Dayton UMC Ghana 2013 Church Planting Mission

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Greetings from Ghana.

Today we had the privilege of visiting 2 different churches to worship.

The first was Mim. Since this is my first trip to Ghana, I only know that this group built the pavilion that this church is now held in about five years ago. The people of this village have made a beautiful place to worship. They have built up the walls and created windows. They have also put up ceiling tile!

As we sat down at the front of the church looking out at the congregation, you could see the love for one another and for Jesus. It truly is amazing that only a few short years ago, these people had never heard of Jesus before. It is an amazing sight to see. One that you have to see it to believe it!

The people danced and sang loudly worshipping Him. The children in the back were singing and dancing as well. We couldn't stay long, but the people were so happy to see the group that helped build this original structure. These people take pride in what they do. You can tell by how well they have built up the church.

The second village we visited was Nkakom. This is a a pavilion that the group provided last year. We were able to stay longer through the service. We were welcomed with open arms. This was a small congregation, but when they sing, you would believe they are as big as our congregation.

We danced around as they took up the offering and continued singing. We listened to the pastor preach and we listened to Glenn preach as well. After shaking many, many hands we heard one last song and everyone was dancing and waving their arms. Even the little children were dancing and singing. We were given a love offering of fruit before we left. A lot of fruit!

God blessed us today with not only being able to see these villages and worship with them, but he provided clouds and a cool breeze for everyone.

It is wonderful to see and feel God's presence in these churches. I just know that he was there!

Blessings and praise,

Cathy

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Preparing for the newest medical outreach

Back at the mission house, Curt and Cam are busy preparing for this year's medical outreach in the remote villages of Winneso #3 and Korko.

The clinic pharmacy

This is the pharmacy station at the clinic. The opposite wall had an additional selection of medicine that was about twice what is pictured here.

Two tiny clinic visitors

While on our tour of the clinic, we had the pleasure of meeting two young malaria patients and their mothers. This room had three beds. We had the privilege of praying for these babies and their recovery.

Deliveries made here!

Here is a photo inside the Methodist clinic birthing room.

A blessing for the clinic and the village

This is looking out from the birthing room into the courtyard of the clinic. You can see the large blue containers that were filled with water manually before the completion of the well. The Methodist church is now constructing a small water tower at the side of the courtyard that will be fed by the new well we have furnished. The water will be made available to the church, the clinic and the village alike.

Our first electrically operated well!

The first of the three well sites we are visiting this year is not yet completed, though it is already operational. Unlike other wells Dayton UMC has sponsored in Ghana, this one is electrically operated! The Bishop's assistant accompanied us to see the progress.

Senchi Methodist Church & medical clinic

Getting down to business our very first day, we made the long journey over the typical Ghanaian rual roads the village of Senchi. There the Methodist Dioces has a medical clinic on the church grounds. There was no running water in the entire compound, though the village does have electricity. Imagine a medical facility without running water! Each day their water must be purchased and carried in.

The Mission in Ghana Continues

For the sixth consecutive year, a team from Dayton United Methodist Church joins our missionary partners in Ghana, West Africa for outreach in rural areas of the Ashanti region. This year’s trip takes place from February 15 through February 26 in the villages of Wenniso 3 and Korko in the Fosse Circuit of the Kumasi Diocese. You can keep track of our progress as we populate this blog with stories and photos of our ongoing work. Please visit as often as you can to follow our adventures as they unfold. As always, your prayers are cherished.

The main goal of the trip is to introduce the people in the villages to Jesus and offer them the opportunity to receive salvation. Our partner in ministry, Joseph Otsin, an evangelist and church planter for the Methodist Church Ghana has already been working to start two small congregations and to train lay pastors for each before our team’s arrival. Together with these new Christian leaders, Joseph, and the Methodist Church of the Kumasi Diocese, our team plans to participate in evangelistic outreach in the villages. New believers will be encouraged to become involved in the newly formed churches where they can grow as disciples of Jesus

Our team will also partner with our friend Dr. Cameron Gongwer, a medical and public health missionary who has served with the Mission Society in Ghana for the past 14 years. Cam’s brother Curtis, also a physician, will join us. With two doctors, two nurses in Lynnette and Cathy, and additional Ghanaian nurses and support people to assist them, the medical outreach promises to make a significant impact. Cam has worked to coordinate our clinics with the hospital that is closest to the villages. With this partnership, we will set up screening for malaria, and for anemia and malnutrition, especially among children. The goal in the medical clinics is to receive every person who comes, diagnose and treat their ailments and share with them the love of Jesus.

Now working further out from the populated areas of Ghana, there is great need for water wells in many of the smaller villages. On our first few trips, our work was in areas where deep water wells were common. Now we are working in areas were drinking water must be obtained from creeks and streams. Beginning in 2012, we accepted the challenge of providing clean water to some of these more remote villages as a part of our outreach. During the Christmas season, Dayton United Methodist Church gives a birthday gift to Jesus Christ, in the form of funding for water wells in Ghana. This year our congregation responded generously, with enough money to pay for drilling bore holes and the installation of three well pumps in communities currently lacking access to safe drinking water. The mission team will have the opportunity to visit these villages where construction is under way, and participate in the dedication of those that are complete. We look forward to sharing the love of Christ with the villagers along with their new well.

Renee, Julie and Bob from our Dayton UMC team will focus on outreach with children and young people in the villages. This team of “kid people” is looking forward to working alongside our friend Elvis Kan-uge, a young man from Ghana we met last year. He has been working with the Gongwers in Ankaase for a number of years. He will be taking time out from his studies toward a teaching degree to join us again for this portion of our trip. The team from Dayton continues to learn new and culturally appropriate ways to reach out to the village children with the Gospel of Christ. We are looking forward to meeting lots of new friends in 2013.

Among with proclaiming the Gospel, Glenn Sue and Tom from our team will be involved in the construction of worship pavilions for the two new Methodist churches we plant in Wenniso 3 and Korko. They will join our friend Ghanaian carpenter Yeboah and his crew. We have worked with these men in the construction of five church shelters to date. Dayton UMC has provided the funds for nine church pavilions through 2012.

The first Sunday in Ghana, the team will divide up and travel to as many as possible of the twelve congregations in the area with whom we worked in past years. We look forward to reconnecting with friends while sharing in worship and the Word of God with the members of these young churches. During the second Sunday, the team will attend the inaugural service of the two new churches planted during this year’s outreach.

A Little Bit of History about Dayton UMC Missions in Ghana

Our mission outreach in Ghana began in 2006 when Pastor John Walls lead a team from Dayton United Methodist Church to support the work of Dr. Cameron Gongwer and his wife Anne at the hospital and library in Ankaase, Ghana. Pastor John and our congregation began asking the Lord for an opportunity to partner with someone from the Methodist Church in Ghana to bring the unreached to Christ. We asked the Lord to lead Pastor John to someone who is making an impact for the Kingdom of Heaven that we could assist and support on an ongoing basis. God was faithful and arranged for Pastor John to meet Joseph Otsin. Joseph, and his wife Stella are both ordained by the Methodist Church of Ghana. They have been given the task of carrying the good news throughout Ghana, with a focus on the Ashanti region.

The Otsin’s ministry operates on an annual cycle. Joseph works with his Bishop to identify communities that they believe are ready to receive the Gospel. He then goes into the communities and begins to prepare the way. Joseph locates individuals who can become the core of a new congregation and from this group selects one or two individuals for additional training, which Joseph conducts as part of his ministry. Eventually one of these people is selected as the “caretaker” or lay pastor of the new church.

Joseph and Stella partner with evangelists and local churches from the United States and coordinate with the Methodist Church in Ghana to facilitate revival style meetings in rural villages and newly developed suburban areas. The new believers who receive Christ at these meetings are introduced to their lay pastor and are organized into a new congregation. The lay pastor is given a bicycle, a study Bible, and discipleship training materials to help him or her begin leading the church. The new church becomes a part of the local circuit and a member church of the local diocese of the Methodist Church of Ghana. Later, as the church grows, Joseph may be able to bring a team of workers to help the congregation construct a worship pavilion.

In 2008, Glenn and Sue Meiser, serving as vanguards for Dayton UMC, joined a team of evangelists heading to Ghana and lead by Cecil Williamson. During that trip, eleven new churches were planted and thousands of people came to faith in Christ. The Meisers watched and learned as much as they could and began planning to return to Ghana with teams from the church in Dayton. They remained after the Williamson Crusades concluded to help construct a worship Pavilion for the church at Atwima Mim.

The Meisers returned to Ghana in 2009 with one Spirit lead couple joining them. During that trip, two churches were planted and hundreds of people came to faith in Christ. That year, we began to include outreach to children as part of the daytime activities. We held medical clinics with the help of Ghanaian nurses, and helped to put a roof over a Methodist congregation. We also worshiped with our friends in Atwima Mim and with the two newly planted churches. (See our blog at dumcghana2009.blogspot.com)

We returned in 2010 with a team of nine that included our new senior Pastor, Mike Dominick. The 2010 team was able to expand our ministry and outreach in every area. We participated in evangelistic events, medical missions, children’s ministry, and pavilion construction. Pastor Mike also preached at an interdenominational prayer meeting and at a camp meeting attended by all of the Methodist congregations in the Kumasi area. Members of the team worshiped with the newly planted churches as well as with those with whom we worked during the two previous years. (See our blog at dumcghana2010.blogspot.com)

During the 2011 outreach, our team helped two small congregations reach their neighbors for Christ by providing extensive medical clinics, children’s ministry, children’s ministry training, pavilion construction, Gospel presentations during the daytime medical clinics and during evening evangelism events in the two villages. Team members were able to attend worship services with our friends who comprise six different Methodist congregations in the rural areas of the Kumasi Diocese. (See our blog at dumcghana2011.blogspot.com)

In 2012 The Dayton team returned to plant two new churches, attend to the medical needs of nearly a thousand people, continue our ministry with children and build two new church pavilions. A busy time indeed! New in 2012 was the addition of the water well ministry, where six new wells were established in rural villages without a source of good clean water. We had the pleasure of dedicating one of those wells before departing. (See our 2012 blog at dumcghana2012.blogspot.com)

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Saturday, February 16, 2013

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