Fasting and praying with other believers helps even more

We had a big response from people willing to spend the day fasting and praying for the Ghana Partnership yesterday, but due to the nature of the last minute invitation and the long weekend, among other legitimate reasons, it was down to four of us who got together to pray as a group.  (Thank you to those who participated both in body and spirit!)

That's when I got a proper perspective.  Peter Culyer, our missions director, had made contact so quickly yesterday with a real live person at the High Commission that his wife, Maria, pointed out that it was supernatural, perhaps an answer to our prayers.  During the course of the evening, after we broke our fast with a lovely meal, we talked about the microfinance program and how it has taken off and is a "success."  We talked more about Ghana and how we saw progress there; more than the advancement of projects, we saw hope of Christ in people's lives. 

You know, as I have come back to Canada and returned to my home culture with a new perspective, I have felt overwhelmed with the lack of hope here. Maybe even moreso than when I first went to Ghana.  It shocked me to see my culture who is for the most part living without God, who doesn't seem to feel the need for God, who is even trying to deconvert people from their belief in God.  As a whole, things look pretty grim over here, but when I meet and pray with like-minded people who have committed themselves to following Christ and loving others, the hope burns bright. 

I must spend my time this way to see where God resides and is at work.  It was true in Ghana, it's also true here.

Writing a letter always seems to help

Dear Ghana Partnership,

You and I have been well-acquainted for a while, but I have a hard time defining our relationship.  A few years ago, when you were just an idea, our church prayed about you and thought about you and then prayed some more.  We prayed and thought so hard, you eventually became a reality. 

You are now the name we attach to everything we do involving our ultimate goal to unite our church here and our sister church in Ghana, as well as all those little goals in between.  From sending that naive couple to Ghana to photocopying sign up sheets for volunteers, all donations, expenses, envelopes, banners, t-shirts and blog posts get your label, "Ghana Partnership."  I thought you'd be happy about that.  We could have named you better, I'm sure.  Maybe you're bitter about the fact that it sounds like you were created in a sterile office at a board table with a globe as the centrepiece and not in the hearts and souls of a group of passionate people seeking to do God's will.  Of course the latter is true, we just lack creativity.

To be frank, you have been a frustration to us from the get-go.  It seems like everything we tackle with you as the headliner either fails or gets extremely altered so as to be unidentifiable in its origin.  I am struggling to understand why this is.  And I am not alone in this sentiment!  We have people everywhere asking, does it have to be so hard? 

As we speak, John-Mark, Peter Culyer and Mark Webb are working diligently to recover from your latest trial, denied visas for our Ghanaian visitors, despite meeting every requirement possible.  We had letters of support, notarized documents, passports, fees and paper all lined up.  Our ducks were in a row!  And still, an arbitrary refusal.  Now we write more letters, fill out more forms, pay more money, and hope for better results.

My father suggests that you are an instrument to help fine-tune our faith.  Ghana Partnership, is this true?  What brilliant lesson is God teaching us through you now that we haven't learned 100 times over since you were birthed in our hearts?  Just read the entirety of this blog!  How many disappointments do we have to endure until we know we are on the right track?  Honestly, at times I feel like it's a sadistic game of playing "hot and cold" to find the "prize."  I keep hearing "Warmer... Warmer... WARMER... WARMER!  [pause] Cold." 

Do I need to say it?  I. Give.  Tell me where the blasted thing is.  

My brother-in-law, Rob, tells me that often when we have struggles, we already know the right answer.  Those times where we want to vent about our problems under the guise of wanting advice are really just ways of finding justification for our actions.  He told me this at a time when I was talking about you.  Let me say that I believe it does help to get things out of our system in order to find direction or support, but, fine, okay, we should know (or can find) the Godly response.   

Then there's the part about carrying it out.  It's never just a one time deal, then wrap-up party, but a continual process.  Two steps forward, one step back even.

One Godly lesson I learned in Ghana, and keep geting new opportunities to practice, is found in Psalm 112:7:  "[S]he will have no fear of bad news; [her] heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD."

I have to tell you, GP, if it weren't for words of wisdom like this, I might have given up on you a long time ago.  But I have high hopes for what you can become and how you can reach people for the gospel.  More than that, I have to believe that it's through these struggles that we are bolstering our testimony so that at the end of it we'll say, "LOOK and see what the Lord has done... in US!" 

All that to say, whether or not you were intended this way, you have become an instrument of fine-tuning for the church, and for me personally.  You, Ghana Partnership, are forever part of who I am. 

So there.

Sincerely, Loreli

We've been here before

We had everything lined up for our Ghanaian visitors.  We had purchased tickets, found accommodations, lined up transportation and planned the itinerary.  But we just received word that the trip may not happen because of something we're very familiar with: bureaucracy.  This time, blame it on our High Commission in Ghana for denying Pastor Charles, Mama Fredericka and Pastor Kassim their visitor visas.

The reasons given seem, well, unreasonable.  For one, they have said that because of their family relations already in Canada, they will not be permitted entry.  I don't see how having family here would deny them entry, more importantly, THEY DO NOT EVEN HAVE FAMILY HERE.  Also, the visa office has said that we haven't given enough proof of our ability to support our visitors, which we will of course work to rectify however possible.  Finally, they have said that our visitors do not have sufficient funds to support themselves.  They get a point for getting something right, but we'd hoped that providing proof of their sponsorship would take care of this as well.

The most frustrating part of this is trying to contact the visa office to clarify how we can make sure that these are addressed to their satisfaction.  Nothing is clearly stated on the denial to help us meet the criteria.  To say that Charles & Co. have family here is a mistake on their part, so how do we correct that?  We had already provided an official invitation letter signed on our letterhead and other documents to show our commitment to hosting our guests. If that wasn't good enough, what will be?

Oh, and the office does not accept calls or e-mail. 

It is ironic that I recently wrote about the Holy Spirit directing this partnership.  I don't necessarily believe that God is shutting the door on this; it may very well be that the enemy is doing his best to make this not happen.  I believe that the right response is to pray and work as hard as possible to get our visitors here. 

We would ask that you join us in prayer.  John-Mark spoke with Kassim after receiving the denials from him by fax.  They are all quite discouraged and even embarrassed.  Pray that God would make a way for their visit, that mercy would make a crack in the bureacracy in this case.  Pray that Charles, Fredericka and Kassim would not be discouraged, but rather encouraged by our church's desire to have them fellowship with us and our efforts to make it happen.  Pray that no matter what the circumstances, we would all seek God's will in our thoughts and actions. 

You are invited to fast and pray with us on Wednesday, July 2nd.  We will meet together as a group in the evening to break our fast with a light and simple potluck (something easy you will eat/can share).  We are also asking the Ghanaian church to join us that day.  If you would like to take part, please e-mail me at loreli[at]bfmc[dot]org and I will give you more details.

Holy Spirit Marketing

Our Ghana Info Night was a smash.  It helped that we tricked our Young Adults into attending since we held the meeting in their room on their weeknight.  I might try this sneaky technique more often.  We had 40 applications available for the short-term mission and only two were left over at the end of the night, plus a whack of volunteers signed up to help out with Pastor Charles and co.'s visit. 

You know, we have worked very hard in the past to garner interest for the Ghana Partnership.  It has always seemed to be a struggle.  We'd make announcements from the pulpit, send e-mails, hang posters, give handouts and would still only have a trickle of a response.  Apparently, marketing initiatives can only take one so far (or maybe our campaign was really lame).  We finally figured out that God was telling us NOT YET.

It's obvious that interest has peaked in our absence. People are now coming to us to see how they can be involved and there is much less of us pushing this on others.  Thank goodness the Holy Spirit is at work.  His marketing skills are so much more effective than ours. 

Many of you expressed an interest in attending Wednesday's meeting, but could not make it because of scheduling conflicts.  We did tape the presentation, including Mark Webb's soulful rendition of "Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener."  If you're interested in receiving a copy, please send me a message.

We are projecting dates for a leadership team in February, 2009 and an evangelism team June, 2009.  If you're considering signing on for a short-term mission, let me just say that the physical hurdles you are contemplating (maybe finances, work, fear of bugs) are No Big Deal.  I can say that with the credibility of hindsight (ask me about my panic attacks sometime).  However, the ways in which you will be challenged spiritually are a Very Big Deal.  What more reason do you need? God will take care of your hangups when you offer your service.

It's in the name

Although I have talked about shutting down this site for some time, it turns out that I can't.  Not only because I gave this address out to a bunch of new friends from the writer's conference I attended this past weekend, there's just so much Ghana-related stuff that we'll continue to be involved in for a while yet.  There are the visits from Pastor Charles, Mama Peace and Brother Kassim in just a few weeks, the prayer partnerships we want to promote, and the short-term team we will be recruiting, to happen February, 2009, Lord willing.

We have booked a meeting for people to get the deets this Wednesday, June 18th at Barrie Free Methodist Church.  We have called it "Ghana Info Night" because then we'll know that people have been led there by the Holy Spirit and not by any savvy marketing techniques.  I'm joking... but there's something to that.

Tomorrow I will be accompanying J-M to the church office to go through the play-by-play for our Ghanaian visitors.  When you think about it, it's been three months since we worked together.  But it is necessary to sit down and plan things like where our visitors will be speaking, sleeping, eating and touring.  So far, the one thing set in stone is the day we take them to the CN Tower and watch them freak out on the glass floor. 

We need volunteers.  We'll be sure to post job descriptions - or should we call it "opportunities?" - here and at church.  We'll do our best to think of a better description than "Volunteer Info Sheet."