Penny Bakewell teaches Sunday school in a Sisaala village

More than 25 years ago, SIM workers planted the first church among the Sisaala people living in the northwest region of Ghana. They trusted God to develop churches led by Sisaala people, worshiping and teaching in the Sisaala language. Most of the of the early converts came out of a background of African Traditional Religion (ATR), largely based in veneration and appeasement of ancestral spirits. Since the 1980s, Islam has grown to claim more than 70% of the Sisaala, although traditional practices strongly shape their practice of Islam.

And what of the desire for a strong Sisaala church? Thirteen small Sisaala churches, with fewer than 150 baptized believers, are now part of the Bible Church of Africa (BCA), which relates to SIM. Only three of them have licensed pastors. Christians in Sisaala land find it very difficult to reach out to their Muslim neighbors. They see Islam as a barrier to the Gospel, rather than an opportunity.

Hope

Nevertheless, there’s hope for the Sisaala. The New Testament is available in the Isaling dialect, both in print and on cassettes. Work on the Old Testament is progressing well. Recorded Scriptures provide an especially strong tool for reaching this largely oral culture. The storytelling approach to giving the Gospel plugs in to the Sisaalas’ traditional method of communicating.

SIM and the Bible Church of Africa are strategizing together to take the love of Christ to the people in this part of Ghana. Two SIM families are working there, involved in community-based health education, church planting, and leadership training. As church leaders become better equipped, they will help the believers under their care to grow strong in their faith and to reach out to their neighbors.

Sweeping Together

And now the Bible Church of Africa has a broader vision: to partner with others in reaching the Sisaala. One BCA leader uses a local proverb to describe the present opportunity: “We have a choice. We can take up our own broom and sweep our own corner. Or we can all take up brooms together, and together we will work to see the Gospel spread through the land. Only then will the Lord claim this land for himself.”

Pray

• for more church planters and trainers of leaders.
• for the Sisaala people to have open hearts to the Gospel.