eunson dorothy 1968 ghana

8/13/2019 Eunson Dorothy 1968 Ghana

1/10

APRIL - MA.Y, 1968DOROTHT EUNSON. NEWSLETTER - NO. 3

Dear Friends in Chr is t176 were seated on wooden cha i r s under an open she l t e r constructed of bamboo poles

palm fronds and banana leaves. People came in groups and sa t down on the chairs andbenches. Up and down the road in the vil lage marched a singing band call ing the peopleto worship. The gi r l s were dressed in ankle- length tanger ine-colored skir ts and whiteblouses. The young men of the band wore white sh i r t s and dark slacks or shorts . Theband danced and sang to the rhythm of a drum and a bel l b eat w ith a small rod. Presentlya group o f Chr is ti an s from another congregation rhythmically sang and shuffled around theshe l te r and then took the i r places. Gener ally , th e men sa t on two s ides of the squareand the ladies on the other s ides ; al though as guests from Accra, Mrs, Taylor, her threeboys and seated-on the- f ront row on-the-side-.-where the-leaders and speakers had. .-t h e i r p laces .This was my f i r s t African worship service - th e E aste r morning session of the convention a t Akimanso, a tv/o hour drive from Accra, Kent Taylor was to bring the morningmessage, and I was staying in i th e T ay lo r home over the week-end.The service began with singing. The words were in another language, but anyonecould understand the beat of the rhy thm from the bass f iddle and the drums. The tuneswere very simple and one or two verses were repeated perhaps a dozen times unt i l th eleader rang a bel l to end t h at pa rt icu la r song, Ghanaians had complete charge of theserviceAs we sang we had ample oppor tuni ty to observe the constant act ivi ty around us -more people arriving unti l they numbered more than 600; the Ghanaian children pressingin closer and closer to the obrunis (white people); how charming their smiles ; anoccasional goat or chicken wandering into th e cen ter clearing, but soon chased out by aman in a red, traditional, long draped costume} a few enthusiastic singers enteringthe clearing to dance a l i t t l e too; some men bringing extra banana leaves to thickent h e s h a d e o v e r o u r h e a d s .

Each song was ended by Praise the Lord from th e le ader and iVmen or Alleluiafrom the people. Soon the singing band came back, escorting a sub-chief in a colorfulrobe and gold, wooden crown and his queen mother (wife). They, too, were given seatsof honor. Someone brought the dist inct ively Ghanaian curved-seat stool for th e la dy .The chief of the area was too busy to come, so he sent the sub-chief in h is pHxre ;The offering plates were placed on the two chai rs in the center space and everyonesang as those who were ready came to th e front and gave their offering. Most of thel dies came firstAfter more singing, Mr, Qaave, a student at Ghana Christian College, took charge ofthe Lord's Supper, explaining and teaching at length i ts origin, purpose, and blessing.After he spoke a sentence in English, another man translated i t into the Twi languageand yet another spoke i t in the Ga tongue. Our Wonderful Christ was just as near inthat communion service as in any of the splendid Easter services in the States. Sincethere were not nearly enough communion cups to go around, they were collected as theywere used, quickly washed, and refilled at the table, You can understand why we liketo receive communion sets here. Even in the local churches, this is a problem.Next, they introduced the guests from Accra (us). First, Kent; then Barbara andthe children; then myself. As the newly a rrived teacher fo r the College, I received aspecial introduction - I didn't understand a word of i t Asked to say a few words, Ispoke jus t brief ly giving a greeting from you in America and expressing my pleasure atbeing there and worshiping 7/ith them. Again, ray words were translated into the othertwo languages a f t e r each sentence.The three Taylor boys, ages 11, 9 and 7, sang Heaven Came Down in two-partharmony and r ec e ived app re c ia ti ve applause.Several of the other churches brought special musical numbers also. Kent preachedthe message from the Bible, and i t was t rans la ted into two other languages, V/hen no oneresponded to the invi tat ion, everyone sang th.e benedict ion.

This was a wonderful service, and I genuinely worshipped God... Don't be guilty ofthe mistaken idea t h at d if fe ren t customs make these people inferior . V/e are here tohelp these people to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ. Our purpose is not to teachthem how to conduct an jVmerican worship se rv ice .

The service l a s ted from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. Afterwards the young man who preachesfor the host congregation le d us back through the village and showed us the buildingthey have begun for the Church there, Peter, too, is a student at the College.Most of the students have shown progress and promise of more in their knowledge andunderstanding of God's Y/ord, This i s the heart of the work here, Ghana ChristianCollege accepts students from any church, teaches them th e Bible, and how to preach.


2/10

Perhaps more than in any other mission fi e l d today, a great possibility exists toencourage th e growth of an indigenous, non-denominational C hristian Church. I t i sexciting to have a p art in this movement. Please pray diligently fo r a ll the Christianshere, both A me ri ca n a nd Ghanaian. Problems a r i s e , an d it i s necessary that the Spir i to f Chr is t preva i l .

This period is vacation f o r th e c oll eg e s tu de nts and professors. I have had agood opportunity to see Accra and to get acquainted with t he n ec es sa ry changes in dailyroutine. School resumes on Tuesday A pri l 2 5r d), so I will be teaching music andEnglish by the t ime you read this. _ Kent Taylor ha s been teaching them to read basicmusic. I w i l l continue th is an d begin to teach them actual songs. One opportunity f o rth e cl ass is to develop t r ios an d quartets to vis i t churches when the professors go asg ue st p re ac he rs . Just like a gospel team in th e States, they bring a b le ss in g t o th epeople an d make cont act s f o r the College. ,

At l e a s t two t h in g s a r e. i ne x p en s iv e here - clothespins-and l e t te rs . A ir l e t te rforms are only nine pesewas about 9^) ^ regular airmail l e t t e r is only 20 pesewas.-This is my sixth in Accra. Smaages, Rifes, and Taylors met me a t th e a-i-rport - at 6:15 A.M. on Good Friday. My v i s a came to my Pennsylvania address on Friday,April 5th; the following Tuesday evening I flew to London from New York. After adelightf ul two days in London, a nig^it flight brought me safe ly to Ghana.

I thank God fo r His care an d guidance since l a s t July when I began to look i nth is direction. Pray that we will continue in Hi s will and that I will t ea ch w ithth e ability and confidence necessary to command th e r es pe ct o f t he s tu de nt s.Fo r a week o r so I am staying with H ostetters to get a cq ua in te d w ith th e houset h a t will be my home a f t e r the end of school. Nancy Hostetter w i l l be returning toAmerica i n a week be cau se s he is expecting a baby. V /hen sh e leaves, I w i l l stay m thTaylors xmtil Dick Hostetter and the boys go home th e middle of June.

The forwarding agents of a ll the families here will have special study packetsa v a i l a b l e f o r V. S* S. mission education. These a r e worth i n v e s t i g a t i n g .May God b less you as you serve Christ in America and as you share with us in Ghana.

NORTHSIDE CHRISTIAN CHURCH175 Flor idahaven DriveM a i t l a n d , Flo r ida 32751

D OR OT HY E ON SO NNE ;/SLETTER

NO . 3

V/arm G r eetin g in H is Name,

DOROTHY EONSON

HORIZONSMission S e r v i c e s15ox 3^0J o l i e t . 111. 6 0 m

v

Non Prof i t Org .U. S . P o s t a g e1 . 4 0 P IDM a i t l a n d , Fla .P e r m i t N o 2 0


3/10

D e a r F r i e n d s ;

JUNE

OROTHY EUNSON NEITSLETTER No. 4JUNE, 1968

Happy ann iv er sa ry t o mel At t h i s writ ing I hav e been in Ghana a montn now,and I f e e l r i g h t a t home. After spending some t ime i n the Kent Taylor home and i n th eRichard Hoste t ter home, I am now l i v i n g with the Ron Rife family, and vrLll stay hereu n t i l the r e s t o f the H o s t e t t e r s r e t u r n t o America the middle o f June. Nancy anddaughter Heather l e f t n e a r l y three weeks ago because Nancy s baby i s due in e a r l y June.When Dick and th e two boys l e a v e I w i l l move i n t o t h e i r house.

Colieg-classes resumed .on J . p r i l 23rd, _and on t h a t day my teaching r e s p o n s i b i li t i e s began. At f i r s t th e f i r s t y ea r s tu de nts s tu die d English two per iods a week, b u twhen t h a t proved to o l i m i t e d a t ime, we added a t h i r d per iod. I r e a l l y enjoy th e teachi n g . The s tudents a r e f r i e n d l y and most seem eager to l e a r n . Because o f accents andpronunciat ion, we find it d i f f i c u l t t o understand some of them, especial ly i they speakr a p i d l y . This coming week i s time fo r mid-term exams, so we s h a l l see how much theyhave learned. I j u s t f in ished typing the English exam t h i s morning.

Music c l a s s i s r e a l l y somethingl I have f i v e s tudents taking it f o r c re di t andabout a dozen o t h e r s who l i k e music and want to leaxn what they can by j u s t s i t t i n g i n .^7ith no background in musical nota t ion , it i s very d i f f i c u l t f o r them to lea rn to readthe music - but they a re l ea rn in g. The f i r s t week we used the chorus The Lord I s MyShepherd . The students l i k e harmony, so they enjoyed singing it as a round. V hen Ihave been here longer, I will know better what to teach them in the line of music. i ewant to help them be b e t t e r preachers and minis ters to th e p eo ple, not j u s t more s k i l f u lmusicians. There i s no piano a t the c o l l e g e but a p i t c h p i p e serves q u i t e wel l .

The Smaages are keeping Simkins piano in their home. Donna Smaage hasinvi ted me to bring some students out to work on special music for chapel and otheroccasions. The piano would help them learn more quickly.Speaking of music - Doris Rife, Donna Smaage, Barbara Taylor and I have been

working on some trio and quartet music. ie have yet to make our debut, but the practicing i t s e l f gives us a lo t of pleasure. \Ye will have opportunity to sing in the worshipservices held in th e college building. iEven when the men are gone on preaching t r i p s which is nearly every weekend) t he famil ie s o ften s tay here. Some of the studentsa t t e n d a t the c o l l e g e and a few v i s i t o r s .

May 12th I began teaching Sunday School. V e have a l l the children exceptthree year old Bri an Rife in one class. As we grow we can divide them. One of ourmarried s tudents brings his three l i t t l e g i r l s . They don t understand very much Ehglish,but the v i s u a l aids w i l l help . Of course, a l l children love music, and we s ing many songs,Already I can see that one could easi ly get too deeply involved in the workto leam one of the African languages. And it i s possible to get a long wel l in English.But, i f three or four young men were standing near you ra t t l ing away in a foreign

tongue, v /ouldn t you l ike to know what they were saying? Seriously, I want to leam asmuch as I can to show the Ghanians t h a t we a r e t r u l y i n t e r e s t e d i n them and t h e i rs p i r i t u a l c o n d i t i o n .

Last Sunday a few of the students came out to make use of R i f e s ping pongtable. I had a turn, too, and then they taught me some Twi greetings. There i s a different one for morning, noon, and evening. I t i s a small beginning. I have learned twoTwi songs, also. In chapel on Tuesdays and Fridays we sing in both Twi and English.The boy who led the songs Friday wrote down the words to the two African songs he chose,so I c o u l d a t l e a s t f o l l o w a l o n g .

There are about 28 students in the college now, near ly equally divided betweenf i r s t and second year studies. They range in age from the late teens to married men int h e i r f o r t i e s . Several are already preaching regularly for congregations, and otherspreach and teach as often as they can. The men who have known them longer are verypleased with the progress in knowledge and spiri tual growth most of them have shown.Of course, they are human and have their shortcomings and we have our share of problemsin the coll ege, but the poten ti al for the growth of God s kingdom is very great - throught r a i n e d men lik t h e s e .


4/10

How I wish you could more clear ly understand th e si tuat ion he r e . My ownunderstanding ha s changed and deepened ju st th is month. T/e have here in Ghana establishedcongregations o f th e old m ain-line denominations. By and l ar ge these a re conten t vdththe s t a t u s quo an d show l i t t l e r e a l zeal in evangelizing th e masses o f people who a r es t i l l pagan. Then t here a r e hundreds of s o - c a l l e d sp i r i tua l i s t churches o f vari ousnames an d dogmas. These are indigenous an d they a re r ea ch in g the people. UniversalC hri st i an Church i s jus t on e o f th e s e and o u r w itne s s ing i s n ot l im ite d to th is onegroup alone. Many o f these d i f f e r e n t groups w i l l l isten to th e gospel message and th emen n ev er tur n down an o pp or tu ni ty t o preach anywhere i f it i s p o s s i b l e to g o.

T/e a cc ep t s tu de nts from any c hu rc h g ro up if they a re otherwise qual if ied.Once here they a re ta ught th e B ib le an d the New Tes t^en t p atte rn f or th e Church. TheHoly Spir i t works through His \7ord to swallow up o r brush away thei r incomplete knowledgeo r erroneous p r a c t i c e s . Then th e student can seek to lead h is f or me r c hu rc h f r i e n d sinto th e t ruth or go o u t to establ ish a new co n g r eg atio n and win th e people to Chris t .

One o f the men likened Ghana to the very early days o f the Jlmerican RestorationMovement when the main ef for t s were b e i n g di rec ted toward leading exis t ing c o n g r e g a t i o n sto re s to re th a ear ly c h u r c h pat t e rn and to be o ne -i n J es us Chr is t . Th e d i s c o u r a g e m e n t san d s e t b a c k s in t h i s work are .ve ry r e a l . On e of them i s the con t inu ing d es ire o f many .Ghanaian churches and indiv iduals to r e c e i v e la rge amounts of money from th e r ichAmerican missionar ies . Bu t still th e l a rger v is ion o f what i s possib le h e r e f i l l s your.s o u l w i t h jo y . PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY EilENESTLY FOR THE STUDMTS THE COLLEGE THEMISSIONARIES THE G M A I M CHRISTIjWS AND CONGREGATIONS. MAY THE HOLY SPIRIT. GUIDE USTHROUGH THESE OPENING DOORS. ;

On Sunday evenings a t th e c o ll eg e t he s tu d en ts take t u r n s p r e a c h i n g . LastSiinday a young man preached who i s u s u a l l y with h is own congregation of 500 on theL o r d s Days. He preached a very e x c e l l e n t message more than worthy of an y B i bl e Colleges tudent . T h i s man i s a ls o h elp in g w i t h th re e o th er g r o u p s . He i s a second yearstudoit

V/ell I haven t g i v ^ you much l oca l c o l o r th i s time b u t there i s time fo rtha t l a t e r . I want you f i r s t to know and understand th e v e r y r ea l opportuni t ies h e r e .How I wish yo u could know th e Ghanaians in person t o o . Next month I ll s ave s pa ce tot e l l vnu a.bnut s nftnia.T proiac t f l gnmp o f ym i ma y hP jntPTg.at.o


5/10

Dear Friends i ii C h r i s t

JULY 1968OROTHY UNSOK N WSL TT R NO. 5

The school year of Ghana Christ ian College i s over; the new year w i l l begin the midd le o f September. The l a s t few weeks were f i l l e d with r e g u l a r classes, then reviewand f i n a l exams plus preparation fo r graduation. The English and music t e s t s I gavewere comprehensive and took th e s t u d e n t s a long t ime t o complete. Most d i d w ell onthe music test,, but because of the press of recent weeks, I have no t y e t graded, theEnglish exams. I w i l l have done so by t h e t ime you read t h i s however.Our l a s t o f f i c i a l chapel s e r v i c e i n c l u d e d a p e r i o d o f t e s t i m o n i e s o f God*s b l e s s i n g sfrom the students. The faculty had their turn the week before.) Then we had as p e c i a l communion s e r v i c e . While t h e emblems were passed, Ron Rife q u i e t l y recounted the l a s t events i n the hours of C h r i s t s s u f f e r i n g death. Becaase^the f a c u l t y ands t u d e n t s are u s ua ll y s c at te r ed among many churches on any given Lord^s Day, it was ar e a l b l e s s i n g to remember t h e Lord^s death and r e s u r r e c t i o n and coming again t o g e t h e rbefore we separated f o r the summer. In th e same s erv ic e th e s tu dent s s ai d goodbye toDick Hostetter and gave him a book and lamp. Dick l e f t for ilmerica Wednesday, June12th . He was mighty anxious to see h is newbom son, Lance Richard, bom a weeke rlier

I moved i n t o the Hostet ter home t h a t afternoon. Roland, the dog, moved i n a l s o . I ti s a very nice three bedroom home with nearly a l l the conveniences you have exceptfor hot wat er . The wires are there , but none has ever been i n s t a l l e d . Rental properties are hard, to find, and my li vi ng in this house saves Hostetters the work risk,and expense of storing a l l t h e i r th ings dur ing furlough. I have spent many hours inth e l a s t few weeks unpacking, sorting, and arranging things to s u i t myself. Now i fthe thieves t h a t are so common wil l j u s t stay away. I m count ing heavi ly -on Roland,although he had to have a blood c l o t cut from his ear and has been a t the AnimalH e a l t h C e n t e r for o v e r a w e e k n o w .The Volkswên.Pund to which many of you contributed so generously came to fruit ion4^..the form of a lovely l i t t l e tan Datsun. I t has p re tt y s il ve ry , gray upholsteryand drives beautifully. Djan Addo brought it f rom Tema to the Rife s house on May20, and three days l a t e r we took i t to the dealer to have a l l the mats, mirrors, etc.put in place. Because I did not have my Ghana driving l icense yet, Barbara drove ithome from the d e a l e r s . That was a wise decision because a policeman stopped us onthe way home and asked to see her l icenselFortunately, i t has not been d i f f i c u l t at a l l to get used to driving on the l e f t sideof the road. My only mishap was running into a big black goat that ran directly intomy path. That happened the very f i r s t time I drove. There are s t i l l plenty of :goatschickens, and people around, but I haven t h i t any more yet .My shipment of personal and household effects came on the 28th of May. I was indeedfor tunate to have them within s i x weeks of nor a r r i v a l . Most th ings I j u s t s tored i na back bedroom a t Hostetters u n t i l I moved there. Everything came through in excellentshape. The typewriter given by Eustis, F lorida , is by far the bes t available amongthe workers here. I t d id a nice job f o r the graduat ion b u l l e t i n .One of the choruses I ta ught t he music class and then to a l l the students was IHave Decided to Follow Jesus . They seem to l ike it very well. I t took u s se veralperiods io work out the_ melody and three hôny parts in music but jiê^ had fairlygood harmony by the time we finished.Our 4-member ladies trio that I mentioned last newsletter sang several times in chapelduring the last weeks of school. I t gives us a lo t of pleasure and th e students seemto appreciate.it. Their usual custom is to applaud for special music. They like thef a s t ones the b e s t . ^The students who came out to Smaages for extra music practice sang twice; once inchapel and again for graduation. They did fairly well, and I anticipate more growthin their skill next year. This i s the f i r s t time many of them have sung writtenharmony.dgar and Mabel Nichols come down from Kumasi for a l i t t le break from the pressures oftheir clinic and to pick up mail and shop occasionally. Our trio gave them a privateconcert of sacred music l a s t time they were here. They don t have as much fellows hip w ith fo lks from home as we do.


6/10

Two weeks ago Barbaxa taught Sunday School fo r me while I went with Smaages toEhtumbi l f o r th e ded i c a t i o n o f a new chu rch hou s e . Th i s was n o t a Ch r i s t i a n Churchand they need much teaching. Jer ry preached a s t rong sermon on our r espons ib i l i ty tol eam God s Word and to support the Church with our of fe r ings and the value andbeauty o f observing the Lord*s Supper every week. When he had f in ished the s tudentwho in te rpre ted fo r him continued in the same vein fo r another f i f teen minutes.There was much s inging and dancing in the serv ice . The hope of tha t group l i e s inthe three students who come from t ha t congregation. They a re le ar ni ng a lo t and wepray tha t they wil l lead the i r people into a fu l le r knowledge of the t ruth. Rightnow the congregation i s led mainly by women as i s often the case in these sp i r i tua l i s tchurches. These fo lk were very f r iendly and fed us a del ic ious lunch of f r ied eggsand pancakes, r ice and yams with a tas ty spicy corned beef stew, broi led chicken, bread, ju icy oranges and a h ot c ho co la te dr ink. The service then las ted from 12:30to af ter 5 00 p.m. They sent us home with gi f t s of eggs, oranges, a chicken, sugarcane, pineapples, and bananas, ^uring the trip the students with us taught me thedays o f the week and another Twi sacred song.

- Graduation was a f ine occas ion. The twe lve members o f the second year c l a s s rece ived two year cer t i f ica tes in Bibl ic a l s tud ie s . : \7 ell, o nly those who had completed a l lthei r work go.t the rea l McCoy, but the others wil l receive them l a te r . The yotog menlooked splendid in the i r na ti ona l d re ss . They wear a cloth draped exactly l ike theRomans wore t he i r togas . Some were of Kente clo th : the dis t inc t ive Ghanaian clothmade of narrow strips (5 ) of brightly woven fabrics with symbolic meanings in thedesigns. The \7al ter Smith family had come from Lagos, Niger ia , so Walt er c ou ld givethe main address; he gave a good message. We hope the many colored s l ides we tookt u r n o ut w e l l .

This summer I hope to . spend many hours in preparation fo r the courses 1 am-to teach inthe f a l l . One o f th e s tu de nts comes every week fo r a music l esson in r e tu rn fo r a two hour Twi lesson. I would l ike to increase tha t study time i f I can. Since Dickhas gone home on furlough, I ajn taking care of the correspond^ce courses . Right nowI have a lo t of catching up to do in tha t department, , Doris Rife ju s t gave ae a newname and address th i s morning. Las t week I was made th e new t r easu re r fo r GhanaChrist ian Church, a voluntary af f i l i a t ion of about twen-ty Chris t ian churches andbranches tha t help new churches and each other through a central fund.For our Sunday S choo l an d fo r the. Ghanaian Sunday Schools we can use Primary lessonpfl.pp-pg - rin-h f.hp wppviy pAaHpT typp, thp one. with the-BibLapictiArg-and-stoxy-. - -Send them parcel .post in packages l ess than 5 marked Free Gift fo r Ghana Chris tian College . i Another possible project is to, write me for a l i s t of books that we need to build upou r l ib r^y . As we begin our third year program, we will need many more books andr e s o u r c e m teri lsPlease pray fo r us here on the f ie ld - especia l ly fo r little Brian Rife who. has beenseriously ill twice in the l a s t s ix weeks. He i s now nearly v/ell from l i is l a t es tbout with iaalaria. Pray for wisdom and strength for th e Rifes, Taylors, and Smaagesand myself here in Accra, and fo r the Simkins and Hoste t ters home on fur lough.Please pray for our students also as they are gone for the summer. Pray tha t thei,r-^ d,edication deepens? their zeal to preach increases; and that the i r material needsbe met by a .g reat and generous God.Thank you you who help to keep us here working fo r Chris t in th i s place. May Hebless you with good heal th and abundant joy in l iv in g fo r Him.

In C hr is t. DOROTHY EDNSCSJ

KORTHSIDE CHRISTM CHURCH . Non-Profit Orgv175 Floridahaven Drive - U. S. Postage Maitland, Florida 52751 1.40 P A T D

Mait land, F l a .DOROTHX EONSCH Permit No 20

NEV/SLETTERNO. 5 _JUL 3 11968

- tJtHORIZONSMis s i on Se r v i c e s .Box 568:r>liet, 111. 6043^


7/10

crp 2 ^ 1355.SEPTEMBER 1968DOROTHY EDNSON TtEWSLETTER NO. 6

Greetings from GhanaI was flabbergasted to discover that it has been six weeks since I prepared thel a s t newsle t ter . The time has slipped away unnoticed, perhaps because the rout inehas been upset here, and we have come to know a time of t e s t i n g on th is missionfiel

On Thursday, July 18th, we received l e t t e r s i n v i t i n g us fo r an in te rv iew wi th thePri nc ip a l Sec re ta ry o f the I n t e r i o r on Saturday, July 20 . In tha t interview wel e a r n e d t h a t t h e l e a d e r s o f U n i v e r s a l C h r i s t i a n Church had withdrawn t h e i r endorsement of us and, therefore, our visas were invalid and we would have to leave thecountry. But Mr. Owoo, the Principal Secretary, wanted to give us a hearing before

r b i t r a r i l y d e po rt in g u s .

Preparing for the new school term means many hours of study for me: ancient history,geography, Bible Survey. And Twil The student who i s helping me with this languagecomes once or twice a week f o r s e v e r a l hours . I have l earned a l o t but t h e r e i ss t i l l an endless way to go, especially in ear training. \7e have started to useDick H o s t e t t e r s tape recorder, and it i s a big help.During July and August we are having many delightful rains. This i s our winters eason so the temperatures are down to the 80 s during the day. I t is really alovely season. Sometimes when i t rains very hard, the drainage ditches bes ide theroade-fillup and--everflow, -flooding th e ro ad s. --5he-heavy- rains-axe very hajed on--our numerous d i r t roads, and hence on th e spri ng s of our cars. The foliage i sabimdant and very, very green. One of the banana trees in my back yard is forminga bunch, and th e g ra ss grows too fast to keep i t cut well* Lawn mowers are rare,so the lawns are cut by hand with a machete or cutlass. ( l don't do mine, astudent does.)On Tuesday nights, I have begun a Bible story hour with a handful of neighborhoodchi ldren. Dick Hostet ter l e f t some Parables of Nature f i l m s t r i p s here t h a t areproving very useful. This i s just a small way of witnessing, but perhaps God willbless i t with growth and an opportunity to reach parents also. Several of these same children come to the house to play with the toys. They are well-behaved, andI send them home if it i s my s tudy t ime*Recently I have become better acquainted with some Baptist and V^cliffe missionariesin this part of the city. Since we do not have any midweek meeting, I have attendedthe \iycliff Bible study for several weeks. I t is very interesting, and I enjoy thefellowship of a wider circle of friends. Living away from the rest of our clanhas an advantage i n t h i s r e s p e c t .In Sunday School I tested the children on ten weeks study; they did very well.Now in addition to our regular studies, we have begun a special memory work program with a beach picnic for those who meet the requirements.There are more than BOappl ican ts for the Freshmen class at Ghana Christian College.Since w can accep>^W abou^^ ja jQi:.:fcbgse^ on Rife will be busy from now on


8/10

abig ref^polsibmti^.ô TlZ4it ^pent t o we; 3^^Tf TBiSfsS'Sf SSefS?:.'cf isht ow it is oreinitiated ûst Lo weL: :^:r.:i.âtt::rorhL^ ::r^ôirône shot in America; the^Mt^Sre s ^ d ^ sm i W ^ c o n d ^right now, I suppose because of tS raS^to recover the pounds lost since last October Chen I stStedtrL ?tRandall stopped here in Accra for two days on his wav to Ifpnva 7 v Max Wardto evaluate the progress made here on this relativeS^ n Zambia, etc. He wantedwas my turn to host our monthly prayer breakfast- npL^r ^ ' ' Monday itin Accra was lifted up to God . . . Mr snfl Mr= 'w f ? stay hereHillman Street Church of Christ tostess. Mr Ayers wafbo^ L'liCia l ^^ 1 =^ê ve^ interested in Ghana and the work here dence Bay picnic for Americans at the living quarters for ^ 3 attendea an Indepen-I was new, the genuine. American hot doas dili?t n, ^ Embassy people. SinceRoland, dog is old, but pretty ffeddiS brorw^t.' f handed down from Gibsons to Siciicins to SniBno-oa + n ohest. He has beenbe literally picked up Lfput S the nSrSh eT' loneliness when left ônei affectionate and cries inThis is agoodrplaoe to be working for the Lord Keep praying that His will be done.-

I trust you won't aee me before '71,^ Chris-l;j.ajT, Love, ^ '

DOROTHX K . - f ; .

NORIFHSIDE CHRISTIAN CHURCH175 Ploridahftven Drive Non'-P:-\jfit Org.Maitland, Florida 327S1 / U. S, Postege/ . : 1-40 P A HDOROm EUNSCK * Maitland, Pla,NE17SLETTER - > Permit No, 20NO.6

8 1 9^ .

H0RI20N5âsion ServicesH I. go^j^

' . V


9/10

)

h \958 -a -

DECEMBER 1968DOROTHY EUNSOK NE\7SLE^rTER NO . 8

GREETII^GS FOR THE CHRISnUS SEASONI t has come as swiftly as usual, hasn' t i t? May ou r merciful and generous heavenlyFather bless you, your families and congregations with a holiday sWson that 'willchallenge you to l ive for the blessed Son during 1969' Pray for your brothers ands i s t e r s in Ciurist here , both miss ionar ies and Ghanaians, tha t we may use our ce leb rat i on o f Ch ri s t . s b i r t h as a means to w itness to . th e unsaved .At the end of .July we did not expect to be spending Christmas here, but God hasgranted-qs~-bhes'e several months to-work^ti^re^, We 'have heard encouraging news withinthe l a s t two weeks about our quota applicat ion, and we are surely prayihg'that doesn t run in to any unexpected snags. The men have also begun to apply fo r Cyri lSimkins' visa on another quota. This plan, too, needs your prayer support. *School has settled into a pleasant-routine of. classes and chapel. I ^ atie to prepare fo r my classes without so great .a feel ing o f p re ss ur e now, although' s t i l ltakes a lo t of time. \7e have los t four students , since, the beg inning of the year:two jus t qui t , one had a mental b reakdown , and another was not doing the work. Minordiscipl ine .problems occasionally arise,, as in any school? but generally, we are verypleased vrLth. the a t t i tude and achievements of the. 'student body.The fortnightly Bible class which I have begun to teach in the government gi r l sschool a t Suhum is an interest ing experience. This last Friday was our third sessionand the gi r l s had began to thaw a l i t t l e - enough to..ask'a question. Bats and'large insects fly, in and out of. the classroom, and F;riday,.,a chicken was in ' th^ room,and a cat came in to play with, a big ro^h . , Actually , th e room and th e girls arevery c lean - i t s . . just that lack of screens' and doors al low the wild things freeaccess. Unfor tuna te ly , t he road is s t i l l in very bad repair , and the 40 mile t r iptakes over an hour and a quarter of rough driving. ' I am thankful that I can go asa paa aei igea: with one of the men Who teaches at the hospi t a l . ^Barbara Taylor and I ai- e both teaching Sunday School' now, with Barbara teaching theyounger children. This l as t week we. had'22, including a 2 year old who went tosleep on my lap during church. V/e-.are both teaching lessons, on Christmas propheciesand we spent a lo t of hours sorting through our S. S. materials to plan th e lessons.When I took the two v ic to rs of oUr Memory Program on their t r ip to the beach inOctober, I had an excellent oppor tuni ty to watch village fishermen bring in a-.bd atand a net fu l l of f ish. They picked out a l l the je l ly f ish, and then divided the-'fish-among the women, My only regret was that I didn't have my camera with me ',; Arranging my activit ies so that the schedule was more balanced included chahgir^g theneighborhood children's class from Tuesday to Y ednesday evening. V e will not. be ,having any filmstrips for awhile because the projector bulb blew out, and. did. not--. ,bring any extras with me. I t will take a while to get some here from America., Oh,well, flannelgraph stories with a chance to act them out afterwards are popul^, too.Chapel often produces some unexpected pleas ures; several times groups of studentshave, on their owi^, worked up special music in Twi. The other students seem to appreciate them, and the faculty enjoys th-^ harmony, even though we don't understand thewords. This l a s t v^eek a minor oversight l e f t us without a preacher. .Ve turned thechapel period into a prayer meeting, and th e se rv ice proved a r ea l spi ri tual blessing.Ron Rife is scheduling the third year students to preach occasionally in chapel, too.This is.good pract ice for them and an example for the younger students, too.\7e have nearly mastered our original chorus sheet, so I am preparing a new one andhave jus t completed a sheet ful l of Christmas carols to supplement those in our.hymnbook. All th e s tudent s and faculty will share in a Christmas program and party'ju s t before the holidays. The men who have been coming on Monday nights fo r music practice are working on a Negro Spiri tual they hope to present a t that program. Atl a s t I got brave and took my l i t t l e accordion to music pract ice . I don' t real lyknow how to play yet, but helps f igure out the different parts , anyway.


10/10

Ir

The program and vacation are only a few weeks away, but we are due to have f ina lexams for the f i r s t term before that We are a l l t ry ing to f i n i s h up a certain amotintof material i n these l a s t few c l a s s periods. I t seems we j u s t f inished grading midt e r m s I

One of the freshmen students i s v/orking f o r me on Saturday mornings to-earn a Bible .He did no t have one of h i s own and i s w i l l i n g to work f o r t i n t h i s way. He i s theyoungest of the freshmen, but i s working hard on his studies. He i s from Kumasi, andEdgar Nichols recommended him.Speaking of the Nichols, their daughter Dorothy was here for a brief v i s i t on her wayto South Africa to take care of some nieces during the school year . The g i r l s parents ,Bob and Phyllis M i l s vdll be in America on furlough. Edgar, Mabel, and Dorothy camedown to Accra in time fo r Thanksgiving dinner. The menu included chicken sinceturkey i s s^l.40 a po;md. Rifes were hosts and invited t he Nichols and me for a trulydelicious dinner. O riginal plans c al le d fo r a l l the missionaries to eat together, butDeny Smaage Kent and Barbara Taylor were all i l l with a virus- Derry Ron and/orKent are gone out preaching nearly every weekend. One Sunday they were a l l gone, anda student preached at the college service. Y e were short of cars, so I took 11 peoplehome I

The men are in correspondence vd^h Ctwo recruits..ftom Minnesota Bible College who planto come in the fall of 1970. We hopi th ' '^Tl teach in the college at least theirf i r s t year here while Rifes and Taylors are on furlough. Their l ong range plans cal lf o r work with the Ashant i people i n the Kumasi a r e a .N WS NOTES - NOT V RY IMPORTANT WT INTERESTINa TO SOME: Did you hear about theattempted coup in mid-Noveniber? I didn't know anything about i t until the next moiling. I guess they uncovered the plot before violence broke out. We had noticed low-flying helicopters the previous day. . . The adults celebrated my f i rs t birthday inAfrica by going out for steak dinners in a restaurant (poor, deprived missionaries?). .On November 29th th e men were unable to exchange any dollars for cedis. The bankwouldn t accept any foreign exchange until the woi ld monetary powers decided what todo in the present crisis . I had just banked a check on Thursday- . . We have anoccasional weiner r o a s t a t Rifes . The Ghanians cook on charcoal outdoors a l l thetime, but the crazy Americans do t for funiMore than h a l f of th e s to de nts are already preaching or iêacning regtrTsorly on weekends ,Derry Smaage i s making regular vis i ts to those he has in homiletics class. This isthe heart and goal of our mission efforts through the col lege. Pray regularly forthese young men, for their task i s not easy, especially when the congregations givethem l i t t l e or no help for t h e i r schooling, t r a v e l or l i v i n g expenses.

May God bless you as you prepare for and enjoy thisseason r e m i n i s c e n t o f C h r i s t s b i r t h .

KORTHSIDE CHRISTIîiÎ CHURCH175 F l o r i d a h a v e n Drivei ; a i t l a n d F l a . 32751 ,DOROTHY EUNSON

NE^LETgER

I n C h r i s t i a n l o v e

I{(;HIZONSMi:-u-;ion Servicespox 5oB

n 60AÂ

DOROTHY

Non-Profit Org.U. S. Postage

p ia i t l a n d F l a . .

P e r m i t N o . 2 0

eunson dorothy 1968 ghana

Documents