Story number 1 for 31 Jul 2000

We begin today’s newscast in Ghana, West Africa, where the persecution of Christians continues amidst the sharing of Christ. David Culross, International Needs’ Executive Director, says workers in Ghana have come under increased pressure after trying to halt the sale of Ghanaian nationals into slavery. “I think the trigger in all this can be traced back to the fact that this is a threat to not only the society that they live in, but even the economic conditions in these villages. This practice of having fetish slaves is really one of the underlying methods of providing for part of their people.” International Needs is trying to buy freedom for many of the slaves, and are seeing tremendous results. “These women who have been slaves say, ‘I was once a slave in my village, Jesus released me from slavery, and now I want to serve Him for the rest of my life.’ The actually all do make a profession and they have documented that over 80-percent of them show a healthy, spiritual walk and stay in the body of believers.”