Phase 2: The Clearing of the Land – City of God

DAY 1

We made inquiries to find the best solution for the well and water situation.

Father Derrick and Mother Elisha: The water situation is that if we dig a bore well, the tendency to have salt in the water is high. That would mean we need to spend a lot of money to treat the water. So, the borehole in the area the tendency of getting water is 50/50. So even if we drill to get the water, we may need to drill more than once to get clean water. However, with the Ghana water company, they can do the setup for us. It may be high but then in the long-term we will have a continuous amount of water.

The cost for having the government drill the hole for us was estimated at $18,000 for 1.5 km, if we go that route.. One option is we could negotiate to have other people tap into the water also.

We decided to go with a Dam, Bore Well and Prayer:

Mother Elisha: Hey family, how are you guys? This is the day to begin clearing the land. It’s been a really rough day.

DAY 2 — Brother Reuben is blessing the land on our behalf.

Mother Elisha: This is the second day of our land clearing. But it’s actually the first day, because the first day we didn’t get to clear the land because they said it was Friday. A by-law of the community states that it is taboo to work on the land on a Friday. Friday is a day the land has to rest—everyone has to rest, like how we have our Sabbath. So, we’re starting off now and we are headed to go and see the machines touching down and see how far they He have gotten. This is exciting! City of God, Phase Two in affect. We are going to go out this month.

Father Derrick: They came to burn charcoal.

Mother Elisha: What’s charcoal made from anyway?

Derrick: Wood.

Mother Elisha: I didn’t know that. Wow.

Father Derrick: So, they are wooding sticks.

Mother Elisha: Oh wow, I didn’t know that.

We got stuck in the mud.

Mother Elisha: Well guys, we’re stuck in the mud. Moter Clare’s did the exact same thing too. She was tenacious and she wouldn’t give up and Derrick wouldn’t either. We need to get out this mud in order to get the fuel and the chains to the machine.

Deciding to lift the truck to free it from the mud.

Mother Elisha: I think Mother Clare and Mike would all agree. They did the exact same thing to Mother Clare’s car. We lifted all the trucks. We had to. Because the mountain terrain is really hard.

Father Derrick: Those balloon ties. They may cost but they are good for this terrain, That’s why we would suffer small, but it won’t be a problem.

Finally walked to the road entering the land.

We got the tracker to pull the car out of the mud. Finally walked to the road entering the land. After brother Reuben blessed the land, sprinkling holy water, we were able to begin clearing. The team is videoing as the tractor finally begins to clear the land for the road.

Day 3

Mother Elisha: Hey guys we’re here and it’s day 3. Here are Reuben and Father Derrick (in the truck). Father Derrick, that’s what everybody calls him, Father Derrick.

We have the boys in the back. We saw a mother and the kids who are walking on the road and needed a ride. So, we’re also learning to adjust ourselves, be of service to the community here, I’m trying my best not to be so white. Oh, maybe I should not say that on camera!

Mother Elisha: Yeah, no, this is wrong. Let me clarify, the reason I say that is because in Africa, they consider me as a white person. They don’t consider me African or Ghanaian at all. They call me brony because of the way I talk, and in this area, they only speak to you in Twi, or in Fante which I don’t even understand. So really, it’s like coming into a new land and community, so I have to adjust to the language and then allow myself to assimilate and make them also feel like I’m here for them, and that I’m one of them as well. Not a foreigner, because once they feel you are a foreigner, they feel threatened, and they have some thoughts and some ways about them. If they feel like we’re foreigners, which I guess I kind of am… But I’m asking the Lord, once again, to have my mindset and my heart thinking as the members of the community—how I could be of service, versus coming into this mission field and taking over. Which is initially what I did the first day. I wanted to take a stand on certain things, take over this land. I heard the Lord just convicting me on certain things, checking me. Father Derrick did a wonderful job with his wisdom and counsel, having us yield to the ways, the by-laws, and the customs of the area, just so we can show them honour and respect, which is also showing them love—so they can see from us what love is. In the meantime, as we continue to serve, we also teach them the truth, the gospel. So please, all white Heartdwellers, I love you.

Some men came on the premises, stating that we were building on their land, which was not true and then they threatened that if we didn’t stop the work, that they would bring police officers to come and stop us. We continued to build because we knew that we had the rights, we had the documents, and it was just more to intimidate us. Sure enough, they haven’t come back. And the leader of the family who’s given us this land is definitely behind us if anyone comes in the community trying to oppose the work. Which is nothing but the favour of God.

Mother Elisha: We allowed the locals to get wood for free to sell.

Mother Elisha: Father Derrick decided to do a dam, a reservoir for the community and so we’re doing an excavation today too.

Day 3

We’re here, day three of Clearing the land. We had a little mishap where one of the guys who runs the bulldozer, a new boy, put hydraulic oil, in the engine oil and vice versa. They switched it around.

So, we had to come and get more engine oil for the machine and now we are back in town in the market to get machetes. The boys will use machetes.

Mother Elisha: (Going through the bush with the guys). Hey, please let me go. Okay?

Father Derrick was scared for me to go because there were snakes I reminded him of the mountain life. Even though we never saw snakes, I think there was one that got killed on the road. We have to get used to this.

Mother Elisha: (After coming upon a clearing). What is this here?

Father Derrick: This is our land. Somebody else ran it up here.

Mother Elisha: Oh, okay. (Someone has planted on the land)

Father Derrick: So, it has hindered the movement of the machine. So we have to wait till he harvests.

Mother Elisha: What? To do the dam?

Father Derrick: No, no, no. They will do that now.

Mother Elisha: Oh, okay. So, Father Derrick has been very nice with this young man, so we’re not going to ask him to remove the harvest. I think he said it’s corn, right?

Father Derrick: Yes.

Mother Elisha: So, after the corn is harvested, then he’ll give the community a percentage and then we can then continue to utilize the land. Thanks guys.

Father Derrick: So approximately six months?

Worker: No. Four moths

Mother Elisha: Four, Wow.

Worker: Then his time will be due.

Day 4

Mother Elisha: Okay, wow! So, this has been cleared for the top.

Hey guys, this is the Day 4. The Ghana heat got me good!

But anyway, this is how much we’ve cleared so far. Quite a bit. We’re looking at about five to six acres. The issue is that the workers who are clearing the land, think they need to be done by tomorrow. As you look at the land, it’s not ten acres that’s finished. So, Father Derek is measuring. We’re going to measure the land. We’’ tape to see how many square (becoming overcome by heat..) ..so, we’re just going to measure.

Day 5

Day 5, completions of 9.5 acres. But found out we need to do more work.

We’re thinking, as we go further up, this will be where the community buildings will be so they can actually overlook the entire land. We’re also thinking the hostel for the children will be here as well—and the building for the missionaries. To be honest, guys, I have no idea what we’re doing. I have no idea what God is doing. I have to trust the Lord. Really, I have no idea, but we’re just taking one step in obedience, trusting God.

As we’ve never done this layout before. Our layout is a lot different from Mother Claire’s as well, so, we really need your prayers for discernment and for wisdom, on how to build this community.

These are some of the ladies here. They are a part of the community. We’ve allowed them to come to retrieve the bark. As I mentioned before, this bark is very potent [laugh] as you understand, for men, for aphrodisiac purposes. And it’s very, very expensive. This much (approximately 1 inch) is like 50 Cedis, which is about $5. And look at how much they’re doing. So, these ladies are going to be rich—Rich in Jesus’ name! [laughter] —as they’re collecting all the tree stumps to sell in the market.

So yes, this is what we’ve cleared. This is about half an acre from the top. What we got from Victor is that we need to widen the road. The road is very, very narrow. We should open up a little bit more in case a vehicle gets stuck here another vehicle can pull it.

We plan on building our hermitage here, then possibly the hostels, the missionaries, and the children’s here on this site. So, it feels like a community area.

We still have to clear more. There’s a valley—we’re hoping that when they dig here, they’ll hit the good water. So please pray for us.

Worker: I don’t know exactly but you might be lucky. Everything we take out from this place (lifting a rock) …

Father Derrick: He told me, the first thing he saw inside this thing—we watched there might be gold in it. There’s gold in the rocks.

Mother Elisha: So, this is the finished dam. We’re finding out that they didn’t do such a great job because Father Derrick: is telling Victor that there are rocks, but he said we didn’t dig deep enough with the dam. Because of that, there is slight erosion and after about two more rains or so, there will be sludge in the water. So, we have to rent the excavator again to dig about three more meters deep in order to hit the rocks, so that when the water comes it doesn’t evaporate and is sustained just like it is here—and nothing erodes.

We found also found out that there may be gold in the rocks. I’m seeing all these shimmering rocks and I just thought, “Oh, there’s a beautiful stone. Derrick’s friend Victor made it clear that it looks like sediments of gold. So, if you see some of this shimmering. You guys can see it. I have to tell Father Derrick: to stay in the vision—stay in the course—don’t get distracted. But who knows? We’ll see if the Lord would want us to retrieve the gold from these rocks and then make grams out of it and that’s something that we could use to sustain the community—help the children. We can definitely use some gold. So, it’s very interesting. It’s awesome how the land is really providing so much.

Thank you guys so much, for your support, your prayers, and donations. As you see, this is what we’ve done so far. This is Father Derek’s friend, Victor, this is Anthony, he’ll be helping us too, and Ruben. You guys know Ruben. They know you too. Continue to pray for us.

We wanted to just give an update as to what we’ve done so far, and Father Derrick: will explain that. I will send an email out because we were needing more donations in order to continue and to complete Phase Two of the City of God building project. We did about. 8.5. acres?

Derrick: Yeah, 8.5

Mother Elisha: So, we still need to at least two, to get that full ten, yeah?

Father Derrick: Yeah. So, what we need to do now is to dig in deep into the water reservoir—go about 3 meters deep, and then we need to go up the hill since we want to do the road at a less expensive cost. We need to cut the gravel from the land. So, we’ll flatten the top and then do the filling of the road.

Mother Elisha: So, I didn’t show the video at the top, but as we cleared the top and we’re thinking that’s where the majority of the community will be and then down below will be for farming and other facilities.

But as of now, we’re having to dig deeper. We have to do the excavation again for the dam. Then we need to work on the roads. We also need a tractor for the rest of the land to uproot the stumps and the trees to flatten it out so we can begin farming. So, like I said, please think of us.

Thank you guys so much for watching the journey of clearing the land. Like I said, we need more funds to finish the excavation of the dam. To finish the roads and the bore well. You mentioned about the water. There was something additional that we needed regarding the water— we need to dig deeper, so we don’t get salt water, right?

Victor: Yes.

Father Derrick: Yeah, with the bore hole cost will be more than we anticipated because we have to go 180 meters deeper.

Mother Elisha: So initially it was $3,500 just to go, what, 100 meters, right? So, we have to go probably more than that, possibly 200 meters just to get clean water. So, we’re going to need more funds for that as well.

Once again, guys, pray for us, think of us. Please donate and we’re trusting the Lord to provide, He’s gotten us this far. So, thank you, guys, so much.