Anopheles Anxiety

I woke up this morning feeling terrible again so Bob and Bonnie suggested I get some blood work done to make sure everything is okay. I went right after school and had my tests done in a remarkably modern and friendly clinic here in Tamale.

The bad news is I have malaria. The good news is, I now know why I haven't been getting any better using Cipro! I've already started on malaria medicine so I should be feeling fine before long. I don't teach again until Tuesday, and I'm sure I'll be better by then.

I realize the word malaria conjures up images of soldiers, explorers and missionaries dying in the jungle somewhere, but nowadays, if treated properly, malaria is not so bad. Unfortunately it is still a huge killer in the tropical world, especially among the very young and very old. I'm grateful for my smart hosts who sent me to the clinic, for the speedy diagnosis, and for the relatively inexpensive medicine to treat it.

And so, dear friends of this blog; do not worry. Everything will be fine. This is just one more of life's interesting learning experiences to go along with a host of others I seem to be experiencing lately. Besides, like I told Bonnie at lunch today; now that I have malaria I actually feel more like a "real" missionary. Thanks for your continued prayers. I'll keep you updated.

God's Story

 Something really cool is happening right next door to the Dr. Steve Suite. Over there they are recording a soundtrack for the "God Story" movie in a language called Nkonya from the Volta Region of Ghana.

As mentioned in a previous blog, a man named Jesse Walters does this ministry. Jesse locates people who speak different languages in Ghana, who also speak English. He usually finds them through the different Bible translation organizations operating here in Ghana. Jesse then sends these individuals an English script of the movie which they write out a translation of in their own language. Once a year or so Jesse comes to Ghana and sets up shop at Seed Ministry. Then, two-by-two, the translators come and work with Jesse for a week (it takes that long to do the recording). The next week, two more people who speak a different language will come.

Jesse will be here ten weeks this time and hopes to get ten different language tracks laid down. He will then return to the States to clean up the recordings. Eventually CD's and DVD's will be made featuring the movie in the new African language. Missionaries can then take these DVD's to remote villages and show them using a generator and a projector. Thus, "God's Story" gets out. The new languages are also put on Mega Voice players (see earlier post) to be taken out to the villages so people can at least hear the story, even if they can't see the movie.

Immanuel (L) and Jesse (R) recording

This is a fascinating ministry, and a very fruitful one. I was amazed at how organized everything is and how well it all works, especially given the primitive recording conditions, untrained narrators, etc… When I asked Jesse how he does it, he told me without hesitation that he has a slogan he puts on every DVD and CD he produces, a slogan he believes in strongly: "By God's grace, for God's glory." Jesse said this project is bigger than one man or one movie, or even the countless linguists who have sacrificed weeks doing the translation, then given up a full week's pay at their job to come here, and then endured great hardships just to get here to actually make the recordings. Joseph, the man pictured above making the Nkonya recording traveled 23 hours by bus to get here. Imagine that.

I never cease to be amazed at the lengths some people will go to get the word out. And those that do go to such great lengths always seem to be the ones who appear least able to be able to afford to do so. God bless you Jesse Walters, and all the others involved with this project that is getting the Good News out to unreached people groups.

Oh, My Achin’ Stomach!

I woke up in the middle of the night Monday night with a certain "urgency" that let me know I was in for a totally miserable day ahead. Montezuma's Revenge (at least that's what they call it in Mexico) has returned with a vengeance. I am weak as water and have not had anything to eat all day besides a banana and some tea. I even had to leave my classes an hour early, though thankfully I was able to rush through the material with both groups before I had to leave.

In my misery I laid in bed all day reading a book by John Piper called "Filling up the Afflictions of Christ." The book is about some men who paid the ultimate price for the gospel. As I lay there with my tummy ache feeling totally sorry for myself I read the heroic stories of John Tyndale who was burned at the stake for publishing the Bible in English, John G. Paton who took the gospel to cannibals in the South Pacific, and Adoniram Judson, who was imprisoned, criticized by his family and church, and lost two wives and countless children to disease as he ministered among the people of Burma (Myanmar).

These men took to heart Jesus' words in John 12: "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it will bear little fruit. And unless a man despises his life in this world, he will lose it for eternity." No threat to their lives, disease, deprivation, loss of loved ones, or anything else could keep them from what God called them to do in spreading the gospel.

Feeling despondent myself today because of my sickness, I was convicted by something Adorinam Judson said about persevering:

Beware of the greater reaction which will take place after you have acquired the language, and become fatigued and worn out with preaching the gospel to a disobedient and gainsaying people. You will sometimes long for a quiet retreat, where you can find respite from the tug of toiling at native work – the incessant, intolerable friction of the missionary grindstone. And Satan will sympathize with you in this matter; and he will present some chapel of ease, in which to officiate in your native tongue, some government situation, some professorship or editorship, some literary or scientific pursuit…anything,
in a word, that will help you, without too much surrender of character, to slip out of real missionary work. Such a temptation will form the crisis of your disease. If your spiritual constitution can sustain it, you recover; if not, you die.

As John Piper says, "God knows there are times to flee and times to stand." My hope is that when that time comes in my life I will know exactly what to do. At the very least I pray that when the crisis comes I will be guided more by the ways of God and the witness of these men, and less by the worldly ways of comfort and security.

Study Day

Today (Monday) was a study day for me. I really got a lot done too. I am now almost ready to publish the next section of my notes for my students which would take them all the way up through their next exams which will be given on Oct. 26 and 28^th. That is a really good feeling. It seems as though I've been under the gun the entire time I've been here just trying to stay ahead of my students in my preparation. Now I'll be able to simply go back the night before and review what I'm going to teach on any given day rather than burning the midnight oil just to get my lesson plan done (wow, sorry for all the clichés).

The weather was spectacular here today, clear and hot, but not too hot. This afternoon the big team from South Fork Baptist Church in Kentucky arrived. They all seem nice very well-prepared to hit the ground ministering tomorrow. Several of them have been here before so they already know the ropes (cliché). Our day ended with one of the fiercest rainstorms we've had yet (at least while I've been here). It rained cats and dogs (yep). As I write this the showers are diminishing leaving a nice cool evening, perfect for sleeping.

Other than that there's not a whole lot to report. I guess I could bore you to tears (uh huh) with minutiae such as the fact that the shower curtain fell in the Dr. Steve Suite bathroom today; and the ballast in my overhead light is faulty which causes my light to blink all the time, but that's probably more than you wanted to know. Oh… and I have had a terrible time getting on the Internet today, so I'm hopeful I'll be able to publish this thrilling post now that it is written. But given the situation many of those living within just a few feet of where I am sitting writing this, I have absolutely nothing to complain about.

If you are looking for a Scripture to meditate on later, here's one the Lord led me to this evening: "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" (Psalm 27:14 NIV). Peace to you.

B Dakpemyili

I went out today to preach at one of my student's churches, a village called B Dakpemyili. I'm not sure exactly how far the village is from Seed Ministry but I allowed myself an hour to get there on my motorbike. Of course, what I didn't count on was the tremendous storm that blew up while I was driving there that forced me to take cover under a shed with a bunch of goats and two other people for about an hour. I finally ventured out once the rain tapered off but even with my poncho on and my pants legs rolled up, I was soaked by the time I got to the village.

The rain didn't damper the enthusiasm of the worshippers though! We actually didn't meet in the church building at B Dakpemyili as originally planned. Once I got there, a young man met me to say we were going to meet at the next village up the road (Kudula) in a school building. So I invited the young man, a youth named Daniel who is affiliated with Seed Ministry, to drive me on the moto on up to the next village. I'm not comfortable driving other people on the bike yet, so I let him drive me. The photo above is of Daniel and me this morning.

The service itself was a little different. The church is Presbyterian so it was a little more formal; we recited the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles Creed during the service (which, thankfully they did in Dagbani so they couldn't hear me mess up both in English). Daniel translated for me and did a great job. Afterwards they asked me to take questions about the message, which I did. I was surprised to discover that I actually understood a few words of their questions spoken in Dagbani. I answered by sprinkling a little Dagbani myself which drew generous laughter and seemed to seal the bond between the preacher and the congregation. To top off a great Lord's Day these wonderful people gave me several yams as a gift for coming to preach. As the rain began falling again we strapped the yams to the back of my moto using part of an old bicycle inner tube and off I drove as the people stood on the porch of the school waving good-bye.

Contrails

This afternoon I was walking outside and I looked up at the sky and something hit me. No, I don't mean something literally hit me, I mean I realized something: I have never seen a contrail in Tamale. You know what contrails are, right? They are those frozen lines of jet exhaust that zigzag across the sky. Back home, it's almost impossible to look up and not see a contrail. Of course, back home I live within an hour of the world's busiest airport; but still, it seems you'd see at least see an occasional contrail over here. But you don't.

This experience was just one more reminder to me of how culture-bound we all are. Stated another way, whatever the weather is like in your neck of the woods is what you think it's like everywhere. But it's not.

We tend to think everybody thinks just like we do, and has the same shared experiences. But they don't.

Experts can talk about our "shrinking world" all they want, but believe me, it's still an awful big place with more diversity than you can imagine. The absence of contrails is also a reminder to me that I am currently "way out there…" But I already knew that.

Tonight there are two African pastors in the room that adjoins the Dr. Jackson Suite. They seem like nice men. I just met them at supper tonight. Jesse Walters, the "God Story producer guy" arrived this morning and is in my former room. He will be working with two different pastors a week for several weeks to record the God story soundtrack in more languages.

Tomorrow I am preaching at a village called B Dakpemyili. I'll be preaching about Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10); how the story of his salvation can help us understand our own salvation. I'm looking forward to meeting another group of Ghanaian believers. I'll give an update on the service tomorrow; same bat time, same bat station. Meanwhile, enjoy your worship service tomorrow; I know you will.

The Dr. Steve Suite

I am in my new room at Seed Ministry. Tonight (Friday) is my first night and so far it is working out fine. I even learned today that the room comes with a private bath which, by the way, doubled the size of my accommodations! Seriously, it is going to work out great, although I have enjoyed ribbing Rev. Bob about putting me in "the hole." Bob got back at me though, with his labeling of the key to my "suite" (see photo). I love it! As soon as I have everything set up in my new quarters I will send some photos. I feel very cozy and "monkish."

We woke up to intense thunder and heavy rain early this morning, but by the time for me to head to school the rain had stopped. The day went well there. My students were not surprised at the less than spectacular results on their first exam. I am allowing six of them to do an open book retake on the test, with their final grade being a composite from their original grade and the open book grade.

Tomorrow morning (Sat.) I am working with the seedlings, the local Bible Club here at Sognaayili. Bonnie flies back in from Accra in the morning with Jesse, the man who does the God Story recordings in different languages. On Sunday I'm preaching at a village whose name I cannot pronounce, or even spell out – it's one of my student's churches, and it will take me about an hour to get there on my moto. Should be quite a journey, my longest so far on the bike. Bob and the big team of 18 arrive on Monday from Accra.

I just watched "That Darn Cat," the original Disney movie from 1965. I love the old Disney movies, and have always enjoyed Dean Jones and Hayley Mills, the two stars of the film. I hope your weekend is a great one; I understand the weather back home has been spectacular. Peace to you.