A Tamale Christmas

Did Bing Crosby ever sing a song called, "I'm dreaming of a hot, dusty Christmas"? Well he should have. We saw hundreds and hundreds of children last week and it was easy to forget that you are hot and filthy. They always make you smile.

We enjoyed every minute we were able to spend with the Nagy/Kurnick team. We have heard that they had a safe trip and are doing well. They were on the road to villages almost every morning visiting schools and Bible clubs. Everyone did what was needed and more. The team had 4 adults and 6 young people. Seth and Caleb (along with the Seedlings) enjoyed seeing the teenagers.

John and Paul both preached while they were here. Everyone seemed to enjoy the lively praise and worship time at the churches. In the first picture some of the guys are dancing, as Paul is getting ready to preach.

In the second picture, the team is serving chicken and dumplings to visitors. We opened the gate on Christmas and invited people to come and fellowship (which, of course, means eat).
We saw a lot of friends, pastors, and Seed Ministry alumni.

We want to say thank you one more time to the team for what you brought and what you accomplished. You all did wonderful work in Ghana. Seed Ministry staff and the Seedlings were so happy to see you come and so sad to see you go. God bless you.

Receiving Much More Than Giving!

We are blessed this week because we have visitors here from the Louisville area. They consist of two families that have decided to spend their Christmas on mission blessing children in the various Bible Clubs.

In the past two days we have seen 20 Bible Clubs! Yes, 20! The staff of Seed Ministry splits up in two buses taking one family in each bus. We drive from club to club. A member of the family tells the story of Jesus' birth and then we sing a song. The visitors then pass out toffees and the children's gifts!

I can truly say for everyone that we have been receiving many more blessings than we are giving. We have received many smiles and waves of welcome along the roadsides. We have received hugs and handshakes from the children. We have received many songs sung by even the smallest of children, telling about our Savior! We are overflowing with JOY!

PHOTOS: Team 1 family shares the Bible Story to a classroom of children.

Paul and Jake giving toffees away to the smallest children.

Team 2 John leads his family and tells the Bible Story at a club.

Chase sings with the children.

Who is helping who?

We were sad to see the team from East Bernstadt leave. We pray that they will have a safe journey back home to their families and church. They did very well for the two weeks they stayed with us. Toby's impression of the team was humility. They didn't complain and always put others first. I know we all try to do that, but spending three nights sleeping on a concrete floor with no fan seems to wear people down. When the going got tough they pushed ahead. We knew they were tired, but they just kept on working. There were young and "not quite as young" on the team and we were surprised by what they could handle.

The team was also a great example for the the Parker boys and Seedlings that they spent time with. We were glad that Seth and Caleb could be around godly marriages and loving people. Everyone received a lot of valuable wisdom from each other.

The first picture shows Uriah, Seth, and Wumpini at a church dedication. They, along with Caleb, provided help and entertainment. (They also provided scapegoats for us to blame whenever we blew it.)

In the second picture some of the team is singing a song during the dedication.

The team's goal, and Seed Ministry's, was to come to Ghana and minister to the children. They wanted to enrich and encourage. They wanted to show love to the kids, but after two weeks we were the ones enriched and encouraged. We were shown love by the kids everywhere we went. If you have done missions before you know this is the way God works. You come to be a blessing, you go back blessed. Now that is "win, win".

Dynamic Duo

Caleb and Seth are enjoying their time in Ghana. They love the people and have met some great friends. They are both home schooled. Some people worry that they may not get enough "socialization". We have not placed them in a room full of 14 to 16 year olds in a long time (unless it was to tell a Bible story). However, they do spend a lot of time with adults and children. When they are with adults they try to be good listeners and respectful (and entertaining on some occasions). When children are the focus, the Parker boys, can organize the group, play games (tug and pull is Seth's specialty), and teach the Bible lessons.





These pictures were taken a few weeks ago when the FBCEB team had come to work along side Seed Ministry. The first picture is when we visited the school at Kpendua. Caleb is carrying on a conversation with Emmanuel while we were setting up. Emmanuel is a godly man, good husband, and good father. These are the kind of people we are glad the boys get to hang out with.





The second picture was taken when we delivered some Christmas gifts near Kpana. We asked the team to leave all of their things on the bus and walk a short distance to a Bible Club. I asked Caleb to stay to keep an eye on things. Since Caleb had a few minutes and some curious children came to say "hello", he started sharing about God's love through Jesus' death. We don't tell the boys to do things like that, they just seize the moment sometimes. Seth and Caleb, of course, always make us proud. They have had their part in what has been accomplished this year at Seed Ministry.

Happy Campers

"What did we do to make Seed Ministry so mad at us?" That was one of the questions asked on an extended stay in the African bush. The team spent the night inside a church at a village recently. They ministered until well after dark and then began early the next morning. They were all troopers. They ate some very hot food and slept on a very thin mattress. No one complained about anything. It was a quick way for us to get to know all of these wonderful Christian men and women. Seth and Caleb were able to see some great role models. Couples showing a strong marriage and everyone showing the fruits of the Spirit (especially patience). Everyone was laughing about the day and night spent "in the wild".

Introductions

When we went to Galenshegu to spend time with the children Mrs. Candy made fast friends with some of the children. In Ghana, a piece of candy is called toffee. So when we introduced Mrs. Candy to Pastor Abraham he said, "Oh, the children will like you." (This has also earned her the nickname "Toffee"). In the first picture Pastor James is introducing Mrs. Candy to his daughter Matilda. Matilda stuck with Candy for the rest of our time there.

In the second picture you can see Mrs. Connie introducing the children to her friend, Jesus. She explained our sin and God's remedy. Jesus said that you have to have the faith of a child to enter His Kingdom and we saw that played out in the village. Although she did not know Mrs. Candy well, Matilda stayed very close to her. When a lost person will come to Jesus, trust Him, and follow Him (stay close to Him), then God will accept them as His child.

These two ladies, along with the rest of the East Bernstadt team, are doing amazing things in the lives of the children in Ghana.

Tale of Two Cities

The East Bernstadt team are staying busy, very busy. On the schedule was two crusades. The first one was mentioned in an earlier blog. There was a lot of opposition. The unbelieving men of the village even organized the children to chant very loudly when the preaching began. Atlthough we see many times where the message is rejected, it was sobering to hear those children. It makes the Bible Clubs seem that much more valuable. The children will not grow up as empty slates. Our hope is that God will put them in a setting where they can hear the Gospel.
The second crusade was in a different village about one and a half hours away. Pastor Norm, from the team, preached another clear message. This village only has one family that are Christians. The father is a godly man and great example to his neighbors. You may be able to imagine what it would be like to not have any Christian friends or family. You may also be able to imagine what it would be like not to have a church body to teach and encourage you.
After the message some came forward to reject there way of life and become Christians. Even the next morning a few more came. The team will go back and visit the new believers tomorrow.
I would like for you to pray for this new church body. It will contain mostly babes in Christ. Satan will surely attack it, so we pray that the people will be strong. Please don't forget about the first crusade either. Pastor Norm has thrown the seed on the hard soil. We are doing our part and waiting on the Lord to work a miracle in the hearts of the unbelievers in Ghana.

East Bernstadt: Day 2

What a wonderful day it has been! The EBBC team has been busy today. First, they walked to school! This was a school of elementary aged children that is located close to the Seed Ministry site. Of course the children were happy to see the visitors and in that excitement heard about Jesus. Everyone on the team did a fantastic job.

The team made their way back to the training hall where they finished packing around 2,000 of the 6,000 gifts for the club children!

Shortly after lunch, many of the team went out to teach a Bible Club. Children gathered to see the new faces, sing songs, hear a story and play games.

Next, the team separated into two groups and loaded into the buses to distribute some of the gifts that they had packed earlier. There were many children that gathered to receive the gifts and to visit with the team. The children also showed what they had been learning at club.

They returned to the site and had a quick bite to eat. Then left again to a village that was only about a half hour drive. There are only a few Christians around the area. We helped a Pastor have a crusade by lending some lights, P. A. system and generator. Pastor Norm gave a very clear message.

Continue to pray for the work being done here in Africa. Please pray that nothing would hinder us from sharing the Good News of Jesus.

Welcome East Bernstadt!

We welcomed Pastor Norm and the people from East Bernstadt Baptist Church today to the Seed Ministry site. There are 10 people with this team. As soon as they finished a quick bite to eat, they went right to work! Laughter could be heard in the training hall as the team was putting together Christmas gifts for the many children. They will be going out to distribute the gifts sometime this week.

Tonight the team taught songs to the Seedlings and Pastor Norm gave a Bible story. The Seedlings loved the songs and was involved in the story. Toby and Joy even did some hand motions! Well, at least Joy!

The team includes: Pastor Norm and wife Tanya, Eldon and wife Connie, Donovan, Sammy, Margaret, Robin, JamieLynn, Candy.

All Around Thankful!

I have been thinking about Thanksgiving and wanted to share what I am thankful for the most.

I am thankful for my Heavenly Father who knows all my faults, but loves me despite. The Lord gave of Himself so that I may live eternally!

I am thankful for the parents and in-laws that God gave me. God blessed and is still blessing us with their wisdom! I am also thankful for my family: my husband, my children, my Christian brothers and sisters.

I am thankful for Seed Ministry. The Lord gave wisdom to Bob and Bonnie 11 years ago when they decided to start this wonderful ministry. What a blessing it has been to so many here in Ghana. Countless times we have heard since we have been here: "If it wasn't for Seed Ministry..." "Because of Seed Ministry...". So when I say that I am thankful for Seed Ministry, I am actually thankful for all of you! You who pray for Seed Ministry, give to Seed Ministry, visit Seed Ministry and encourage Seed Ministry! Although you may not see the fruits of your labor here on earth, you will definitely be rewarded in Heaven! Thank you!

Posted by Joy

Praises

8 Month Old Orphan being raised by her grandmother

  

Wahidu and Jacob sharing the bicycle






















Do you ever have those days when you just want to feel sad? I think that is me (Bonnie) the last few days. We have been looking into the best case scenarios for the boys that are now living with us. We knew from the beginning that this would be a short term stay for each of them until better arrangements could be made. But they have joined into our lives here so quickly that  we find ourselves wondering if just keeping them would be a good thing to do. Of course, we know that is not the solution, still it makes me sad to think of them moving away from us. 

There are so many orphanages here in Ghana, all with plenty of children yet Bob talked to a man this week that has been on a waiting list for FIVE years to adopt a boy - not a newborn baby - just wants to adopt a son. This man is a Pastor and teaches in a Bible College. The home life would be good and they would be able to take care of a child. What possible reason could there be for so many children having to live in orphanages while someone waits on a list for five years and still there is no boy for his home? 

There are many injustices in this world and today I sure am thinking about them a lot.  Yet Christ tells us in Matthew 5:44-48 
          "But I say: Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way you will be acting
          as true sons of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good,
          and sends rain on the just and on the unjust too. If you love only those who love you, what good
          is that? Even scoundrels do that much. If you are friendly only to your friends, how are you different
          from anyone else? Even the heathen do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in
          heaven is perfect."

So for today I am going to choose to live by this Scripture and focus on positives and give Him praise for ALL things - those that seem to me to be injustices and those that seem to me to be Good.

And a couple of those Good things are... 


Bob and some children at Kpendua



..the church at Kpendua being almost completed and the children (and adults) that will be saved through that building being there and them hearing the name of Jesus as a personal Saviour.

Caleb and Sule helping clean and paint at Gushegu

..finding a house to rent in the Gushegu

area which will be our Outpost for that Region.

I could add many, many more praises of what God allows us to be a part of every day. But you have heard me say them many times already.

Find a child today and just bless him or her in some special way.

  

11th Annual Tamale Region Seed Ministry Rally

36 Participants were nervous but confident as the Rally began.

 
I wish I had permission to play the song “I Can Only Imagine” on here– but even that does not say enough. I cannot begin to imagine what God is going to do in the lives of these young ones that participated in today’s Rally!

It never gets old. I am just as overwhelmed today as I was at the very 1^st one we did. This was their 2^nd year of the God Story questions. The Tie Breakers were who ever could say the most verses from Phillipians and Colossians.

Here are the statistics…

·        18 zones were represented with a total of 36 participants.

·        They answered all 229 questions with 11 children still in the competition

·        They quoted every verse in Phillipians – 104 Verses

·        To find a winner they had to go to Colossians 1:5



·        A total of 229 questions plus 109 Verses!!!

The winners were very excited to receive animals as prizes this year.

1^st place received 2 female goats, 2^nd 1 goat and 1 hen, 3^rd 1 goat. This will help them start raising animals if they choose to do so or have a very good Christmas meal.



Of course they also got a cash prize to go along with that and a Bible. The Club Leader and Helper received a cash prize as did the Zone Leader along with the TROPHY! The winning clubs received plastic chairs.



At the close of the Rally we fed over 200 for lunch. Look at that Tamale sky!

What an amazing thing to be a part of. The children have worked so hard to memorize all of the answers and scriptures. The Club Leaders have worked hard teaching the children. The Zone Leaders have worked hard encouraging both the Leaders and the Children. Staff has worked hard trying to keep up with everyone and even now as I am typing this they are still cleaning up after everyone.



Helping the ladies with TZ for the Friday Night Sleep Over



Yet all of this is possible only because of the generosity of many who are willing to share their blessings from God with others. We praise God for allowing us to be a part of His Kingdom!

Networking



What a joyful time it has been around Seed Ministry. Last week we just gave up trying to figure out who was going to be arriving and how long they were staying. But it was a great week. In fact the last month has been great. We have Jesse still with us recording God’s Story in more Ghanaian languages. He also hosted the recording workshop last week and people were coming from several different countries, including Brent and Brian from his home church in the US (seen above leading a SM Bible Club).

            But we have also had Don Honeywell here overseeing and doing more training for John Adam and the FAITH evangelism conferences. At the same time Johnny, Dan, Shan, Stephan and Nikki were here from North Point going out for Discipleship training, visiting schools and Bible Clubs.

            Talk about a networking dream. I think these guys all got together and layed out a plan for their ministries to work together next year all over the place. We have been able to talk to some of the translators about the possibility of Bible Clubs in their countries / areas.

God never ceases to amaze us in the way He works and puts people together.  We tend to go around everyday making our plans and think we are in control, yet God has such remarkable ways of bringing us into His plan!

Jesse and Seth recording as John and Thomas narrate a lesson on Paul's Writings

The Northpoint team worked with the Seedlings' class tonight. Joy and Toby just sat back and watched this talented group. They taught on the full armor of God from Eph. 6. The kids loved the games and lessons.

In the pictures Shan and Steph are teaching about the Breastplate. Just like Shan could hide behind Steph (she is in both pictures just look closely), we can hide behind Christ and His righteousness for our standing before the Holy God.

The team started their day with a departure time at 7:00 am to head out to some villages and ended their day after 8:00 pm with the Seedlings. Tomorrow it will be another day teaching in the villages (but we'll leave at 6:30 just to break the monotony).

Northpoint Team Sharing Jesus!

What a wonderful day it has been! We left at 7:00 am this morning for a village far away. The Northpoint Team, translators and Parker family filled up the bus. When we arrived at the village we could see many children excited to have visitors.

Shan and Dan spent four hours teaching a discipleship class to Christians. Some were new believers. We know all enjoyed the teaching time.

While the teaching was in the church, many children came to play games. Nikki taught about Christ.

Johnny and Steph did hut to hut evangelism.

We left there at 1:00 pm and headed to our next destination. The plan was to go to the next village and see if we could encourage some children to come out to play games, then learn about Jesus. We parked and the team pulled out a huge parachute for the kids to play with. Children started running from everywhere! At one point we counted 150 children, but we know many more were there. The children really enjoyed the games and the stories. Some of the translators really got involved also (Emmanuel!).

Thank you for your prayers. Continue to pray as we go into these areas that have many unreached people.

Welcoming Northpoint, Then Straight to Work

We are so happy to have the Northpoint Team with us this week. They are here from North Carolina. We praise the Lord that they arrived here safely at 9:00 am Sat. morning.

As soon as they arrived they taught Seedlings class, ate a quick bite and then we all left to visit two village Bible Clubs.

The children at the Bible Clubs were so happy to see us. They listened very intently to the Bible story. They all enjoyed the games that the team brought, and of course, toffees!

We plan on having a very busy week. Pray , as the team evangelizes and disciples, that many would hear the Word so that nothing would fall on deaf ears, but on ears that listen, understand and respond.

Pics: Bible Club w/Steph, Nikki, Johnny, Shan, and Dan

Bro. Johnny playing a game w/children.

Good Preaching and Teaching!

The pastors were all blessed from the preaching and teaching this week. Larry McFadden with Larry McFadden Ministries came to train the more than 100 pastors. He is a very gifted Bible teacher and it has been a pleasure to have him here. Please pray for him this week because he has traveled to another country to teach.

The pastors had 6 hrs a day of Bible teaching. Larry taught 3 hours a day and Toby taught the other 3. Needless to say both teachers were very tired but blessed by the pastors present.

The pictures show: Opening by Rev. Bob, Praise and Worship Ghanaian style, Larry McFadden teaching, Toby teaching.

Feeding the Soul and the Body!

There was much preparation to ready ourselves for 100 pastors for last week's conference. Much food was bought after menus were made. All of us worked very hard to prepare.

Last Sunday the pastors started coming in, just a few at a time. There was a small opening on Sunday night but the full conference started on Monday morning.

The ladies cooked local food on the fire for lunch, while breakfast usually consisted of hot tea and bread/porridge. The pictures are some of the serving lines and food served this week.

What a Week!

What a very busy but rewarding week it has been at Seed Ministry! We were blessed to host a pastor's conference with a little over 100 enrolled pastors. Larry, from Commission Ministries USA, came to teach and disciple these pastors. Toby also assisted in the training.

We will blog more on the training in the days to come.

New Boys

The New Boys

  We now have 3 new guys that have ‘joined’ the Seed Ministry family.

o      §         Wahidu (4 years)     One of the team members that came saw Wahidu in the village and recognized that he really looked malnourished and asked if we would check on him. When Bob went to do that, Wahidu immediately ran to him and did not want him to leave. Wahidu’s family life has not been good (abusive) and he has been allowed to run free with no supervision at all. Basically his family just did not want him.

He is a very happy, well behaved, smart little guy. Now he eats as much as any man and goes around singing most of the time. We have found him to be VERY independent and expresses himself in tantrums once his mind is made up to do what HE wants. Mostly that has come when we tried to put his shirt on that he wore from the village – we are assuming it has some bad memories attached to it.

Of course, going to bed at night is no picnic either. He has decided he wants to sleep in our room and not his. How can I say this?  That will NOT happen!

He speaks no English but does well in whatever we ask him to do. He repeats everything you say to him. We have been praising him by saying ‘Good Job’. Toby and Seth were carrying in a container of water and when Wahidu saw them, he said, “Good Job”.

We have him enrolled in Thomas’ Seedling Academy so he will be learning English very soon. Already he is saying a part of his A,B,C’s.

§         Sule (around 12 years)   You might remember hearing Sule’s name a few years ago. When he was around 5 or so another team member that went to a village noticed that he had a HUGE hernia. We were able to help him get to a doctor that would do the surgery. Now he is a healthy guy and as sweet as he can be. Always wanting to help and mimics EVERYTHING Caleb does. They seem to be having a great time hanging out even though Sule also does not understand English.

He has a loving family but he has never been to school so our desire is for him to get his education. Right now I am homeschooling him to teach him some small amount of English and how to read. If we put him right into school, they would put him in the preschool class and we don’t want that. It works out well because when Joy is homeschooling Seth & Caleb, Sule is also doing his studying.

This is the first time both Sule and Wahidu had ever been to Tamale… first car ride – both were enraptured … a lot of firsts.

§         Peter Abukari (24 years)   Of course many of you know Peter and you have certainly heard us talk about him over the years. He was the 1^st Rally winner and his father, Paul, is one of our zone leaders. He has been staying in one of our rooms while going to high school. He is now in his senior year and we asked him to come live with the boys to help us with translation, to continue teaching them their culture, and to mentor Sule. Peter is a Godly young man who also was not schooled until around 15 years of age. He has excelled ever since he started school and we are praying he can instill that same desire to better himself into Sule.

Needless to say, this has changed our household a lot. From just the 2 of us living here a year ago – to having Toby, Joy, Seth and Caleb living with us – to now 3 more. God does have a sense of humor!

Actually, I don’t think we would have ever considered this had Toby’s family not been here. They are such a help with everything. God’s timing is always perfect.

Well, expect to hear more of the exploits in the future!