Bob's First Blog

As we continue to try to keep our Seed Ministry website updated more often, we are 'testing the waters' of the new feature of sending our Blog directly from there. So please click on the url below to get to it.  


http://www.seedministry.com/message.php?messageID=32478

If all seems to go well with it, sometime in the near future, we will switch over to it completely. Thanks so much to each of you who take the time to read about Seed Ministry and pray for us.

Homecomings

Toby, Joy, Seth and Caleb are safely back in Missouri!

They had a wonderful few days in Washington DC and are very much enjoying getting acclimated again to Walmart, Kroger, Fast Foods and Fountain Drinks. Not to mention a steady supply of electricity and water!

Jonathan’s adoption process has been APPROVED and it is official.

Jonathan Parker Nagy

will be coming to the US in about 10 days or so when his passport is finalized.

 

How awesome is our God!

Jeremiah 29:11-14

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

I don’t really think that God ‘exiled’ either of these families to Ghana but how FAITHFUL He is to take them there and bring them back safely.

                                                We Praise You Lord

Parting Ways

Well our time has come to an end here in Ghana, at least for now. What a wonderful year and a half it has been.

We are in Accra waiting to fly out soon to the U.S. As a family, the past few days have been a time of reflection and rest.

The Lord has amazed us through what He has done for the people of Ghana through Seed Ministry.

One consistent blessing has been the many good Christian men and women we have met. We were treated well by the staff at Seed Ministry as we carried on the work. Saying goodbye to those people was the hardest part.  We shed many tears (we even saw the precious ladies crying) when we met with Emmanuel, Thomas, John, Gladys and Ajua for the last time! We prayed for their continuing strength in the ministry.

Another way the Lord has amazed us is through the work of the local church and the pastors that are so close to Seed Ministry. Many pastors visited us in the last week we were in Tamale. Many grieved with us as we said goodbye. One pastor that came to pray over our family voiced all our concerns to the Lord, even though we had not shared any of them with him about our new life in the States.  This was a tremendous blessing to us! Even many Bible Club Area Coordinators, Zone Leaders and Bible Club Leaders and Helpers visited or called us to tell us a sad goodbye. God has blessed Seed Ministry with wonderful people to do the work!

As the plane flew higher in the air above Tamale on our way to Accra, we looked out the window to view the city for the last time. Joy cried saying, "I love those people that the Lord had placed in our path!".

So as we say goodbye to this part of our work with Seed Ministry, we ask that you pray for these things:

1) Pray for Rev. Bob and Bonnie as they continue to work for Seed Ministry.

2) Pray for our family as we transition into the U.S. from being in a foreign land.

3) Pray as we share in churches and that many would see the importance of the work!

4) Pray for our family as we move to a different place and all that that entails.

We want to say Thank You to all the wonderful people that we have met through Seed Ministry!

THANK YOU TO THE STAFF AT SEED MINISTRY: For taking such good care of our family while in Ghana.

THANK YOU TO ALL THE TEAMS AND VISITORS: For all the love you have shown our family! Each individual we have met are gifted by God with different gifts, and each person has been a huge encouragement to our boys and us! We enjoy reminiscing about the good times we had with each and every one of you as we went out to the various villages to share about the love of Jesus.

THANK YOU TO THE BOARD OF SEED MINISTRY: For giving us the opportunity to bring our family to Ghana to learn more about Christ and how He works in all the world to show Himself to all the nations.

THANK YOU TO ALL THE ONES WHO HAVE SUPPORTED US, PRAYFULLY AND FINANCIALLY!

Seth and Caleb's student outreach

As you probably know, Seed Ministry gets many people who come and make requests. We usually have a pretty full plate, but sometimes we just can't pass up the opportunity.

One day a man named John came and said he was a student at one of the Senior High Schools near Nyankpala. He wanted us to come and preach. He also asked for some Bibles. He had a paper with the names of the Christian students and wanted me to meet them. We said that we would look at the schedule and try to find a Sunday that would be good for them. He called and visited a few other times, always asking for teaching and Bibles. Finally we said we would come the next week.

Toby, Joy, Seth, and Caleb pulled into the parking lot and were given a very warm welcome. There were 23 Christian students, the Parkers, and the Head Mistress of the School (and the non-believing day guard sat in on the sermon) in a classroom. The worship was so sincere and they were so hungry for God's Word. I have never talked to a more engaged congregation. The teaching lasted well over an hour, followed by some question and answer time. It was a blessing to see these young people staying true to their faith even though they were very far from their families.

They were missing two things. First, no grey hairs. I talked to them about some of the inherent problems with their young congregation. They needed to seek out wisdom from older Christian men and women. Secondly, we agreed that they needed Bibles.

A few days later John, Wumpini, Seth, and Caleb took a Bible for each of the 23 Christians. The students immediately asked for more teaching. Seth, Caleb and the guys loved their visit at the school and, of course, want to go back as soon as possible. Seth reminded them of a Bible story where some young people, far from home, did not give into temptation no matter the cost.

Caleb took some pictures of their time at the school. He said that these young men and women will become godly leaders and were a great example to follow.

"Do everything without complaining"

We have been blessed to have Mama Laurie visiting with us this week. She has been meeting with some Bible Clubs and greeting some of the village ladies. She has a sweet spirit and is very friendly. She is also a trooper. We took her to Limo yesterday for church (one and a half hours on some of the worst roads), and she had no complaints.

In the first picture Laurie is passing out suckers to some smiling club members. The second picture is one of the clubs she visited on Saturday. On the left, in the red top, you can see Mama Hannah. She is helping Laurie this week with translating. You can see John in the back left and Peter on the far right. Standing beside Laurie is Matthew one of the Seed Ministry Zone Leaders.

Mama Cathy is still at Seed Ministry with little Jonathan. Cathy and Laurie are enjoying each others company. Cathy loves having another adult to talk to, and catching up on the latest news from their part of the States.

At Seed Ministry there is really no such thing as a day off, so please pray for Laurie as she goes out to the villages.

Coordinators come for "refueling"

(Picture: Toby sneaks into a picture of the Area Coordinators. Back row Paul, Nyankpala; Thomas, Tamale; Matthew, Gushiegu; Stephen, Salaga; David, Wale Wale)

We had our first Seed Ministry Area Coordinator Training Conference. Everyone arrived on Friday by 5:00 for dinner. Then we met to hear reports from each area. It was exciting to listen to the testimonies about some of the different clubs. They talked about how the churches with the clubs are getting stronger and brought a word of thanks from the pastors.

(Picture: The coordinators having a small devotion before breakfast)

Then they had a full day on Saturday. After breakfast Toby began the teaching time, seven hours throughout the day. Thomas also did a summary of the Foundation Training that all club leaders and helpers have to go through. As it is now Thomas goes to each area (or the participants come here) for the teaching. Soon each of the Coordinators will be presenting the training in their own areas.

There were round table discussions on what could be improved, what worked well, (what flopped) and brainstorming sessions. There was also time for questions and answers

Each meal was begun with a short devotion, so we could hear what was on the heart of each coordinator.

It was a productive time and it was a great time of fellowship; that is always a great combination. Matthew described it this way, "motors need refuel, stomachs need refuel, we came and you gave us a refuel." It was the same for us here also. Please keep in mind these five guys as they are on the Ghana roads doing the work.

Showing the Next Step!

We have been blessed to have 3 churches come to Seed Ministry in the last 2 weeks to have baptism services! A total of 27 people were baptized. Many of the ages of the new believers were in their 20's. What a blessing!

We have also been blessed with 3 rain showers in the past 2 weeks. Since the temperatures have been extremely hot (around 115 F), the rain is good at cooling things down. People in the surrounding communities are happy because the rains that we have received have filled the dams that they use to fetch their water.

Many praises here! Water to drink, to wash clothes, and to baptize!