Africa team offers cancer screening as part of urban outreach
Large numbers of unreached people groups from rural villages in northern Ghana have been migrating to urban areas in the south — right to the neighborhoods of the OneWay Africa team in Accra.
The Africa team has moved strategically since last year to reach these diverse people groups for Christ, many of whom work in a large market called Madina a few miles from the OneWay Africa headquarters. Many are from animistic backgrounds and will likely turn to Islam if they are not evangelized by Christians.
On Saturday Oct. 15 the Africa team and local partners will lead a breast cancer screening program targeting one of several communities in Accra dominated by Mamprusi — a people group that is staunchly Muslim. The Africa team learned from a survey report that this type of screening has never been done in that particular community.
“Nearly 70 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Ghana are in the advanced stages of the disease. This is due to low awareness and late detection,” says Portia Owusu-Amoateng, the urban missions coordinator at OneWay Africa.
According to the World Health Organization, breast cancer along with cervical, prostate, liver and colorectal cancers account for almost half the 1.1 million new cases of cancer on the continent of Africa annually.
Although Islam is deeply embedded in the Mamprusi culture, the OneWay team believes that if the women respond to the gospel they can lead their entire families to Christ. This is because Mamprusi women, unlike other Islamic tribes in Ghana, are highly regarded by their husbands and allowed to take part in family decision-making.
OneWay Africa is partnering with a Christian medical organization for the needed medical equipment, materials and some medical practitioners, provided for a subsidized fee. They are also partnering with the Assemblies of God Church for nurses. Additionally, graduates from the Livingstone School of Leadership as well as the Livingstone School of Missions will be part of the team of one-on-one evangelists serving throughout the day.
Owusu-Amoateng gives glory to God for the support and help coming in for this outreach. “Projects like these require a lot of prayer, financial and logistical assistance, encouragement and partnerships,” she says.
Join the OneWay Africa team by asking God to bring many people to the screening on Saturday. Pray that the Lord will break the hold of demonic forces that have blinded people from seeing the light of the gospel. Pray that the Mamprusi women will encounter Jesus through the volunteers performing the screening as well as spiritual counseling, and that their entire families will know Christ.
(Read more about the incredible response to a previous medical missions outreach this spring.)