Dear Praying Friends,
John the Baptist said concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and himself, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” That must be the story of our lives, homes, and ministries. We must make much of Jesus Christ. When folks see and hear us, they should be seeing and hearing Christ through us. The focus must be Him, not us. I am reminded of the words of William Carey when he said, “After I am gone, please speak not of Dr. Carey, but of my wonderful Saviour.”
The Lord allowed Angie and I a smooth transition to Ghana. We arrived on January 5th and have been settling into our new home. Our container arrived in February. The Lord provided every need in relation to our container, including $3,500 in unexpected duty as Ghana has changed their laws on clearing a “duty-free” container. During the clearing process, God brought us into contact with a high-ranking customs officer who is a Fundamental Bible-believing Baptist. He assured me that in the future, every container needs to come through his office and will be duty-free. What a blessing! This is especially good as we expect another container (full of Bibles, Gospel Tracts, and Bible Institute Supplies) from one of our supporting churches in late Spring.
Since arriving, we have been attending services with Pastor Dare and the Fundamental Bible Baptist Church. This church, which has been the center of our ministry in Ghana since it was chartered in 2018, is very close to moving into their own building. The Lord provided $10,000 for them to pour the second floor (their ceiling). We plan on having a “grand opening” service in their new building on Resurrection Sunday.
Our Bible Institute began its tenth semester in February. We are thankful to be finally teaching ‘in person’ to our students here in Ghana. The Lord has given us eight students here and several more in the USA and the Grenadine Islands. While doctrinal instruction is going on in the classroom, practical training is being administered in the field as well. We are establishing preaching points in various villages to give these young men opportunities to preach the Word and witness publicly. We also have a strong desire to emphasize prayer. Preaching, church-planting, and public witnessing is powerless without prayer.
We traveled to Agona Nkwanta where another one of our church-plants is located. Pastor Frederick has been faithfully holding services there in his house since 2019. God has given them a beautiful piece of land with a house and a foundation already laid for a church- building. Within a month, we will be taking a group of workers to clear the land and set up one of our two gospel tents. The church will be able to move out of a very packed living room into a 40’ x 60’ tent. The tent will suffice until God provides the $15,000 necessary to build their church building.
We have been able to send literally thousands of vinyl-covered whole Bibles, hundreds of beautiful leather Bibles, and tens of thousands of John & Romans throughout several regions of Ghana. It certainly costs money to transport these much-needed resources across Ghana, but the Lord has provided through your support. We are preparing to ship 380 boxes of John & Romans along with whole Bibles to the country of Liberia. Jehovah-Jireh is the story of our ministry.
In 1994, I left my parents in Maryland to follow God’s call to South Dakota. This year, we left our children to follow God’s call to West Africa. I would be lying if I told you that it is not hard. But we are also thankful for the sufficiency of God’s grace. We are excited to be able to report to you that Angie and I are going to be grandparents! Jimmy & Tori are expecting our first grandchild. Praise the Lord!
We were also overjoyed to hear that our youngest son surrendered to the call of God to preach last Sunday evening. Please continue praying for our sons and daughters-in-law as they serve the Lord where He has placed them. Please pray that God would empower us to do His will; that He would open the exact ministry doors He wants us to walk through; and that He would provide us with our own vehicle.
Your Missionaries,
James & Angie