Category: missionaries

Thank you, HMC Missionaries

“The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  —Matthew 9:37-38

Today we are thankful for our missionaries who have obeyed God and went out as workers, sharing the good news of Jesus, and bringing in a harvest of new lives who are now followers of Him. Thank you missionaries for giving of your time, and making it your life mission to share the Gospel message with those who have not heard. Often times, we do not understand how much of a sacrifice it can be to serve, even in a short term capacity. It can involve changing your plans. It can involve giving up comforts. It can involve the challenges of learning new languages, cultures, and contexts. It can involve leaving behind friends and family, even temporarily. It can even involve going into some parts of the world that are dangerous and risky, yet you still go because you know that God’s call on your life is what you were designed for. Thank you for inspiring us and showing us what it means to go and make followers of Jesus Christ at home and around the world.

—Your family at Hanover Missionary Church

 

#HMCMonthofThanks

Lord, Teach Us To Pray – Sermon Video

Our Father in heaven:
May your holy name be honored;
your Kingdom come;
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need.
Forgive us the wrongs we have done,
as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.
Keep us from yielding to temptation and deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen

 

An Update From The Claussen’s

the following is a verbatim update, sent to us by Andrew Claussen, one of our missionaries in Indonesia

Last month Amberlynne became bedridden and we suspected pregnancy, but took her to town to verify that it was a baby causing all the issues and not a virus. She is doing much better now that she is moving out of the morning sickness stage. We are now in town for the next month because Amberynne’s local OBYGN (she is Aussie), said she needs to stay here and regain the weight lost while sick.

Because of the nature of Amberlynne’s births she can’t deliver in country. Our original plan was to go to Singapore and then come back for the final 3 months in Papua, but after listening to the counsel of our co-workers, we have decided to come home 5 months earlier for our Home Assignment. Initially, we were disappointed that we weren’t finishing out our 4 year term. But as we have processed the decision, we have peace. We are exhausted physically, emotionally and spiritually and are looking forward to resting.

Our plan currently is to arrive in the USA the first week of December. Going from 3 years of perpetual summer to winter will be an interesting experience. We will mostly be in Washington state during home assignment (H.A.) I plan to work with my brother (to subsidise our 24k Worldteam salary) volunteer at our home church, and get medical training for the field as well.

That being said, the first couple of months, we want to take a break from ministry. We have spent 3 years pouring into others with without being filled ourselves. We are looking forward to worshipping together with other believers and being fed the word of God by someone other than ourselves. In the summer we plan on being on the east coast with the intention of speaking at churches. We will get in touch when we have figured out those dates! We’d love for the opportunity to share some morning. We’re also planning on stopping in a second time, but haven’t worked out the exact timing yet.

There are some ways you could help us prepare to come home…

1. Pray for us to end well here. While we are excited and anxious to be home in a culture and language we completely understand, yet we want to finish well. That means taking the time and energy to say goodbye culturally and to make sure our house and ministry is set in order for our year long absence.

2. Pray for our national co-workers (Yohanes and Elies (ay-less). Our team is a mixture of gifts and talents. We all bring something important to the table, and when one is gone the rest feel it. Our co-worker, Delila (Elies’ wife), is also pregnant. If her pregnancy continues, they will also be leaving the village for a time.

3. Pray for our kids. The village is a real struggle for them. While coming home will be a huge blessing for them, please pray that Danokit will have a special place in their hearts despite the hardships and loneliness of Danokit compared to the plethora of family and great blessings that America offers.

4. On a more practical side… our clothes are all sun faded and moldy and are more appropriate for the tropics, not the cold rainy Washington winter so we will need to update our wardrobe . Any gift cards would be awesome! We aren’t picky. Our favourite places are Walmart (yes, we are one of THOSE people), Target, Old Navy, but really… we will take anything. And if people have 3 or 4 bucks left over on a card, we’ll be happy to take those. And on that note, we also wouldn’t be against any restaurant/fast food/gas gift cards 🙂 I’m not really sure how that works with Canadian gift cards? Maybe that wouldn’t work?

Tickets aren’t purchased yet so plans aren’t finalised. I will let you know more as plans develop.

(learn more about the Claussen’s on their website or their ministry facebook page)

If you’re interested in supporting them, contact us and we’ll connect you with our Mission’s Planning Team.

Ghana 2014

A Missions Update from Neal & Aggie Stretch

Imagine the very thought of ‘seeing’ 3,500 children in under two weeks; traveling to 8 different villages to set up a clinic; making some sense of the culture and history of a place. 

A mission trip is many things: absorbing unfamiliar sounds, smells, noises, scenes, dialect.  More closely, embracing people’s sorrows, joy, stories long past, current dilemmas. On a mission trip one must cooperate with a team of seemingly like-minded individuals.  Prayer, planning and much good will made this mission trip a success.

The team, made up of 7 Canadians and many more Ghanian doctors and nurses delivered care to 3,500 students and staff.  After 10 years of visiting these same villages, many of the students were healthy, requiring only deworming medicine, vitamins and a kind word.

Narious and Joseph, both of whom have recently graduated from Accra Medical School, were part of the team.  They, along with 3 other medical students, had been supported by doctors from the Hanover Area so they could complete their studies. Monies were supplied for their tuition and boarding.  They in turn, offer their expertise to under-serviced areas in Ghana.

Our connection to IN Ghana staff continues to deepen.  Some nurses have been on the field with us 5 times.  Cromwell headed up the team.  We have known him for the 10 years we have been part of their wonderful organization.

We appreciated the glory of finding a pair of eyeglasses in a box of hundreds.   Students breaking into beaming smiles, turning their heads in wonder, then reading the list on the board, ‘Lord, peace, desk, school, love’.  We were moved by the young teen who made her way to the clinic with a terrible wound on her foot; the 2 year old with a broken arm that had not been set properly.  There was much chuckling in the dispensary, figuring out language and the best way to entertain those waiting. 

A visit to Cape Coast and the Slave Castle plus a walk in the tree canopy, 100s of meters above the ground, left some of us a little shaken, maybe more thoughtful.


Our last stop was at a fishing village.  It had all the earmarks of paradise.  Aqua surf foaming onto a pristine beach.  Ancient palm trees arched by wind and weather.  Colourful fishing boats in the shade.  Observing and chatting with the villagers I realized the environment did not match their plight.  The encounter pushed me back to our first visit in 2003, where I had my first view into the injustice of poverty and the poverty of injustice. 

We were struck by the fine, sensitive work IN Ghana has participated in for many years, bringing young boys off the fishing boats and into school. 

We were careful to debrief with the team in the field.  We have met since.  Several of us have needed more intense assistance to be properly debriefed.  There is such an accumulation of memories after sundry trips.  (We have offered debriefing services to the local mission team headed for Haiti, plus information to Barrie Mutrie who often goes to Zimbabwe).

There are many to thank for the richness of this experience.  Above all we acknowledge God’s persistent  provision and unfailing love for all of us, His precious children.

Tales From The Mission Field: Surplus Prayer

Guest Post by Aggie Stretch

There is no such thing as ‘prayer surplus’ when planning a mission trip.  We encourage a Ten To Pray ideal.  Ten friends and family to institute, ‘Don’t worry about anything, pray about everything’ Phil 4:6.  This grafts others into the mission branch. 
Here is an example of faithful prayer:
Upon our return from Ghana, Anna approached us to say she had been praying through Psalm 91 while we were away.  It begins beautifully with, “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty”.
The verses she felt compelled to repeat were, “For He orders his angels to protect you wherever you go.  They will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.  You will trample down lions and poisonous snakes….”  
She could not know that we had come within 2 feet of a python: 6 inches in diameter and about 5 feet long, while walking down a dark lane in the night time towards the main road in Amrahia.  Anna is one of our Ten to Pray. She has prayer journeyed with us for 10 years. 
 She is a faithful friend; we serve a faithful God.