Jasmund Outreach

Dear Family & Friends,

With the encouragement & gifts from friends and partners, Siham initiated the Give a Goat Outreach: Needs & candidates are identified in communities. Female – breeding goats are gifted to the neediest, who then give the first born female to another who has been paired the with initial recipient, and so on.

A dear friend and partner inspired this outreach when she and her family decided to limit their Christmas gift giving at home, and give animals to our needy brothers and sisters, in remote northern Ghana. Christmas is around the corner – would you consider giving? The average cost per goat is $50.00

WE GIVE BECAUSE HE GAVE!

67 of our widowed sisters & mothers have received (1st gift) female goats. Many have given birth to their first kids (some their 2nd & 3rd), many are currently pregnant or nursing kids.

We have 5 partner communities and we are praying and looking towards 2 new communities by Jan 2015.

The number of widows in line to receive the first female offspring is overwhelming – even heartbreaking. Please pray with us.

“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?”

we THANK GOD                                                                                                                                  & THANK YOU.

Love,

gary & siham

Dear Friends and Family,

Please pray with us for our brothers and sisters in West Africa and in Ghana.
As of now, there are no known cases of Ebola in Ghana.

Sign at Accra, Ghana Airport entry

Ghana has opened herself up to be the point of access for supplies and workers serving in the effort to treat and contain Ebola.

Ghana is now – often called a “Christian Nation.” Taking this initiative and compassionate role to serve the countries affected, is a testimony of Gods love and grace.

Gary & our brother Todd just returned from Ghana.

Loving and serving our friends and brothers.

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“Let us not just love with words and tongue, but with actions and truth”.

Todd & Emmanuel, with Roderick under “shade” tree, serving with Daniel, Emmanuel & Roderick.

“Though we are many … we are One Body!”

In Him,

gary & siham

"Lord, please teach us to number our days"

While reflecting, we’ve been encouraged and reminded of God’s amazing grace.

Reflecting: 
1998 – Praying, planning, preparing, 1st mission trip
1999 to 2008:  30 Global Outreach trips – 9 to Africa
2006 – Training – missionary commissioning  – "Sent to Serve"
2007 – Properties & House sold, shut down businesses
2008 – Final transitions – Full time ministry
2009 – Moved to Ghana

Change – Brokenness – Surrender – New Friends – protection & provision

    Home fellowship, team building, northern Ghana survey/outreach trips:
                    Learning – Listening – deeper submission

We are so thankful to God for you, our partners! It is through your love, prayer and financial sacrifice that the Lord has enabled us to serve in the following –

• Serving children:
  

  • Children (ages 5-16) rescued from child labor & slavery (usually, "owned" by fisherman) in the anti-child labor/trafficking effort in the Lake Volta region
  • 2 children’s homes (Orphanage/Foster homes) constructed/served in, a third under construction
    
  • 3 schools constructed
    
  • Feeding programs, VBS environments, teacher training, school supplies
    

• Serving pastors and churches:

  • 4 churches constructed
  • 3 church roofs constructed
    
  • Financial support for a number of pastors and ministries
  • Showings of The Jesus Film and The Passion of the Christ in different villages
  • Teaching/mentoring opportunities: conferences, seminars, preaching, pastors fellowships, women’s ministry, marriage ministry
    

• Serving as Ambassadors for Christ:

  • Many children accepted Christ, with Siham, Annie & Joseph Odei who served in children’s home/ministry (anti child labor efforts) and other children’s outreach environments
    
  • Various small groups for both believers, and non-believers
  • Numerous decisions/baptisms in church and conference environments
    
  • 12 men accepted Christ while building one of the children’s homes and school, some continue to work with us
  • 65 baptisms God has allowed us to perform
  • Many decisions for Christ in conference environments (329 decisions in a 2010 conference)
    
  • 8 non-Ghanaian friends have come to the Lord, including 5 Americans, who have each returned to their countries

• Serving the communities through village outreach:

  • 62 goats given to widows through the Give-A-Goat outreach project, which comes with commitments of giving 1st female offspring to other widows paired with initial recipients
  • 2 deep water wells
  • physical aid and benevolence
  • school feeding assistance for children
    
  • housing support/relief
  • medical aid

  
  

• Specific resources provided to ministry partners and pastors:
  

  • 9 motorcycles provided/given
    
  • 22 laptops donated
  • Hundreds of bibles and learning resources donated
    
  • Pastoral housing support
    
  • Many bags of clothing distributed

• Miscellaneous short term service to other mission organizations, including building projects and teaching environments
  

(These are what we can remember)
"God is faithful and He will do it."

Currently focusing on 2 new church community’s (many salvation’s/baptism’s in recent months). Building relationships and community; working towards a school/foster home campus here in an undeveloped region of the upper east. We are financially partnered with several local pastors and ministries, including the Christ For Youth(CYI) ministry. Accra (capital city) based CYI is now engaged in the outreach efforts in the north. A team of 30 young adults just returned from a short term mission trip in the north, serving in the communities mentioned above, Yeah God!

One or both of us have been able to be home for the birth’s of 6 grandchildren (# 8 arrived July 16), although being away from family and grandchildren continues to be our most difficult challenge.

We thank God as he has given us work in the U.S. each time we have been home, providing for our travel expenses. Our fiscal goal continues to be that donated funds be used for service on the ground in Africa.

We Go because He Came

        We Give because He Gave

"Oh, how He loves us!"

We thank God and we thank you.

Thank you for giving; thank you for sending us.
In Him,

gary & siham

Building For Eternity Foundation Ghana

Jasmund Outreach

International Fellowship of Chaplains

Recent outreach efforts and events:

Showings of the Jesus film in local dialects’, passion of the Christ and other films.

Numerous salvations and baptism’s (21 Baptisms last Sunday). New Church plant and growth.

View Full Album

Tongo Hope church (just over 1 year old) members serving and leading the work of relational evangelism, volunteer service work and providing meals in a new community outreach. We began moving out into the community in teams, up to 40 people at times, currently we cannot provide enough transportation for all who want to serve in this way. This new community began asking us when we would start a church. We called a meeting to discuss this with them, and the people came out in their numbers. We spoke about what they had been seeing and experiencing with us – that this is the church; the church of Jesus is a family and His body on earth, etc. Tongo Hope church members gave testimonies of how our Lord and the church have transformed their lives and how they have abandoned ancestor and idol worship. A new church began that day – with amazing love, unity, worship and excitement. Disciples making disciples. The next weeks meeting brought the chief and the elders.

Please pray for Hope Tongo and the Balungu church families.

Thank you for all your prayers and kind words of encouragement and comfort.

    Gary Sr. was in the hospital when we took a difficult decision for gary to return to Ghana. At that time the medical team felt that dad would have a measure of recovery, that his condition wouldn’t change rapidly, and that there would be time for decisions. After arriving in Ghana, dad was diagnosed as terminal. Dad and the family agreed that he did not not want to continue on breathing support. The next day, June 1, he entered hospice care, support was removed and a few hrs later he crossed over from death to life.
  

Recent days in Northern Ghana:

    -Started a Bldg project with/for a new ministry, baptized their oldest daughter while they were here from the U.S.
    -2 outreach evenings with Jesus films – many decisions for Christ.
    -Growth surge in Tongo Church    
    -Pastor Roderick & Elton (CYI) are up with us from Accra for a week, as we work/plan with Daniel and the new Tongo Church in multiplying disciples. (teams from Accra begin coming in July)
    -Provided our brother Peter with a new motorcycle as the one he received last year was used heavily for a bldg project. Peter donated used one to another brother.

Thank you again for your loving kindness,

love,

gary & siham

Gary is continuing in theological training at Lincoln Christian University. In this season and academic program, we’ll have some compressed classes on campus, and some online from Ghana. Heading back to Ghana after current class on May 28.

God has continued to provide construction/renovation work in the U.S. through dear friends and partners. God has provided for our travel and everything that we need, and most importantly, also for the needs of friends and partners in Ghana.

We are so grateful and thankful to our ministry partners who make it possible to serve our brothers and sisters in Africa.

Hanging out – Pastors Fellowship

Siham continues to serve/work with local partners through Give A Goat, and the women’s fellowships in 4 communities.

We have a number of friends and partners both in the U.S. and Ghana, who are enduring through some very difficult times. Some are even preparing to go home with our Lord.

We’ve been reminded in recent weeks:                                                                              “Therefore we do not loose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all, So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Love & Blessings,

gary & siham

We thank God and Thank You for providing the remaining 5 goats to complete this first group of 21 widows.

Our sisters and mothers range in age from 20’s to 90’s. All have suffered, many have suffered plenty.

Your giving is helping in many ways. Goats can deliver 2-3 kids per birth, sometimes 4. They can deliver up to 3 times per year.
– This initial animal family can grow to 300-500 in the first year and beyond 2,000 in 2 years.
– Ladies from different families, villages, etc are now helping each other.
-The emotional & spiritual encouragement to our sisters is more valuable than the physical support.

Many of our sisters have vision challenges; our mothers shown above in yellow and light blue plaid are blind. Mom – in the blue on right is a wonderful leader and helper to all!

The first group (A), has been paired with their sisters in group (B), who will help & wait for the first born female. Group (C) had 17 ladies as of a week ago, they will be paired with group B.

One sister has received the initial blessing and is responsible for her sisters blessing, and so on.

Thank you so much to you who have given. This initiative is growing into so much more than we had imagined. God is using it as a “ministry of reconciliation”.

“God can do anything, you know – for more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!
He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us.” Ephesians 3:20

We are praying, planning and meeting. God willing 3 other communities will launch within the next couple of weeks.

The Turkey was a gift from Clement & Jacob. It’s in the freezer now,,, no plans to eat anytime soon,,, 6 friends from U.S. will be here in late August,,, We’ll “chop plenty” (that’s – “eat good”) when they are here.
Love,
gary & siham

Dear Friends & Family,

We pray; that as you receive this note, you will be strengthened by how God is using you to love & encourage others in the name of Jesus. We pray that you will be encouraged by how God uses you to encourage us also.

Please pray for us: that we will not become weary in doing good,,, "Everywhere He went, He was doing good."

Solomon & Beatrice will be married soon. You helped to gift them with the roof for their room. Solomon in Yellow shirt.

Peter served along side of us, built and finished the roof in a day. He was touched by the condition of our friends, when we returned to Peter’s area, he sent food supplies to Solomon & Beatrice.
Peter is in Black shirt – on the roof.

We thank God for what He is doing in lives around us.

"This is my command; that you love one another as i have loved you."

Our friends were very happy that we killed this snake. A snake bite in a village is very dangerous, since medical attention or anti venom is often unavailable.

The snake was slightly wounded and in an aggressive state.
After the first strike the snake seemed to be trying to realign/reattach it’s body, this went on for some time even after striking off the head.

Although we love creation and don’t want to harm – anything, this encounter seems a bit symbolic of what God is doing in destroying the enemies work.

Living Water:

"A spring of living water, welling up from the inside,,,"

God bless you,
in Him,
gary & siham

Posted via email from Gary’s posterous

Posted via email from Gary’s posterous