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Ghana Mission 2004 |
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"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but
not destroyed." 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
Blessings in Jesus' name to each of you reading this
message!
With the struggles, suffering, and turmoil related to the bus
accident and the subsequent hospitalizations and surgeries needed for our
friends and loved ones, it would be easy for all of us to focus only on the
final 36 hours of Ghana Mission 2004, and to therefore lose sight of the many
victories the Lord enabled prior to that time, so I'd like to share a few
final thoughts about the mission outcomes and experiences.
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By God's grace, the site was prepared, palm oil processing
equipment was installed, an initial delivery of palm fruit was supplied,
and the Azani Women's Palm Oil Processing Cooperative was formed during
Ghana Mission 2004. As a result of the efforts of the mission team and
donations received through Friends of Ghana, Inc., at least 15 women now
have the opportunity to increase their family's income and thereby improve
the the lives of them and their families. Improved nutrition, better
health, and increased educational opportunities for their children are just
some of the benefits that they may attain. Their village and the
surrounding community will also benefit because they will now have more
cedis (currency) and will hopefully be able to extend the blessings to
others after they've become better established.
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Almost 1000 women, children, and men received needed medical
consultations provided by Ghanaian doctors and nurses at Dixcove, Azani, and
Busua over the 4 days we conducted the free clinics. Various medicines were
also distributed free of charge.
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Rev. Seth Asare, Rev. Charlie Bark, and Rev. Tom Getchell-Lacey
shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who attended services at Bethel
Methodist Church in Takoradi, at John Wesley Methodist Church in Sekondi, at
the open air revival services at Dunwell, Effiakuma, and at Azani
Chapel. Ghanaians and Americans prayed, praised and worshipped together,
and some of the lay persons on the mission team shared their personal
testimonies about their relationship with the Lord, how He has been working
in their lives, and the difference that knowing the Lord has made in their
lives.
As a mission team, we consistently experienced the sufficiency
of the Lord and His presence. He had a plan and a purpose for each one of us
who answered His call to serve -- although not always readily apparent to us,
but revealed in the fullness of His time. He surprised us; He challenged us
to depend on Him and not to rely on our own understandings; He stretched us;
He prepared the way for us -- even in the most difficult circumstances -- and
He did the equipping. The Lord was not caught by surprise by anything that
happened, and through it all, His faithfulness and His grace remained with
us.
I heard the Lord in the giggles of a little girl as she played
with us before a revival service at Dunwell, and in the voices of two students
who greeted me this year with the "Fruit of the Spirit" song we taught them
last year during Vacation Bible School; I saw Him in the smiles of the women
as we sat with them and helped to remove the palm nuts from their spiny husks,
as they chuckled at our efforts to assist them in sorting through the mound of
cracked shells to find the smaller inner nuts which will make the finer oil,
and as our driver Asante made the extra effort to get his van as close as
possible to the steps at Busua so that Dennis wouldn't have as far to walk.
He touched my heart again and again -- as school children walking home along
the beach in front of the resort stopped to listen to to mission team
members sitting underneath the awning singing praise songs & then as they
joined us for a couple of choruses; as a child in the Market Circle of
Takoradi sang "Jesus Loves Me" in Twi to me the day after our group had sung
it to those gathered around us in front of Broadway; as the children from
Azani and the children from the Busua school clamored to hold our hands; as
the mission team gathered around my husband Dennis and I for prayer after we
celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with them; and as various team members
stepped forward in faith and responded to the Lord's leading.
Throughout Ghana Mission 2004, the Lord put the people
we needed in the places we needed them at the times we needed them most. God
is good -- ALL the time, and ALL the time -- God IS good! To Him be all the
glory, honor and praise for He has done great things indeed.
Standing on God's promises,
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[ Ghana Mission Recap 2004 ] [ Ghana Mission 2004 ] [ 150 Years Celebration ] [ History of Methodists in Marlboro ] [ 9/11 1st Anniversary ] [ Disciple Bible Study ] [ Ghana Mission Trip Updates ] [ Church Neighborhood Luncheon ] [ Ghana Mission Update ] [ Ghana Mission Trip: July 2002 ] [ Alpha Program ] [ New Website & Domain ] [ New Testament Summer Challenge ] [ Benefit for Eric Searles ] [ Welcome Marlboro Firefighters ]
First United Methodist Church
of Marlborough
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Page Last Updated:
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