Seth has been busy teaching Bonnie how to Facebook and Blog. This is first try to see exactly how good he is at teaching technology to the technology challenged!!!

We Made It!!!

We (Toby, Joy, Seth, and Caleb) are finally in Tamale. We arrived in Accra on Tuesday afternoon, stayed that night and then woke up early to travel six hrs to Kumasi, which is half way to the Seed Ministry site. We left Thursday morning to finish our travels to Tamale. The Lord has provided a wonderful place for Bob and Bonnie, the teams that come and stay, and for us as we stay in Ghana. We have been greeting people since being here, learning many new faces and names.  Today (Friday) is the first full day since arriving here. Toby, Seth and Caleb started working to prepare for a team coming from the surrounding countries and for a book giveaway that is going to be on Sunday afternoon and Monday. Joy worked with Bonnie on scheduling and participated in a Bible study.   

We ask that you pray for us as we learn the culture, names and the overall workings of Seed Ministry. Please pray for the workers here as they diligently work to spread the Good News of the Gospel. 

They Are Here!!!

Help Has Arrived! and do they look great! It is so good to see them and I almost didn’t cry at all. Thought I was going to make it through their arrival with no tears but Joy and I shared just a few. Their flights were good and Caleb says flying is awesome. It does seem strange to look up to both Seth & Caleb though. Bob and Toby quickly got the luggage loaded and we are staying in Accra tonight and will start back tomorrow showing them some of Accra and staying in Kumasi then on to Tamale Thursday morning.

There won’t be much rest as there are 14 people coming in on Friday for a conference on the God Story translations. I think 4 of them will be staying for a week to learn to do the recordings with Jesse and Bramuel.

Steve gives his final exams on Thursday and will leave Tamale at 6am Friday morning. We have gotten very used to having these Jackson’s around. It has been a good time with them and we have grown to love each of them and their family. Keep them in your prayers as Steve travels back from Ghana and Amy travels from California to Georgia on the same day.

Saturday morning Seth gets reacquainted with the Seedlings and the rest of the family gets to meet them.

We will all be getting more books out on Saturday for the Pastor’s Book Give Away on Sunday afternoon and Monday. We waited until Toby & Joy were here to have this so they could meet a lot of the Pastors through it.

As soon as that is over, we will continue with putting together the Christmas packages and just after the Regional Bible Club Rally on Dec. 11^th, we will be taking the children’s Christmas gifts around.

With the arrival of Toby, I am reminded of the year each of our children gave us family portraits of each family, a group photo and Proverbs 22:6 framed for the center.

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

         

We were not smart enough to actually know what this verse meant when we were younger but praise God, He brought our children up and raised us together as Christians. What a joy each of them are to us in their walks today.

They Are On The Way

Toby, Joy, Seth and Caleb leave Dixon at 11am today! They will spend the weekend in St. Louis for last good-byes with some friends and Joy's brother Dale's family. They fly Monday morning and will arrive in Accra on Tuesday morning.  Bob and I are on our way to Accra to take care of some business and pick them up at the airport.

Hard to believe that they are actually going to be here. From a parent and grandparent point of view, it is going to be wonderful to live close to some of our family again. But even more important than that, it is going to be awesome ministering together with them! One of the most special things God has allowed us to do in ministry is missions with our children. From the very beginning of our Christian walk with Him, all those many years ago, those mission trips with them first as youth, then in leadership together. What a blessing it is. If you have never used one of your vacations to go on a mission trip with your family, please consider doing so. As you allow God to work in each of your lives that week, He will change you forever.

Praising God In All Things





Bob at Saakpuli during the medical clinic.

The Fulani man in the green outfit had to translate into Fulani after Peter had translated into

Dagbani what the nurse had said

in English.

When did I last write? Seems as if this is the first time I have sat in front of the computer for awhile. We have been so blessed with the ministry activities going on around us. It is like we are sitting in the center of a merry-go-round and all of the different ministries are continuing going around and around.

Bob, Linda, Neal and Doris from Commission Ministries came two weeks ago. This was the 2^nd year of the 3 year mentoring class he does. I was disappointed that only half of the students returned from last year but some were harvesting their crops and some were attending a government sponsored youth employment conference for job opportunities. Both very good reasons toward keeping their families fed. Bob & Linda said those who came did a good job with their Scripture memorization after a first day of being pretty quiet.

Neal and Doris have been busy going to schools in the mornings and then back out in the afternoon to do door to door evangelism and children’s ministry followed by either a revival for the church or an Evangelistic Crusade. They have ministered to MANY people and have had some very positive results in salvations. Some have not returned for the follow up class but many have.

Jesse’s wife Karen has arrived to help him and he is staying right on schedule to have the ten languages recorded that he wanted to do this year. He will also be doing a conference for another group of languages to get the scripts into their hands so they can translate it into their languages and record next year.

Steve continues to do his teaching at the Seminary but has added giving guitar and keyboard lessons to a few of our Seedlings.

Don and John A. have completed two FAITH conferences that have added more to the Kingdom. Don has been sponsoring John to lead these conferences on a part time basis for awhile. Now John will be working full time with FAITH though he might still be available some for Seed Ministry.

The medical team from NC has arrived along with Pastor Johnny & Dan from Weaverville. They are going out into the remote areas to hold small clinics. It is always great to have medical teams come and these folks have been doing these clinics for a lot of years in Uganda.

You know God has a sense of humor when you watch our utilities here whenever a team comes. We can go for the longest time without having too much trouble with electricity or water. You let a team come and invariably the water and electricity will go off. I think I wrote about South Fork team walking in the door and the electricity went off.

Well, this time our water first became just a small trickle to none at all. Bob called the ‘Complaint Office’ of the water company who said there haven’t been any other complaints from our area. Made Bob think the problem was in our line. The guys walked it but found no breaks. Called the plumber and he checked where the water comes onto the property. There was a rock in the line and he thought the problem was the rock would not let the water pass through the valve properly. Removed the rock… still no water. Bob checked with the neighbors, they didn’t have water either. Back to the ‘Complaint Office’ (Notice the name is ‘Complaints’ NOT ‘Repairs’.) This was on Friday. The man who oversees this area is not in and will not be back until Monday.

Meanwhile we have caught some rain water and everyone is taking bucket baths. Monday… Bob goes back to the Complaint Office. Seems there is a main valve on the pipes in this area that is not working properly. They have sent someone to Kumasi to find another one so they can repair it and get it back on.

Today is Wednesday and still no water. Guess the guy is still looking for the part. We have been having tanks of water hauled in and put into the baptismal pool, then pumping it up to the overhead tank so we can at least get showers. Is this a crazy story or what?

Now on to the electricity. Lately we have been getting shocked a lot. Didn’t know why but it was unusual. Meanwhile, one of the AC’s was not working in the small house. Had the man come to repair it and he said that instead of 3 lines being hot and 1 line being a ground, all 4 wires coming in were hot. Had to call the electrician. This has been a daily meeting between the electrician, ac repairman and Bob. I think that problem has been fixed but we are having brown outs so much that for one 24 hour period we were strictly on the generator. Praise God for His timing of the generator.   

OUR WATER HAS RETURNED!!!!! Just now!! Bob and the ladies doing the wash by hand are all out dancing around on the verandah praising God!

Must be almost time for the teams to leave as we now have electricity and water! Life in Tamale. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Where else could you live and be reminded so often to continue praising God in all things? Hope you are having a great week and remembering often to praise Him!

New Generator







     We were sad to say good bye to the South Fork Team but we had to and they are now safely home and back to their own busy schedules I am sure. As always, they did a great job of ministry while they were here.

      A real PRAISE is we bought the generator while we were in Accra!!!! Bob, Thomas A, Emanuel, Peter A. and the Tractor (thank you New Holland) got it unloaded and hooked up. Bob tested it running and we actually had better power with it than with VRA these days!



      Steve and Jesse and the pastor’s seemed to make it ok while we were in the South. Again, we praise God for our staff and the job they do taking care of people. Steve has finished all of his prep work for his classes and has begun to count down his days. I know his family is also counting. Jesse has finished his second language and now starting on the 3^rd. He is counting down the days until his wife, Karen, arrives. I think she gets into Tamale on the 29^th. It will be good to have her around.

      Of course, we are counting down the days until Toby, Joy, Seth and Caleb arrive!  Only 24 to go!! It is going to be great having them here. Great, obviously, because it has been a long time now since we have lived close to any of our children. But also great that ‘help is on the way’! That is the catch phrase of the day between us right now. There are many people who need to hear.  

      Do you feel the URGENCY? Do you really BELIEVE that our GREAT time of rejoicing is coming soon? We believe that so much and every time we think of it, we just feel the URGENCY more and more. Go and tell someone today!

Revelation 22:17 (NIV)   The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.







Malaria and Praises

Installing the Galenshegu Water Tank

What a wonderfully strange week we have had. The bad part of the week was that Steve, Bob and I all had malaria. Praise God for His healing through modern medicine that we are all three back 100%!

      Yet, even with that, ministry continued. Jesse and the two pastors were able to complete the recording of the God Story in their language, Steve still managed to make it to class to teach, and South Fork Team arrived.

      Of course, about one hour before they arrived our water went off. Then when they did arrive and walk into the house, the electricity went off. But they are troopers! Even with this somewhat stilted arrival after the long, hard drive, they were pumped and ready to start their ministry.

      And what a ministry it was! They visited schools and went into villages for a variety of ministries with children and adults. On Saturday they went to Galenshegu, Gua and Kpendua for these same ministries followed by Crusades that evening. They then spent the night in the village and worshipped with them on Sunday followed by a baptism at the river.

      It is always amazing the way God blesses us. It is hard to know who is doing the ministry and who is being ministered to. His ways are truly too incredible to comprehend.

      Another praise is about our staff and Seedlings. They did a great job taking care of the team. Even though Bob and I would have liked to be able to give out a little more TLC ourselves, the guys and gals simply took care of everything.

      Now we are on the way back to Accra with the team. It’s always hard to put friends on the plane and send them home, but we praise God for them and their ministries. Please pray for their safe journey back to their families.