God's goals

As soon as Vincent shared his New Year's goal with me, I immediately enlisted the prayers of a couple of Stateside friends, and was thrilled to share the following information with them; one friend was especially encouraged and told me, “There is hardly a day that goes by that I don't pray for them.”

“Community service” isn't a punishment in Ghana; rather, it's a for-credit summer assignment given to many college students, who are sent to remote villages to do survey work and help implement government programs. Vincent participated this year, and in mid-May I received a message from him:

“Could you believe that in my community, by God's grace I led about 30people to Christ on a single day just recently? 6 at a time and the rest in a group. I will share the details later. Praise God!!”

Only ten days ago, he followed up with another message: “Two 5yrs old kids together with some others got born again tonight. 5yrs ooooo [remember, I told you that Twi speakers emphasize what they've said by adding “O” at the end] 5yrs!!!! God is WONDERFUL!!!!!!!”

Vincent is well on his way to 40 new believers in 2011, if he's not already met that goal. Please pray with me that he will continue to pursue God and honor Him as he witnesses to others. Pray too for these new believers: may their hearts be good soil to receive the good news they've heard this summer.

A New Year's Resolution

We were walking to the school one morning when Daniel commented, “The fact that you came all the way from America to reach Ghanaians for Christ should really spur those of us who are Ghanaian Christians to evangelize to our countrymen. You came so far, and we are already here.”

I couldn't help but think of these comments – which could have been made about ANY American*** who had come in the Name of Christ; there is nothing special about me =) – when my Christian brother “Vincent,” a Ghanaian college student, sent me a message this past January. Here it is in its entirety:

“I can't forget you. All the time when I look back and remember the manifold blessings you have been to me, it always leaves me with the challenge that I need to do more of what God has called me to do. It is always my prayer that God gives me strength in the inner man to meet all my targets for Him this year. May be you want to know. My aim is to win 40 muslims to Christ and not even counting other unbelievers. So pray with me. God bless us!”

Wow – what a New Year's Resolution! How many of us have prayed for a specific number of people to lead to the Lord in a given year? While I was excited to hear of Vincent's goals, I wondered whether he'd set his bar a little too high. He sent me reports within the next couple of months of sporadic witnessing that he'd done, without fruit, and I thought several times of telling him not to be discouraged if “his number” wasn't reached.

Guess I should know by now not to limit the Lord....

*** Yes, God could use YOU in Northern Ghana! It's hard to grasp how much our very presence encourages our brothers and sisters abroad.

The Vocational School

In case the blog didn't give you an accurate picture of my final months in Ghana, they (the months) were breathlessly full, and there were many ministries and incidents that just didn't find their way into online print.

One of the many ministries in which Joel and I were involved during my final weeks in Ghana was a three-times-a-week Bible study at a vocational school. We had witnessed to many of the students at this post-high-school institution, and several of THEM had asked us whether we would establish and lead a Bible study for them! “This ministry will mostly end up being yours,” I told Joel wistfully as the weeks flew by.

And Joel has risen to the challenge, and faithfully continued to meet with these earnest Christians. He told me on a recent online chat that the students have voluntarily established a daily 7 p.m. prayer meeting for themselves, in addition to meeting with him for Bible studies. Joel has also kept in touch with the headmistress and several teachers at the private school at which we taught.

It is so encouraging to hear of how God is still at work in people's lives in Ghana! Please keep praying for Christians young and old in northern Ghana!

One Year Later

A year ago yesterday, I stepped out of the “International Arrivals” door to be greeted by loud screams welcoming me “home” to the U.S.

Other missionaries have agreed with me that once God has knit your heart to a specific foreign location, it's hard to call any one place on earth your home any longer. The beautiful aspect of this seeming rootlessness is that heaven becomes much more desirable: it is our true forever home!

Pastor Tirumbu and Mama Esther visited the U.S. in April: it was so good to see them again, and made me miss my Ghanaian friends that much more. Please pray for Mama Esther as she prepares for surgery in early July.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll post some updates about what God continues to do in Ghana a year later; but in the meantime, I wanted to ask for prayers for a team of five young people from my “home church” who are spending ten weeks in Ghana this summer. Two weeks in, they have met with health struggles and other normal hardships (such as spotty internet and limited water), but they have also enjoyed numerous opportunities to serve Christians and non-Christians alike. A constant prayer request of theirs is that the seed of God's Word that they are sharing would find fertile soil in which to take root, so that their summer will leave behind an eternal impact.

May God be glorified in all that they think, say, and do!