Jake got to share the gospel in a town called Dzemeni today. This is an area that is high in child labor/trafficking because it is along the Lake Volta.
Dzemeni market scene
The parents of the children are lied to by being promised that their children’s school fees will be paid for if they send them to come and work here along the shore. They are basically tricked into child labor, and even worse, some children are literally sold (for as low as 50 Ghana cedis) and are sent to the Northern region to work in mines and factories. Jake said that the canoes come in and out of the lake transporting people and children like taxi cabs. He’d never seen anything like it. Many of the children here also die by drowning because they are forced to fish and repair nets. The police have started to make arrests, but there are so many in this trafficking ring that they can’t all be caught.
The pastors here have set up a ministry to help rescue the child slaves and get them into school. The main pastor came and found Jake in Asikuma earlier this week and asked him to come see the ministry.
The pastors asked Jake to preach to the children and teachers today. They said that drug abuse, alcohol abuse, sexual immorality (lots of young teen pregnancies), and worship of false gods including a lake goddess are the biggest issues in the area. Jake was able to share his personal testimony and he also preached on Deuteronomy 28 – highlighting the two choice paths of obedience or disobedience to God – and the outcomes of each.
Back in Asikuma, Jill - one of our team members - came across this little girl who had infections all over her head...
Once Jake got back he brought her to the clinic and the nurses knew right away that she needed to be tested for HIV. The test came back ‘inconclusive’ so she was sent to a neighboring town, Juapong, for more testing. Our Foundation paid for the transportation and further testing.
The floors and plastering were completed at Yaa and Adjoa’s new home yesterday.
The carpenter (who assists Sampson) started his work today, and now the new ceilings are up!
Why use a ladder to put up the ceiling when you're talented enough to do this?
Watch yer toes!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love Ghanaians! They are so ready to WORK, and get the job done with a lil African ingenuity every time!
Jake said Yaa and Adjoa are SO EXCITED about the new home! And he said Grandma (not pictured below) might be the most excited of all….she has a little extra hop in her step and smiles and dances around every time she sees Jake coming. :) I can totally picture it - I just love her free spirit!
Jake with Yaa, Adjoa, and their auntie outside of their new home – not quite move-in ready yet but soon!
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I shared with Luke that Jake shared the good news of Jesus in this village and he was very happy. After our learning of child slave labor, he is very much sad for those children and wants good things to happen to them. We will keep praying for the gospel to reach their hearts.
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