Nichols Edgar Mabel 1966 Ghana

8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1966 Ghana

1/7

Forward ing Agent :

Mr s P a u l a

Bound s

3712 Eagle

Lane

Beti iany,

Oklahoma

n r n

n

U U

FEBfiUARY

1966

-ARRESTED AS A

SPY

Edgar

Nichols

P 0

Box

1977

Kumasi ,

Ghana

Feb.

4

1966

Shortly after daybreak on Dec. 3rd a big black car pulled up in front

of

the house and seven big men piled out and swarmed

a l l over

the place.

I was

placed

under

arrest

and

the

house

thoroughly

searched.

All of

this

was the result

of

spy charges made against me by Pastor Hayford.

I sa t on a chair

in the presence of

these men while they

read my

per

sonal correspondence, searched my f i les and

scru inized

every t ract

pamphlet, and

scrap

of

paper.

One s conscience

may

be quite

clear, one s

motives

above reproach,

but

s t i l l one does

not

feel

entirely

comfortable

under such circumstances. I

read

my

Bible and found s t rength

and quietness

At times I prayed that some tract or pamphlet mignt

prove

to be

the

good

seed which would st r ike

root , grow,

and bring forth

f ru i t

unto eternal-

l if

After about

two

hours of th is

a few

le t te rs and periodicals,

which

for

some

reason

had

caught

their

interest,

my

tabe

recorder

and

tapes,

and I

were

bundled

into the car and taken

to headquarters. There, af te r a

long

wait,

I was questioned by two different

officers

and then asked

to

sign a

statement

covering

the answers to these

questions.

I was

asked

_

to play some

of the

tapes,

but they were sat is fied after the

playing

of

one.

These tapes were

mostly

copies

of

Bible recordings and recorded ser

vices of Ark

^lley_Chri^tijui

Church, J^Viciidta^ ^ .

During the day Brother Sampong of Afrantwo and Brother John

Gyedu

of

Winneba showed up. They were

able

to

testify

as

to my

character and as

to my work as a missionary. This was very valuable assistance. I had

sent for

Brother

Sampong, but

Brother

Gye du s coming was unexpected. ^9

said

he had something

like

a

premonition

that

he

should

come, and

thus

i t

worked out a ccord ing to the providence of

God.

t 4

P

I was released on my own recognizance

but

asked

to

return

in

two

days. After

this

session my

tape recorder

was returned. I did not^

receive my passport back until shortly before the Christmas Convention,

and only lately have

a ll travel

restrictions been removed.

Looking back on the whole

affair,

I can see both

plus

and minus

factors.

On

the

credit side, I have

greater

confidence than

ever

in

the

government of

Ghana

and in

their

police.

They

had a job

to do

and they

(Continued

on

the

Back


2/7

d id

it

e f f i c i e n t l y

a n d w i th o u t p r e ju d i ce F or th e C h u r c h it s e e m s t h a t

such a t i m e o f

t e s t i ng was necessa ry

t h a t

th e th ou gh ts of m e n s

h e a r t s

m i g h t be r evea led

Also

it

seem s

t h a t tne way i s c l e a re d no w

fo r th e

g r a n t i n g o f th e q u o t a

On th e

o t h e r

s ide o f th e l e d g e r I

h a v e s e ld o m b e en

as d i s ap p o i n t ed

as

I h a v e

in

a c e r t a i n person who w as fo rm e rly v ery

c l o s e

to me. He

i s

p e r s o n ab l e i n t e l l i g e n t a n d g i f t e d

wi th

th e p o w e r o f p e r s u as i v e

speech

n e

i s

e l o q u en t

both

in

E n g l i s h a n d

in

th e v e rn a c u l a r a n d I judged

him to

b e

completely ded ica t ed

B u t I

h a v e ev idence w h i c h

I am

fo rced to accep t

t h a t i t

w a s h e who

m a d e th e latest c o m p l a i n t

This

o n to p o f th e o n e p re

v io u s ly made b y H a y f o r d b r o u g h t th e p o l i c e T h i s ma n h a s

l e f t u s

a n d

i s

w o rk i n g

with a n o t h e r g ro u p and

I

c a n

o n l y

p r a y t h a t

h e

w il l t ru ly repen t

Pas to r H a y io r d h a s c o n f e s s e d to h is p a r t in t h e

p l o t

an d i s pleading

t h a t th e c h u r c h

r e a d m i t

h im I tell th e b r e t h r e n it is u p to t hem P e r

sona l ly I t h i n k

he i s

a

m en ta l c a se

and t ha t

un t i l

he

shows s igns

o f im -

-pr-vement-^.-both m e n t a l l y and s p i r i t u a l l y it m i g h t b ea so urce o f embar

r a s s m e n t t o h a v e h im

i n th e f e llo w sh ip

C H RI ST M A S C ON V EN T IO N .

T he

a nn ua l C h ris tm a s

Conven t ion o f th e U n i v e r s a l C h r i s t i a n Chur ch

held a t A sesw a

Dec. ^ 7

was w ell a tte nd ed a n d

a good

s p i r i t

p r ev a i l ed

throughout. There were 20 0 who r e c e i v e

the

L o r d s Supper

a t

th e

s e r v i c e

on

Sunday

a f t e r n o o n

and an

e s t i m a t e d

^00

i n

atten d an ce

a t th e evening se r

vice

In

a

s ho rt s er vic e of prayer

and

d e d ic a ti o n t en m i n is t er s of the

U n i v e r s a l C h r i s t i a n

C h u r c h

w e r e recogn ized b y th e gran t ing

o f

c e r t i f i c a t e s

o f

ordina t ion

Pi v e y o u n g e r men were se t

apa r t fo r

th e p r e a c h i n g o f th e

W ord T h e s e

w i l l

be

cons idered

proba t ionary p a s t o r s

A f te r

f a i t h f u l l y

fu l f i l l ing

the i r

d u t i e s f o r one y e a r t h e y

wi l l be

o rd ain ed

as

minis ters

The

p u b l i c

a d d r e s s

syste m

newly

r e p a i r e d

was

p u t

to

good

use

a t

th e

co n v en t io n We wish to thank o u r f r i e n d s ivir. M rs . K en n e th K e l l e r f r om

Edon

Ohio

whose gi f t covered

th e

c o s t

o f

p u t t i n g this u s e f u l

t o o l back

into service

Pray

fo r G o d s

p e o p l e in Ghana.

-May--the-God- o f--p eace

be _

wi th

_ yoji.. _

H IS

s e r v a n t and y o u r s

Edga r

Ni c ho l s

F I R S T

CHRISTIAN

CHURCH

B o x 8

Rol l ing

P r a i r i e I n d 46571

N O N - P R O F I T O R G A N I Z A T I O N

U S P O S T A G E

1/^0 P ID

Permit

N o

1

R o l l i n g P r a i r i e I n d


3/7

Agent ;

Pau l a

Bounds

Eagle Lane

Okilanoma

r:

n

j

L)

n

j

JUNE

1966

m m n

H

J

Edgar Nichols

Box

231

Toppenish

Wash ing ton

THAT YOU HAVE

NOT

RECEIVED A NEVilSLETTER in the last

two

montjas hp not

due to lack of news, neither has it been the fault of _the publpher.

will have to put the blame squarely on the writer, who opt did not ge

writtenT

e asks for your in^lgenee, and^hops tMt -^phe re-

Ooicing over the

wonderful

happenings herein related, all will

be

forgiven.

After the events chronicled in the

last

letter, I was feeling sopwpt

depressed. I

decided

to

go

to Nigeria, to

visit

Bptpr Baugpan, and stay

for

an

indefinite period.

The

brethren did not take to the

pea

pry

^

kindly, but I told them

to

go

ahead working on the quota, and

if

they

we we

successful, I would return. I

set

a day for

my

departure, but two days

before this date a coup took place in Nigeria.

The

goverppt

was

over-

thrown, unrest and rioting were rife, and air travel was pUep Wpn con

ditions

had

returned to

normal and travel

was possible

I had chpged

my

mind. X decided i t was not God s will

for

me toleave

at

that time. 1

decided

to

move out.

to

Afrancho and fellowship

with

the

very

fine

Christ

ians of this

community for

some time. This is the community which

h s

given us,a 460 acre farm,

and

is willing to build a small hospital for us

i f we

will furnish

a

doctor

and nurses. In

this

community the

church bells

ring every morning at 5:50, and many people

come

to the church for prayers

before s tar t ing

out

on the

day s

work.

One

day

I suddenly took the notion that I

wanted

to visit mvmisspp

ary friends, the Davenports, in Kumasi. VJe had an enjoyable vpi t

pa

accepted their invitation to stay all night.

Bext

mornpg quite ppy-,

Brother Davenport, with face half shaven, rushed into the

room,

saying,

The

army and

police

have

taken over the

government

of Gpp - My

paction

was,

No'

i t can t be . It .seemed too good to be true, bp i t

was

true.

Naturairy, ~we staTed prWty close--to-The -i^di daY.Inhere werpno

reports of

violent Lt I

was very thankful to

be where I had good

cover

age of what was ta kin g p la ce .

The spontaneity of the people as tney

demonstrated

in the streets,

and

the joy

which shone

on

their

faces

testified

to

their

genuine

pl ief

in

being delivered from a despotic

communist

regime.

When

we read accosts

in

the newspapers of how crowds had broken

into

the

Communist

.

center in Accra, gathered up the books and pamphlets and made a bonfire ou

of

them, i t

did our hearts

good.

We

had been

through the painful experi

enoe

of seeing the

communist

take over

West China and

Tibet,

and

now to see

the reverse happen made us feel

real good.

One week

after the

coup

I proposed to Pastor Sampong that

we

go to

Accra

and

make

inquiries about

our

request for a qupa of I.

thought

it

too

soon to

find out anything

definite,

but

agrpd to p wph

m

Upon

our

arrival, we went

directly to the Ministry of the

Interior.

e

found the

o ffic e la rg ely

deserted, but were

able

to locate a

secretary

who

told

us

to return

the next

day.

V e

did,

and on

tp

morrow we

were

handed the

official papers

granting

the

Universal

Christian

Church

of

ton . famili.es-.- -- -


4/7

be some

wiio

f ind G o d s

l ead ing

in tb e

d i rec t i on o f

Gbana.

are i n t e r

e s t e d

in

i iearin g

from

preacJaers

evangel is ts t e a c b e r s f a r m e r s

and

b u i ld e r s

wbo f e e l t h a t Go d w o u l d

h a v e th em w ork fo r Hi m

i n G h a n a . We a re

in te res ted

in

h e a r i n g

from

proiess ional

people

who might c o n s i d e r a

pos i t ion in

Gh an a. Th e re

a re many ways b y w h ic h

the work of th e Lo rd

c a n

b e p r o m o t e d a nd

a l l

o f th e se

shou ld

b e

u t i l i z e d .

To

go

b a c k

a

bit on my

trip home I sp en t

tw o

w e e k s w i t h Bro th e r

D on

Baughman and

th e

Le May f a m i l y in

Otta

N i g e r i a . I ce r ta in ly

e njoye d

the

fe llo w sh ip w i th

t he se

f ine Chr i s t i s ins and th e

o pp or tu ni ty to co ns id er

t o g e th e r

th e

n e e d s

of

W e s t Afr ica . We

h eld p re lim i na ry

t a l k s

conce rn ing

th e fu t u re a n d

the

a d v i s a b i l i t y of jo in in g fo rc es u n d e r th e aeg is of th e

W e s t

A f r i c a C h r i s t i a n Mi ss i o n . I

f o u n d

Bro th e r B a u g h m a n s i d e a s t o

be

s i m i l a r

to m i n e ;

t h a t

such a n

organ iza t ion

sh o u ld n o t

b e

a n a u t h o r a t a t i v e

b o d y

b u t merely

fo r

m u t u a l h e l p fu l n e s s .

Confe rences

w ith F ore s t H i l l

C h r i s t i a n Church a n d o t h e r

i n te re s te d p a r ti es

s h o w e d u n a n i m o u s

a p p r o v a l o f

t h i s i d ea .

There fo re

we a re p le ase d to re p o r t t h a t th e Nicho ls are no w a

p a r t o f

th e

W e s t A fr i c a

C h r i s t i an

Miss ion . We

wi sh

it u n d ers to o d t h a t

i s n o t

m e r e l y a

n am e b u t t h a t

we p r o p o s e a s e r i o u s

a t tempt to evange l ize

the 68 000 000

p e o p l e wh o r e s i d e

in

VJest Afr i ca .

I h a v e n o t b e e n able to visit

many

o f o ur s u p po r ti ng c h ur ch e s as my

e f f o r t s

n a v e

b e e n

d i r ec t ed

t owards

v i s i t i n g

th e

co l l eg es

a n d

i n t e rv i ewing

prospect ive

candidates

fo r th e

wo rk

in

Ghana. I was p riv ile ge d to

be

p a r t

in

th e M i s s i o n s R a l l y a t Mimosa

H e i g h t s Chris t ian Church

Oklahoma

City

May

6 8

an d e n j o y e d a w o n d e r f u l day

o f

fe l lowship with B r o t h e r George

McElroy and th e F o r e s t Hil l

Chri s t i an

Church

on

Sunday May 1 7 t h . Now I

am a t home in T o p p e n ish

Washington. The

jo y s o f r e u n io n h e lp to

compen

s a t e somewhat fo r th e

l o n g

h o u r s

o f sepa ra t ion

w h i c h are of t en n e c e s

s a r y i n th e life

o f

a m i s s i o n a r y .

I am pre t ty w e l l

booked

up

w i t h camps and

conventions

unt i l

th e

6 t h

o f August. I am a c c e p t i n g d a te s f o r August

in

th e Chicago a r e a Michigan

Indiana

I l l ino i s and

Wisconsin.

I am accepting

d a t e s f o r Mission

Confer

e n c e s

and

F a i t h - P r o m i s e

Ral l ie s

up

to

December

1

1 9 6 6 .

L e t u s

know

if

we

can

be

o f s e r v i c e t o

you.

I ex p ect

to

be

in th e

MidWest Sta tes Iowa to

Colorado

South

Dakota

to Texas

in

the months o f S ep te mbe r

October and

N o v e m b e r .

Mrs. Nichols j o i n s m in thanking

yo u

fo r

your continuing

support

t h r o u g h

y o u r

prayers and

g i f t s .

Grace

be

unto

you

an d peace from

God the Father

and

from our

Lord

Jesus Christ

Y o u r s

E d g a r

Nich o l s

FI RST

C H R I S T I A N

CHURCH

B o x 8

N o n p r of it O r g an iz at i on

U . S . P o s t a g e


5/7

c?P c r r r j

Edgar

Mabel N ich o l s

Missionaries to G h a n a

Affiliated

w i t h Vilest

A f r i c a

Christian M i s s io n

~1

H

J

H

U

J J

m n

j

September

1965

Forward ing

S e c r e t a r y

C la r e nc e A. Bangs

B o x

8

Ro l l i n g P r a i r i e

In d

4-6371

p e a r Friends

. .

When I

l e f t Ghana in

March of

t h i s

year_i;^hoped

to

be able

to

r e t u rn

within six

months. That

was fj^ttrb^'optimiatic

an

es1jf mate

of

what I would

be able to accomplish in^.ad.

s h o r t

a t ime.

Now

it

i s the

plan

of

Mrs.

Nichols and myself

to

l|eave in February of 196? for

the/work

which

awaits

us in Afr ica . [

i

.

I

was able to v i s i t the

nampu^es^^X-Jii3 i^ of

our

B ib le Colle ge s

before

th e end o f th e scho o l yea r and

I

expec t soon to be

able

to

announce

th e

nsoaes

o f some who have

made

t h e i r dec i s ion and a re p re p a r i n g

to

go

to

Ghana. I

p lan to v i s i t

s ev e r a l

more of th e

Bib le

Col leges t h i s f a l l

and

am sc he du l e d to t ak e p a r t

i n

s e v e r a l

Fa i t h P r om i se R a l l i e s . It

ha s been

t h r i l l i n g to see

th e

g r e a t i n t e r e s t

shown in th e

work

in Ghana and the

o p p o r t u n i t i e s

open

t h e r e .

We a re c o n f i d e n t t h a t

c hu r c he s

and i n d i v i d u a l s

are going to r ise to the

occasion

and

the

need

for

workers wil l

be

metV

Mrs.

Ni c ho l s and I wore happy

to

g r e e t many o f

you

a t th e Nor th

American

C h r i s t i a n Convent ion in Lo u i sv i l l e . I t

t r u l y

was

a

most i n s p i r i ng

c onve n t i on .

The

f e l l o w s h i p which a f f o r d e d an

o p p o r t u n i t y to

mee t o ld

f r i e n d s

and to

make new ones

was

a

most a p p r e c i a t e d f e a t u r e .

The

boo t h

o f th e Vilest

A fr i ca C h r i s t i an Miss ion

was

v i s i t e d

by

many

and

was

th e

s u b j ec t

o f

much favorab le comment-

Brother Don Baughman

was

re spons ib l e

fo r th e

gene ra l

des ign o f th e booth and fo r th e photography , and

Mrs.

K.

V/arren

V/oodrome

fo r

th e f i n e a r t

work

on th e p o ste rs .

We hope

t o .mee t

many o f you a t th e N a tio n al M i ss io na ry Convent ion

September 27-50? a t

For t

V/ayne, Ind iana . A

g r e a t

program has been planned .

Many are hoping and praying

t h a t

it w i l l no t be j u s t another convent ion ,

but tha t

it

wi l l

mark the beginning of a new era in

world evangel ism.

Surely

t imes

l ike

these

demand

f u l l

dedica t ion

on

the

p a r t

of

a l l

Christians


6/7

P r o f e s s o r

G i b s o n s l e t t e r s t o me a r e

f u l l

o f e n t h u s i a s m

p a s s i o n

and

poignancy; enthusiasm because o f th e g re at o pp or t u ni t i e s

p r e s e n t e d

p a s s i o n f o r t h e

s o u l s

t h a t n e e d

t o

be r e a c h e d and

p o ig n a n c y b e c au se he

i s o n l y one p e r s o n and c a n be

i n

o n l y one

o f t h e

many n e e d y

p l a c e s

a t

o n e time

I am

p le a s e d t o

announce

my d au g h te r L oi s and s o n - i n - l a w C l a r e n c e

h a v e

assumed

t h e r e s p o n d s i b i l i t y o f b e i n g

o u r F o r w a r d i n g S e c r e t a r y . You

may d i r e c t a l l correspondence and g i f t s f o r

us

t o them from now on

We a r e v e r y g r a t e f u l f o r t h e d ed ic at e d

s e r v i c e

o f Mrs P a u l a Bounds

a s

she h a s s e r v e d

a s

o u r Forward ing

S e c r e t a r y . Due t o

added r e s p o n d -

si ilities

s h e is u n a b l e t o

c o n t i n u e . We

a r e

g r e a t l y i n d e b t e d

t o

h e r f o r

h e r

f i n e work

a s

s h e s e r v e d

t h e

L o r d i n t h i s s p l e n d i d way

Fow may grace and peace from God the F a t h e r and from our Lord

J e s u s

C h r i s t

be

w i t h

e a c h o f

y o u .

I n H i s

s e r v i c e

o f l o v e

F I R S T CHRISTIAN

CHURCH

Edgar

Mabel

N i c h o l s

N o n - p ro f it O r g an i z a ti on


7/7

E d g a r Mabe l

N i c h o l s

M i s s io n a r i e s

t o

Ghana

ffiliated w i t h W e s t

frica hristian

M i s si o n

NOVEMBER

1966

Forwarding S e c re t a ry

Clarence

A.

Bangs

B o x 8

R o l l i n g

P r a i r i e

Ind.

46571

B e a r hristian F r i e n d s :

We

still have our eyes f ixed on February 20th as th e d a te

when Mrs . Ni c h o l s

and

I

w i l l

l e a v e fo r

Ghana.

We

need t o

r a i s e

5^3,000

before

that

date w ith

which

to

buy a

pickup

truck

and

camper.

Pet rol gasoline

to

us, is

pract ica l ly

SI.00 per

U. S. gallon, diesel

fuei-: - ah b ut hal f

tha t

We wish to take a

ton

diese l powered Chevy

^>^ -ickup

jyhich will

enable

us to make enormous savings on

our

trans-

portabardn

costs . Vi/ill

you p lease b ring

th is need

before

the group or

;--Giaurch

of

which you are a par t We need 30 such groups

or individuals

to giv e o r

pledge

SlOO wi th in

th e n e x t

two

months .

Please be

in

p r a y e r a bou t t h i s

u r g e n t

need

At the Missionary Convention in

F t

Vifayne we met Brother

,K^nt

Ta.ylo_r._

la test

recruit

to Ghana, who

has

had a

successf^nmihistry ^

a

p e r i o d

of

y e a r s

a t Mt.

Vernon,

Ind iana V\/e

were

f avorab ly

impressed

w i t h

Bro th e r

Kent and

we

ask

t h a t

if p o s s ib l e

you have

him speak fo r your congrega t ion and

do

a l l in your

power

to

speed

him on h is

way

to

Ghana, th e need i s urgen t We have ta lk ed w ith

and

a re in

c o r r e s ponde nc e w i t h s e v era l f in e p r o s p e c t s fo r th e m is s ion

f i e l d

Vi/e

c o n f i d e n t l y expec t to

have

f iv e fam i l ie s

in Ghana

by

th e .

>ae o f th e y e a r 1967 and our f u l l

guota

o f t e n

wi th in

an o th e r

y e a r T h e n

we w i l l go fo r

a

l a r g e r q u o t a

Sometimes I

g e t

very

t i r e d

t r a v e l i n g What I mean i s t h a t I

g e t fe d up w i t h th e

d i sc o m f o r t s

o f

t r a v e l i n g

and o f

b e i n g

s e p a r a t e d

from l ove d ones- fo r suc h lo n g p e r i o d s

however

one does meet a

lot o f w on derfu l p eo p le

e x p e r i e n c e a

warm f e l l o wsh ip w i t h s a i n t s i n

many wid e ly

s c a t t e r e d

p l a c e s and r ece ive a g re a t lift from

f e e l i n g

t h a t he

i s

a p a r t o f a

vigorous

and growing movement. These a re j u s t

some o f th e compensa t ions a s b efo re

us

we have th e go al o f

se rv ing

our

Lord in

a needy place Vi/here

th e

l a b o re r s a re few.

Yours i n C h r i s t

Edga r

Ni c h o l s

Documents

Nichols Edgar Mabel 1966 Ghana