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!

Visiting the Gushiegu Outpost

We spent this past weekend at Gushiegu. If you follow the blog you will see that Gushiegu is one of the Seed Ministry outposts. Right now there are 24 clubs in the area and the coordinator is a man named Matthew.

It takes 3 hours to get to Gushiegu. To get to a club around Gushiegu, it may take up to 1 1/2 hours to drive. The terrain is farmland that is mainly for animals. The huts are spread apart which is different from around the Tamale area.

We were only able to visit 17 clubs because that is all we could reach by bus. The remainder can only be reached by motorbike. Emmanuel was quite nervous seeing some of the paths, but because he is such a good driver (best in the Northern Region) he had no problems.

On Sunday we visited a church that was 1 1/2 hours from Gushiegu and was located deep in the bush. It was nice to see the church here, even though the majority of the villages practice traditional religion. After Toby preached we visited the Bible Club that meets at that village. One of the exciting things as we went from club to club was to see that the leaders were using the training tools that Seed Ministry and the team that came in December gave them.

'Connecting' at Gushiegu

While in the Gushiegu area we saw many Bible Clubs. The gifts we were giving were toys to the boys and pillowcase dresses for the girls. Some generous team brought some small Connect Four games (the box says BINGO but they are actually Connect Four). We knew when we gave out those 100 Connect Four games we would have to explain the rules, so we saved those for the last clubs visited. At one club we gave 25 away and explained to the Club Leader the directions for the game. It took some time, but he seemed to understand. On the way to the next village Toby said, "Let's just give out the balloon whistles instead of handing out the game." Little did he know what was in store :) Emmanuel parked the bus and we saw the children gathered under a thatched shelter. Wouldn't you know that under that shelter was a old large Connect Four game that the village men were playing! It was so funny! We said, "Ok Lord! We know where you want these games to go!" There were around 70 boys there. Just enough for those games that we had left. Toby and Emmanuel asked the children if they knew how to play that game. All the boys said, "Yes! We play with it all the time." The boys were so excited when they realized that they were getting Connect Four games! The game that is in the picture with Caleb is the old game that the villagers were playing when we arrived. They lost the stands to the game a long time ago so the people hold it or stick it between two pieces of wood. How amazing! Joy was still laughing about the game when we took the picture with the girls and their pretty dresses and the boys with their games!

Randy and Suzy Speak Out!

From Randy and Suzy Hines as written by Suzy about their experiences in Ghana (written on Saturday):

"Our ministry in the short time we have been here has blessed us and we hope others. God has allowed us to see His many works being accomplished through His servants. Our ministry "family" has expanded past Toby and Joy, with their wonderful care and love, to pastors and their wives who have consecrated themselves while being a minority in Northern Ghana. We have witnessed people hungry to know who Jesus is and others in villages who had never heard the words Santini (Satan). One head chief said, "I have always believed there was one God. You have explained it so that I could understand it." He was grateful that people cared to pray and send someone to share the Good News. He and 36 people excepted Christ!

Today a prayer has been answered but I realize the hand of God is working fervently. Let me explain. Randy and I were in a village that did not have a school or Christian church. God somehow led us there because we were to be visiting a Christian chief from another village instead. Randy and I began sharing, the adults were filling the room up. The chief wanted the women to hear and if I didn't take the children they would miss out. A pastor was our interpreter. I promised to take the children out to allow more room. We were told there were no English speaking interpreters in the village!

Once outside the hut, I turned right, getting my bearings. Six children were coming and I thought, "Lord you know I need an interpreter." I walked to an empty circle of stones and walking toward me was a young man with an MP3 player! His eyes were soft, his mannerisms polite and quiet, and he could speak English! The elders and chiefs did not know his abilities but God did! I asked him to help and he was helping me lead 180 children with 4 girls helping us. "Ewal" was his name and he did a miraculous job with the children. Every child made a salvation bracelet and learned the words and signs to John 3:16. Ewal stepped out on faith, was given materials to use in the village that day, and one week later rode 8 miles on a bicycle to a strange church with his brother and 2 friends. We were touched to see this shy young man put his faith to action. He was able to meet the area club leaders and the local Christians.

Today, 2 weeks later , he has traveled by walking and catching a ride (it normally takes almost 2 hrs by truck). He is attending a club leader Foundation Training at Seed Ministry, which is a requirement of all possible club leaders. This is just one sweet, sweet story of how Seed Ministry touches lives. With a minute budget, great faith and a God who hears our prayers and loves us more than we can imagine, Randy and I saw a young man with Christ in his heart open himself up to God's work.

What if I had stubbornly stayed in that hut just listening and not gone out to seek an interpreter?

Oh, by the way, 17 adults accepted Christ that morning! You may think that's not many, well, tell that to the lady who raised both hands up to the air and began crying for joy! Tell that to the young mother who held my whole left arm so very tight because her body was shaking with joy! She was supposed to be quiet--after all, she was in the chief's palace!"

--Praise the Lord for what He has done through the faith of Randy and Suzy! Maybe this has touched your heart to share Jesus with someone!