Tuesday, June 12, 2012

All of the Ghana team is now together PTL

Meghan with school kids

Tim doing rope trick with school kids

Emmanuel (one of the elders of the Assembly) doing his first sketchboard message
In a note of praise, JJ finally arrived to join the team as did the Hood’s luggage. The Accra airport was kind enough to send the luggage over to Kumasi where JJ was flying in, and Tim was able to collect the baggage while collecting JJ!
We began our first day of regular work as a team today. The day started off with a challenging devotion from Daniel on being filled with the Holy Spirit. Daniel will be going through a series with us on The Book of Acts for our morning devotions and his exhortation to understand and practice being filled with the Holy Spirit was a perfect way to preface our work. As some prepared lunch, a group of us went out into the neighborhood of Quarry, the area where we are staying, to familiarize ourselves with our surroundings as well as to pass out some Gospel literature. After lunch we were joined by two of the elders and three young men from the Believer’s Assembly and the team went out to their first major Evangelistic outreach in the town of Buokrom. The team split up into four groups, each lead by Ghanaian believers from the assembly. We went into all four directions of the area passing out Gospel tracts and striking up conversations with whomever was willing and able to speak with us. While most Ghanaian s do speak English, their native (and primary) speaking language is Twee. This can cause somewhat of a problem when sharing the Gospel but we thank the Lord for our Ghanaian brothers who were able to help translate when we were having difficulty communicating. The schools located in the center of Buokrom were dismissed right around the time that we arrived, causing a myriad of children swarming various group members requesting tracts. Tim was even able to give a large group gospel presentation using the “Three Rope Trick”. We were all impressed by how open and eager everyone in the entire town was to receive the tracts and listen to the Gospel. There seems to great confusion regarding earning one’s salvation through good works rather than trusting in the finished work of Christ ALONE for salvation. Please pray for clarity of speech for the team and understanding for the Ghanaian s as we seek to properly express the Gospel and to show the through the Word of God that they can do nothing to earn God’s salvation; the only way to God is through Jesus Christ.
After a delicious traditional Trinidadian dinner made by Cisley, we ended the evening with some further Evangelism training from Tim, regarding the use of the paintboard and the rope trick in the open air. It was encouraging to see various members of the Ghanaian Assembly participate in the training. The training was concluded with a solid gospel presentation from one of the Assembly elders, Emmanuel, using the paintboard. We look forward to what the Lord is going to do in the coming days with our new found tools from the training session. Please continue to lift us up before the Lord for safety, wisdom and boldness in the Gospel as we continue to proclaim the message of the cross.
Craig

Monday, June 11, 2012

Monday update

 The door to door teams! Yes baby went too

Kassi- "This water is salty" 
Nathan and Jen- "It's the ocean!!" 


Today we were blessed with a few extra hands from the Shankill assembly. Regina, Nadina, Grace, Pat, and Liam all came out to help us deliver magazines and do some door to door work. Because of the extra help we were able to letterbox almost the entire town. We have a few streets left, but we should be able to finish it up tomorrow morning. After delivering magazines we had a great time of fellowship over lunch complete with sunday afternoon leftovers. 

Door to door work was good, with all the people we had 4 teams to cover the town with. Nathan and Jen had a good conversation with a gardener named Michael. He first asked what religion they were and they replied they were born again Christian. He said was not interested and they walked away. Upon walking back up the street he stopped them and asked "What does born again mean?" It provided a great opportunity and they were able to share the Gospel with him. Ben and Regina had a few good conversations including one with a German lady who became more open when Regina spoke to her in German. She agreed to have another look at the magazine. Another was with a man named Stephen, who said he was a believer, but is unsure about some things in the BIble, he said he would try and make it to the meeting. Kassi and Liam had a good conversation with a lady named Roshien, who father had just had a stroke. She was thinking a lot about spiritual things and said she was going to read the magazine and also read it to her father in the hospital. Bethany and Nadina were able to share the Gospel briefly with a couple of people. 

After doors the team headed over to the Gleeson's home for dinner. Dinner was good with good fellowship and of course watching the latest football match. After the match the team took a walk on the coast of the Irish Sea where Nathan, Kassi, and Jen decided to jump in yet again. They reported that the water was warmer than the last time they jumped in.

Thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray for us as we finish the last leg on the trip. Please pray for the people that we spoke with today that God would be working on their heart. Please pray that the weather will hold and not rain on Wednesday when we plan to have a Kid's Club. 

Tnt Teams

Further update from TNT Ghana 2012C

Choir led by Craig,Esther,Heidi,Bethany,Meghan and Lisa

Esther and Bethany with some S.School students

Meghan with more S.school kids

Lori with some younger S.school children
SUNDAY JUNE 10

We enjoyed a time of remembering the Lord with the Bible Fellowship in Ghana. It was lovely to realize again that God gave His one and only beloved Son for our sin.
The team choir led by Craig sang 2 songs for the assembly during the Bible hour, which they seemed to very much like. Bethany , Esther, Laurie, Megan,, Lisa, Brian, Bruce, Jerry, Heidi, and Cisley all helped to do the Sunday School classes on the theme of the Wordless Book , making up felt books to give the children as a reminder of the lesson. There were many children divided into 3 classes of about 20-25 children per group. The younger classes were age 4-7 yrs. , while the next group was ages 8-12 and the teen group was ages 12-14 yrs. Any who were 15 or older joined in the adult meeting. The children were a joy to teach as they were both enthusiastic and well behaved.
The team cooked a nice lunch/supper of chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches shared with the Ghanian people who had remained behind and the boys that live with Daniel Webster. One of Daniel’s boys , Prince was feeling well enough to join us for the meal, after being down with an attack of malaria. This disease is as common among the Ghanian people as the flu is to us in North America. They all get it at some time or other with recurrent attacks throughout their lives .
In the evening we heard from 3 of the elders in the meeting who gave us a history of Ghana and an overview of their culture and the work of the assembly here in Kumasi It was very good for us to know these things that will help us reach the Ghanian people with the gospel more effectively.
Daniel also shared about the culture and what we could expect as we go out to evangelize. The Ghanian people are very friendly and are often willing to take literature and to speak with us. Tim spoke to us about how to clearly explain the gospel message. Tomorrow , we will all go out into the area to do some evangelism and look forward to what the Lord will do both for them and in ourselves.
-Linda

Sunday, June 10, 2012

The mass

This is where the Eucharistic Congress is being held

This morning we had a wonderful time fellowshipping with the believers in Shankill at Glen Maris house. Immediatly after, eighteen of us (including the five of us team members) headed off to the 50th International Eucaristic Congress held at The Royal Dublin Society (RDS)  in Ballsbridge, Co. Dublin. There we handed out approxamately 6-8 thousand copies of “The Mass : from Mystery to Meaning.” There group divided into teams of two and covered almost all the entrances. Many people were happy to accept the liturature, but some were not at all pleased we were there and warned others that the booklets were not “Catholic” and therefore could not be trusted! We had some interesting conversations with people who (like all good Catholics) insisted we could not be sure of our salvation and all had to go to purgatory – insisting it was true and going so far as to say (when showed from the Bible it wasn’t true) to say we should go with the authority of the Catholic Church over the Holy Bible. One man who came up to Ben and Kassi at the end was quite adamant about these things and didn’t think we should be allowed to pass out “Heretical” literature – he very reluctantly left the conversation after one of the men from the assembly joined the conversation and he was about to miss the Mass. Overall there was a good response and the church plans on going back next week to hand out more books.

We then headed back to Glen Maris for a delicious lunch which Penny (Defouw - missionary) had prepared for us and enjoyed ice cream and cake in honor of Frank Carolan’s Birthday! We had a few miniutes to relax, then we headed off to Frank’s house to watch the European Championship and cheer for Ireland (Come on You Boys in Green!!). It was raining quite heavily in Poland where the match was being  held and Frank remarked that the Irish players must feel right at home.

Please pray for all those who received the booklets , that they would read them with an open mind and consider what they have learned. Pray for us as we head out again tomorrow as well as those who are planning on joining us in the morning.
Linda Jerry and I want you to know we are praying for you all.  And trust the Lord will richly bless the remainder of the time you are in Ireland...  We pray the dogs won't eat you Ben and Bethany :)    Again just want to say we enjoyed the great Craic with you all and do look to the Lord to use all the seed sown for His Glory.     in Him Tim

For further news about Ghana follow Link below

http://www.facebook.com/Gospel2Ghana2012 

Thanks on behalf of the Ghana Team .... In Him Tim

Here is an update from the TNT Team in Ghana

Team with the driver minus Brian, Bruce and JJ

Countryside

cooking alongside the highway looks like Goat... Yummy!!
Ghana Africa 2012
Well the team is now here in Ghana, and it was certainly an adventure for everyone to travel to Ghana. The concerns started late on Thursday evening when we learned the Hoods was flight cancelled. Leaving Esther hood stranded at the Kelowna airport in Canada wondering what to do next. After Tim and myself prayed and worked with the airline company, we were fortunate to make alternate arrangements that managed to get Esther to London where she was to meet up with the Hoods, some of the other team members coming in from Florida. However Tim, Linda and Jerry were stuck in Dublin Ireland due to their flight being delayed/cancelled. We were beginning to wonder if the Devil was already on the attack seeking to destroy our gospel efforts. But alas we prevailed through the gracious hand of our God. Tim and Linda did manage to rearrange their flights so that they could arrive early Saturday morning in Ghana, along with Caleb, who also had missed his connecting flight on Friday. They all arrived in Accra looking a little weathered from the mishaps and delays. However, the Hood's bags unfortunately remained in London, containing not only their personal items, but also puppets and other supplies. Please pray that they are returned soon. No one had much sleep but we were sure glad to see their faces coming through the gates at the Accra airport.

The team all assembled, with our bus driver Adjei at the helm, and Daniel Adjei, a young church member, in the co-pilots seat. Daniel wanted to join us to meet the team and welcome them to Ghana, he proved to be a great help with all the heavy bags, and making everyone feel comfortable and welcome. Those who arrived on Friday night stayed at the Ghana Baptist Mission Guest house in Accra, and were able to get rested and refreshed before our long and bumpy bus ride to Kumasi. The two back rows of seats were stacked to the ceiling with suitcases, but everyone managed to find a seat. We stopped for a chicken lunch about half way on our journey and some handed out a few tracts, Tim had a good conversation with some football (soccer) players. After lunch and back on the road I asked if the team would like to sing a few songs and for the next hour or more we were treated to a foretaste of heaven as the Lord had drawn together some beautiful singers to join this mission team. What a delight to my heart to hear these sweet praises to our God, and what a wonderful way for the team to bridge the bonds of fellowship as we spent our first day together.

Once we arrived at the house and everyone got settled we had a nice spaghetti dinner, with many hands helping to prepare and clean up. We had our orientation meeting afterwards to talk about our plans for the coming week and more. Everyone seemed happy and comfortable, with perhaps the exception of the heat, but I heard no complaints, and everyone was busy preparing themselves for their busy week ahead of us. The Lord has graciously brought together an excellent group of believers, are ready eager and able to serve His purposes here in Ghana. Now it is Sunday morning, and the saints will soon be gathered to remember the Lord, and we trust the fellowship and worship will be sweet and fragrant to our Savior. Praise be to His name!
-Daniel (Webster, missionary)