Dear Friends,
Psalm 12:1 says “Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.” This is my life verse. While the desire to be a godly, faithful man has been my heart’s cry since salvation, the Lord is giving us a generation of such men here in West Africa. II Timothy 2:2 says, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” It is not our desire to simply have a large church/ministry filled with men and women. We desire to have a godly church/ministry where godly, faithful men are mentoring the next generation to be godly, faithful teachers. At Mt. Calvary Fundamental Baptist Church alone, we have had at least 18 professions of faith since our last letter. We are baptizing them, and our folks are faithfully discipling them.
Pastor Bob Reno came in May and taught a course on Biblical Counseling to our Institute students. He was a great blessing to us. His church has invested in our ministry in Ghana since 2014. The Bible Institute had its first graduation ceremony in June. Our first three students graduated with Bachelor in Theology degrees. Two of these men are already pastoring and the third is fervently praying for God to show him “where” to plant a church.
Thank you to each one of you who prayed for and gave toward our son, Micaiah, coming to serve with us this summer. We are (obviously) enjoying his being here. He has been a great blessing and is getting plenty of opportunities to preach, witness, and serve the Lord. The Lord allowed him to lead a young man named Hakeem to Jesus Christ shortly after arriving. We will miss him when he goes back to the Bible College in the US in three weeks, but we are already anticipating the possibility of his coming back next summer.
Last month, we received our fourth container loaded with both French and English John & Romans. We are doing our best to keep pastors and missionaries supplied with English whole Bibles, New Testaments, and gospel tracts. A huge thank you to Brother Mike Petrocco and the Liberty Baptist Press for sending this container. Although more than expected, the Lord provided all the finances for clearing and shipping the container to our place.
We would like to share several prayer requests:
- Would you continue fervently praying for land for the church plant in Shama? We have been looking since 2019 for land. God has recently given them a temporary place to set the gospel tent, but they need their own land to build on.
- We are in the process of purchasing a twenty-acre plot of land from a chief for the headquarters of the Hope of Africa Baptist Ministry. After negotiating, the chief agreed to $2,552.91 per acre. God has already provided $32,800 toward this. We need prayer for great wisdom as we navigate the legalities and customs of a land sale. We believe the Lord will provide the entire amount needed for the purchase as well as provide to build a wall and drill a well immediately. This chief’s village has agreed to let us come and preach the gospel. It is a predominantly Muslim village. We are anticipating what God will do.
- The Kojokrom church-building is ready for a roof to be constructed. We need $10,600 to build the gables, build the trusses, and sheet it. Would you pray for God to provide? The church is ready to move into the building, but we must get it finished.
The neighborhood Bible club continues to be well-attended. This Friday, we will be having a “party” in which all the parents are invited to come see what their children are learning. We are building relationships with these folks in the hopes of seeing an adult Bible study started in our neighborhood which would eventually become another church-plant.
Your Missionaries,
James & Angie Ruckman