Members in Action
Weimar Granola
07/10/2017
Inspired writer Ellen White says there’s ministry in a loaf of bread. I bet there’s ministry in a bag of Weimar granola, too. Please let me tell you a story…
In an effort to generate some new friends for the Weimar Market, frequently shortened to “Weimart,” store manager Linda Daum and I brainstormed about hosting a free bread and granola tasting, something we could invite community folks to come sample.
I purchased ads in the Colfax News and the Auburn Journal, inviting guests to come on the afternoon of April 11. Then I placed the announcement on Facebook. Within a few days, I received a message from John Ansah-Sasraku, who had seen the Facebook post—all the way from Kenyase, a suburb of Kumasi City in the Ashanti Region of southern Ghana in West Africa.
The gentleman said he wished he lived closer, so he could try some of the breads and granolas made in the Weimar Institute cafeteria and bakery.
As a random act, I purchased a pound of granola from the Weimart and headed to the post office in Colfax to see how I could mail it to him.
Thirty-five days later, I get an e-mail from Ansah-Sasraku, saying he’d received a package of granola from Weimar Institut
e.
A portion of his e-mail said, “Happy Sabbath. I received on Thursday, May 18, 2017 the lovely packet you sent containing the granola and other booklets of Weimar. I and my family have taken some of the granola and wish to say that it is very delicious.”
As an ordained elder, evangelist, and a gospel teacher for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, his mother church is Kenyase Central, with a membership of around 250. However, he’s been assigned as caretaker to a company church in Manhyia with a membership of 12.
John Ansah-Sasraku used Weimar granola to lure people to services. “Today, I gave some to a nursing student, and he confessed it’s delicious.”
He stated that the people in his village like to worship the Lord, but because of the poverty, many turn back a few months after accepting the gospel. More than 300 souls have been baptized.
John Ansah-Sasraku used Weimar granola in his ministerial outreach. He has never been to Weimar Institute or the United States. In 1978, he received his education from middle school in his country, which is equivalent to tenth grade in the States. He follows posts about how God is leading in the ministries, health education, and outreach programs at Weimar Institute and comments, “May God richly bless you for the wonderful work you are doing for the Master.”