TAPPAHANNOCK—Last Monday a new Massey-Ferguson tractor began a journey from the church yard of Beale Memorial Baptist to Ghana in West Africa. In January, pastor David Donahue and several church members plan to rendezvous with the tractor and trek north to deliver it to Emmanuel Mustapha, a church planter with the Ghana Baptist Convention.
The unlikely story began last summer when Bryan Taliaferro, a deacon of Beale Memorial and a farmer by profession, traveled to Ghana as a team member with His Nets Inc.—an Oklahoma-based ministry dedicated to providing mosquito netting to malaria infested regions of Africa.
In a conversation months earlier, Taliaferro had expressed interest in going to Africa on a team, little suspecting that the trip would be scheduled at the busiest time of year for a farmer. Despite his mid-summer farm demands, however, Taliaferro finally decided to go. Late in the process, he learned that the team included Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry and his wife, Kim. His reaction was, “Now I'll really be out of place.” He would be the only Virginian among a group of people from that place “where the wind comes sweeping down the plain.”
Bryan Taliaferro (seated) and Emmanuel Mustafa examine the tractor, a gift to the Ghana Baptist Mission.
Doubts plagued Taliaferro even after he arrived in Ghana. Noting that the team was larger than was needed to distribute nets, “I began to think that I might have made a mistake in coming and should have remained at home doing the work of a farmer this time of year,” Taliaferro wrote in his travel journal. His doubts vanished in an instant, however, when he learned that a church planter they were going to see wanted to talk about a tractor. It was the first of many co-incidents he began to call “God” moments.
“At that moment I knew why I was there. I could talk tractor, tillage, implement, the whole nine yards; no one else on the team could. I could talk horsepower, disc and moldboard plowing, repair parts support, operator training and hitch category. I could assess operating strategy, business plan and security arrangements. This is why I was there. As we resumed the trip I found myself choking back tears overwhelmed with a sense of purpose and understanding how God works. It was a moment of spiritual realization less grand perhaps but similar to that of Moses, Elijah and Paul.”
Church planter Emmanuel Mustapha, or “Muss” as he is affectionately known, was born into an Islamic family, became a Christian in 1981 and has labored in missions for the Ghana Baptist Convention since 1989. When he started, he had a vision of starting 10 new churches. That was 86 churches ago! He has revised his goal to 400 new church starts.
Mustapha understood from the start that he must address the total needs of the people he was trying to win to Christ. He noticed first the incredible number of children whose parents had died. So he built an orphanage. Next came a school. In the future, he envisions a college.
Another part of Mustapha's strategy is to increase food production and thereby the incomes of the people. “A significant migration of people out of the Sub-Saharan regions to the north where the desert is advancing south and people are finding it hard to live” has caused a food shortage in northern Ghana, Taliaferro observes.
It was the tractor that brought Mustafa and Taliaferro together and before they parted, the Virginia farmer had promised that he would do what he could to supply the tractor.
Donahue remembers the first deacons' meeting Taliaferro attended after he arrived home. Taliaferro began to share the need and his belief that Beale Memorial could supply the tractor the Ghanaians needed. “Initially, I was not impressed,” remembers Donahue. “We have a half million dollar debt and there is no way!” The church had just built a new facility and was preparing to move.
Taliaferro presented his rationale: “The need for a tractor is manifold. First, it will increase the productivity of the village farmers, providing more food and improving the nutrition available to children and nursing mothers. Second, by collecting rent from farmers the Mission will generate income with which to finance the construction of more church buildings. Additionally, a tractor made available to the newly evangelized villages would say Jesus cares about you, about your hunger and wishes to lessen your toil and lighten your burden. It will be used as an illustration of what it means to belong to the body of Christ, to bear each other's burdens, and to show faith by works. It is a statement that believers in other parts of the world care about them. Finally, it will add stature to the Baptist Mission and create a positive image of the ‘Baptist Family,' two concepts important to the African mindset and a ‘foot in the door' for further evangelism.”
“Bryan was so enthused about it,” says Donahue, “others began to catch the vision. Finally, I realized ‘Oh my goodness, we're really going to do this!'” It was another “God” moment.
Another came a few nights later when Donahue and his family were having dinner with a church family. As they talked about Taliaferro's dream and the support he received from the deacons, the family responded. “We'll give $20,000,” the husband announced.
The shiny red tractor sat in front of the new sanctuary Beale Memorial now occupies as a tangible testimony to the many “God” moments that led to the success of this mission endeavor. In addition to the tractor, the church is sending 6,000 mosquito nets, 15 computers and 200 textbooks.
“We're just holding on to see what God is going to do next,” says the pastor.