Tommy Harrison has been doing mission work in Ghana on and off for the past 24 years. In the 80s and 90s, he would leave his business in Alabama and come out with his wife to work in Nalerigu for a few months at a time.

Several years ago, after his wife passed away, Tommy moved to Nalerigu and became a full-time, independent missionary. No organization supports him financially – Tommy has dedicated his life to sharing Christ’s love with the people of Northern Ghana.

Tommy’s ministry is very unique. He works with the maintenance crew at the hospital, helping with repairs and construction. He takes his John Deere tractor out to remote villages to help them plow their fields (and bring in their harvest). He teaches farmers better farming techniques and he himself farms about 6 acres. The locals help him harvest his corn and soybeans and he saves the harvest until the dry season. When villages’ food supplies get low he begins distributing his harvest among them.
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This is the last audio interview I did while in Ghana this past Fall. In this “Meet People” series I wanted to challenge our blog readers’ traditional views of what a “missionary” is and does.

In this interview I talk with Elsie McCall, a 71 year-old teacher, who has been serving for 8 years as a MK (missionary kid) teacher in Burkina Faso. Elsie is originally from Lakeland, FL right near our home in Seminole, FL.

You can download the 4MB mp3 file using this link: Interview with Elsie McCall (12/08/07)
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Kerry Spencer is a cool guy. That about sums it up. He is a young, single guy who has spent two 2-year terms as a missionary in West Africa. I met him while on a photo assignment in southwestern Burkina Faso. Since Kerry is such a cool guy, the West Africa media team had written a story on him and wanted photos to go with the story.

You can download my 15-minute audio interview with Kerry from December 15, 2007 using the following link: Kerry Spencer Audio Interview (6.2MB)
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Jerry Robertson was one of the first people I meet when I first came to Africa as a 6 year-old boy in 1986. Jerry and Carol’s kids Becky and Everette were my age and I loved playing with them whenever we went to Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

The Robertsons have been missionaries for 30 years – 30 YEARS! What a commitment! The last 9 years of their lives have been dedicated to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the Nafana people of northeastern Cote d’Ivoire. I wrote last month about the translation process the Robertsons go through. I also recorded an audio interview with Jerry in which he talks more about the process of learning & translating the Nafana language.

Here is the link to download the interview: Jerry Robertson Interview – 11-24-07

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Peggy Ozment and her husband Pascal (Pat) have been living in Tamale, Ghana for almost a year now. Pat is a lecturer at the Baptist Theological Seminary and Peggy has been working as librarian. I posted photos of the Ozments and the seminary last week.

I interviewed Peggy a couple weeks ago so that she could talk about the work she and Pat are doing. It isn’t every retired senior citizen that is willing to move to West Africa to start a ministry so what she has to say is quite interesting. You can download the 20 minute audio interview using this link: Interview with Peggy Ozment – 11-20-07 (6.8mb, mp3)
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So far I’ve interviewed a counselor, a teacher, and two medical students during my travels in West Africa. This past week I met Rachel Horlings, a maritime archaeologist working off the coast of Ghana, and I had to get her fascinating story recorded.

Rachel’s parents have been Presbyterian missionaries in Nigeria for over 31 years. Rachel was born in Nigeria and grew up there with her 4 siblings. She went to FSU for 6 years and has been working on her PhD at Syracuse University.

In the interview Rachel talks about the shipwreck she has been studying/excavating near the town of Elmina (yes, Herzog fans, that Elmina). Maritime archeology was something I knew nothing about and I found her to be full of interesting info. You can download the 18 minute audio interview using this link:
Interview with Rachel Horlings – 11-03-07 (16.6mb, mp3)
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In a previous post I gave an overview of the evil practice of Trokosi slavery or “religious servitude” (the politically correct terminology). When we Westerners hear talk of “slavery” it is almost an abstract concept to us – after all slavery was abolished over a hundred years ago – right?

I thought I would share with you the stories of a couple of the young girls I met at the Baptist Vocational Training Center (BVTC). I hope it helps you to understand the reality of this form of slavery and prompts you to pray fervently for its victims.

First, a couple disclaimers: For security and privacy reasons I won’t post the photos of any of the girls whose stories I share. I will also refrain from using their real names. None of the girls spoke English (they all speak a language called Ewe) so when I quote them I am paraphrasing what the translator told me. Read the rest of this entry »

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Deron Meilstrup has been living in West Africa with his wife Mary Beth for 2 years. Deron is a counselor serving on the Member Care Team and Mary Beth is the region’s media strategist.

I’ve been working with the Meilstrups this week in Abidjan and interviewed him about his background and the work he has been doing all over West Africa. You can listen to the 10-minute interview with this link: Interview with Deron Meilstrup – October 27, 2007 (mp3, 4MB)
You will need to right-click and choose “Save Target As…” to download the mp3.

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