by Ken Tolley
Tuesday morning presented us with the exciting opportunity to make a trip (too brief!) to the Bible Society of Egypt (BSOE) where we met with General Director Ramez Atallah, Administrator Lois Naguib, and others. BSOE provides the Bible in Arabic and recordings, children’s books, videos and other presentations of the Christian scripture not just for all Protestants, but also for Coptic Orthodox and Catholics in Egypt.
Read Moreby Pam Bowman
We left Cairo early, heading East to the Evangelical (Presbyterian) Church in Ismailia (on the Suez Canal) for the 10:30 service. Our friend Dr. Tharwat Wahba, head of the Mission Department at Cairo Seminary and leader of the Pastoral and Outreach Ministries Council (POMC) of the Synod of the Nile, joined us as a guest preacher. It was a special day for him as he would be with two pastors he has trained in mission. Traffic was congested—Sunday is the first day of the workweek here, and we were 15 minutes later for worship! Two simultaneous translators sat behind our group to unobtrusively help us follow Tharwat’s sermon based on Luke 4, Jesus’ sermon in which he made his own mission clear: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.”
Read Moreby Nancy Fox
In the wee hours of this morning, the Egypt spring 2020 team had finally all arrived in Egypt. Paul, Kathy and I are from National Presbyterian Church in Washington, Pam from Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church, New Jersey, and Ken from First Pres Charleston, West Virginia. Sometimes, little things like flying internationally can feel like moving mountains, if there is any little complication - such as an international virus threat, for example. But we trust the Lord has called us here and we are all practicing caution, foregoing the traditional Egyptian greeting - hugs and kisses on both cheeks - in favor of elbow or fist bumps. Sad.
Read Moreby Jeff Ritchie, for the team
Saturday, February 29 has arrived. The original reason we had come to Ghana was about to take place, namely the launching of The Sanneh Institute at the University of Ghana. We had been hearing about this new institute for advanced studies in Islam and Christianity since Professor John Azumah had visited Palms Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville Beach, Florida almost a year ago. It is an initiative that builds on the life-long work of the late Professor Lamin Sanneh of Yale University.
Read Moreby Jeff Ritchie, for the team
Today we visited the Akrofi-Christaller Institute for Theology, Mission, and Culture (ACI) located on top of a ridge outside Accra. ACI has long been a mecca for me to go deeper into African Christian studies, and I hoped our Palms Presbyterian friends would be as inspired during their visit as I have been the numerous times I’ve been there. We were not disappointed.
Our first meeting was with the Rev. Dr. Solomon Sule-Saa, Director of an initiative at Akrofi-Christaller Institute titled the Center for Interfaith Studies and Engagement in Africa. Solomon has been a personal friend since 1992, and I had followed his ministry over the years. Caryl Weinberg also had a very long friendship with him and was eager to see this new ministry.
After receiving “elephant-sized” hugs from this dear friend, Solomon and his colleagues introduced us to the Center. Its primary mission is to equip Christian leaders, resource Christian scholars and develop biblically-based reflection on interfaith issues in general, and Muslim-Christian interface in Africa in particular, through teaching, research, publications, and consultancy. One phrase in the presentation jumped out at us.
Read Moreby Ingram Caswell, for the team
Wednesday was a travel day. We said good-bye to our hosts in the Upper Presbytery and flew back to Accra. The following day we went to the Elmina Slave Castle, on the coast about three-and-a-half hours southwest of Accra. Our team was now augmented by Caryl Weinberg, Director of Missions for First Presbyterian Church, Evanston, Illinois, and trustee of The Outreach Foundation. Caryl has had a long history with Africa and African leaders. Over dinner, she introduced us to two of her special friends, Femi and Affy Adeleye, Nigerians who are living in Ghana.
Warned of the traffic getting in and out of Accra, we started our day early Thursday morning—a little before 6:00 AM. By 9:30 we were at our destination, Elmina Castle. Built by the Portuguese in 1482 as a trading post, it later became one of the most important jumping-off points for the Atlantic slave trade.
Read Moreby Jeff Ritchie, for the team
We arrived at Bolgatanga, the headquarters of the Upper Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Monday afternoon. After a brief orientation to the work of the Presbytery by the Chairman, the Rev. Emmanuel Atami, they offered us a choice of what we would like to see in the one day we would have with them. We chose to see the social projects of the Presbytery, as we had had a good introduction to church planting and training ministries in the Northern Presbytery.
Read Moreby Jeff Ritchie
Monday morning saw us at the Presbyterian Lay Training Center in Tamale. This is the primary place for training catechists, who are unordained pastors serving in the rural churches and preaching points throughout both the Northern and the Upper Presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.
Read Moreby Jeff Ritchie
One of the joys of traveling with others is that each of us experiences the trip differently. Yesterday Carolyn Ueber shared her reflections on Children’s Sunday and the Presbyterian Women’s Shea Butter project in the Fooshegu Church. Today Ingram Caswell offers her unique take on Children’s Sunday and how she is experiencing Ghana:
Read Moreby Jeff Ritchie and Carolyn Ueber
We left Accra the next day for four days in northern Ghana. Our first stop was Tamale, headquarters of the Northern Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. We were met at the airport by the Rev. Dr. Peter Ziame, Chairperson of the Northern Presbytery, and other Presbytery leaders, who took us to the Presbytery office for a prayer of welcome and time of refreshment before we checked in at the Guest House of the Tamale Institute of Cross-Cultural Studies (TICCS).
Read Moreby Jeff Ritchie
The Outreach Foundation trip to Ghana has begun! Composed exclusively of disciples from Palms Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville Beach, FL, we departed February 20 and arrived in Accra early afternoon the next day. Our hosts in Ghana, The Sanneh Institute, welcomed us at the airport and saw to it that we got to our lodgings at the Guest House of the University of Ghana.
Read Moreby Frank Dimmock
Greetings from Kakuma Refugee camp, Kenya. We began a trauma healing training today for pastors and church leaders focused on Healing Groups. It is a two-day training hosted by the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan.
In another area of the camp, there was an ecumenical trauma healing training for about 40 Christian women who are connected with Christian Women for Change South Sudan (CWCSS).
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