The Parkers Pay a Visit to the Seedling Academy

We went to visit the Seedlings Academy yesterday. Our Thomas and another teacher named Mary keep everything running smoothly. Mary comes to get drinking water every morning and carries it to the school. The academy is a preschool and kindergarten. The children were beautiful and smiled a lot during our visit. We handed out candy and greeted the children. We presented them with a wall clock for the school. The children were wearing their uniforms. These were made by Emmanuel's wife Cecelia.

From Frustration to Celebration

In Ghana, if you want to buy something and the seller is all out, it can be frustrating. They will have what you want one week and when you go back the next week they don't have it. They use an interesting phrase to tell you that they no longer have the item for you. The point that they are making is that what was here is no longer here. Every seller will tell you the exact phrase and it makes me smile every time I hear it. They simply say, "It is finished". So if I ask, "Do you have anymore sugar? The clerk will respond, "No, it is finished." "Do you have that green soap?" "No, it is finished."

It reminds me of what Christ accomplished on the cross for those who would repent and place their trust in Him alone. I ask, "Do I have to fear death?" He answers, "No, it is finished." "Am I a slave to sin?" "No, it is finished." "Will you be merciful to me, a sinner?" "Yes...because it is finished."

We thank the Lord that, because of His work, what was there before is there no longer.

The Dream Team

Joy and John, with some help from a seedling named Martha, taught some of the children at the Bible club. Martha is one of the hardest workers we've ever seen. She also has a quiet and sweet spirit. John and Martha did a lot of singing with the children and took care of the chaotic game time (I'm not sure if there is a Dagbani phrase that means "children, form a line"). Joy did the teaching time. There was more teaching to be done at the Seedlings class. Joy works with the middle children. She is teaching them about the Apostle Paul. She also helps them with their English and to memorize scripture. We found out very quickly that Bob and Bonnie have a gift for choosing out great children's workers. It has been a blessing to work with these young men and women.

Making sure God's Word is not "lost in translation"

The staff at Seed Ministry, among other things, translate for the Parkers when needed. They do this so we can teach the Scripture to the very young children. This gives us the blessing of talking with kids. Our staff is full of gifted teachers in their own right. We have a Bible Club that meets outside our gate. We divide the children into groups and teach them.

These pictures were taken on the same day a short time apart. Joy and John had taken the other children, so Emmanuel and Toby were left in the nice shade. We spoke this week on God's judgement through the Great Flood.

Children are a Blessing from the Lord!!!

What a blessing we received from the Lord today! First, six of the staff members went to speak during religion class at a public school.

Next, we visited one of the preschools that Seed Ministry works with (first picture). The children were happy to receive a visit.

This afternoon, around 75 children were at the Bible Club right outside the Seed Ministry site. At the very beginning of club, a little boy that was around 4 years old, stood up to sing this song:

JOY, JOY, JOY

IN MY HEART IS RINGING

JOY, JOY, JOY

JESUS SET ME SINGING

SEE WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR ME

DIED JUST TO SET ME FREE

FILLED MY HEART WITH MELODY

WITH JOY, JOY, JOY

What a wonderful song! Thank you Jesus for dying to save us!

There is this one little child who comes to club every week. He is probably close to 2 years old. The funny thing is that every week he falls asleep. Sometimes on the bench (falling over on the ground OUCH!), sometimes on the dirt ground, but today he climbed on the cool concrete slab and took his Bible Club nap. In the second picture he is the boy in the green. He found a friend to join him in his nap :).

Seed Ministry hosted a Bible Club training on Saturday. This training was for BC Leaders and Helpers who were not able to come to some of the other trainings. Toby and Thomas taught the training. Toby taught on the Old Testament covenants, while Thomas taught truths from the New Testament. At the end of the meeting Toby handed out a Megavoice to each club representative.

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday of last week Joy attended a meeting entitled "Bridges to Oral Communication". The topic of discussion was sharing accurate stories from the Bible to non-readers in interesting ways. The meeting was held at the home of Terri and Amy Ruff, missionaries from the US. All who attended learned how to teach the Word of God to the many villages in Ghana.

Please continue to pray for Seed Ministry. Bob and Bonnie are now in the US sharing what God has done in the past year. Toby, Joy, Seth and Caleb are working in Tamale while they are gone.

What a praise to see all the children on Saturday and Sunday afternoons learning about Jesus in their Bible Clubs! The Seed Ministry Staff went out to visit 20 Clubs last weekend. Seth was blessed to see the Leaders teaching kids the God's Story, through Bible stories and questions.

We did receive word that a Bible Club student was killed in an accident last night. He was 14 years of age and regularly attended one of the clubs. His funeral will be on Thursday. Please pray for his family and the Club Leader and Helper as they grieve this loss.

More Pics of Teaching This Week

Teaching Religion Class in a Public School

The schools in and around Tamale allow us to come periodically to teach about Jesus. This week was Toby, Joy, Seth and Caleb's first time visiting the schools. We all enjoyed seeing the children and they were very attentive. We visited one school yesterday and two today. They call the time we spend there the 'religon studies'. The schools allow different religions to come in to tell their beliefs.

Checking on the Clubs

On weekends many of the staff members of Seed Ministry have been traveling to the different Bible Clubs to do surprise visits to the BC normal meeting time. There are 160 Bible Clubs and most of them will be visited twice between now and June. We visit these clubs to encourage the different leaders and helpers but also try to keep them accountable to meet at their scheduled time with the children.

One of the pictures show one Bible Club putting their benches together for a meeting. The other picture shows a very rough road that we had to travel on to get to a couple of village clubs.

While the MO/OK team was here we were able to hand out some first aid medical supplies. There was antibiotic ointment, band aids, pain reliever, peroxide, etc. We were also able to hand out eyeglasses to those who needed them. These items were donated to Seed Ministry. The people who give these things don't usually get to see the great benefit that they supply to the people of Ghana. Sometimes we forget that a small amount of peroxide and a little ointment could help someone from getting deathly ill.

Very few people in the village have access to eye glasses so it was nice to see them helped in that way.

Some in the village wanted to thank everyone for coming. They showed their appreciation by giving us a gifts. It was nice to receive two turtle doves.

More Team Pics

Grant is teaching a Bible lesson to the Seedlings.

Pastor Brandon teaching the Seedlings some new songs.

Loving on the Children!

The children show a lot of love. Either here or in a village a child likes to know that someone cares. Jimmy from MO is enjoying giving and receiving some of that!

Travis and Michael at Seedlings

Large Villages and Lots of Precious Children!

Today we took the OK/MO team to three villages to meet the Bible Clubs there and share with the children. We weren't expecting many children at the first two villages. We were really surprised when we saw almost 100 at each of the two. At the third village there were around 200 children plus the adults! We were so surprised!

The team did a fantastic job today. The team met a chief with his elders and went through a formal introduction. The team also got to see some ladies pounding fufu which we enjoyed later for supper.

Most everyone on the team today shared the gospel to at least one group of children/adults. The majority of the people listening were unbelievers. As you read this blog please pray that the Word was heard and that the seeds that were planted today would bring about a harvest!

Michael on Mission

Michael has been doing a great job with the music for the Bible Clubs and the Seedlings. Even little children want to hold his hand or sit on his lap!

The Seedlings Welcome the Team!

We have been enjoying the MO/OK team. They visited the Seedlings class last night and they were a big hit. We had around 65 kids and after a brief introduction we broke into three groups. Grant's group met in the summer hut. He was witnessing to some children and was training the older ones. Jimmy gave his testimony and talked to the children about the parable of the sower and answered some very difficult questions.

Welcoming a Team and Then Getting Straight to Work!

Today we welcomed a team from the MO, OK states. They came in to Seed Ministry around 8:30 am, ate a quick breakfast and got right to work.

There are 5 adults and 3 children staying this week to go share the Good News of Jesus Christ to Bible Clubs all over our area. We drove an hour to the first club. The team sang songs with the kids then Grant shared the salvation message. Bro. Brandon gave a Bible story and then we broke up into three small groups to interact with the children. The team played some really fun games with the children.

At the second village it seemed as though the whole village came to see what was going on. Most of the people there were unbelievers. They sat and listened to the gospel message that was presented by Jimmy and Bro. Brandon. Please pray for this village that they might receive what they have heard today!

The team did a good job today and we are so glad to have them here with us!