Upper Northern Presbytery, Evangelical Presbyterian Church Ghana - October, 2011

In March, 2010, a group of eight representatives from Lake Erie Presbytery in Pennsylvania came to Ghana to explore the possibility of a partnership with the Upper Northern Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana.  The Upper Northern Presbytery is based in Yendi, a town of about 50,000 inhabitants located in the semi-arid and predominantly Muslim Northern Region of the country. 

During their visit, the Lake Erie group toured rural areas around Yendi, where they saw E.P. Church congregations and schools, as well as health clinics, agricultural facilities, and development projects being run by EPDRA, the church’s Development and Relief Agency.  In one village aided by EPDRA, a young man has developed a local salt lick for farm animals.  The village plans to start production and marketing of this salt lick, and the money earned will go to support the economic development of the village.

One Muslim elder from the village told the group from Lake Erie that the village’s residents have never known the government of Ghana to come and help them in any way.  However, when it comes to education, health care, and social and economic development, they see firsthand the work of the E.P. Church.  For all practical purposes, he explained, the E.P. Church is the village’s government.

When they learned that Lake Erie Presbytery was considering a partnership with the E.P. Church, the residents were excited to know that the work EPDRA is doing in the north might grow and spread with help from Lake Erie.  Both the Muslims and Christians were grateful for the Lake Erie group’s faith, and for their response to Christ’s call to love and serve their neighbors.

This October, four representatives from Lake Erie will be returning to Ghana to sign a formal partnership agreement with the Upper Northern Presbytery.  I know all are looking forward to the friendships and relationships that will develop between the presbyteries, and for the ways in which God will be present among them as they work together in mission and ministry.  

Three elders from a village near Yendi, Ghana, which is being assisted by the E.P. Church Development and Relief Agency, EPDRA.

The village residents show the Lake Erie visitors a locally developed and produced salt lick.  The proceeds from sales of the salt lick will go to support the economic development of the village.  

A young man from the village and an employee of EPDRA give the Lake Erie visitors a guinea fowl, in gratitude of their visit.  

When arriving in the village, the Lake Erie visitors encountered some residents constructing a mud-brick house.  The work was put on hold during the visit.  

Some young men from the village near Yendi, Ghana.  Most residents attend school through the primary and middle school level, at which time they begin work on family farms.  

BBC map showing Yendi in Ghana.

PCUSA Presbyterian Women Grant Recipient

In 2011, the Presbyterian Women from the Presbyterian Church USA gave a grant to a women's cooperative near Kasoa, a seaside town to the west of Accra.  The women of this cooperative currently use traditional techniques to dry and smoke fish.  Most of this work happens within the household, and the resulting smoke can cause health problems for the women and children.

The PW grant will help the cooperative to build a community fish smoking facility.  Take a look at some of the pictures below.  

Currently, the women smoke fish in the yard of the house, where they also do the cooking and the wash.  The new facility will eliminate the need to do this at home. 

Women buy the fish at the beach, when the men come in from fishing, to sell what they catch. 

Sun dried fish! 

The new facility, under construction. 

Kasoa Fishing Harbor

In the pictures below, you'll get an impression of the fishing harbor near Kasoa.  This is where the women come to buy the fish that the men have caught and brought back to the harbor.  In the pictures, you see people mending nets and repairing boats.  Even the very young boys help out with the work.  

What I Love About Ghana - Akpafu Odomi

Wednesday night worship at the Akpafu Odomi Evangelical Presbyterian Church. 

Akpafu Odomi is a village just north of Hohoe, in the Volta Region of Ghana, about 4 hours northeast of Ghana's capital Accra. It's small, but nonetheless, the congregation is vibrant and has an incredible music ministry. I always enjoy when I can visit them and listen to the choirs sing.

In 2003, a group from the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago traveled to Akpafu and helped work on the early stages of the chapel construction project.  Additional funds given by Fouth Church allowed Akpafu to completely roof the chapel.  In November, 2010, the church celebrated its 100th anniversary with a dedication of the finished chapel -- although there is still quite a bit of finishing work to be done.

Here, you can see some pictures of the anniversary celebration in 2010, and the construction in 2003:

The church choir, as the centennial service is about to begin.

Rev. Francis Amenu, moderator of the EP Church, cutting the ribbon into the chapel. 

When Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, came to Ghana in June, 2003, this is what they found.  The group worked alongside the residents of Akpafu Odomi, hauling sand and water from the river to make concrete blocks. 

Healing and Deliverance

One of the things I have been trying to understand and appreciate since coming to Ghana is the healing and deliverance services that have become and more and more visible and important within Christian congregations. In the Presbyterian churches across West Africa, the younger generation of pastors and church members have made healing and deliverance a focus of much worship and ministry.

I encourage you to watch a video that is posted on the web, by the filmmaker James Ault. Although the video is more than 10 years old, it is a good picture of what healing and deliverance is like.

www.vimeo.com/album/123087

I think this is an area in which our different churches and cultures need to have more dialog. I would also like to hear more theological reflection from the church in West Africa, how healing and deliverance is part of the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Deliverance session with Nana Yaa & her mother led by Abboa-Offei from james ault on Vimeo.

March, 2011 - Ghana

During my visits to Presbyterian congregations in Ghana, I’m often asked to find for them American church partners.  Although there is an expressed desire for international friendships, when I probe about why congregations want foreign partners, I’m almost always told that these partners have the ability to bring in needed money and resources.  When Ghanaian congregations begin construction of a new chapel, there seems to be an especially strong desire to find someone from abroad who can help speed up the building process.

I believe that a legacy of poverty, colonialism, and past unequal connections have led many Ghanaian congregations to believe that they can only be the recipients, while foreign partners can only be the givers.  If we aren’t careful, it seems our partnerships run the risk of reinforcing these stereotypes and repeating past mistakes.

Last year, after the Haiti earthquake, I noticed some conversations in Ghana that were quite striking for what they implied.  There were a few appeals within the country asking people to assist Haiti financially.  And on more than a few occasions, I heard people questioning, why would we give, how can we give, when we are the ones who have such great need.

If anything, I think the Presbyterian Church (USA) can help its West African partners by lifting up the conviction that they, too, have been given gifts by the Holy Spirit.  They, too, have something valuable to give, both to serve the common good and to build up the body of Christ.

Over the past several years, First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights, Illinois, and the Kaneshie, Accra congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana have joined together as mission partners, helping to build a school and chapel in a rural and undeveloped area on the outskirts of Accra.  I love the work they are doing, because it’s not Arlington Heights giving and Kaneshie receiving.  Rather, the two congregations have come together to help build up a third party in Ghana.

I think this model of mission has been particularly empowering for Ghanaians.  As parts of Ghana get richer, I pray that we in the PC(USA) can help encourage our Ghanaian brothers and sisters to realize that they do have quite a bit to give, and they can be the ones helping those in the country who have less.

Above:  The dual use school and chapel, which Kaneshie and Arlington Heights are building in Udontia.  
 

One of the lay preachers in the newly-established congregation, giving me a tour of the construction site.

 

This is the "chapel" that the Udontia congregation is currently using.  One of the associate pastors at Kaneshie, Rev. Samuel Ofoli, frequently leads worship in the village. 

PCUSA Mission Yearbook - Nigeria - February 18, 2011

The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria traces its origins to 1846, when missionaries from Scotland arrived in Calabar, at the invitation of the local kings.  In its early years, the church spread to the nearby cities of Port Harcourt and Aba.  In more recent times, it has expanded into Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria, and Abuja, the political capital.  The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria is a large, vibrant, and growing denomination.  It is a wonderful example of how a church can be African, charismatic, and Reformed, all at the same time. 

The church has placed a high priority on establishing a university, named Hope Waddell University, in honor of the first Presbyterian missionary to arrive in the country.  The church envisions “a dynamic institution built on the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria’s tradition of academic excellence and the Church’s commitment to the regeneration of society toward service to God and humanity.”  It sees the university as a way to train leaders who will serve Nigeria, just as the church has served the country. 

Nigeria’s potential is enormous.  It has a large and educated population, and vast natural resources.  But the problems are also daunting.  There is periodic violence between religious and ethnic groups, and wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few while most are poor.  Let us pray, therefore, for the church and its work. 

Lord God, you have promised that in Christ, there is a new creation, the old has past and the new is come.  We pray for the Christian mission, ministry, and service of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria.  With the power of your Holy Spirit, may they bring about transformation and regeneration of church and society.  

The moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Rev. U. B. Usung, standing in front of a historic congregation in the city of Calabar.