Ghana
God, Please Allow Us a Shout of Victory in Ghana (Missionary Chan-ihn Jun)
Like other missionaries who set out for their mission countries amidst various difficulties, I left for my missionary posting on September 23, 1991. I arrived in Ghana on September 25, via England. My first impression of Ghana was that it was indeed hot.
Since missionaries first visited this land in the year 1800, 52 percent of the people are Christian, 12 percent are Moslem and 21 percent follow native religions. The mean temperature for the year is about 29 degrees centigrade but people feel it is much hotter than that. There are not many foreigners here. As there are many Chinese goods available, I am often thought to be Chinese when I go out on the street. German missionary Kathy Bacher came to Ghana on April 26, 1975 and Japanese missionary Takashi Yamashita came in July. But Takashi went back to Japan after three years due to a health problem. In the same year Seiichi Miyazawa came from Japan and worked for one year, before moving on to Liberia in 1982.
In the early days, relatively many members joined. But, owing to the persecution from the socialist government, from 1982 to 1987 Kathy transferred her work to Nigeria with fifteen members. She returned to Ghana in 1987.Kathy was blessed in the 2,075-couple Blessing in 1982 and has been working since then with her American husband Jim Stinard. A small church building and a training center have been rented. Of the six couples, five of them are in other countries. Twenty-three out of thirty-five members are preparing for the Blessing this year.Before I came to my missionary post, I offered many fasts and a 120-day prayer vigil offering with three purposes; heavenly disposition, leadership, and meeting people with a strong financial base. Even though I am still in this period of prayer, I have found just one Blessing candidate. I offered my small conditions in order to give strong inspiration. So as to create a common bond with members, I fundraised for several days with them, walking for seven hours a day. I once picked up and ate dusty food left on the street, and spent a night there.For education, there are workshops ranging from two to forty days. Members must attend a forty-day workshop in order to become a Blessing candidate. That workshop is held in Nigeria and most of the members who attend the forty-day workshop can give a two-day workshop well. The church only receives money for food from those who attend two-day to twenty-one-day workshops, but so many people cannot even afford that. I know that members skipped their meals in order to make up the deficiency. Paintings are popular here. Especially on holidays, people stand in line to buy them. These days we go out selling paintings but we feel that it has reached its limit. Several days ago we began to sell Il Hwa ginseng products and the response was good. When they are widely known to people, a considerable income seems to be guaranteed. For the Ghanian church, which does not have even one business, airplane tickets for twenty-three people that cost two thousand dollars per person are a major concern. Nobody would deny that wealth is equal to achievement. The eighty-acre farm that was purchased in 1986 is left neglected, waiting every year for the warm hand of the master. Five members began to raise money in Italy a few days ago but we don't know yet whether they can earn enough to buy their airplane tickets. I think a small shop that guarantees a fixed income will be a prerequisite for them to go forward toward the Blessing and True Parents.While teaching Korean and giving language tests to people who want to meet True Parents, I try to become a person who can give out love. I silently recall my wife's words that she gave me when I left my home: Treat everybody equally and without bias.
I sincerely hope that the difficult situation in Ghana improves so that a good altar can be made here as early as possible. Seeing my odd hairstyle in a mirror, I pray to God. Please allow the shout of victory in Ghana as quickly as possible.
(Tongil Segye, April 1992)
These two days I am reflecting on the course I have gone, while resting after completing a period of mobile witnessing during which I met many people and educated them.
Ghana, located in the western part of Africa, is a little larger than Korea. The churches in Ghana are praying for victory and doing their best to fulfill their mission to produce 40,000 blessed couples.
Our activities can be divided into two parts. One is to witness to Christians and bring them to the point of receiving the Blessing. Until now, we have educated five founders of denominations with many branches around the country, and they are now very busy educating their own followers. They witness to True Parents sometimes better than we do ourselves. Seeing them, I can know that God is really alive. If their followers sign up for the Blessing Ceremony, we will exceed the target number for our church.
The other part of our activity is engaging in missionary work to inform everyone throughout this land about the Blessing and to make them participate in Blessing Ceremony. Since we thought that the Blessing of God is not just for special people, but for all the people of this world, we initiated a missionary team on April 17.
Three Japanese missionaries, nine members from Ghana, and myself began our mission with a positive outlook under the banner of "Bringing the Blessing of God to All the People of Ghana." At first, it was very difficult for us to prepare a car, a speaker system, and all the materials needed. To reduce costs, we made thirty banners for ourselves. After serious discussions, however, we came to the conclusion that we would need at least $6,000, so we should ask some help from our home nations, Korea and Japan. At last, we could buy a second-hand car and a speaker system.
We began the first missionary trip of forty days from Accra, the capital city, on April 17.
We installed the speaker system on the roof of the car and gathered people around. We had an explanatory meeting on the meaning of the Blessing every three days. At first, we selected the four major cities to target for five days of missionary work plus one workshop.
From May 10 to 28, we met 10,000 people through four one-day workshops, two workshops for teachers and one workshop for Christians.
Almost all the people in the cities we visited were Moslems, but after we explained that the Blessing transcends any racial or religious boundaries, they also agreed with us.
When we finished the first missionary trip of forty days, we were exhausted and we had covered almost 3,500km. The roads in Ghana are very rough and dusty, but we could not roll up the window of the car.
Nobody except for me could drive, and it was quite hard for me to drive such a long way by myself. However, we all overcame this difficulty by imagining the many people who were waiting for us and sometimes by singing songs in the car. In retrospect, I can realize that the love of God was always with us.
Now I would like to recharge myself to make a new beginning with greater power, forgetting all the difficulties, while keeping in mind and being grateful for all the good experiences. I always emphasize this to members: "You aren't soldiers whom I chose, but soldiers whom God chose. Nobody can take care of this country if you do not. The difficulties and hardships that you have overcome, those which you are overcoming, and those which you will overcome will bring joy to God and True Parents. Let us establish a victorious tradition. Satan sometimes gives us a sweet temptation and sometimes leads us into difficulties which are very hard to overcome. However, let us defeat him, and make God and True Parents happy!"
Brothers and sisters of Ghana church are praying to accomplish True Parents' directions.
They dedicate their whole minds to that goal, bowing forty times each time they pray.
Heavenly Father and True Parents! Please bless this land of Ghana!
(Tongil Segye, July 1995)
*** Sunday service (September 1993) *** Unification Church members with a group of invited religious leaders ( September 12, 1993)
