Report from Dr. Chris Feucht - June, 2003

Once again God was Faithful to go before us and move on the hearts of men and women so that this outreach was possible at the village of Siiru in northwest Ghana. Siiru is a village comprised of two people groups ... the Wala and Lobi peoples. Many of the Wala people are Muslim and most of the Lobi are animistic in their spiritual beliefs.

The chief of this village was Wala and he was culturally a Muslim. However, despite his background and beliefs he permitted us to come with our medical outreach, evangelistic thrust and plant a Christian church. Hard to believe isn't it? Only God can move on the heart of a man to allow such an event. Not only that, but by week's end this chief was leading others to a profession of faith in Jesus ... an even more miraculous event! Just goes to show that "all things are possible with our God"!

Our entire team was privileged to work with our New Life missionaries, Keith and Debbie Jaggers and with Pastor Victor Donani in this church planting effort and medical outreach. We were blessed the entire trip ... with an air-conditioned bus to travel in that did not break down (unheard of in Ghana), to great weather with temperatures in the 80s & 90s (last year it was 114 degrees in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso), to great accommodations at "the Jagger hotel" with 3 air-conditioned rooms, to wonderful caring interpreters with servant hearts, and to an openness among the people to the Gospel and love of Jesus with many receiving Him as their Savior!
Our trip started out with a visit to Zuprii on Sunday, so we could worship with the church there. This was the first church we planted among the Lobi with a medical outreach in 2000. We were astonished to see almost 250 people meeting underneath the tree (their church) and worshipping the Lord together. What a sight to see, and what a great time it was to be with them! Over 100 of the people attending had come across the Black Volta river from Burkina Faso ... this church has been actively evangelizing, including trips and outreaches to villages in Burkina. This Sunday we also had the privilege to participate in the baptism of 48 new believers in the river.

We started the medical outreach in Siiru on Monday and continued it through Friday. As I mentioned above the openess of the people to the Gospel and their ability to understand its significance was simply amazing. We saw 640 patients through the week and treated their medical problems. Their problems ranged from general body pain and arthritis, to "colds", malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, gastritis, abdominal parasites, headaches, seizures, infections of all kinds, hepatitis, cataracts, river blindness, etc., etc. For some of the illnesses we had treatment and for others we did not (we referred these on to the local hospital for evaluation & treatment), but each patient had the Gospel message shared with them one-on-one and received a prescription for their spiritual condition. This is a treatment that does not run out like the medications will. Of these patients, 275 prayed with us to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Seventy-five to eighty of these new believers had never heard the name of Jesus prior to this outreach, yet once they had heard the Good News they accepted Jesus as their God with a simple child-like faith!

Through our week at Siiru we also had other events such as children's ministry activities and evangelistic meetings in the mornings or late afternoons. During those events we had another 323 individuals make a profession of faith in Jesus and pray to receive Him. During these events as well as in the medical clinic and counseling area we also had many healings and many deliverences from the bondages of the enemy. It was exciting for me when God chose to heal the very first person I saw in the medical clinic. He was an elderly man in his 60's who had arthritis and extreme amount of pain in his lower back, hips and knees. At the end of his visit with me, I prayed for God to touch and heal his joints. Immediately the pain left and he was able to walk & bend his legs in all directions without any pain or difficulty. I thank the Lord for His healing power because it is better than any medicine I could ever prescribe.

I am grateful to those who were standing with our team in prayer. Without their prayers and intercession much of what was accomplished might not have taken place. More things are wrought in prayer than we know, and I would not want to go without a group of prayer warriors praying for us. They were a part of our team and had a part in every life that was changed and the church that was planted.

May all the Glory be to our God and may we look forward to the day when we will all be worshipping before His throne with these new believers from Siiru!