Ghana: Mission Trip

For a week in March a Campus Crusade staff member named John from Orlando, Florida came to check out what God was doing with the ministry in Ghana. John had lived in China for 17 years doing what I did for this past year. After that he changed his role in Campus Crusade and began traveling to campuses around the world assessing their strengths and weaknesses. About 3 to 4 years ago John visited Ghana when the US Campus Crusade Movement initially partnered with Ghana. I was part of the first group of people to come to Ghana for a year so John from Orlando came back to reassess the difference that was made. Here’s what he had to say:

The impact really can only be attributed to the abundance of God’s grace and His Spirit working powerfully through students. Only God can regenerate students hearts and make them want to study the bible and talk to others about Jesus. This is nothing I did out of my own power.

Before my team came there were no bible studies going on at all on a weekly basis. I was blessed enough to start up 4 weekly bible studies. Here are some of the stats from those Bible Studies. Each of these numbers represents a person, a person who was impacted even on a small scale through the study of God’s Word:

Legon Hall Bible Study

- started with 5 students

- 11 different students attended at least once

- The highest amount of students at a bible study; 6 people

Sarbah Hall Bible Study

- started with 4 students

- 10 different students attended at least once

- The highest amount of students at a bible study; 6 people

Commonwealth Hall Bible Study

- started with 5 students

- 13 different students attended at least once

- The highest amount of students at a bible study; 8 people

Akuafo Hall Bible Study

- started with 5 students

- 21 different students attended at least once

- The highest amount of students at a bible study; 14 people

These are the faces of some of the students that you’ve impacted by helping me to be here. Thank you! Thank you for blessing me to be a blessing to others. Check out the video below to see how some of these students were impacted over the past year:

Below are all my newsletters over the past year. If you didn’t receive these or missed receiving a certain month you can download them below. Just click to view or right click to download the pdf to your computer.

Back in January after the “Vision Trip” left to return to the United States our team went on a three day vacation to experience a different part of Ghana. We traveled to The Volta Region, which is on the eastern most side of Ghana and neighbor to the French speaking country Togo. The Volta Region is home to the Voltic Lake which is the largest lake in Ghana and the source for a large portion of the drinking water here.

In Wisconsin during the winter seasons it is common to be on the lookout for deer crossing the road. Here in Africa it is common to be on the lookout for wild baboons crossing the road. This was a first for me to experience as we traveled to the Volta Region. While there I got to climb Mt. Afadjato the highest point in all of Ghana. I also visited the Wlii Waterfall. Pictures don’t do just to the beauty of these sites!

Two weeks ago the summer project arrived which is the same thing that my brother went on last summer. There are now 37 American staff and students here with us. We just returned from a week of ministry in the Volta region.The Ghanaian students just finished their semester of school in time to join us for this trip. Because our group was so large we are split into 4 different groups. During 4 nights of this trip we went to villages in the surrounding area and showed The Jesus Film in their local language and the following night did follow up with those same villages. Each group visited 2 different villages so in total our group visited 8 different villages showing this movie. I don’t know the exact statistics but during this week over 1,000 Ghanaians saw The Jesus Film because of our efforts!

Now that the seeds of the gospel have been planted please pray that God will somehow be able to provide follow up with all of these people so that they can continue to grow in their faith. Some of the Americans who have just arrived have also been getting sick as they adjust to the food here. Please pray for the health of these Americans and safe travel as they continue ministering throughout Ghana.

Thanks much : )

As the school semester came to a close here at the University of Ghana-Legon so did my bible studies with the students. Desmond Boakye mentioned something encouraging to all of us during one of my final bible studies of the semester.

“I think David leaving America for Ghana is quite something unusual, he leaving a palace to do this work, it compels me to do much more for Jesus Christ.” – Desmond Boakye

This was encouraging to hear because it shows that God can use something as simple as my presence here in Ghana to motivate others to live their lives more fully for Christ. It was equally encouraging to see that he meant what he said because that following week he was one of the 28 students who joined us on our outreach project to Buduburam a Liberian Refugee Camp located on the outskirts of Accra. I heard from within the camp that there are over 30,000 refugees living here; people mainly from Liberia but others also from the Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone.

This event was one that I was personally looking forward to because it was an opportunity to not only talk about the gospel to others but to also actually live it out in an area where it is greatly needed. If you look at the life of Jesus he typically met spiritual, emotional, and physical needs in an integrated fashion. Not only would he met people’s spiritual needs by instructing them how they could restore their relationship with God (good news), but that proclamation would then be accompanied by the meeting of their physical and emotional needs (good deeds). An example of this can be seen in the beginning of Matthew chapter 9 when Jesus heals a paralytic man and declares that his sins are forgiven!

“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” ( Matthew 5:16 )

Whenever believers engage in good deeds in the Name of Christ, the goal is always that people would see something of the glory of God and be stirred within to praise Him. That’s what we hoped to accomplish by being a light in the darkness of this refugee camp.

Good Deeds:

In order to meet some of the physical needs within the camp we engaged in a “Health and Sanitation Campaign”. The first phase of this campaign was to split up into groups and help clean specific areas of the camp. We had 48 people total with us to do this ( 28 students, 6 staff myself included, and 14 volunteers from a church located in the camp). Even with that many people we were still unable to cover the entire camp.

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The second phase of our “Health and Sanitation Campaign” involved breaking into small groups and going door to door to inform residents about the dangers of cholera, how to prevent it, and what to do if you think you get it. Cholera is a much more severe form of diarrhea and if you get it you can die within 24 hours of contracting it because of dehydration. Click here for a more professional description of Cholera. This was a very relevant topic for Buduburam because a number of people on site had died because of this including someone just a week prior to our arrival. In order to adequately teach others we ourselves were first given a one hour talk given by the lady in the picture below. We then went out with flyers explaining cholera and talked to people about it.

During these activities we handed out flyers containing the gospel message and flyers advertising the film show we hosted that night.

Good News:

In the evening we displayed a film about the life of Jesus Christ told through the eyes of Mary Magdaline called “Magdalena”. Many people came by to watch. There was a water tower near the film spot and people even climbed this tower to get a better view for watching the film. As the film was playing I walked around taking pictures from different angles. While doing this an individual came up to me and mentioned how thankful he was that we were showing this film. He told me how the people in this camp don’t have much for entertainment so it was a pretty big deal to be showing this film. He stressed how we should come back in the future to show more films.

The following morning, before church, our team broke into pairs and for two hours we went door to door sharing the gospel with people. My partner and myself spoke with 5 people in total. All of them already said they were Christians but we were still able to help clarify some things and answer questions they had. Out of the 5 people one lady in particular though seemed to be distant and bitter toward God and it probably had something to do with her son “Miracle” who was in the hospital. She didn’t go into much detail about why he was there but please pray for this lady and her son “Miracle”. In total during these two hours 66 people were exposed to the gospel and 25 of them prayed to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior!

After that we attended church and witnessed a very passionate sermon preached by the pastor in the picture above. Even the pastor was affected by our presence at the refugee camp. On several occasions during his sermon he mentioned how our presence on this camp was an open rebuke to himself to be doing the things that we did during our time there. How it shouldn’t take the arrival of a group of university students to motivate him to go out and clean the refugee camp and share the gospel!

Praise God that He was able to use us in so many different ways in the short amount of time we spent there.

To all who have been commenting on the updates here that I post from time to time, thank you! I very much appreciate all of the prayers and encouragement you’ve sent my way. Below are some questions that have been posed in the past by you that I have not answered yet.

When am I returning home?

July

Do I feel safe here in Ghana?

Despite much of the instability, tension, and unrest in many African countries, some of which are very close to Ghana, I feel very safe. Many of those people from other African countries come to Ghana for that very reason.

How would I describe the vitality of the church in Ghana?

According to Ghana’s Official Tourist Guide Ghana is 69% Christian, 16% Muslim, 9% traditional local African Religions, and 6% Atheist/ Non-Religious. In the upper third of Ghana these proportions differ a bit though because there are cities were it will be roughly 50 % Christian and 50% Muslim.

From my time here and what I’ve experienced I would describe Ghana as being a very spiritual people. I think in part this may be because that is all they have. Some of these live very difficult lives where they have to depend on God or have some sort of higher being to pray to. I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t believe in a creator of our universe.

Ghanaian Christians are very passionate, energetic, and vibrant when it comes to singing and dancing. If you profess to be Christian you will be rebuked if you don’t go to church on Sunday. In Accra there are many different churches and many different denominations. Christianity has saturated itself deeply into the Ghanaian culture. It is very common to see taxis and trotros ( vans used as bus transportation around the city) decorated with vinyl labels on their cars with phrases and scripture verses out of the Bible. As well many small shops and businesses will have Christian-esque names for their stores such as “The Blood of Christ” “God’s Grace” “Thy Will Be Done” “God’s timing is best”. This is just a small selection of the names given to the small shops scattered throughout Accra. The names really have nothing to do with what they are selling but that is what they decide to name their store. As well when you greet someone and ask them how they are doing they will almost always respond by saying “I’m doing well by the grace of God”. These are just some of the examples of how Christianity has integrated itself into the Ghanaian culture.

In the larger cities Christianity is everywhere. Despite this there are actually still remote villages that you can go to in Ghana were the inhabitants haven’t heard the gospel yet. Even in the larger cities where Christianity is everywhere there are obstacles that have to be overcome. People in those cities may know lots about God but don’t actually KNOW GOD. Because Christianity is such a part of Ghanaian culture the head knowledge that they have about Jesus Christ and the Bible has yet to sink down into their heart and start affecting how they live their life. As well the knowledge they have about the Bible may not always be correct and this is in large part because some of the churches here in Ghana aren’t bible based. I mentioned earlier that there are many different churches and denominations just in Accra alone. Many of those churches though are led by pastors who’ve never gone to seminary or bible school to fully learn how to study and accurately teach the Bible.

The result of this is many people who are Christians but don’t always know the basic truths. There have been many occasions where I will enter into conversations with individuals who profess to be Christians and then I will proceed to ask them what happens when you die and they will proceed by saying we go to heaven or hell based on our actions, if we’ve lived a good life or not. There will be no mention of Jesus Christ.

I was talking with the pastor of the church that I go to here in Ghana and think his statement describes the condition here well. This pastor is originally from America but has now been living in Africa for somewhere around 25 – 27 years. In a tone that was not demeaning or looking down upon Ghanaians he described the condition of the church here as being “ A mile wide but an inch deep.” I think this statement sums up well everything I’ve described in trying to answer this question.

Here in Ghana the exact date of when you were born doesn’t hold nearly as much importance as the particular day of the week when you were born. Sometimes when a Ghanaian is born the parents may not even have a name picked for the child yet. Because of this there may be a week that goes by before the baby actually has a name! So what the parents will do is call them by the name of the day of the week when they were born. For each day of the week there is a different name for guys and for girls. This name sticks with you for the rest of your life. All Ghanaians then have the name their parents give them, their last name (family name), and then the name of the day of the week they were born. I’ve found that sometimes when I meet new people if they don’t want to reveal their first name to me they will introduce themselves by their name related to the day of the week when they were born.

What’s Your Ghanaian Name?

Last month, on March 6th marked the 54th Anniversary of Ghana’s Independence.

A Brief History:

I found some interesting insights into the history of Ghana found in Ghana’s Official Tourist Guide. “Ghana, formerly known as the Gold Coast, because of its rich gold resources, took its present name from a once famous West African Empire called Ghana, which flourished between the 4th and 10th centuries, in an area about 800 km Northwest of the present day capital, Accra.”

Ghana acquired the name “Gold Coast” in the late 15th century when Europeans arrived and were amazed with the vast amount of gold available in the country. The British were the ones who colonized the country. It wasn’t until 1957 that the country finally acquired its full independence and renamed itself from the “Gold Coast” to “Ghana”.

The flag for Ghana symbolizes the struggle of their forefathers, their national heritage, and their natural wealth. The red symbolizes the blood spilled in their struggle for independence. The yellow symbolizes their gold and other mineral wealth. The green symbolizes the rich vegetation throughout the country. Finally the black star signifies the hope of all Africans for independence and self-governance.

In celebration of Ghana’s Independence we decided to put together an event were we brought a bunch of students with us to The Aburi Gardens. The Aburi Gardens is a botanical garden located on the top of a large hill/small mountain on the outskirts of Accra. Even though some students have lived in Accra all of their lives man had never been here before. This event was very similar to the “Swallowship” we held last November. We played games, served them food, and encouraged them to get involved in Bible Studies and in serving God more actively on their campus. Click on the picture below if you wish to see some of the pictures from this event.

Luke 10:2 Update:

A large thank you to all who have been praying regarding another team being sent here next September. Unfortunately there will not be a team coming : ( Becca, the girl on my team who agreed to stay another year is now going to be sent with the team that is going to Australia next year. Thank you again for your prayers.

Just the other day I found out that there might not be a group from America coming to replace our tem for next year. At the moment Becca, one of the girls who is currently here in Ghana, is willing to come for sure for another year and an additional girl is considering coming. Three guys had originally signed up to come but all of them for one reason or another have backed out. So right now in order for a team to be sent we need God to raise up 2 guys who will decide to come to Ghana for the next year and 1 girl. The leadership in charge of sending teams to Ghana is going to make a decision by the end of next week. If Becca is still the only individual willing to come by the end of next week they will not be sending a team to Ghana!

Please pray earnestly that within the next week God will raise up:

• 2 Guys ( to come to Ghana for a year )
• 1 Girl ( to come to Ghana for a year)

I’ll be writing about this in the future but our presence here has generated lots of momentum. I firmly believe that increasingly more momentum can be gained from another team coming. I firmly believe that much much more can be accomplished here in Ghana, we just need people who are willing to make themselves available to do the work. Please pray earnestly that God raises up laborers so that a team from America will be here in Ghana next year! Thank you.

As I wrote about in my newsletter for January, a “Vision Trip” from the United States came during this time. This “Vision Trip” consisted of 7 students who came for 8 days to get a vision of Ghana and see if they would be interested in doing a month long or year long trip (like myself) here in Ghana. During part of that time we traveled to Cape Coast which is 3 hours away but took us 5 hours to get there because the traffic is so heavy in Accra (where I live). If you click on the picture above you can see many of the pictures that I took during our time in Cape Coast.

We did many things during the small amount of time we were there. We visited one of the local slave castles, Elmina Castle built by the Portuguese in 1482, and learned abit about the brutal history of slavery here in Ghana. We also went on a canopy walk which unveiled the beauty of Cape Coast’s wilderness. The two most important things we did though were to show The Jesus Film and to visit an orphanage. The Jesus Film depicts the life of Jesus and is translated into languages common in the area it is shown. When we helped with the film it was translated into Fante. An estimate of over 500 people attended this event and an estimate of over 150 people came forward when the film ended and individuals were invited to accept Jesus into their lives. The majority of these were children but there was still around 20 – 30 adults who also came forward!

Just the other day someone from Cape Coast who had helped us host The Jesus Film alittle over 3 months ago now happened to be in Accra. I had the opportunity to talk with him briefly and he had mentioned how a small church had been planted in Cape Coast as a result of the contacts gathered from the adults who came forward at The Jesus Film event we had hosted which was very encouraging to hear!

Finally we also had the opportunity to visit an orphanage. The Vision Trip that came with us had brought two suitcases of stuff filled for these kids. One was filled with soccer jerseys, shorts, socks, and cleats. The other was filled with toys and stuffed animals. The kids were very excited when they received these things. This occasion has opened my eyes to the blessings of being raised by my family and being blessed with living in America.

Near the end of February we put together an outreach event to expose more students to Campus Crusade for Christ and also to encourage students to live their life with an eternal perspective. For 2 weeks our team heavily advertised the coming of this event meeting with students in their dorm rooms and handing out flyers related to it. We handed out and interacted with a total of 1,200 students. I became alittle disappointed though when during the middle of the event I counted the crowd and there were only 89 individuals present, but those were the specific students that God had been preparing to see that film at that particular time. I got a chance to speak with many students after the film was over and almost all of them were touched and powerfully impacted by the message of the film!

The outreach event we hosted was a film titled “The Bema Seat”. This film was a dramatization by one individual describing The Judgment Seat of Christ and narrating how God evaluates our lives after we die. The film was shown at the handball courts in the very center of The University of Ghana-Legon Campus.

What is “The Bema Seat”? The Bema Seat is another name for “The Judgment Seat of Christ” and is the judgment that all followers of Jesus Christ will face. It is not a judgment of the sins you’ve committed because Jesus paid for those on the cross, but rather a judgment on what you’ve done for the Lord during your time on Earth. How you stewarded all of the gifts, whether it be time, money, or talent, that God gave you. You can see it spoken about in verses such as:

• Romans 14:10-12
• 2 Corinthians 5:10
• 1 Corinthians 3:10-15

At the Judgment Seat of Christ our lives will be replayed to display the genuineness of our faith. You will be rewarded depending on how you’ve stewarded what was yours while on Earth and what remains after being tested by the fire mentioned in the above verse ( 1 Corinthians 3:10-15). The key though is that it is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, that you’ve entered into a relationship with Jesus and are letting Him change you from the inside out.

The key is that we live this life with an eternal perspective and in preparation for eternity. This life here on Earth is like a 70 year internship preparing you for much more exciting work in the age to come. Everything we do now, here on Earth, is wisest if it is done in preparation for that Day coming. That Day when we transition from our time here on Earth to Eternity. We must live our lives in preparation for the Day when we stand before God and give an account of our life to Him.

You can watch a version of The Bema Seat Online!

I actually looked online and there is a version of The Bema Seat video on Youtube. It’s not the exact video but the script is exactly the same as the video we used. The film is about 1 hour and 30 minutes and is broken up into 10 minute increments but I have linked below the first 10 minutes of the beginning of the film. After you watch the first video there should be a link within that video window connecting to the next part (part 2) of the film. I highly recommend you take the time to watch this powerful video. It very easily might change the way you view life. It might also highly expand your imagination on what heaven and standing before God to give an account of your life will be like. If you haven’t seen this film before I highly recommend you watch it and share it with your friends!

If you are at all curious as to what the Bible says about how life after death will be I highly recommend you watch this!

One of the effects that living outside of America has had on me is that it has given me a greater awareness on the world at large. Directly to the left of Ghana is the French speaking country Cote D’Ivoire also known as the Ivory Coast. For those who follow world news you know that the political situation in the past couple months hasn’t been very good. Back in November the Ivory Coast had their presidential elections. From how I understand the situation the former president was not reelected president but wants to remain being president. So there is a group of people who are backing him and want him to be president while another group is backing the new individual who was elected to be president. All of this has caused much unrest and tension in the Ivory Coast. In December many Ivorians left the country for fear of a war breaking out.

There happened to be a group of individuals doing exactly what I’m doing here in Ghana. Those individuals were advised to leave the country in December so they decided to come on a two week vacation to Ghana and visited our team. Once those two weeks were up they still felt they shouldn’t go back to the Ivory Coast so they have decided to join our team. If you wish to see who was on my original team click here. In reference to the picture above the girl on the far left is one of the individuals from the Ivory Coast. Her name is MJ Barker and she is from the Philippians but went to school at Kansas State. The girl on the far right is the other new member on our team. Her name is Elisa Born and went to school in Omaha Nebraska.