This past week began with a drive south from Sunyani to our next venue in Takoradi. Along the way, we stopped at Shiloh Bible Training College in Kumasi. (Kumasi is a centrally-located city with a population of 1.5 million. The Shiloh College provides a year-long intensive course in Bible that takes students through the Bible Training Centre for Pastors (BTCP) curriculum. At any one time, there are nearly 100 students from many different denominations studying at Shiloh.) We greeted the faculty and students there, each of us speaking for a few minutes about EPI’s work here in Ghana. Bishop Samuel Addai, the headmaster, is very excited about the possibility of EPI offering intensive seminary-level courses at his facility and he has thrown the door wide open for us to come at any time. We are making plans now to spend a week at Shiloh when we return in August. The potential is enormous since these students scatter throughout Ghana and beyond – to Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo and Nigeria – planting churches for their various denominations. Kumasi has the potential to be the Ephesus from which much of West Africa can be reached. As we were leaving, the students insisted upon a group photo (attached) and then lined up for a seemingly endless round of individual photos with the EPI team. We would just finish with the “last photo” and try to rest our smile muscles when another student would rush up proclaiming “Last photo, last photo!” This went on for 20 minutes or more. Chuck joked about feeling like a rock star! But this illustrates the eagerness of God’s people in Ghana to receive God’s Word. We have no sooner finished a conference than they are making plans for the next time we will come. So much opportunity!!
And so we drove on toward Takoradi, another city of 1+ million on the coast. We found our hotel, arriving after dark, and discovered that they were ill-prepared for our arrival – no A/C, no food in the restaurant, broken plumbing, etc. We stayed the night anyway, but moved the next morning to a very nice, newer hotel that was happy for our business. The conference began that morning (Tuesday) and met in a large Church of Pentecost in the downtown area. Although a beautiful facility, it was HOT outside and even hotter inside. The only relief came from the regular sea breeze that ruffled the window curtains and the occasional puff of air from the ceiling fans. We soon found that the breeze funneled through the front porch, creating a zone of relative comfort. So, when not teaching, we sat on the front porch being alternately stared at or waved to by passers-by. All around were the sights and smells of the city: a school next door with uniformed boys playing ping-pong at recess, several stalls selling food, traffic rumbling past and entire blocks of seedy, closely set four-story apartment buildings, laundry flapping from the balconies.
This was the first EPI conference in Takoradi for a number of years. Most of the 74 people registered had no experience with EPI and also had not really thought about developing a Biblical worldview. So, the conference was a new experience for them. We taught in sequence, each of us taking a section of the material, and while we were actually teaching, all thought of the heat and distraction from the outside was graciously removed. I am constantly amazed at how, in addition to our careful preparation, the Holy Spirit will bring new thoughts or specific illustrations to mind while we are teaching. The Lord obviously wanted these brethren to hear what we had to say, so He sustained us, gave us spiritual insight and often “side-tracked” us by His Spirit so that we taught just exactly what was needed. Consequently, the conference was greatly appreciated and we were enthusiastically invited to return.
Thursday found us on the road again traveling east to Cape Coast. We normally plan for a couple of “rest days” at the end of our teaching to give our part-time teachers an opportunity to do a little sightseeing. Our hotel in Cape Coast was within sight of the ocean so that evening we walked to the beach to enjoy the beauty of the surf. On Friday morning we drove to the Kakum Rain Forest to experience the “canopy walk” that gives you access to the rain forest canopy. In the process, you bounce and sway across seven rope walkways linking six platforms, all of which are 120 feet above ground. It’s the closest most of us will ever get to Tarzan’s jungle – stunning! And the green coconut milk that we drank on the walk back provided some welcome refreshment from the stifling heat and humidity.
That afternoon, we visited the Elmina slave castle, a structure built in the 1500’s for the purpose of processing slaves for the European slave trade. Over the 525 years it was used for slaving, 7 million captives crossed the drawbridge of the castle, but fully 2/3 of them died before ever making it to the slave ships. And Elmina was only one of a host of such castles that lined what used to be called “The Slave Coast.” Our tour provided a sobering reminder of the depravity of man, as well as of the fact that it was dedicated Christians like William Wilberforce who led the fight to end this appalling trade in human flesh.
Saturday morning we drove back to Accra, completing the circuit we began when we arrived in Ghana. We used the time in Accra to rest, trade pictures, purchase souvenirs and repack in preparation for our upcoming flights. Chuck and John began their odyssey back to Atlanta on Sunday evening, and I will be flying on to Nigeria on Monday.
It has been a wonderfully productive trip thus far: we taught 314 pastors and church leaders in three locations, providing them with the materials that will enable them to return home to teach the same truths their own congregations. We made a conservative estimate of the number of believers these leaders have in their congregations, and the total came to 45,000! We praise God for the privilege of teaching His people, and we thank you for your prayers and contributions that have made this ministry possible.
My next update will come from Nigeria this coming weekend. Please continue to pray as the work goes forward.
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