A Letter from Timothy;  Tarkwa, Ghana, West Africa  on Friday, January 29, 2008

Hello!  (That's Ghanaian for "hello")  

Had a prayer request I wanted to share with you all.  Put an extra cushion on your chair cause this might take a while;) 

Last night as some of you may know Ghana's soccer team won another game and qualified for the next round in the African Cup.  So my friend Clement and I took a break from our painting to go and celebrate in the streets with the rest of the city, (no joke.)

While we were on our way home after things quieted down we were stopped by a young guy named Isaac who said he really needed to talk to me.  He had heard I was in town to help train up people to preach the Gospel.  My friend Clement wasn't very excited to talk with him because he had a reputation for being a Ju-Ju sorcerer. 

But Isaac told us he had just repented from his traditional ways his grandparents were training him in and was now following Christ.   However, he told me he had been having doubts because at the Pentecostal church he wasn't falling down and his pastor told him when he truly repented he would fall.  This was bothering him quite a bit and so I told him that no where in the Bible does it say you must fall down to be saved!  He was quite relieved to hear this!  

He went on to tell me that he was having many demonic dreams where the old spirits he used to serve were returning and telling him he was still theirs.  He went on to tell me he still had some black powder he used to take to get protection from anything.   His grandparents had made it for him out of vulture flesh and many other bizarre things and told him to take it once a year.

Isaac told me he was afraid to throw it away and didn't know how but wanted to be rid of it. 

I suggested we go back to his house right away and throw the powder in the gutter outside!  He wasn't too excited about this and told me we had better pray hard fro him before we go ahead.  I reassured him that he didn't have to fear those things anymore because he is serving the Lord now. 

As we were walking to his house Clement told this black powder used to give him tremendous power and how he would get into fights and when he would shout out some Ju-Ju phrase, he would become possessed and have super human strength.  Clement said he himself had seen people try to stab him and cut him, but his skin would become very slick and impenetrable.  After many such stories Clement informed me he was a little worried about throwing this powder away!  I reassured him we had nothing to fear, but to be quite honest I was a little nervous myself!! 

But we got to his house and Clement and I prayed that the Lord would give us strength and that these spirits would no longer bother Isaac.

So he reluctantly gathered up the malodorous powder and we went outside and uneventfully threw it away.

When nothing happened we was quite excited and decided he would walk us home!  

So if you would, please be keeping our brother Isaac in your prayers!  Pray for pleasant dreams and total freedom from these spirits, (both kinds of spirits.)  

We continue to work on the new place that you saw in the picture.  We are almost ready to move in, just a few finishing touches here and there.

Thank you all so much for your prayers!  I trust you all are well and praising the Lord! 

Much love--tim