This past year, I turned 31. That means that I have celebrated 31 Christmases. Each year, I enjoyed the traditions that my family and churches have observed: going Christmas caroling, decorating the tree, enjoying Christmas parties, and of course eating all of those good Christmas snacks and meals. Christmas Eve found me at my grandmother's, where we read the Christmas story, opened presents, and ate homemade chocolate cake. Christmas is, for me, a combination of the celebration of Christ's birth and an enjoyment of nostalgic memories and familial warmth.
Leading up to Christmas, however, is a season the church has historically celebrated called "Advent." This literally means "coming," and is a season both to celebrate Christ's first coming and to prepare for when he comes again. In the process, the church has endeavored to be the presence of Christ in this world.
In my 31 Christmases, in my 31 Advent seasons, I never saw this as clearly as I did this year - because this year, I went to Ghana.
The Virginia Baptist Mission Board has a partnership with the Ghana Baptist Convention. This particular partnership is focused on the region of Yendi in northeast Ghana, an area with a 95% prevalence rate of malaria - and a relatively low percentage of Christians. More than Nets is a two year comprehensive project of the VBMB and Ghana Baptist Convention to reduce malaria in Yendi and plant Christian churches in the region. (Check this great project out here)
I was one of a group of pastors and other committed Virginia Baptists invited to travel to Ghana in early December. We had multiple aspects to our mission: we distributed mosquito nets to combat malaria, we planted churches in villages without a Christian presence, we encouraged existing churches and baptized new believers, and we trained new pastors.
Net distribution was one of the primary tasks for our team. Over the course of several days of distribution, we visited in the homes of Ghanaians and showed them how to use their new nets. A simple net can protect a mother and several children from malaria for 3-5 years if they sleep under it at night - a tremendous protection in a region where so many are affected by this tropical disease each year. Our team distributed 2,747 mosquito nets provided by Virginia Baptist churches. Through these nets, the power of Christ literally is protecting the lives of men, women, and children in the Yendi province of Ghana.
Another important task our team undertook was planting new churches. Yendi is overwhelmingly Muslim, but the vast majority of people in Yendi have a spiritual hunger. Sometimes, we would show up in a village to distribute nets and be asked to plant a church by the residents. Other times, our Ghanaian Baptist brothers and sisters would take us into a village, begin singing, and see the entire town turn out to see what was going on. Over the course of the week, Christ opened the door for us to plant 25 churches - including one I was privileged to name Grace Hills Baptist Church. In those 25 churches, 1,607 people expressed faith in Christ for the first time. Just as Christ's birth ignited faith in the lives of shepherds and kings, so today Christ is sparking faith among the people of Ghana.
Those new churches need leaders, and our team helped train 40 church leaders who have been receiving guidance from local Ghana Baptists. I taught a course on Genesis, and another pastor, Bill Booth, taught a class about Personal Evangelism. In these classes, I saw church leaders - new Christians themselves - develop a deeper understanding of God's work in the world. They will carry that understanding back to their churches and invest that understanding in the lives of their people.
Those leaders have already been hard at work. Churches planted in the past year have been introducing people to Jesus and discipling them in faith. One of the privileges of our trip was baptizing many of these new believers in Yendi. I personally had the chance to baptize 32 new brothers and sisters in Christ in a river on the border of Ghana and Togo - in a village I had to reach by riding on the back of a motorbike along dirt roads. Altogether, our team celebrated the baptisms of 277 people. This Advent saw God's family grow larger and more vibrant.
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The season of Advent is about the coming of Jesus Christ into our world - and I saw that happen with my own eyes in Ghana this year. It was something that God made happen - but it was something that ordinary people here in Virginia are making possible. Virginia Baptist churches are making it possible for Christ to come to new people...people who are made in God's image, people who are hungry for a relationship with God, people who are responding to Christ's love in amazing ways.
This is a ministry that is continuing. More than Nets will continue for at least another year, and I would like to encourage you to support this effective ministry. One way to support is through your prayers; especially pray for Emmanuel Mustafa, leader of this ministry effort, and the Ghanaian church leaders.
Another way to support More than Nets is by purchasing nets for distribution. $10 will provide a net, pay for it to be transported to the home of a Ghanaian family, provide training for that family in how to use the net, and help finance church planting efforts in the Yendi region. Could you give a net? Or could you give a net a month through 2014? Each net could save the life of 1-4 people for 3-5 years - a dozen nets could protect between 12 and 48 people. You can find more information on the More than Nets Facebook page.
Please consider how you might make a difference in Ghana - and keep the season of Advent, of the coming of Christ, going throughout the year.
In Christ,
Adam
Leading up to Christmas, however, is a season the church has historically celebrated called "Advent." This literally means "coming," and is a season both to celebrate Christ's first coming and to prepare for when he comes again. In the process, the church has endeavored to be the presence of Christ in this world.
In my 31 Christmases, in my 31 Advent seasons, I never saw this as clearly as I did this year - because this year, I went to Ghana.
The Virginia Baptist Mission Board has a partnership with the Ghana Baptist Convention. This particular partnership is focused on the region of Yendi in northeast Ghana, an area with a 95% prevalence rate of malaria - and a relatively low percentage of Christians. More than Nets is a two year comprehensive project of the VBMB and Ghana Baptist Convention to reduce malaria in Yendi and plant Christian churches in the region. (Check this great project out here)
I was one of a group of pastors and other committed Virginia Baptists invited to travel to Ghana in early December. We had multiple aspects to our mission: we distributed mosquito nets to combat malaria, we planted churches in villages without a Christian presence, we encouraged existing churches and baptized new believers, and we trained new pastors.
Net distribution was one of the primary tasks for our team. Over the course of several days of distribution, we visited in the homes of Ghanaians and showed them how to use their new nets. A simple net can protect a mother and several children from malaria for 3-5 years if they sleep under it at night - a tremendous protection in a region where so many are affected by this tropical disease each year. Our team distributed 2,747 mosquito nets provided by Virginia Baptist churches. Through these nets, the power of Christ literally is protecting the lives of men, women, and children in the Yendi province of Ghana.
Another important task our team undertook was planting new churches. Yendi is overwhelmingly Muslim, but the vast majority of people in Yendi have a spiritual hunger. Sometimes, we would show up in a village to distribute nets and be asked to plant a church by the residents. Other times, our Ghanaian Baptist brothers and sisters would take us into a village, begin singing, and see the entire town turn out to see what was going on. Over the course of the week, Christ opened the door for us to plant 25 churches - including one I was privileged to name Grace Hills Baptist Church. In those 25 churches, 1,607 people expressed faith in Christ for the first time. Just as Christ's birth ignited faith in the lives of shepherds and kings, so today Christ is sparking faith among the people of Ghana.
Those leaders have already been hard at work. Churches planted in the past year have been introducing people to Jesus and discipling them in faith. One of the privileges of our trip was baptizing many of these new believers in Yendi. I personally had the chance to baptize 32 new brothers and sisters in Christ in a river on the border of Ghana and Togo - in a village I had to reach by riding on the back of a motorbike along dirt roads. Altogether, our team celebrated the baptisms of 277 people. This Advent saw God's family grow larger and more vibrant.
.JPG)
The season of Advent is about the coming of Jesus Christ into our world - and I saw that happen with my own eyes in Ghana this year. It was something that God made happen - but it was something that ordinary people here in Virginia are making possible. Virginia Baptist churches are making it possible for Christ to come to new people...people who are made in God's image, people who are hungry for a relationship with God, people who are responding to Christ's love in amazing ways.
This is a ministry that is continuing. More than Nets will continue for at least another year, and I would like to encourage you to support this effective ministry. One way to support is through your prayers; especially pray for Emmanuel Mustafa, leader of this ministry effort, and the Ghanaian church leaders.
Another way to support More than Nets is by purchasing nets for distribution. $10 will provide a net, pay for it to be transported to the home of a Ghanaian family, provide training for that family in how to use the net, and help finance church planting efforts in the Yendi region. Could you give a net? Or could you give a net a month through 2014? Each net could save the life of 1-4 people for 3-5 years - a dozen nets could protect between 12 and 48 people. You can find more information on the More than Nets Facebook page.
Please consider how you might make a difference in Ghana - and keep the season of Advent, of the coming of Christ, going throughout the year.
In Christ,
Adam
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