Unique ministry combines preventative medical care and evangelism

Reid and Lola Buchanan moved from Lexington, Kentucky to Ankaase in 2001. During their six years in Ghana, Reid helped develop the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) program in the Ashanti region and some of the surrounding villages.

CHE has trainers who visit people in the village and teach them about Jesus, as well as about preventative medical care. Malnutrition is one of the medical concerns addressed frequently. Some of the trainers have taught women in the villages to produce “weanmix,” a soy supplement given to children to boost their protein consumption. Other topics discussed include mosquitoes’ and connection to malaria, which prompted some people to reroute the standing water near their homes. Measures such as this provide families with the knowledge to care for their families.

The CHE program has now been active in Ankaase and the surrounding area for around seven years. In that time, the program has grown to support four full-time trainers and 73 community volunteers in nine villages. Reid estimates that more than 16,000 people have been effected by the CHE ministry in those areas.

The Buchanans now live in Lexington, Kentucky. Reid continues to travel to Ghana several times a year to support the CHE ministry. He is also involved in an urban CHE model in the United States called “Neighborhood Transformation,” as well as other ministries in Kentucky.