Last Days in Ghana,
After our enjoyable visit to Cape Coast, we returned to Kumasi Saturday afternoon, spending a few hours preparing ourselves for another busy Sunday morning. The Lord's supper was well attended, and the theme of "God's great love" permeated the atmosphere of our praise, worship and meditations. After the Breaking of Bread the Believers Bible Assembly expressed their gratitude to the team, presenting each with a gift, presented by various members of the local church. The bridge of fellowship between the believers in Ghana with those from the USA and Canada was very precious to behold. The team also had their final opportunity to minister to the all the Sunday school children, and it was clear that each one on the team was enjoying their time with the children. Brother Caleb ministered to the adults from 2Cor 5:14 about the love of God being a motivation for living the Christian life, and the death and resurrection of Christ as our example of how we should live for Christ. Caleb did an excellent job ministering the word of God, and I am confident that the Lord will use him for teaching the word of God in the future.
Sunday afternoon we had to say good-bye to two of our team members, as their travel arrangements required them to leave earlier then the others. After saying goodbyes the remaining team used their time to pack all their bags and load the bus. Some helped me to conduct a bible quiz that I run every six months with the teen study group. Many were seen with either a broom, or mop in hand, while everyone pitched in to make the house clean and in good order. We compiled all of our digital photos together into a collection of some 6000 photos to share with each other, so that we can hold onto some great memories of this mission trip. Though we were due to wake early for the journey back to Accra, many wanted to stay up late and visit one last time before our final day of travel.
At 6am on Monday everyone was loaded on the bus and we headed downtown to do a little shopping for souvenirs. Many were able to buy a few more items to take along with them to remember their Ghana experience. Ofori, one of the church elders, made a special trip to meet us in town and provide us with some of his famed, and freshly baked, banana muffins. Kind gestures like this mark out the Ghanaian people as gracious and appreciative hosts. Two of our team members choose to fly to Accra to avoid the likelihood of sickness when traveling on the bumpy roads to Accra. The rest of the team traveled the 6 hours by bus to Accra and enjoyed a short visit to the Accra Mall, and saw how American shopping can actually be found in Africa also. At the airport we all said our good-byes, and several commented that they were willing to return to Ghana in the future. Everyone had such positive things to say about their experience, even though they all endured several hardships for the sake of the gospel.
For me this trip has been a wonderful expression of the goodness of God to His children, and an answer to our prayers. I had prayed for the encouragement of the team, the encouragement of the local church, and the furtherance of the gospel. All these prayers were answered in remarkable ways, that are hard to encapsulate in writing. The Lord added so much more than what we were requesting of Him, for I also came away so very encouraged by the partnership and interest for the Lord's work in Ghana. I believe the Lord will use this mission effort to open the door more widely for the gospel to Ghana in the years to come. May you also find encouragement from what you have read here about the Lord's grace and goodness shown to us during this mission trip.
And so our first team mission to Ghana has now come to an end, but we fully anticipate more mission team efforts in the future as the Lord directs His workers into this mission field!
On behalf of the whole mission team we thank you for your loving support and prayers for our efforts,
Daniel
After our enjoyable visit to Cape Coast, we returned to Kumasi Saturday afternoon, spending a few hours preparing ourselves for another busy Sunday morning. The Lord's supper was well attended, and the theme of "God's great love" permeated the atmosphere of our praise, worship and meditations. After the Breaking of Bread the Believers Bible Assembly expressed their gratitude to the team, presenting each with a gift, presented by various members of the local church. The bridge of fellowship between the believers in Ghana with those from the USA and Canada was very precious to behold. The team also had their final opportunity to minister to the all the Sunday school children, and it was clear that each one on the team was enjoying their time with the children. Brother Caleb ministered to the adults from 2Cor 5:14 about the love of God being a motivation for living the Christian life, and the death and resurrection of Christ as our example of how we should live for Christ. Caleb did an excellent job ministering the word of God, and I am confident that the Lord will use him for teaching the word of God in the future.
Sunday afternoon we had to say good-bye to two of our team members, as their travel arrangements required them to leave earlier then the others. After saying goodbyes the remaining team used their time to pack all their bags and load the bus. Some helped me to conduct a bible quiz that I run every six months with the teen study group. Many were seen with either a broom, or mop in hand, while everyone pitched in to make the house clean and in good order. We compiled all of our digital photos together into a collection of some 6000 photos to share with each other, so that we can hold onto some great memories of this mission trip. Though we were due to wake early for the journey back to Accra, many wanted to stay up late and visit one last time before our final day of travel.
At 6am on Monday everyone was loaded on the bus and we headed downtown to do a little shopping for souvenirs. Many were able to buy a few more items to take along with them to remember their Ghana experience. Ofori, one of the church elders, made a special trip to meet us in town and provide us with some of his famed, and freshly baked, banana muffins. Kind gestures like this mark out the Ghanaian people as gracious and appreciative hosts. Two of our team members choose to fly to Accra to avoid the likelihood of sickness when traveling on the bumpy roads to Accra. The rest of the team traveled the 6 hours by bus to Accra and enjoyed a short visit to the Accra Mall, and saw how American shopping can actually be found in Africa also. At the airport we all said our good-byes, and several commented that they were willing to return to Ghana in the future. Everyone had such positive things to say about their experience, even though they all endured several hardships for the sake of the gospel.
For me this trip has been a wonderful expression of the goodness of God to His children, and an answer to our prayers. I had prayed for the encouragement of the team, the encouragement of the local church, and the furtherance of the gospel. All these prayers were answered in remarkable ways, that are hard to encapsulate in writing. The Lord added so much more than what we were requesting of Him, for I also came away so very encouraged by the partnership and interest for the Lord's work in Ghana. I believe the Lord will use this mission effort to open the door more widely for the gospel to Ghana in the years to come. May you also find encouragement from what you have read here about the Lord's grace and goodness shown to us during this mission trip.
And so our first team mission to Ghana has now come to an end, but we fully anticipate more mission team efforts in the future as the Lord directs His workers into this mission field!
On behalf of the whole mission team we thank you for your loving support and prayers for our efforts,
Daniel
