The Past
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Having your language in a written form is the turning point for any people.
This was certainly the case for the Hanga People.
Prior to the 1980s, their language was oral only, so the history and traditions of the tribe were handed down by word of mouth across the generations.
This changed in the mid 1980s after Geofrrey Hunt and his wife Rosemary ( British Bible Translators from Wycliffe Bible Translators) came and lived in the region for nearly twenty years with his family. They learned the language, created an alphabet and started work translating the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.
They left before the New Testament could be completed, but now it has, so enabling the Word of God to be brought to all the people.
Being a Christian is often hard at the best of times.
In this region, where life is very hard and much of what many people take for granted, even in Ghana, is lacking. For example, clean fresh water, sufficient food, clothing, shoes, medical facilities and a market to which you can take your wares.
Being a Christian in an area where there are few other Christians, no books, bibles or devotionals, few pastors or elders to guide one along the Christian path, and much to distract and tempt away from such a path, is particularly hard. In an area where Islam and traditional beliefs are still strong, pressures from with families, villages and extended communities are as strong.
In this area lived Jindeyu Zimpah, a young man who could neither read nor write. The youngest son of an old Hanga man and his Gonja wife, this young man sought power and prestige through the traditional magic arts as a fetish priest.
He learned of a new magic, the written magic!
He'd heard that a white man had given the Hanga people their language in written form, so he desperately wanted to possess such magic. All the history and traditions of his tribe were held in story form that were handed down from father to son. This new magic would mean capturing his Hanga Tribal culture and keeping it safe from the ravages of time.
Given that the only books he could read were the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, it wasn't long before this young man became a Christian. In doing so, he unwittingly transformed his life. Leaving his old gods and ways behind him, he embarked on a difficult and often dangerous journey, in which he faced perils of the physical kind in the form of old enemies who now wished to take revenge for past deeds, to spiritual perils in the form of the magic he had forsaken and those who still practiced the dark arts.
Baptised by the Holy Spirit and supported by Pastor James Mahama, Joshua Zimpah put himself through school at the age of twenty-six. He then went to the Christian Service College in Kumasi and then to the Maranatha University in Accra, all the while working his farm in order to feed his family.
It was a tough time for him. Firstly because there were little funds for his ambition to be reralised, then because his family was often without their main bread-winner, so there were shortages at home. His elderly parents also relied upon his for many things, so to be away studying was hardly the best course of action as far as they were concerned.
However, his family supported him and the Lord provided the funds and the Holy Spirit helped him with all the spiritual battles, particularly within himself. One cannot just turn away from the old way without those powers putting upm a struggle. Struggle they did, putting Joshua's health and mental welfare under pressure. However, he would testify that the Lord is faithful and he prevailed through all adversity to qualify and return to his people.
Working initially with the Evangelical Church of Ghana and also with GILLBT, he worked a great deal on the HANGA NEW TESTAMENT as well as the dubbing of the JESUS film into Hanga. Acting as an itinerant pastor, he circulated around the villages on his bicycle, trying to cover a vast area virtually single handed.
It is testament to his family that his father was the first of his village to be given a Christian burial, and it will be the first of many. Through the Grace of God, this man is now beginning to turn back the tide of unbelief and face the myriad of faiths that seek to confuse and snare people's hearts, minds and souls.
Again, through the Grace of God and the generosity of a British Christian couple (Tim & Marion Cox), Joshua was given the money for his first motorcycle in 1999. The Hunts (The English Bible translators) were by now back in England, but they'd been told of the need and shared that need with their church in Buckinghamshire.
This was picked up by the couple who felt God tell them to answer this particular prayer. They also gave enough every month for Joshua to run the motorcycle. Then, after many thousand kilometres, a new bike was required in 2006, so after sending the money, the couple accompanied Geoffrey Hunt to Ghana to attend a Christian Conference and saw for themselves the area in which this motorcycle was operating.
They were to witness the birth of the new church - The Holistic Gospel Church.
