February 2007
Making music in Niger
Nigerien nomadic musicians in the church courtyard.
Travel has been a big part of Glen’s ministry over the
last several months. He visited our missionaries and partners
in Niger in November where he found a musician had wired a box
of about 24 “D” cell batteries to a homemade amplifier
for his instrument. We found these musicians passing the afternoon
away in the churchyard in Maradi, Niger.
In November Glen was also in northern Ghana attending the celebration
of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, northern presbytery’s
50th anniversary celebration. No one questioned the fact that
the presbytery has been around for almost 90 years. It seems they
never had a 50th anniversary celebration. And so, since Ghana
was going to be celebrating their 50th year of independence in
March of 2007, and the presbytery was older than the country,
now seems a good time. It was good to be present with PC(USA)
Africa area coordinator Doug Welch, who had also traveled to Niger
with Glen.
The 115-year old worship center of the Woadze congregation.
Glen was on the road again in December, this time to the eastern
region of Ghana to tour new church development sites like the
one of the Woadze (pronounced Wahd-jay) congregation, which was
founded in 1887 and still utilizes their original building made
of mud and straw with stucco typical of the period (circa 1890).
The congregation has undertaken to raise the building to roof
stage, has the resources to provide the steel trusses, and is
ready to finish the roof.
The new building for the Woadje congregation, to which they
plan to add a roof before the rains come.
Thanks to generous Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations,
this dream will become a reality. As a result of this visit, a
booklet has been produced giving information on the congregations
of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, who are seeking
help. Before that booklet was even published the Outreach Foundation
had identified a major donor in the United States, a congregation
that was doing their own building program and wanted to be a part
of something bigger than themselves. With a $50,000 gift they
roofed 16 churches here. That makes 30 in the last year. Only
70 more to go.
We were just as busy between mid-December and mid-January, but
focused more on “survival” types of activities. A
case of malaria, a lack of running water, no electricity, and
a landlord who wasn’t much interested in taking corrective
action kept us hopping around looking for water sources and feeling
the heat a lot more without our fans. To date, the landlord still
seems uninterested in attending to matters and so the months of
January and February were spent looking for new housing and preparing
for a move. But of course there had to be some travel in there
as well so Glen, as has become his habit when a move is coming
up, left. The Africa area regional liaisons had a retreat in Cape
Town, South Africa (I know, tough duty) in February. Exciting
things are happening as the regional liaisons meet and share history,
partner priorities, their own personal strengths and weaknesses,
and the resources available, all in the interest of developing
a cohesive and helpful Africa-wide strategy. Each country will
have its own individual strategy and together they will help to
form a regional strategy. Regional strategies will form the backbone
of our Africa strategy. All this is mandated in large measure
because we are facing new realities in mission. The resources
available to us are increasingly restricted and our strategies
need to address these realities.
The Hallead family strategy is also being formed and part of
that is now to get moved and to raise funds for our vehicle and
travel. All of this again is largely necessitated by the shrinking
dollars available at the national/international church level.
But the strategy also includes having more and more personal contact
with the churches and individuals who make our mission work possible.
And that’s where you come in. We need supporting individuals
and congregations. If you’re interested in partnering with
us, drop us a line and let us share with you what we see the Lord
doing in West Africa and through our ministry. Check out the following
sites:
www.hallead.org
www.hallead.blogspot.com
http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/profiles/halleadg.htm
Other ways to engage mission include the big Mission Celebration
2007 event to be held in Louisville, Kentucky, October 2 through
6.
See: http://www.pcusa.org/missionchallenge07/pdfs/ missionchallengebroc.pdf.
Additionally the World Mission program unit will be sending 30
missionaries to speak spread out amongst our 120 presbyteries
for the month of October. Has your Presbytery made plans yet to
host a missionary? Perhaps your congregation could help make that
happen. The reality is the national church offices want congregations
to develop a personal relationship with a missionary and if possible
to make a commitment to their financial support, their encouragement,
and their interpretation. Yes, to use the increasingly famous
Ghanaian Sankofa image, which implies we move forward by learning
from the past, we’re seeing again the value of individuals
and congregations having deep and meaningful personal relationships
with mission personnel. Your church needs to have its very own
missionary. Here’s the write up.
Learn more about Mission Challenge '07
We’re paying to get the missionaries to the middle governing
bodies, and we’re asking presbyteries to host the missionaries,
arrange for a full schedule visiting churches and provide transportation
during the visit. Learn more about Mission Challenge '07.
Thirty-five missionaries have been selected to participate.
· Together, they have 622 years of service around the world,
an average of almost 18 years per person.
· They serve in Korea, Mexico, Hungary, Northern Ireland,
Cameroon, Pakistan, Thailand, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Bolivia,
Egypt, Peru, Malawi, Germany, China, South Africa, Zambia and
Lebanon.
· They serve in a great variety of ministries, including
education, evangelism, health, development and peacemaking.
There are many ways for congregations to support missionaries
— prayer, financial support, building relationships —
and to get more involved in world mission. Find out more about
how to support missionaries.
Many resources already exist that describe how Presbyterians
are involved in God’s mission around the world. Order resources
or subscribe to newsletters about Presbyterian mission work.
This is a chance for renewal in the congregation. Mission, it
is our call, it is our life, it is our goal. Thanks for being
apart of it.
In Service on Your Behalf,
Glen, Carol, Jacob and Caleb Hallead
Accra Ghana
The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 315 |
