Seed Ministry: Ghana, Africa

 

In a very familiar passage, Paul tells us in Philippians 4:4-8 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving; present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

Well, we are rejoicing a lot around Seed Ministry these days. God is so faithful in allowing us to see His hand in everything that is going on.

The Boys Mission Camp ended on Friday and once again the guys came back from the village so excited about the lives they saw changed during this time. They have so many testimonies to share about folks that came to know Jesus as their personal Savior and some who didn’t but have now heard the Word.

Herb taught ‘Share Jesus Without Fear’ and John A. did FAITH Evangelism training. The boys all agreed that sharing Christ with others is not difficult at all and a really exciting thing to do. James…I share the Word with joy because my God is on my side and many people will accept Christ by the Holy Spirit. I will work for God seriously through what I have learned in this camp. Stephen…When we were about to go out to share the Word, I was thinking ‘I cannot’; but the Lord used me to do every thing in His name. Pray for those who accepted Christ.

 

 

On the other hand, some things that we rejoice in are not always perceived as good. We had a terrible storm JUST AFTER (that was good) the boys left and the wind blew down one of our old, big trees across the Guest House. It was one between the guest house and training hall. Thankfully Herb was the only one staying in the Guest House (that was good) and he was out at that time (that was good). The water tank helped to break the fall of the tree some what (that was good) and it only took out the roof and ceilings of three of the bedrooms (that was good) and a big section of the wall on that side.

The other walls that we had reinforced this year seem to be holding strong against the force of the water (that is good); now a tree takes out another one! But, as always, God is Faithful and He knew just when to bring that tree down with the least amount of damage. Walls can be repaired and roofs restored. We are praising Him that no one was hurt.

   

However, if anyone can help us with our rebuilding fund it would be most helpful. The cost is $7,200. This is not in our budget but we know God will provide.

 

On the other hand, we already had scheduled the God Story Training to hand out the first round of Mega Voices. And as they say, things must go on. We were able to move the training into the Sognaayili Church building and went right on with it.

 Thirty-two Mega Voices have been given out. The rest that we have will be given out in September and we have ordered more! Thank you to each of you who have sponsored a Mega Voice. The Club Leaders are very excited to be getting them into their communities!

Still there is more good news that we want to share and have been trying to wait until there was a time when there just was not so much going on to write about.

We are VERY excited to announce that our youngest son, Toby and his family will be joining us on the mission field here in Ghana! They have made a two year commitment to start with and we will all see how and where God has them after that.

There are several levels of our excitement in this. Of course, first and foremost it is wonderful to share in missions with our children. Since youth mission camps were how we started in missions to begin with, we have many times had the privilege of going on mission trips with our children. Even during our stay here in Ghana, all of our children have been involved in the ministry. Now for these to be coming to live here is fantastic. We have always said that if our children were here with us this truly would be paradise! Joy and Caleb are the last two to come see the Ministry and they are coming to stay!

At another level, we are really in dire need of someone to help full time in the ministry. There have been several over the last couple of years that have expressed an interest and with one thing or another; they have not been able to come yet. The extra hands and feet are truly a God send.

Then there is also the level of growth. We have had to wait to expand to other areas that have been asking us to come solely because there hasn’t been time to properly take care of the current areas. Now we will be able to move out further with the Bible Clubs.

 I just realized this is the most appropriate day to share this news as this is Toby’s birthday! Happy Birthday Son.

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

What a change is happening in our lives! We said to each other 3 years ago when we lost Joy's parents "What does the Lord have in store?" The Lord has orchestrated this time for the furthering of His kingdom and the spiritual growth in our lives. We are so blessed to be asked to serve in this way.

Since being asked to go to Africa the Lord has opened every door. Here's a few to mention: 

Our house had 3 offers before we even advertisedWe are going into new churches in our area just 'because they heard we were going to Ghana and would like to know more about the ministry'

 

 We met a non-profit organization who provides housing to missionaries on furlough and we will be able to stay with them while we sell our things. We have also been able to reconnect with people we haven't seen in a while. Even the two teenagers in the house are so excited about going to share the Gospel. They are also very excited to be with their grandpa and grandma helping them along the way.

Please be praying for us as we prepare to go. We still have much to do before we leave so we value your prayers now and when we go to Ghana in November.

 

Toby and Joy Parker