ROGER AND NORENE RUSS GHANA, WEST AFRICA

Transcription

1 ROGER AND NORENE RUSS GHANA, WEST AFRICA October 30, 2013 Dear praying friends, I am sitting in apartment #8 in the guest house in Accra. The old window-size air conditioner sort of works. Not cold, but at least cool! For that I am thankful! Roger is out paying some bills here in Accra and picking up about 5 months worth of malaria medication at a pharmacy. We flew out of Grand Rapids on the 22 nd and arrived in Accra, Ghana Wednesday evening. What a wonderful feeling to get back home! There was no culture.. or counter-culture shock.. and we didn t even notice any real jet lag. We immediately slipped back into the four-hours-later-than-us time like our bodies had been set at default! There s so much to share. I don t even know where to begin. In August, we saw many old friends.. including those who have supported us through the years. We saw Lewie & Jackie Roberts and Ed & Pat Zahn,.. from my home church in Kalamazoo, and other old friends from the Grand Rapids area. We ate out, spent time with family, worked weekdays on the Dagaare New Testament, with Roger often over at Bible International working. In between times, we started looking around for items needed.. to take back to Ghana. That included things like a new dryer motor and new youth club t-shirts and caps. We ended up with more-than-planned items like a set of choir robes for a church in Ghana and baby layettes for new mothers in Lawra! August was a rather routine month. However we did get to another one of our supporting churches.. First Baptist Church in Hart. It was a delight to see old friends there, but there wasn t enough quality time to really sit and share, so we promised each other that we would get together again before we left for Ghana. We did and they even drove to Grand Rapids bringing gifts fresh fruit & vegetables from their gardens, a new tea set, extra cash! Some of these friends would fit so well in our team.. in Ghana! It was even then hard to say goodbye to them late that night! How good to reconnect with old friends! On August 30 th, I wrote the following to friends: We just got word yesterday morning.. that Pastor Stephen Adama slipped away in Ghana (Wa). He and his wife, Rachel, have remained friends of ours all these years. Apparently Stephen had just finished his radio program on Radio Progress.. an FM station in Wa when the Lord took him. Stephen was the director of our Bible School in Wa and the pastor of Wa Regular Baptist Church for several years. We haven t gotten all the particulars yet, but we ve been passing this news on to other missionaries that have known him through the years those who are no longer in Ghana. We wish we could be there for this funeral. It s unfortunate that we re in the U.S. right now. along our co-laborers, Timothy and Janet Seidu (Timothy s finishing up his doctor s degree here) Yet, the Lord does everything in His time.. so we have to rest in that!!

2 Page 2 Many calls flew back and forth concerning that funeral. Contributions were taken to send to Stephen s widow, and Roger wrote a Tribute to Stephen Adama on behalf of Baptist Mid-Missions. The next day was my 67 th birthday and we decided to try to keep busy and ended up going out to find my old college professor, Dr. John Wilson and his wife, Lois. They are in their 90 s and now live in a very nice senior living center in Grand Rapids. Dr. Wilson has encouraged me over the years responding to each of my prayer letters and continuing to encourage me to write a book. He told me that day on my birthday, Norene, you ve got a story to tell and you should tell it! And the way you write brings it right home to us so that we can easily relate! He s my cheerleader! In my opinion, he s too big of a personality and man.. in spirit.. to actually fit in that senior citizen complex. I don t think they know what they have there! His wife, Lois, does though! We spent Labor Day with my sisters and brothers-in-law at my cousin, Carol s place! Carol said that Labor Day should always be cousins day. Carol and her husband, Jim, were great hosts along with Carol s brother, David and his wife Diane. We laughed and talked a lot and enjoyed some wonderful food! Then I think there might have been more doctors appointments during that time and into September. Our BMM medical office was very particular that we get everything checked out this trip because of our age. We realized early on that this was probably wise as my cholesterol reading tipped a little too high.. as well as Rog s blood pressure. I went out and bought a book called, The Idiot s Guide to Nutrition! We started eating squash and more fish! I m not sure if that helped or not! Meanwhile we continued correspondence with our university student Luke Liebzie.. in Accra, who is working on his Master s Degree in French. He offered to help us get application papers into the Ministry of Interior office in Accra.. for the Immigration/ Quota committee on behalf of our coworkers and returning missionaries, Rob & Penny Whitty! We sent all the necessary forms out to Ghana.. to Luke, but the main post office in Accra had mislaid them! We really sweat that one. But Luke found them.. with his charm at the central post office in Accra..and got them into the Ministry of Interior. What a relief! Pray that these papers are approved by the quota committee (meets just once in a while) soon so that Rob & Penny can join us in Ghana! They are to go into our now vacant mission station located mid-country in Berekum! We travelled again in September this time to Detroit for a meeting at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Hazel Park. We fought U of M and MSU fans/drivers that Saturday afternoon on the way over to Detroit. Crazy drivers full speed ahead, changing lanes willy nilly with their Spartan or Wolverine flags flying from their car windows! Give us bumpy dusty African roads any day!! We were relieved to get to Hazel Park, and the Tabernacle people welcomed us with open arms! They gave us the whole Sunday School hour AND the morning service. The women had worked on and completed the embroidered badges for our Lawra Youth Ministries Clubs, and the church took up a love offering for us! We put that amount right into our car fund! Good good friends. It s amazing that time apart did not seem to subtract from the closeness that we share! We spent more time with family in Kalamazoo including my dear cousin, Judy, on her 68 th birthday! Judy is more like a sister and we re quite close! Then just a few days later.. we took off to report to another one of our supporting churches: Calvary, in Muskegon, Michigan. We were a little concerned when we left early that Sunday morning, because we had not been to Calvary Church for about four years. On top of that, they had changed locations and we weren t sure if we would find them easily or not. So I prayed that morning, Lord, you know the people we will meet. We don t. Prepare them and prepare us for this meeting and may we be an encouragement to everyone you put in our path.

3 Page 3 We found the church and were even a bit early. We had a half an hour to set up our display table and get ready for the Sunday School classes we would teach. There were not many people there yet, but we did recognize one of the pastors, Pastor Terry Fulk, and follow him in. We were intent on finding a table and a place to set up, so did not pay much attention to the few others there none of whom we recognized.. This event took our breath away. An older man dressed in a blue plaid shirt and dark trousers walked around a bit and then approached me while Roger was setting up the table with Pastor Terry. He shook my hand and said, Norene Russ! I responded, Yes, that s right. Good Morning. Then he turned to the side to Roger, held out his hand and said, Roger Russ! Roger responded, Good Morning. How are you? Then he turned back to me and said, You don t know who I am, do you? I wracked my brain thinking it had to be one of the old members from the church, but drew a complete blank, and finally said, No. I don t. Then he gave me a small paper like one gets at a funeral ( In Memory of ). I looked down at the paper, and looking back up at me was a picture of my beloved cousin (now deceased) Betty Lee Tanis! I kind of went into a stall and felt confused for a few seconds, trying to grasp what this could mean. Who in the world would hand me a picture of Betty Lee who had lived her retirement years in Florida and then later in Tennessee? It could only be her second husband, Norm Livermore whom I d never met! I look up and cautiously said, Norm? He smiled at that point, and said, That s right! What are you doing in Muskegon? I asked. I ve come to see you! he said, as if I were perhaps a bit daft! After receiving our last prayer letter with our itinerary, Norm Livermore started making plans to cross our path at one of our meetings. He had flown from Tennessee up to Grand Rapids on Saturday, rented a car, drove to Muskegon, found a motel, and had found the church AND US the next day! TIME FOR HUGS!! I called Rog over Introductions were given to Rog & Pastor Terry! I was in shock!! Then Norm started to get a bit emotional when he said, I can t wait any longer. I came all the way up here to do this and I m going to do it now. This time he handed me a folded letter. I took it and something (a check) fluttered to the floor. At this Norm said, I think you re going to want that, so you d better pick it up. Rog picked up the check and handed it to me. It was from Saltillo Baptist Church for $6,000! Had I been the fainting kind I would have dropped to the floor at that point! Norm had told his church that if they sent us a gift, he would match it. Therefore $3,000 was from the church and $3,000 was from him. Bear in mind, that the people of Saltillo Baptist Church have never met Roger or Norene Russ! That tells me that they must have thought the world of my cousin, Betty Lee and her husband, Norm!! After the service, we looked up and saw Steve Szymanski, and knew that his mother (now over 90) had to be somewhere nearby! Edna had heard that we would be at Calvary, so she had Steve drive her over to Calvary after their church service to catch us before we left! What a reunion! We ran out to their car where she waited and we got several hugs! What a great supporter and prayer warrior she s been! Wow, was that a nice surprise!

4 Page 4 We somehow got through that morning, got our things all packed up and were taken out to eat by the church s mission committee members. Norm in tow, we visited, and told the missions people the story of our meeting Norm for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. However, saying goodbye to Norm was not easy there in the parking lot after lunch. Norm had shared with us that he had cancer and was not sure if he could be helped or not. He had one more cancer center in Texas he wanted to try before he put his affairs in order. Turning down an invitation to be picked up later for supper, he was anxious to get back to his hotel to rest so that he could get to Grand Rapids early the next morning to fly out for Tennessee. Mission accomplished, he climbed into his rental car, waved goodbye, and took off. I don t think that Sunday in Muskegon was about us. I think it was about Norm Livermore who had just lost his wife less than a year ago and had just found out that he had cancer. I think it was also about his church, Saltillo Baptist Church. We were thankful that God led Norm at the age of 85.. to intercept us in Muskegon, Michigan. I also think it was about Edna Szymanski. This was to be a September we would never forget! I wrote the following to friends on September 20 th : Tomorrow.. we will drive to Hillsdale, Michigan, and stay in a hotel there. We have a meeting at the First Baptist Church of North Adams Sunday morning and then Sunday evening, we re to drive over to Prattville.. to speak at another church there. Lord willing, we ll then be driving home on Monday morning. Tomorrow is the funeral for our friend, Pastor Stephen Adama in Wa. Do pray for his wife, Rachel.. and their family. Pray for Cathy Bristol.. our BMM nurse the only missionary there to represent us. Our thoughts and prayers will be there tomorrow! Lots to do. Time is getting closer for us to leave. Yet we must take time.. for those important things.. and people we want to see, etc. Pray for God s grace and His wisdom as we meet each day. I wake up way too early now in the mornings and don t sleep quite as well as before. So typical of predeparture for us both!! I wrote the following to friends that next weekend: Wednesday morning. Rog left about 6:50 a.m. for his daily walk and the phone rang about 7:10 a.m. It was our Field administrator, Vernon Roseneau. He and his wife, Jan, were driving from Cleveland.. to somewhere else.. or vice versa I can t now remember but his voice was urgent.. and strained as he told me he had just gotten a call from Timothy Seidu (our BMM co-worker.. director of our Baptist College in Wa,.. now in the States to finish his doctorate at Bob Jones.) He and his wife, Janet..and their three young boys.. were staying in Greenville.. with Timothy s adopted parents John and Janet Cross. Anyway.. Timothy called Vern.. from the hospital in Greenville Janet apparently had collapsed.. Vern said.. and was taken to the hospital. In checking her over, they found a large blood clot in one of her lungs and felt it necessary to immediately.. take care of that. They took her in for surgery.. and something happened and they lost her. As Vern relayed this news I started to cry. Oh.. Janet! She was a dear friend and we had gotten to know each other so well over the past few months in trying to keep the Wa Station going.. the houses ready for short-term visitors from the States and as we worked together to jump start an interest in Wa in beginning a women s ministry program for all the churches! She was such fun.. Our Lawra women knew her well.. How I m going to miss her hugs, her smile.. and her laughter! Our Ghana field had taken yet another hit! Thankfully we had no meeting scheduled for this weekend. We ll be leaving for Greenville.. early Sunday morning. We ll probably make that trip in two days and stay somewhere south of Cincinnati.. that first night. We ll get into Greenville.. and stay at a hotel there Monday evening.. and then of course.. all of Tuesday will be spent at the funeral and with Timothy and other missionaries who are or have worked in Ghana. Pray for us as we go! We hope to travel back to Grand Rapids Wednesday/Thursday!

5 Page 5 It turned out to be a lovely funeral at Faith Baptist Church in Greenville. Many of our BMM Ghana missionaries were there as well as BMM administrators and their film crew. But what an exhausting trip this was for us, emotionally and physically! We somehow made it through the weekend following our arrival home. We had arrived late Thursday afternoon (the 4 th ) and then tried to adjust to our normal routine, but it just wasn t happening. I think losing Janet, all the travel.. the emotions, etc just took its toll. We had our last meeting on the Sunday the 6th at our home church in Grand Rapids, Alaska Baptist Church. That went very well, but we used energy we just didn t have. Then as we spent our last two weeks, cleaning our house and getting the last of our supplies in order to leave for Ghana, Timothy and his three young boys flew back to Ghana to wait there in Accra for the arrival of Janet s body. We communicated back and forth often during those days. The local funeral in Wa for Janet is scheduled for November 9 th, and we wanted to make sure that Timothy not only was able to receive and transport his wife s body up country as soon as possible, but that we would get back into Ghana finish up business in Accra and get north in time for the funeral. Janet s body was flown into Accra on Sunday, October 21 st and taken by ambulance 450 miles up country to Wa. Timothy and the boys left our guest house in Accra early Tuesday morning, the 22 nd, for Wa. News of another sudden loss: We then were informed on October 21 st that on Saturday afternoon, October 19 th, dear friends of ours, Gordon & Marjorie Smith, sponsors of our student, Luke Liebzie and our supporters as well were in a tragic car accident. They were visiting a daughter and her family in Maryland when the accident occurred. Gordon was rushed to a hospital with multiple fractures and injuries, but Marjorie was killed instantly. I grew up with Marjorie and our fathers and families had been very close, thus we had kept in touch over the years. How does one face the last day before one leaves the country with this news fresh on one s mind? I kept forgetting what I was doing on Monday. We knew that Gordon was still in the hospital in Maryland when we left on Tuesday we didn t even have a clue as to when and where the funeral would take place. I somehow got through Monday.. last packing last cleaning.. when I discovered the Christmas card I had addressed to Gordon and Marjorie to be mailed later for us. I took it out of the box and replaced it with sympathy cards to Gordon and then to Marjorie s older sister, Mary Louise. We left with a sadness, but were hopeful. We knew that to be rejoined with our Ghana family would be a great comfort for us.we continue to pray daily for Gordon and their daughters.. plus Timothy and his sons. We know that all that has happened involving these families was in God s perfect plan. Timothy just wrote to us from Wa a couple of days ago and said, Yesterday I preached in both the morning and evening services to comfort the church family. Those messages have started healing them. Once they sense that the boys and I are comforted through the amazing grace of our Lord, they likewise take consolation from our comfort. People that come mourning, leave us rejoicing. God lightens their heavy hearts through the hope we express in meeting Janet again. Many wonder and confess that God truly is real and that He has done a marvelous work of grace in our lives. As before, we sense that God is going to do something great in Ghana in seeking the lost and reclaiming them for His glory. Pray much for us, and especially for each of our mission stations here in our beloved Ghana.

6 Page 6 During difficult days, God often draws near to confirm His love to us. Upon our re-entry into Ghana, we felt Him make known to us that He had not forgotten us, but rather was working to accomplish His purpose in our lives. We know we are part of His plan to seek the lost, and we in turn seek Him daily as to the stance and steps we should take. We cling tightly to Him, ready to advance into whatever He has purposed for us to do. He readily responds to our faith in Him during difficult trials with amazing tenderness. A few days after our arrival, we were informed that on October 21 st, the day before we left, Norm Livermore had sent another $12,000 into our car fund so that we could replace our failing vehicle. (It is now November 1 st as I finish this letter.) Last night, we got a call from Luke Liebzie informing us that he had just received a call from a lady working with the Ministry of Interior. She informed him that the Quota Committee met yesterday to discuss the application and request of Rob & Penny Whitty to be put on our mission quota and given their approval! We expect to see them shortly! If you get on Facebook, you can probably find Penny s ecstatic response that they were finally cleared for departure! Would you all please pray for these with us and that we would see more people step out to serve God with us in those areas mentioned below? We send up prayers daily for our Ghanaian family & friends in Lawra, as they prepare and eagerly wait for our arrival! Continue to pray for those Dagaare New Testament reread committee members working with us even now via !! and those leading fellowships, churches, youth & women s ministries! We pray daily for Cathy Bristol, our friend and nurse at our medical clinic in Baayiri several miles northwest of Wa. We need a replacement for Cathy, so that she can retire. Pray for the January visit of BMM s Africa/Europe area administrator, Vern Rosenau and his wife, Jan.. plus Dr. Joy Angel.. working with our home office. When they arrive, we will discuss our options and meet with the medical committee (US/Ghana members) to see how we will be able to keep this clinic open. Pray We need medical people urgently! We pray daily for Timothy and his three boys: Jesse, Jason, and John Mark. Timothy was in the middle of writing his dissertation when Janet was suddenly taken. Pray for his comfort, healing, and specific direction concerning finishing his degree and running our West African Baptist College in Wa along with his church, Faith Fundamental Baptist Church & primary school. We need more teachers and missionaries to come in to work to help and support Timothy in all the work involved there in Wa! We pray daily for our large guest house and station in the capital city of Accra. We still need a couple to come in for a year to a year and a half.. to carry on this ministry until new appointees, James and Julie Kieser can raise their support in the U.S. and return. We pray daily for our other appointees now on deputation: Matt and Krista Decker.. with their little one and another one on the way who are hoping to work with students at the university in Sunyani. They still need quite a bit of support! Pray for Ryan & Joy Owen soon to have their 2 nd child who have most of their support and are getting very anxious to come out and join us in Ghana! We praise God for and pray for missionaries, Rob & Penny Whitty, returning to Ghana after a few years absence to reopen our station in Berekum!! We pray daily for our co-laborers, Dan & Karis Mapes, those who have worked in Berekum for years now home indefinitely because of family concerns!! Pray these issues correct themselves and for their four children! We do miss Dan & Karis!!

7 Page 7 This is truly a book! But then I don t remember a time where so much has happened in only three months time! Let me close with our personal items.. for praise and for prayer: Praise: Prayer: 1. Over $18,000 came in from one donor 1. Funds still needed to replace while other individuals added gifts so the old failing air conditioners that we can now order a new vehicle! in our guest house in Accra 2. Special funds were made available 2. We should return to the US to us to replace our torn & worn in March of 14 as to avoid furniture (of 20 years) in Ghana!! the extreme heat of hot season (March through May). 3. We left the U.S. debt-free.. Pray that we ll have funds and all supplies for Ghana secured! to do that! 4. So many individuals gave gifts at 3. Cost of living rises.. w/ the last minute to help pay last cost of electricity just raised minute doctor s bills, and just to as of Oct 1 st by 78% do something extra for ourselves!! We will thus need to increase our monthly remittances by about $100 a month. (support) We will hopefully leave Accra on the 7 th of November, sleep at a motel ½ way up country, and then get to Wa on the 8 th. We will find a hotel there, as all our guest houses will be full because of the missions team coming in on the 7 th from Lilburn, Georgia, for Janet Seidu s funeral and to work a few weeks with Timothy in Wa. Pray for us on those days the 7 th, 8 th, and the 9 th (the day of the funeral). It looks then like we will FINALLY proceed on up to Lawra after the funeral to be welcomed home. How great that will be! We are anxious to get all the last rereading and little corrections done on the Dagaare New Testament so pray that God will make our paths straight and protect us in this all-important quest! We never lack for work but oh, how exciting it is when we re working for His kingdom! Thank you all so much for your prayers! We could not be doing what we re doing without your support and encouragement! You remain in our prayers as well. In His Hope, Norene & Roger