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.

Open Doors of Opportunity

For the past two months we have been preaching every Saturday in the large village called Moree. On Sunday we had a man who heard us preach in Moree come to visit our services. He promised he would be coming back to visit our church. This is encouraging to see God at work! We also had two college girls who recently moved to Cape Coast visit our services for the second Sunday in a row. Pray that God would continue to work in the hearts of those to whom we have preached the Gospel.

This past Saturday we also preached at the Cape Coast School for the Deaf. The Jehovah's Witnesses have been trying to lead the deaf into their false doctrines. However, most of the deaf refuse to listen to the JW's because of God's blessing upon our labors at the Deaf school. I have been preaching at this deaf school for two years now. This last December when we had our camp meeting at the deaf school, we had 30 deaf students profess Jesus Christ as Saviour. Until our campmeeting we did not have any professions of faith at the school. It takes time for the deaf to come to a clear understanding of the Gospel. Now, with many of them saved and grounded in the Gospel they will not listen to false gospels. In the next few weeks we have an opportunity to bring the JSS3 students to our church on Sundays.

This weekend I will have the opportunity to preach at a deaf woman's funeral. I did not know this woman, but some of our deaf church members knew her. There will be many deaf people coming from different regions of Ghana to the funeral. Pray for this wonderous opportunity to share the Gospel with the deaf in Ghana.

Resurrection Sunday

Yesterday we had 110 in our Sunday morning services, including a good number of first time visitors. In the adult Sunday School class, I taught on the subject "Many Infallible Proofs of the Resurrection of Christ," followed by a message in the morning service on "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ-The Foundation of our Faith." Though we did not have any professions of faith, the presence of the Lord Jesus was with us.

In the evening service, our church members observed the Lord's Supper for the first time. It was a very special service as we remembered our Lord's death for us. Our mission church was started in July 2006, however, we did not establish membership until the middle of 2007. With so many false doctrines and different churches, it is necessary to build a solid foundation before admitting members to the church. Currently, we have 23 baptized members which is not including my family.

This past week we had our land re-surveyed by a government surveyor. When the land was being cleared by a bulldozer, three of the landmarks were removed. We are thankful for this providential work of God because we discovered that the first survey was off by twenty feet. Now we have the landmarks in the right place are are preparing to start the foundation work. But first we must get our building plans finished and approved. Pray for God to give us wisdom and to provide for the needs of the building program.

Muslims Coming to Christ

The deaf girl, third from the left, was raised in a Muslim family. She came to our camp in December and at the end of the week she confessed Jesus Christ as her Saviour. After camp was over she happily took her new KJV Bible home. Later when the Deaf school reopened after the holidays, a deaf boy informed me that her parents took the Bible away from her and threw it out of the house. He had gone and picked up the Bible and took it home. We also had another Muslim girl who also trusted Jesus Christ as her Saviour at camp. What a joy to know that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth!

The past few weeks I have been teaching about Muslim evangelism and challenging our church members to develop a love and burden for Muslims to be saved. In the near future we are going to have a Muslim evangelism day in our area. There are more than 6 mosques in our area. Pray that God will open the eyes and hearts of these people that are blinded by a false religion that offers no hope.

Door of No Return

Ghana has about 32 castles or slave-trading forts that were built during the colonial days. The Elmina Castle, about 5 km from the Cape Coast Castle, is the oldest which was built in 1482 by the Portuguese. It started out as a trading post for timber and gold, but later became one of the main slave-trading forts on the Atlantic slave route. This is a picture of "the door of no return," the last stop for captives before they were stripped and branded, then marched to waiting slave ships. The slaves that entered through this door never returned to their homeland as they boarded ships headed to the Americas or the Caribbean.

There are "doors of no return" in the Christian life as well. When we get saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we enter through a "door of no return." Salvation is eternal! When we surrender to serve the Lord Jesus, it should be a "door of no return," (see Luke 9:62). As the hymn goes, "I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back." When we die and leave this old world we will be entering a "door of no return."

Pray for us as we labor to train disciples of Jesus Christ. In our services the past few weeks our attendance has been down in the 60's. But in spite of that we are having new visitors come on a regular basis. The past few Saturday's we have done evangelism work in a village called Moree. It is a short distance from our church and is full of precious souls without a Savior. Pray that eyes would be opened to the truth and that many will enter that "door of no return," (see John 10:9). Pray for our church members and regular visitors that they will surrender their lives to serve the Savior as bondslaves entering the "door of no return."