Day 59 Week 9

I once again am on the move and quickly have become involved in the local ministry! I arrived at Faithway Christian Church on Wednesday and to my great surprise, this church has a huge vision. I have been so use to being visiting the churches in the villages that pray and hope for a church building to meet in, but here there is a strong vision. Pastor Richard Ntim has a good size church of around 200 plus members, but he is not satisfied and wants more growth. He is truly focused on winning souls and it is evident in the way God has blessed him. There is an academy, which has over a hundred students from k-1 all the way to 3rd grade. The building is very nice and provides better quality teaching then the public schools by far. He vision is to have a school through Junior High, which would consist of a two to three story building. On top of the school, he has begun the construction of another church building on the campus to be functional for the growth they are experiencing. I have noticed it is through the personal care of visitation and challenging of the members that they have growth both in numbers and in unity with Christ!
On Thursday I went to the prayer meeting which was very encouraging to be apart of. They prayed for the church, the government, the school, and many other people and issues or concerns. The one thing that was very good to was how much thanks was expressed during this time. They are very appreciative with what they have, so they are very conscience when praying that they make sure to thank God for their blessings!
Friday I had the pleasure to go with the youth to the Beach! This was my first outing with any youth, so this was very beneficial! Immediately God reassured me that this is where I am supposed to be (with the youth). I get a different feeling when I work with the youth. I enjoy people in general, so its not one of favoritism, but one of directional focus form God. We had a wonderful time at the beach and I got fried! The was a very scary time though for a group of girls (against the advise of the leaders) went out by themselves without a guy while caring their bags. While out they were surrounded by eight guys who pulled a knife on them and stole their things! I do not write this to instill fear of the country or of my safety in this country, but to express the opportunity that was made to teach the rest o the youth the value of life and the meaninglessness of worldly possessions! Everyone is ok and have all learned a valuable lesson. I am learning a lot about safety preparations, what needs to be implemented when going on trips and such. The youth here are very strong and what I can tell as their results of unity is from the leadership among them. The youth is primarily run by a youth committee who guide the activities and studies. There are some adults involved for guidance and for their presence, but it is manly run by the youth. The youth here are more around the high school college age, but nonetheless they are still youth in relation to their stage of life as youth in America. The passion that I saw in the youth was incredible! On the way back from the beach, the whole bus was rock’n literally! The youth sang songs accompanied by the rhythm of miscellaneous items such as wrenches, hard plastic coverings, the side of the metal bus, and so on! It was so encouraging to see the openness to live on firer for Christ! I want to bring back this excitement and love to the youth that I am apart of.
Then on Saturday, I made a long journey to an all girls senior academy for the daughter of Pastor Ntim. They had an awards ceremony that lasted for over four hours and started two hours late! TIA (This Is Africa)! The day was long, but it was good to see the encouragement of women education in a developing country. The traffic when we got back to Accra was ridiculous and once again I understand why they pray before and after they travel for it is truly God protecting you. My first three days here at Faithway Christian Church has been very encouraging and I am excited for what is yet to come!