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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, AUGUST 6, 1986
Almost 2,000 Norwegian booklets were mailed out in the
this year -- an average of 320 booklets in each month.
requested Norwegian reprint articles in recent date have
and Back" and "Do We Have the Complete Bible?"
first half of
The two most
been "To Hell
Attendance at services held in Scandinavia on the Feast of Pentecost
reached a combined total of 83. This was approximately 2% up on the
figure for last year.
Mr. James Henderson, Manager of the Mail Processing Department at
Elstree House, held services for the Danish brethren in both Aarhus and
Copenhagen on the Sabbath immediately prior to Pentecost; he also
preached sermons on the Feast day for brethren in Oslo, Norway, and
Stockholm, Sweden.
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--
f
Prayer Request for God's People in Ghana
Mr. Josef Forson, our
minister in Ghana, submitted a report recently that updated us on the
severe economic difficulties that Ghana is beginning to enter again.
Huge salary increases of 300% to 500% made a few months ago have now
been reflecting themselves in many areas. For instance, increased food
and transportation costs virtually wipe out the average wage-earner's
take-home pay. Utilities have gone up by 1,000%. Water, which used to
cost 2.50 cedis per thousand gallons, now costs 250 cedis.
Electricity and fuel bills have gone up by the same percentage.
Another area that has been hit severely by this inflation is housing.
Many of the flats are now being rented out for hard currency at the
rate of $600 to $800 per month. When we inquired if we could pay in
cedis, one individual quoted the black market equivalent in cedis --
160,000 cedis a month. One landlord we approached to provide housing
for the Udeaghas required us to remodel his house at a cost of up to
1,000,000 cedis (at our expense) and then pay rent of 50,000 cedis per
month, three years in advance.
The standard rent for one-room accommodation, which the average family
occupies, is now 500 cedis, an astronomical jump from the 20 cedis
fixed at the start of the revolution in 1981. Some of our members are
now having to pair up in one room to be able to live decent lives.
This means that there will be no plans for marriage in the near future!
Mr� and Mrs. Forson are doing their best to live frugally. They no
longer use the water heaters, air conditioners, washing machine or
electric cooker. Mr. Forson has bought fans for most rooms and only
I
uses the gas cooker to prepare food. They even try not to flush the
bathrooms after use unless necessary.
Please pray for the well-being of God's people in this economically
strapped, poor nation.
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(Submitted by Frank Brown, Regional Director)