Rev. Frank Famiyeh - Jan. 2010 mission report

[Evan Hansen]

A letter from Rev. Frank Famiyeh, ministry partner of Crossways International in Ghana, West Africa, to CI founder, Dr. Harry Wendt


Dear Harry,

God's peace be to you! I trust that you enjoyed a very blessed Christmas with your wife and family–as did also the staff of Crossways International. May CI’s 2010 ministry fill your hearts with joy, peace, and divine love.

During the last quarter of 2009, October and December were very eventful in terms of my ministry. Except for continuing with my training of Christian Divine Church pastors in the last week of November, that 11th month saw very little activity–for the simple reason that I returned from England with a very bad cold. However, by the close of the month I had regained my strength, and was able to resume my ministry in earnest in December.

OCTOBER
Between the 5th and 9th, I conducted Bible study/seminars for 25 pastors' wives of the Christian Divine Church (CDC) in Tarkwa in the western region of Ghana. This was followed by another seminar between the 12th and 16th for 46 Sunday School teachers drawn from 20 congregations of the same church. In both cases, the teaching resources used were CI’s Biblical Tell-Tale Time-Line, See Through Scriptures, and The Divine Plan witnessing tool.

A couple of weeks ago, the head of the CDC requested me to continue teaching their Sunday School teachers next year because of reports from the region that the quality and effectiveness of Sunday school teaching improved tremendously after my involvement with the teachers. He has also requested me to work with their evangelism team whose understanding and delivery of the Gospel are, in his words, "below par."

I stayed on in Tarkwa to teach in five other African Indigenous Churches (AICs) in the evenings between the 14th and 21st. I was scheduled to continue with the training program of the CDC pastors in the last week in October but was compelled to return to Accra to work toward obtaining a visa to travel to England. This was to enable me attend the seminars you conducted in Oxford in the first week in November.

NOVEMBER
I left Ghana to attend the Oxford seminar on the 1st of November, arriving in England on the 2nd and straightaway joining the seminar which ended on the 5th–all thanks to Crossways International’s sponsorship. I returned to Accra on the 9th of November, suffering from a bad cold which kept me inactive till about the 20th of the month. I still needed some rest after the 20th, but since I missed the training session of the CDC pastors in October, I determined to go to Tarkwa to teach the pastors. So, throwing caution to the winds, I did go to Tarkwa and successfully completed a week of study and training with the pastors.

DECEMBER
December has always been the busiest month for my ministry. In the first week, I conducted a three-day seminar for the youth of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana in Madina, Accra. The seminar formed part of the Church's Youth Anniversary Program, which had been advertised in the newspapers and had come to my notice. I went to see the youth president to find out if they would be interested in having me participate in the evening sessions of their anniversary program. They were happy to have me become involved, and what a blessing this proved to be!

The Church’s leaders were so impressed with the quality of teaching, and the CI teaching materials, that they are asking me to play a key role in their Christian Education program–beginning from next year. I am still talking with them to see how it will all go.

Between the 8th and 28th, I visited 11 AIC churches every day, teaching them Christmas: The Real Story. This has been a quite difficult and expensive task, considering that I had to travel long distances and many times got caught up and delayed in long pre-Christmas traffic jams–but this is how my ministry has typically ended each year (on a very busy note), a situation which gives me a sense of real fulfillment.

COMMENTS
On the whole, 2009 has been a very eventful year, but I look forward to an even more eventful and challenging 2010. I am praying and hoping that all the good Christians in the USA who have been supporting my ministry will continue to lend a helping hand. I am trusting God to bless the work of their hands and minds to enable them continue supporting the wonderful ministry being carried out here in Ghana through Crossways International’s mission in Ghana. I take this opportunity to assure all my sponsors that their good stewardship of God's resources will surely be rewarded. I wish them all a very pleasant and peaceful 2010.

I am also praying and hoping that Crossways International’s partnership with the Church Mission Society in Oxford will prove effective so that our two organizations can carry out a continuing worldwide ministry for years to come. On my return from England in November, I tried to get in touch with the CMS mission director in Ghana, but he had gone on vacation. In the first week in December, I again tried to contact him, and this time he had gone on a mission trip to the western region of Ghana. He called later to say he was back in Accra and suggested that we meet sometime in December. Unfortunately, my busy December schedule did not permit me to meet with him. I hope to travel to Cape Coast to meet with him in the second week in January to plan how we might work together in Ghana.

In His service,

Rev. Frank Famiyeh