparing the house to be closed up, and packing our things to take with us has turned out to be a big chore. But even more difficult is saying our goodbyes to our beloved church members and co-workers in the ministry here at Spring Valley Baptist Church.

Sunday, June 29th was our last Sunday here before leaving this Wednesday. We had a few visitors in our morning and evening services. There were also some tearful eyes in the evening services as we bid our goodbyes. We are thankful to the Lord for the work that He has given us here in Cape Coast and the many wonderful people in our church.

We stand in awe as we look back over the past two years in Cape Coast and consider all the mighty works that God has done for us. A mission church has been started, along with a Bible Institute aimed at training faithful men. The church now has 23 baptized members and a regular Sunday morning attendance of 86. God has provided the church with two plots of land as a donation. This past week we received the church building plans from the architect. Some of the men will be taking the plans to Town and Planning Commission to apply for a building permit. We pray that all goes well and the Lord provides for the church to build. The building plan is divided into three stages that will allow the church to time to grow into the building and raise the money.

Please pray for the church leaders who will be carrying on the work while we are gone. There will no doubt be testing in store for them and they will need the grace of God to sustain them. We are confident that it is God who "worketh in us both to will and do of his good pleasure."

Our children are really excited about seeing their grandparents, cousins and friends. What a blessed reunion it will be to see our church family and our family members. My next blog will be written from the U.S.A. and we will keep you posted on the family as well as the work in Cape Coast. May God bless you all for your prayers.