Several members of the Estates Branch have been begging us to open a church unit in Kenyasi, a mining town where they live. We took Elder McFarland and Elder Sarpong with us and drove the 45 minutes south of Sunyani to visit and assess the possibility. We had no idea what to expect.
After meeting one of the members in a little community on the way, we followed him into gold mining country. Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd. is the major employer and as we drove on 4 lane dirt roads through acres and acres of forest, huge piles of tailings, as large as mountains loomed up out of the jungle. It is a mammoth operation! At one cross section of roads, guards manning huge crossing gates monitored traffic as GIANT ore trucks, larger than tanks, barreled by on their deliveries. It reminded us of the excavating at Kennecott Copper. Gold is a leading export for Ghana. They pull huge gold deposits out of this mine alone every week.
When we arrived in Kenyasi we were met by Eric Bentum, another member. He had several of his buddies at the shop where we stopped and we couldn't help but notice the Book of Mormons on several of their shelves. We then looked at a house that would be suitable for a meetinghouse as well as a missionary apartment, visited several members, and then were taken to a high school of over 1600 students. It was clean, well-orgainzed and on every classroom door was a sign that read "Only English Spoken Here." We met the head mistress whose name was Naomi and who also is a member. They are literally pleading for the Church to have a presence in Kenyasi.
It was an incredible day. We had no idea the gold mining industry was so huge. We've forwarded all of the information and the members' requests to the Mission President and to Area. Now we wait and see.
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