More on John Update September 7, 2024

This is an update for something that happened in Ghana almost two weeks ago, now.

Before we could post it John suddenly collapsed and wound up in the hospital so

that took precedence. Nevertheless it is an important chapter in the continuing

story of what is happening with John in Ghana so we decided that it should be

shared now. John's home is a key aspect of the work he is doing and he almost lost

it. It was merely by grace that he did not. So here is the story.

Some time ago our friend John bought a small lot in a poor area of Accra, Ghana, to

use as a headquarters for his charity work, including an office for his production

company for struggling local artists and musicians. Working with very little money,

he managed to erect a small, rough building there, only to lose everything when a

fire swept through the neighborhood, destroying everything.

Thanks to a fund raiser and the generosity of people who wanted to help, John

eventually managed to rebuild and the new structure now houses his home, his music

studio, and two rooms where people coming to him in need can stay temporarily so

that they won't wind up homeless on the street. The building still needs some work

on the roof, which leaks badly, but at least he has a place to stay and a

headquarters he can use as a home base to help others. People come to his office

there every day asking for help.

Late last week John woke to find the authorities sweeping through the neighborhood

demanding that the residents show their permits allowing their buildings to stand

there. If they didn't have a permit the buildings would be torn down that very day.

John hadn't refused to buy a permit, he simply hadn't known that one was necessary.

So he had nothing to show the authorities. Terrified that he was about to lose

everything he had worked for, he managed to contact us and asked urgently for help.

The permit didn't really cost that much, 900 cedis, but if you don't have it

anything is too much. And toward the end of the month we are always short of money

to help John with the work he is doing. Also by the nature of things it takes some

time to get money to him even in an emergency. John had been given until 11 AM EDT

to pay or they would begin to demolish his house. We only received his message at

10. Not much time.

Nevertheless we did some adjusting of our budget to scrape together the money and

got it sent. Then all we could do was wait and hope it would be delivered in time.

Providentially, the money was delivered literally moments before the deadline. John

managed to get the funds to the authorities in time and paid for the permit that

would allow the building to stand.

This is why even small amounts of money mean so much over there. They can literally

spell the difference between success and failure or even life and death.

Many of the very poor people in the neighborhood where John lives were unable to

get their permits and their homes were demolished. We have been trying to help them

as we can, but the suffering there is great and we can do so little.

We are thankful that John's house was saved so that he can continue his work.