Preparing For Second Workshop

It's 8:30pm in Tamale, the capital of the northern district of Ghana. We just arrived after 11 hours of driving. Actually, the roads have improved immensely and we saved two hours over what it used to take. We ate chicken and rice on a roof top restaurant with muti-colored lights.

Yesterday 37 people attended the business workshop at Bethel Church in Tema. Sampson Dorkunor, Enoch Nyador, Emmanuel Akorli, Frank Miller and myself helped conduct the session that lasted from 9am until 4pm. Several visited until 5:30pm. All of us felt it was successful. The people who attended are current Mission Resource business partners as well as potential business partners.

Principles of business, bookkeeping, and the loan document were discussed. A panel discussion also took place where questions were asked and answered. During one period, the large group was broken into 3 smaller groups to work through a scenario of income, expenditures and how each should be classified.

Tomorrow we will be working with a smaller group. Those receiving Basic Utility Vehicles will be in attendance. Tomorrow and Saturday will be used in not only business basics like yesterday, but discussions specific to the maintenance and operation of the BUVs. Please pray for great success and understanding.

Both Tuesday and Wednesday evening, Kris Klokkenga was able to have dinner with us. It is so cool to see how God has used Kris in the last year here in Ghana. He has many ideas about farming and ways to do business here.

We will be traveling to the Benwoko Clinic where we will be worshiping on Sunday. I am writing now in case we are unable to write over the next couple days. Please pray for Frank and me as the temperatures will be over 100.

The presidential election that was conducted on Sunday was peaceful. But as of yesterday, neither candidate received the required 50.1% to be elected. Consequently, there will be a re-vote on December 28th. There were 7 candidates that ran, and only the top two will be involved on the 28th. Out of the approximately 8.5 million votes cast, there was only a 128,000 votes between the top two. So there will be much campaigning to obtain the votes of the other 5 candidates.

David Ketchum