Ghana (MNN) — Changes are taking place in Prampram, Ghana where Oasis International has their Bible training school–a region where Christianity and idol worship are often mixed together. Most families have a small shrine with an idol for worship in their homes.
Bible school students reported that one of their fellow students is a member of the family who selects the chief for their community. He was nominated by his family to be chief. Ambrose Brennan with Oasis explained the man's story: "He said, ‘I will not pour libation, and I will not offer a goat unto the idol.' He said, ‘If you will accept me under those premises, then I will sign the nomination and elect the person to be chief.' And they agreed."
The man later shared that 97 percent of his family does not support his stance, however. Brennan said that at Oasis they are learning that bringing people to Christ is wonderful, but the
teaching is an ongoing process. Changing someone's character is a process. "We're seeing that happening in the class where some of the students are really
getting hold of the truth, and they're saying, ‘Hey, I'm not going to put up with
a mixture any longer. I'm going to make a stand for Jesus, and that's it.'"
Communities change as leaders begin to follow Christ's teaching. This is an incredible feat since the fetish powers have long been closed-off to change. Fetish priests were especially tight-fisted with the medical arena since they feared people would stop coming to them for healing and prayer and deliverance.
With Oasis International's work alongside the local health center, the communities have become more open to allowing new doctors to come in. "So we're seeing kind of a snowball effect. Then we're also seeing some networking going on between different NGO's and Christian organizations, which I think is really positive," Brennan said.
In the future, Oasis hopes to hold crusades in order to continue to raise up Christian leaders. Their intent would be to get new believers plugged into the church, as well as their training center, to build a strong foundation for them to become disciples who make disciples.
Even with this hope, "there's still a lot of spiritual darkness" according to Brennan. Please pray for the people of the community to continue to be open to the Gospel.
