A huge crowd for the Camp Meeting and everyone dressed to the nines!  Joseph estimated 800 to 900 adults, and there must have been almost that many children and youth.  It was a festive day when all the societies (28 congregations) on a particular circuit gathered for three days of revival.  In the hot sun, the Ghanaian Pastors still wore full robes.  I would have melted!  -- Pastor Mike

While most of the team was in Nyniwusu or Kyrease for the first Sunday services, Pastor Mike was invited to preach at the "Camp Meeting."  Since my regular interepreter, Isaac, was in one of the villages, Pastor Charles did the interpretation here.  The Ghanaians received the message with gladness.  Preaching here is a great joy!  -- Pastor Mike

In each newly planted church, we give the Caretaker (local pastor) a Bible; and a bicycle to tend to his work.  - Glenn

At Kyrease, the service was similar to that in Nyniwusu.  The new caretaker was there to take over the church, and senior leadership from the circuit were there to be sure that the new church got off to a good start. In this picture I am adding my two cents. I shared a message about the process of sanctification in what I hope was simple and understandable language, because the group included many new believers.  Joseph was translating. We counted 88 adults this first Sunday after the Crusades, with probably twice that number of children.  --Sue

The first Sunday School at Nyniwusu - under a mango tree...

The Nyniwusu Methodist church in full swing.

The Ghanaians know how to worship!  It was so exciting worshiping with these people in their new building.  They had to walk five miles to a local church before.  They are so grateful to have one in their own village.  Tony &Karen

Finished on time, we held the first service of the newly planted Nyniwusu Methodist Church in the pavilion.  Here Phil is bringing the message.  - Glenn

Our building team, though we had a lot of help from a few local men.  - Glenn   It was amazing to see what these craftsmen can do with limited tools.  Tony

The bridge complete and in place, and finished in two days!  Now we will clear a path from here to the church pavilion nearing completion.  It was actually great fun to do.  The villagers thought it was ever so clever.  They typically would throw a split log across in the rainy season - or just take their chances with the muddy slopes in their Sunday best.  - Glenn

Our foot bridge is taking shape!  - Glenn

While we were building the pavilion, Sue suggested that the villagers would need a bridge to get to their new church.  There was quite a drainage ditch at the side of the road with steep sides.  It was difficult to traverse in our work clothes, let alone what it would be like in the traditional robes and dresses worn by most villagers on Sundays.  Now we would need to finish the pavilion on time, and build a small bridge to go with it!  - Glenn

The pavilion is going up quickly.  It has to because we're planning to have the first service here in just a few days!  - Glenn

It was a great privilege to preach at the Wesley Cathedran in downtown Kumasi on Friday morning at the largest Prayer Service in the city.  The church was full - perhaps 400 to 600.  They worshiped passionately, prayed fervently and responded enthusiastically to my message on the weapons of our warfare being spiritual, not worldly.  Several were even taking notes!  -- Pastor Mike

The school children visit the clinics...

Lynnette providing medical attention in Kyrease...Finually I'm in a picture. At least it shows me doing something. I told everyone I was supervising. Mandy and I took turns taking BP's. The people were very good to us in the villages. Lynnette

Tommy continues to shine as a kid magnet...

Karen continues to teach the children...

Response to the Gospel was amazing.  Every night there were everal who came to the center of our worship area and prayed with Joseph to receive Christ, with hands raised!  They were then taken over to the side and encouraged and registered for follow up.  Each night the service ended with a ministry of healing and deliverance by Joseph and Isaac.  To say the least, it was out of the comfort zone of most American Methodists.  But it fit perfectly in Ghana, and the Methodists here are generally quite Charismatic. -- Pastor Mike

Preaching in the night by two light bulbs was quite an experience.  There was not enough light to read Scripture, so everything I used had to be quoted from memory.  The Ghanaians are used to the Pastor saying:  Bible say...   The villagers hung on to every word, and the response to God's word was like a sponge soaking up water! -- Pastor Mike

In the village of Kyrease,  I provided a witness one evening before Mike brought the message of salvation.  - Glenn

Crusades continue each night...

We are still very far behind on posting but we're catching up!  Lots of new stuff today but certainly not up through Friday yet.  We are so busy it is hard to keep up with everything!  We'll post again later today.  - Glenn

Anne Gongwer was with us during the work in the first village. She was an invaluable bridge of understanding between the two cultures. In the village, Anne spent time one on one with various people. There were also times that I saw her talking to whole groups of young men. We were especially grateful that in her gentle way, and with understanding of the Ghanaian culture, she could respond to the difficult requests that we heard. We would not have known how to answer as helpfully as she did. For the team, Anne's presence was a real refreshment. We were sorry when she needed to return to her responsibilities in Accra. We are looking forward to seeing the Gongwers for dinner when we return to Accra on the way home. --Sue

The pavilion is moving right along!  Here the trusses are up and we're preparing for the roof.   It takes about 8 men to lift them into place with nothing except brute strength and some push poles.  It continues to be very hot so we will appreiciate those first few roofing sheets.  - Glenn

Yebuah is the Foreman on this job. He is GOOD!!!! You will see some photos of him elsewhere in the blog. His team was great to work with. We always had a good time. I never had so much fun pulling out tree stumps!!! Ghanaians like to laugh and smile! - Phil  (They swing a mean hammer too!)

The children are so friendly and so curious and so polite.  They love to have their picture taken, and then see it in the screen on the digital camera.  It is not difficult to be swarmed by them - just be friendly! -- Pastor Mike

Sharing with the school kids, teaching how to throw the frizbee, they enjoy catching and returning, but not always the right way.  Tommy

This shot shows Glenn and Phil just playing with the kids at Nyinawusu. Phil had a great time showing them a frisbee. EVERYONE wants to play. These kids get super excited just to throw the ball (or Frisbee) with you. The language "barrier" is interesting to work through, balls and frisbees break down a lot of barriers.

Phil / Glenn

Karen knows her stuff. It was a blast for me to help her out in the classroom at Kyrease for a few minutes. Its amazing what a few crayons, some thick paper, and a smile can do!! These kids are pretty disciplined in the "classroom". In Lafayette, IN we'd call this an open pavillion, in Ghana, it makes perfect sense. The kids are shy but happy in class. You should see their face when you take their picture with a digital camera and show it to them right away. Their eyes light up, they smile, and giggle. People are the same everywhere. Everyone likes to "be on TV" - Phil...

With the Ghanaian children  - there are always more children than I planned for!!  The little ones always find their way to stand closely - a sweet memory for a grandma!  Karen

I am explaining to the group how Jesus loves for the children to come to him, and then he blessed them.  I also use music to emphasize the story - with animation!!  It's fun to act like a child with them. I love to play with them.    Karen

Stella had us taking blood pressures and helping to count pills at the clinic. At the first village, almost everyone had very good blood pressure. At the second village, just about everyone was running high. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could give them, we could only suggest they go to the hospital, which most of them could not afford.  -- Mandy and Lynette

Our medical clinic under the mango tree in the first village...

The clinic was always busy, from the time we got there until we left. But unlike our community clinics back home, these people were very patient despite the very long waits, laughing and joking with each other. These people were mostly complaining of stomach pains, general body aches, and headaches.-- Mandy and Lynette

Following the video on Tuesday evening, 63 adults, plus many children, responded by coming to the center of the worship area, raising their hands, confessing their sins (out loud!) and praying a prayer led by Pastor Isaac to ask Jesus Christ to forgive their sins and come into their lives.  The villages we are visiting are extremely hungry to know God and open to the Gospel.  In this picture, I am blessing the new Christians - a practice that happens each night.  -- Pastor Mike

The Ghanaians have seen television in the city of Kumasi, but the technology of a data projector and the large picture projected onto a sheet fascinated them.  In this picture, the villagers are watching "The Passion of the Christ."  You can see the two bare bulbs that provided lighting during the crusade services.-- Pastor Mike

Joseph Otsin, our host evangelist, believes that many of the villagers have seen the "Jesus Film" in the past, and prefers to use "The Passion of the Christ."  He showed most of the movie, up to the crucifixion, and then asked me to come and preach.  I gave a brief, simple message about why Jesus had to suffer so much, and how He was willing to leave Heaven and come die for us out of His great love.  The people were captivated by the video, and were not overwhelmed by the extreme violence of the flogging scene. Ghanaians in general are more comfortable with emotions, and express them more openly, on the sidewalk, in traffic, and in the worship service.  While I would think twice (or more) before evanglizing this way in the US, Joseph knows what is effective with his own people.  God certainly moved through the evening, and 63 villagers made first time commitments to Jesus!  -- Pastor Mike

Isaac, my translator this week, has been a blessing.  He has a quiet, gentle spirit and is sold out to God.  He is taking college classes for ministry, and is officially an evangelist in training with Joseph Otsin.  He and I work well together, in a fine rhythm.  We hope to be able to host Isaac in Dayton for two weeks in the near future.  The company he works for is willing to pay for the ticket.  It has been great to have Biblical and theological discussions with him.  Isaac and I are learning from each other this week! -- Pastor Mike

Tuesday night in Nyinawusu featured the showing of a large portion of "The Passion of the Christ" on a sheet stretched on the side of a building.  It is joyfully incredible how ingenious the Ghanaian people can be.  A movie, put on the side of a building by a data projector and DVD player, certainly drew a crowd.  Our host, Evangelist Joseph Otsin, gave commentary and translation as the film progressed.  I spoke very briefly after the film about why Jesus had to suffer so.  An invitation was given, and 63 people came forward and repeated the sinner's prayer!  It is a humbling thing to see the power of the Gospel without the typical resistance of Americans. 

On a lighter note, Joseph chose to attract the villagers to "The Passion of the Christ" by showing a video of the Gathers at Carnegie Hall, singing "God Bless America!"e (shown above)  Not the usual choice in Dayton for beginning a revival service! -- Pastor Mike

The kids in the village are reallly friendly and want to have interactions with us. The language difference is kind of a problem for me, but Karen remembered "peas porridge hot". We spent some time playing with the girls.

Here the trusses are going up with Yebuah and our Ghanaian friends.  We are working in temperatures in the high 90s so things don't move too fast.  - Glenn

The start of the pavilion. The steel poles are set and we are ready to begin the roof.  Tony, Glenn and Phil will be the main construction guys. - Glenn

Friends - we are so sorry we haven't been able to post here until now and are quite far behind.  While we were able to use the internet upon arrival, as soon as we began the ministry, service to the entire area when down.  Only cell phone worked.  We should expect that when choosing to do battle over here.  Please pray we will be able to maintain this link going forward and we will endeavor to "catch up" on all the wonderful news from this mission field.  Suffice it to say, all is well and God is doing amazing things.  Everyone is working hard and enjoying every bit of it.  - Glenn

Monday night was our first Crusade in the village of Nyanawusu.  Our Ghanaian nurses had been in the village since morning while we were meeting with the Bishop and Ankasse visit.  It was beautiful throughout the day, but here we are on the front lines, contesting the evil one for souls.  A storm blew up just as we loaded the van for the drive to the village.   After much prayer on the road, we arrived in the village without the rain.  The villagers and Ghanaian team, sensing the impending storm, assumed we would not be able to proceed and had taken everything down.  We continued on anyway - singing and preaching by flashlight!  Here Pastor Mike is sharing the message of salvation.  Twenty three adults and many children accepted Christ this day!  Praise God!  - Glenn

In Kumasi, each of us introduced ourselves to the Bishop and shared a little about our lives. The Bishop listened intently and then shared his vision for evangelism and church planting in the Ashanti region. He was particularly interested in our Indiana roots, as his background was in agriculture. It was obvious he is a strong leader with great intelligence and a great vision for the growth of the church through efforts such as ours. – Sue

Monday we had a meeting with the Bishop in downtown Kumasi. Due to the traffic and time it would take for the journey, we chose to use this day to go a little further and visit the Faith Healing Hospital and Readingn Town Library at Ankaase where Cam and Anne Gongwer have devoted so much of their lives. It was good to see our good friends again. The hospital is continuing to thrive and grow – and as always can use our prayers. – Glenn

It’s tough to adequately summarize what it’s like to “Do a missions trip to Ghana”. There are so many memories and cultural differences we have experienced in such a short time that it’s starting to blur everything together. Thank God for Digital cameras!!! Even after only one day some of the photos from the airport or from our first stop in Ghana, to me seem long ago. I have been struck by the dichotomies I have seen in Ghana. One is the clothing people have and wear to church, ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS.  Men in suits and ties, and women in top shelf dresses, dancing and chanting during the service on a dirt floor under a pavilion in what many in central Indiana would call abject poverty. The cars, streets, and dirt “roads” don’t seem to “go together” either - but the Ghanaians don’t seem to notice anything is out of kilter. They seem genuinely happy and are able to connect well with Jesus. I have experienced more than one tug at my heart in these recent days. One of them was the sound of their singing in the services. If you have seen / heard Glenn and Sue’s presentation on previous trips to Ghana you’ve heard the recordings of that sound. Trust me, it doesn’t do it justice. You have got to be there to “get it”. WOW!

It’s the same with the pictures. The photos our team has taken are as good as we know how to do. But they don’t come close to the real thing. Even still, check out these shots. Look in their faces. See the excitement and life in their eyes. It pulls you in. How can it not?  - Phil

To be with the people of God in an entirely different culture and worship with the people of Ghana is the most amazing gift from a loving God you can ever experience. – Lynnette

Preaching at DKC Church was quite an experience.  It was the first time I have ever preached with an interpreter, and the Pastor told me it was the first time a white man had ever spoken to this congregation.  It was interesting how a short statement by me received a long translation, and a long statement ended up with a very brief translation.  The people were warm and responsive.  – Pastor Mike

Tony and I were blessed to see the children reading the Bibles we sent to them.  They are growing in the Lord.  - Karen

One of the blessings this year was to be able to distribute Bibles to each of the villages we visit.  Here "DK", whose full name we have never been able to pry out of him, is reading his new treasure.  An elder in the Amadum Adankwane church from the 2009 trip, DK pressed us for Bibles before we left last year.  - Glenn

What a special thing to be one of three, Tony, Karen and I, to speak with a large group in the Amadum Adankwane church. Telling them our stories, testimonies, and telling the people about how we were raised up ourselves. We helped them to understand that we knew Jesus, walked away, and yet he called us back.  My story was about prayers and miracles, how Jesus gave to my family a very tiny baby. I shared with them about life and death, how an American medical man expressed that this baby would not live. Since he thought and believed that she would not live very long at all, my daughter and I talked about what needed to be done. So we prayed around the baby.  Four days later, the American doctor came in and saw the little baby still alive. He had told us that he could do nothing for her, and yet because of prayers and our faith, a miracle had happened. Now she is seven years old, and very special. Prayers and Miracles.  - Tommy

The first church that the team visited on Sunday morning was at Atwima Mim. This is the church with whom we built the pavilion in 2008. They have continued the construction of their building by completing the concrete floor and building partial walls.

We were met with a heartwarming reception by our friends, including Pastor Osei and the Steward Grace.  The church is continuing to grow and there is a real sense of joy surrounding them. I brought a message and we worshiped together before it was time to depart for DKC.  – Sue

Upon reaching Kumasi, Joseph picked us up and delivered us safely to his Grace Mission House.  With excellent food and rest, we prepared to spend Sunday visiting three nearby churches we had planted in 2008 and 2009.  We would not have time to visit all the churches we have been a part of, but certainly Tony, Karen, Sue and I looked forward with great anticipation to be reunited with these most recent ones.  - Glenn

Cam and Anne Gongwer, in-country missionaries for over twelve years, picked us up from the Accra airport.  It was so good to see them again!  They opened their house to us for breakfast and relaxation before we headed off to Kumasi, our base of operations for this year.  In this picture, the team is joined by Cam, Anne, their daughter Caylor and their friend Linda, who made us some most delicious French toast!  - Glenn

Our 2010 Ghana Mission team – ready to depart the church for the airport in our winter coats (well OK, so Pastor Mike is a tough guy).  With freezing temperatures, lots of snow on the ground and more on the way, we were more than happy to be heading to a warmer place.  Left to right are Glenn Meiser, Tommy Landes, Mandy Dexter, Tony Gascho, Karen Gascho, Sue Meiser, Phil Houtz, Lynette Lister and Pastor Mike Dominick.  - Glenn