Life is complex and not easy. If I said my life were simple and easy, the question you would have to ask me would be: are you living life as God intended? I came to Ghana full of great expectations about people, work, and outcomes. The story I wrote in my mind was generally a beautiful work of unity, love and Kingdom size outcomes. Of course, I expected evil powers to scheme to overthrow our hearts and plans: but demons are much more cunning and deceptive than I ever expected. I have been easy fodder for them in some ways, but I’m trying to learn!
At the start of the mission, due to my cultural biases (evil powers knowing the differences in cultures), I offended one of the key employees here. She was very gracious to let me know that my action offended her, so I had an opportunity to ask for forgiveness. This was not the start I intended, but the one I helped create. Being able to gain the confidence of new co-workers is hard enough, but add cross-cultural differences, gender differences, and generational differences, and you will see that there’s plenty of room for mis-communication.
Since then, I have had a number of missteps with the staff that God has been using to refine me. God grace is sufficient, if we are willing to walk in it. Please pray that I think in terms of our Kingdom Citizenship, while submitting my Western biases to the Lord. Pray that I meet needs here that will be a lasting work in the hands of Ghanaians.
Relationships must come first; healthy loving relationships are the key to success. It is something I am trying to really learn, always to keep loving God and people as my motivation. The primary message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is relationship too—be reconciled to God. From my perspective, our lives will not really begin or produce the outcomes, that really make our heart sing or have the lasting impact we all desire, until we know God personally through a meaningful growing relationship. Why is our relationship with God so vital to us?
God is life, so if our life is joined to Him, we’ll possess an eternal life of productive blessing with our Creator! We all possess eternal life, but the decision we make today, while were able to breath, will determine the destination of our eternal life. Is it going to be with God through Jesus Christ His Son or do you want to live separate from God today and forever?
God will respect your decision, whatever it is. But please please don’t decide to be separate from God as it will be an eternal living hell. God is working today, protecting those He loves in the midst of this evil generation, long-suffering wanting to end the debauchery. He waits, as He is calls out to you to come to Him. Come to Jesus, while you can still see, hear, think, and breathe: admit your sin against God, acknowledge that your sins were paid fully by Jesus’ death on the cross, asking Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. Talk to Him right now, while salvation can still be found Today!
I thank God for your prayers, encouragement, sound advice, and tangible support that ensures this mission succeeds in God’s eyes.
Oscar, for whom you prayed last month, is now a Christian! Oscar is attending the Saturday morning Bible Study in my apartment. He stayed after this past Saturday to get his specific questions answered (he was the only non-believer present that day). After two hours, his questions ended. We went through core Christian beliefs, which he believed were all true; however, Oscar would not step in faith toward Christ. He wanted to think more, which I said was a good idea, as God only wants people to come to Him who are truly willing. I asked Oscar to call me when he did accept Christ this week. He called the next Monday, PTL!
Pray for recent converts to Christianity. Pray that they are established well and diligently seek God’s face.
Pray for Yerri, as work has taken him away from meeting with us regularly. For a new Christian and one under persecution, our common enemy can use this time to make him depressed or discouraged. Pray that he prioritizes his time to be fed and grow in Christ.
Pray for God’s mercy upon Northern Nigeria, where our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ are dying and being displaced.
Pray that this mission really meets the needs of those God intends: that nothing I or anyone else does hinder God’s purposes.
Pray for the staff and school children at Rabiconic Primary & Junior Secondary School; that many would come to know, believe and walk with God through Jesus His Son.
Pray for Pastor Amos, whose burden is so great in many ways.
Pray that I keep my eyes on Jesus as I go through my first hospital experience (PTL parts haven’t broken down sooner) so others can not only see Jesus in me, but that some would come to know the Lord. I head to Accra this week for a minor surgery to remove a small mass in my neck.
“Welcome, Mr. Joe” is the reception I received by Maltiti, the owner and headmistress of Rabiconic Primary & Junior Secondary School. After we exchanged greetings, Maltiti talked about the school. It sits on her mother’s property, where they both still live. About nine years ago, there was no public school within their area to serve the community, she decided to serve the community by establish a private school. Private just implies that it is not run by the government. The facilities are the standard block house with zinc covered roofs.
The school serves lunch each day for those that can afford to pay (the government only supplements the purchase of textbooks). Tuition is 3 GHC per month, or about $2.15. The school needs a new roof over one section, and the Junior High School block house has not been finished. Maltiti has done well getting the school operating, and has a great group of teachers for every grade (it is not uncommon for teachers to be used for multiple grades, rotating around each hour to different classes).
Maltiti took me to each class, where I was greeted very formally and in unison by the children. I caused quite a commotion, but that is a typical experience for this white man in Northern Ghana, no matter where I go. After meeting all the teachers and their helpers – a couple of University students are volunteering their time – Maltiti and I sat down to discuss opportunities of involvement.
To my surprise, Maltiti first invited me to instruct the primary school, grades 1 to 6, on Religious Studies and Ethics. She does not have a teacher who can teach the Bible, so she would like me to. We talked about curriculum: she is very open to teaching precepts with application, and also talking specifically about Jesus. My role would not be to do comparative religious studies – which I would not want to or feel qualified to do – but to actually teach the Bible and Christianity.
After discussing the opportunity with Rev., my role is to work myself out of a job in all ministries (the same of any good foriegn missionary): to start (yes I will be teaching; please pray), nurture, and stabilize ministries, while at the same time ensuring that Ghanaians are available to carry them on. So please pray for Ghanaians to come and commit to the work. Pray that the lessons we prepare honor God and are of good use to turn the hearts of many children to him.
I have been concerned about my time spent in ‘ministry’ (all time is the Lord’s, but my heart is to be available to people looking for true answers to life’s most difficult questions). God always provides in ways that will further His purposes and meets the desire of our hearts that align to His will.
My close friend told me about a family of ten children that he had grown close to last year but with whom he had lost touch. A team of Americans had met this family of another faith last year, and had encouraged the father to allow his children to go to church. He agreed. So the American team brought them to church until they left Ghana. My Ghanaian friend, who works where I am staying, continued to walk the 15 minutes each way to their home every Sunday to ensure the children got to church. But his duties kept preventing him from picking them up, until finally he stopped going altogether.
My friend recently remembered them and suggested that I go and get them since I was going to be here for a longer period and wouldn’t be pulled away as often as he was. I heartily agreed, so we went to greet Nadoo, the father, two Sundays ago. Nadoo is a warm and open man. He keeps a meticulous compound that is always swept clean (I normally find him cleaning it), and operates a little mechanic shop from his compound. It is obvious that it is hard to make ends meet, but Nadoo, like so many other Ghanaians, has an indomitable spirit.
After greetings (Nadoo laughed kindly at my attempts at Dagbani), we talked about the children and church. While many parents in the US would have started with “Why should I let them go with you after they were abandoned before?” Nadoo knows that life is hard here, and that many times circumstances drive people in directions they thought they would not go. So today is a new day and here we were with an offer for him to consider. After talking a while about the children and my mission, Nadoo agreed that I could start taking them to church the following Sunday.
I arrived at their home the next Sunday at 8:45 a.m., the agreed-upon time. Picture the scene with me: the family realizes that I actually am going to show up (I will still have to come consistently to prove myself for the future), so the kids starting rushing – the little ones half-naked – to get their little water pails and run for water with which to bath (Ghanaian usage)! I see it may be a little wait, LOL! They are wearing ear-to-ear smiles, but I will have only six coming today, as the other four are out of town. We arrive at church at 10:15 a.m.; not too late, as church starts at 9:30 a.m. We all sit together – me and my new family. They are Hakem (15), Wadodo (13), Alimson (9), Rashead (8), Salom (7), and little Anta (6).
They sit still, listen intently, and stand with everyone. They seem to be enjoying the service. When the music starts with dancing, they really join in. Rashead goes to the front and dances with some of the college students that attend my home church. All clap and dance, with Hakem being the most reserved. All the time, I am dancing in my normal location—in the back of the church (the same place I ‘danced’ at Seabreeze at times; in the back, tapping my foot on the outside and dancing on the inside . In Africa, I really get to dance!
The kids leave for the kids’ service around 11 a.m., so off they go in a blur. God bless the Sunday kids’ service workers. Leah, a co-missionary here, is one of the two that puts on the kids’ service. Leah’s Dagbani is much better as a result of doing it, too, as children constantly talk in their mother language a lot.
Around 12 noon, the services end, so I go to get ‘my’ kids. Oh my gosh, I forgot what it was like being a parent to little ones energized by excitement and sweets! It takes me a good 30 minutes to find and re-find them all. It provides entertainment for a few of my African friends to watch me run them down, only to lose one later.
Oh, I forgot to mention while I was waiting in the compound before church, Nadoo’s sister came to greet him. She was surprised to see a white man sitting under the shade of a tree in his compound. It turns out that Maltiti is the head mistress of a private school from Kindergarten to Junior High School, with 200 students attending. I am invited to come see her school, where we arrange to meet the next day, Monday. The story continues…go to Ministry Page of Hopeful Path to find out what happens!
Tis the season to be merry: fa la la la la la, la la la la…. Merry, really? Yes, this earth offers many wonderful relationships, blessed births, tremendous opportunities to live out your dreams, and much more. Not to bring the season down, but to put it in perspective, let’s consider: at the end of the laughter, the tears, the ups and the downs, what will each of us carry out of life that we did not bring in? There is nothing we bring into this world, and nothing the world offers that we can carry out. We die naked: sobering, but true. So you ask, “Joe, why bring this up now?” Because we are celebrating Jesus’ birth, when we should all be celebrating His DEATH!
Romans 6:3-5 states, “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.” (NIV, emphasis added)
We can have a beautiful life on earth without ever meeting Jesus; but the eternal never-ending will not be merry! So Who is this Jesus, and what do I do in response to Him? Jesus is God, Who chose to leave His heavenly abode to come to us in the form of a man. His life was sinless, yet He chose to die on a cross. Being God, He rose three days later and now sits with God the Father, ready to return to those that have faith in Him. So what, you may think?
Well, we all have sinned, and God (who makes all the rules because He has the power and perfect character to) says that the wages of sin is death: eternal separation from Him. However, God loves each of us so much, Jesus left the throne of God and willingly paid God’s judgment for each and every person’s sin on the cross! If you come to Jesus in faith and ask Him to be your Lord (yes, I mean that He is the Master and you are the servant) and Savior, giving your life to Him to do with it as He will, then He promises to join you to His death on the cross; so you will be redeemed by His blood! His promises don’t end….
The moment you pray to Jesus, asking Him to be your Lord and Savior, you will possess eternal life, because the Spirit of God will enter you, bringing your previously dead spirit to life; you will have become born again! You’ll have a new start, a fresh and pure life with God, as He will always see you through the only acceptable sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Now real JOY begins, knowing that you have eternal life with God, that God is on your side, that He loves you unconditionally, and that He has a special plan and life for you on earth and for eternity to come!
I found that I could not be merry in this life without knowing what my life will be after I die. Can you really? I couldn’t rationalize that being a real good person and leaving a great legacy would make my certain death be fine with me. So what is holding you back from coming to Jesus? Does it sound like a fable? Is your pride in the way? Are you afraid of what others will think? Or is there another reason? If I knew that I was going to die, I would do anything to resolve my questions! I did that, as have many scientists, scholars, Presidents, carpenters, cooks, moms, and more before me: people who concluded that life doesn’t end with death, and death doesn’t have to sting; rather, they have found that Jesus Christ is Lord, Lord over all life and death.
Since much of my time has been in an office environment (getting the Project Support and Development Office started), I was concerned about my personal evangelism. God always has a better plan; I just need to be willing to change my plans. It seems at first that God wants me focusing on office establishment, campus ministries, and my home church, because amazingly, friends have been bringing men of other faiths to come and talk to me about Jesus, and they have been willing to come! In this way, I have met Mohammad, Ishmael, Hassan, Isalaama, and Oscar (names changed).
I met Mohammad and Ishmael, only once, on a holy high day here. We really met just to share greetings, not our different faiths, but again God had a different plan. Since it was a holy day in their faith, they wanted to share its significance with me. It was humbling to hear Ishmael’s dedication and reverence for his religion. They started asking me many, many questions about my faith in God. Mohammad questioningly said to me at one point that it seemed to him that to be really right before God, one would have to have a totally new start, right?
Mohammad was so perceptive to understand that we all need a new start, to become a new creature, to be born-again, to be clean and pure and stay that way before God. They both said that all of our own attempts to appease God’s righteous anger for our sins would be of no value, which seemed an odd statement to me since they both asserted that all their “good” and bad actions were recorded by angels to be weighed by God for Him to decide if the “good” outweighed the bad, thus determining their eternal resting place: paradise or hell.
We talked about God providing a new birth and new way of life through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ: the perfect payment for our sins. In Africa, no matter the religion of the person, all realize that God demands blood, a perfect sacrificial life, for wrongs committed against the only Life Giver!
Isalaama came my way through his relationship with the Director of the Center of Good News. He is a man who has advanced degrees in his religion. For the past 12 years, he has been living in abject poverty due to a falling out with his peers. It was to such an extent, he thought that he was having mental issues. Since meeting with him for over a month now, he seems to be quite rational.
However, Isalaama is working terribly hard to reconcile some of the religious precepts, in which he is steeped, with his logic and with the Bible. We always talk about life (which in Ghana always includes God); he seems to be in turmoil as he seeks the truth over Who God is, what He desires, and how we should respond to Him. We meet almost every Tuesday for life discussions and for my Arabic lessons. In this way, SGM is supplying a small income for him and I am gaining (ever so slowly) a skill the Director of Good News wants me to possess.
In the same way that Yerri came into my life, Hassan appeared as a result of meeting Leah, my American co-laborer here. Hassan is a taxi man who gave Leah a ride about a month ago and has come by our office a number of times. Of course, Leah always brings Jesus into the conversation (right from the start); people here not only don’t mind, they enjoy the discussions. Hassan is a fine young man, so traditional in his mannerisms and attitudes. He is not free to think beyond his father’s limits, which is not a negative, but displays an interdependence that is useful in the African context. He asked his father for permission to continue our discussions, to which his father said yes, as long as the father stays informed of them.
Listening to Hassan talk about his father’s responses about our talks, Hassan’s dad’s motivation is grounded in the welfare of his son. Hassan said that he wants to be a Christian, as it really makes sense to him, but he wants me to discuss it with his father further. His father has agreed to discuss it with him and wants to meet me, so we are to meet sometime after the holidays. Please pray that our meeting does indeed come to pass; that I go in real love, being respectful and gentle; and that we connect on many levels. Pray that his father sees the great value in knowing Jesus Christ, and that a truly rewarding life on earth and eternity hangs in the balance.
Oscar has been harder to connect with as he is busy working (PTL). He is very faithful to the traditions of his religion. However, the more he has pursued God through them, the more he has been troubled by a number of questions that he would like to resolve. They also revolve around the sufficiency of Oscar’s works before God, and the Personhood of the Prophet Jesus, Whom his religion says was sinless, born of a virgin, and brought by God into the world by His word ‘Be.’ I am not pretending to know his religion or know his holy book: Oscar is the expert; however, God has given me insight into Who He and His Son is through the Bible. So I listen to Oscar, then just share my faith with him. It is not my place to convince Oscar or change his mind; rather, I need to just share my life with him. God can surely testify Who He is and what He desires. Ultimately, we all must decide Who God is and if we will respond to His will; whether we believe it or not, we will all stand before Him to explain our response.
Lastly, because the Center of Good News is so respected around the world, I have had the honor of meeting Christian men and women from all walks of life whom God is bringing to the Center for varying reasons. I have met a renowned Christian who is an apologetics scholar; another who has established 167 mission training schools around the world; a man equipping indigenous ministries with advanced technologies to reach people through the airwaves; a businesswoman with a compassionate heart and capacity to help many; and a couple to whom God has given a deep burden to help those most vulnerable—orphans.
It is comforting to know that God never sleeps, has limitless resources—earthly and spiritual—and that His plans will be accomplished according to His ways: not according to mine or those of any other man. The longer I am here, the more I realize that I can’t out-give God! His benefits are inexhaustible—joy, peace, patience, kindness, self-control, hope, faith, and love—oh, what a full life God brings today and for eternity! May we all live in peace with God and each other throughout the next year. Please pray for all those mentioned, as the Lord leads.
This past month has been filled with meeting new people and building relationships. The above photo is a football match I attended between my home church, and a village we are serving. My home church finally won after losing two times earlier in the year! My “little” Joe’s Dinner Ministry is turning into quite a gathering at times. As the University students grew in numbers at my home church, so did the numbers attending dinner regularly.
Four students who live in a “compound” house near my apartment grew particularly close to me (I live where Home churchmeets). We have a very nice and quiet Prayer Garden on our property, which the students were using as their study center. My apartment, being on the same property, became full of guests each night during exam time (Nov. 23rd through Dec. 8th). When we got together to celebrate the end of exam time and their departure for Christmas break, I found out that my 14’x13’ kitchen/living room can hold 13 students and Joe for dinner!
Your funds helped some students get home for the holidays, fed many, and helped with medical and school fees during this past month! They are so appreciative of the help. In order not to create dependent relationships, I endeavor to “create” opportunities for the students to help around the house or ministry, so they can get paid for truly being a help. Please pray for their safe travels during the holidays. It is very dangerous on the roads here due to the rough roads, bulls, donkeys, cows, sheep, goats, chickens, guinea fowls, children, bikes, motorcycles and pedestrians in the road (really!).
We plan on kicking off two on-campus ministries in January in which I will be directly involved; please pray that Christians already on campus join the effort and have a heart to bring people of other faiths to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. I am sure it will not only be a fun and informative time for students, but life altering for those that place their faith in the only true God through Jesus Christ His Son.
For those who faithfully follow, God promises a hundred times more of what we have given up for His sake – homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – and with them, persecutions (Mark 10:30). Yerri is facing persecution that millions of new believers around the world face every day.
The hardship he experienced at first was fairly mild: as friends found out about his Christian faith, they accused him of converting in exchange for cash and food. “Do you think that’s why I became a Christian?” he challenged them in turn. “Just follow me to church one day, and see whether anyone gives me anything for coming.”
But then his father and uncle found out about Yerri’s new faith, and evicted him from the father’s home; for now, Yerri is living with a friend. “If you don’t take care,” his uncle warned his father, “all of your children will become Christians. You must act firmly.” Of course, our prayer is that this is exactly what will happen: that each of Yerri’s sisters will come to Christ, even as Yerri and his brother Amos have already done. All of the persecutions Yerri is experiencing are part of his counting the cost for following Christ: as you’ll recall, I carefully warned him of these possible repercussions just before he decided to become a Christian, and he agreed and accepted the potential cost; only now is that price being realized.
Through your gifts for convert care, God has provided a temporary job for Yerri at the Center of Good News. SGM’s financial commitment to him (although he doesn’t know that we have anything to do with his getting a job) ends after three months; at that time we will all see what God has in store for him. One thing we’ve observed is that Yerri does need to improve his work ethic; but he’s still a new Christian, so please pray with us for his character development in this and other areas.
Please pray with us that God will be merciful to him and not add any more to his burden of suffering at this time. And please pray that God will give me wisdom in how to guide Yerri as we consider each other family now…and that Yerri will steadfastly trust God for guidance and provision, seeing his hope in Jesus alone.
It was Tuesday, November 24, and I realized, “Thanksgiving is in two days!” Obviously I’m in Ghana, but can I still celebrate an American holiday?
Absolutely, I decided: part of my mission here is to reach out to the college students attending our church, and a great way to reach out to people is through food. What better bonding, cross-cultural experience could there be than inviting people over to celebrate an American feast that focuses on thanking God for His many blessings to us?!
I told my fellow missionary, Leah, about the idea God had given me, and she enthusiastically agreed, especially as she had wistfully been thinking “I guess I’ll miss Thanksgiving this year.” Together we came up with a menu…and the next day we went shopping! My little refrigerator was bursting at the seams, and at 10:00 the next morning we began to prepare the food. Leah’s Ghanaian housemate came over to season the meat and help in other ways, and one of the students came over and volunteered his services, and between the four of us – and Nimson, who roasted the sweet potatoes in the ground – we prepared the following dishes:
1) Mashed sweet potatoes
2) Deviled eggs
3) Ghanaian-style chicken (in lieu of turkey)
4) Bread (our one baked item – store-bought; we had no oven)
5) Stuffing
6) Carrot salad
7) Corn
Ham-and-beans
9) Green beans (topped with sautéed onions and slivered almonds)
10) Cole slaw
11) Jello with banana (dessert item)
12) Banana/papaya/pineapple salad (dessert item)
The meal wasn’t fully traditional – we certainly missed the cranberry sauce and pies, among other things – but at least there was plenty of food for the 15 of us who ate. One man took thirds, so not everyone found the flavors too foreign to enjoy.
After we were all satiated, I had us go around the room and each share one thing for which we were thankful. Yerri thanked the Lord publicly for his new faith, and asked us all to join him in prayer that he will not turn back from following Christ.
I shared how thankful I am to be in Ghana: serving among the new friends God has given me, seeing God at work through the Center of Good News, and being allowed to join with my supporters in having a part in it. Thanks again to each one of you who makes this ministry possible through prayer and sacrificial giving!
. In Africa, I really get to dance!
Ham-and-beans