Newtown is a housing estate on the edge of the city of Agasi. Near the center of the estate,among the brand new houses and the dusty roads and the patches of cassava and the mango trees, stands a square solidly-built little church, and near the church is the pastor's house. There, the doors stand always open,front and back; the Rev Osafo, the pastor, is often reading or writing in his crowded study, while his wife is sewing on the verandah,or stirring stew outside the back door, or gathering peppers in the yard.
The Osafos' own children have grown up now, and all of them have left the little house for their own homes far away. Joshua, the eldest, is assistant head of the big primary school at Mamku, where his wife Aku is also teaching. Victor is married too, and lives at Tole with his wife, Comfort, and their three children. And even the youngest one, Akosua, has now finished her training as a nurse, and is working at the Government health centre at Nsawa. Mrs Osafo misses Akosua very much, and she is happy that her cousin's daughter, Rose will live with them permanently and become their adopted daughter. Mrs. Osafo loves children, and the children of the neighborhood very often call to see her, and stay to play in her yard or garden; they know that they are welcome. Older friends, too are equally welcome, and all day every day there is a continual stream of visitors, coming to greet the pastor and his wife, or coming to ask them for their advice, or their prayers.
One morning at the beginning of the rainy season, when the Cassie's and flamboyant were just coming into bloom, the visitor was a young wife from the church, Mrs. Ama attah. She called softly from the gate of the yard, and Mrs. Osafo put down her long soup-ladle and came forward to greet her. Why, Ama! she cried. Welcome! Welcome! But what is the matter ? You are not looking well. Is anything wrong? What did the mid-wife say when you went to the clinic?
Ama sat gratefully on the chair Mrs. Osafo pulled forward for her. Throughout her pregnancy she had looked radiant, but now, in the last month, she looked tired and unhappy. 'I am well a, Aunty'. She said and the midwife says all is well with the baby. But, Aunty, I feel in my heart.......... I feel am going to DEI! Mrs. Osafo put her arms around the younger woman. "By the grace of God you will not die"! She said. Why, what has given you thoughts like these? What's wrong? 'It is my mother; said Ama tearfully. 'she has come to stay with us until the delivery. She has seen my clothes, and the clothes I have made for the baby, and the basket and the covers, and the cloth for the napkins, and she sits all day rocking herself and quoting proverbs, and telling me that the baby will die, and that I will die too! She says it is very bad to prepare for a baby, and that the spirit will angry. Aunty, I know it is not true, and yet in my heart I am afraid. She sits all day saying the same things, and I cannot bear to hear her. Tell me it isn't true, tell me God is not angry with me!
Mrs. Osafo held her close, and prayer for wisdom. ' Why, Ama! 'she said. 'Look how God has blessed you! He has given you Samuel, such as a good husband, to care for you, and now he has begun to answer your prayers for a baby. There is nothing in the Bible to tell us not to get clothes ready for baby! There are so many of these superstitions, but we need not care about any of them. Paul said we need not be trouble by these rules, " Touch not, taste not, handle not" We have no need to be afraid of the spirit, because God's hand is over all. when the day comes, it is God's will that matters, and not the will of spirits. If his will is life for you and the baby, then the baby will be born, and it will be God's gift to you and Samuel. Pray, my child, and we will pray for you, and the Lord will surely keep you in peace and safety.
'It is easy to feel comforted when I am with you, Aunty, said Ama. But when I get home and see my mother's face it is not so easy. Do you think...... Do you think it would be better to burn the things, the things for the baby? But it would break my heart. ' Ama, you must not burn them! That would be going back again into the bondage of fear. Have trust in God, and be brave. Other girls in your family will come after you........ Your younger sister, and perhaps your own daughter. If you give way, the same bondage will be tied on them. It is very hard for you, but be strong, Ama. We shall all be praying for you, and thinking of you. ............when Ama left the house she was smiling, and her tears were dry.