Three months ago, Vincent and I along with some visiting YLI board members, stood around a pile of dirt and debris which was the remains of Vincent’s first attempt at building a basketball court here in Kumasi.  A retaining wall, constructed to level the surface where the court would be built, had collapsed and the project stalled along with it.

It was discouraging for Vincent, but it was also clearly only a setback- not defeat.  Many of the materials were still salvageable, and we all felt strongly that this vision to introduce Ghanaian kids to basketball was inspired by God, and would succeed in His time.

Today, we visited the same site, where a few weeks ago four young men, equipped only with hammers and chisels, dug through a slope of rock (in areas over four feet in depth!) to level the building surface another way – digging down.  The setback has been overcome and we move forward again, now with a more solid foundation.

When funds for some additional cement, gravel and steel are raised, the court will be poured and the basketball league for Kumasi’s youth will begin.  I will upload some photos above  from today’s visit, and what a great afternoon this has been.

Fran and Daniel Moye, Sarah Beth Alford, Vincent and I are back at the airport in Accra, Ghana this morning only twelve hours after we arrived from Amsterdam last night.  We are waiting along with around 30 other people for our 45 minute flight on the “little plane” to Kumasi and the YLI home base, where some YLI coaches and Vincent’s family are waiting for us.

Immediately after we arrived in Accra last night we met over a dinner of fried chicken and rice with a new friend, Emmanuel Dabson, the leader of Christian Outreach Fellowship.  COF was founded by one of Ghana’s founding fathers, who after becoming a Christian in prison, was given a vision that Ghanaians would not depend on western missionaries to take the gospel to unreached areas of Ghana, but that COF would develop a sustainable way for Ghanaians to send their own missionaries throughout the country. 

What makes COF unique in Ghana and interesting to me is their commitment to the art of one-on-one mentoring to train their missionaries and church leaders.   They deeply mentor local people  in remote villages, and train them to go out and plant small churches in other surrounding towns and villages.

“He sent them (disciples) to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”  Luke 9:2

“So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.”  Luke 9:6

Jesus trained and equipped his disciples to not only preach about the kingdom, but to engage lives so that the kingdom would be brought to earth as they healed the sick, fed the hungry and delivered the oppressed from evil spirits.

I recognize in myself and others, though, the temptation of Jesus’ disciples to rather minister from a distance.  When the crowd of 5000 became hungry after a whole day with Jesus, the disciples wanted to send them away to buy food for themselves.  Instead, Jesus pushed them to step into the need and trust him to provide.

It is well documented that west Africa is a region of the world where churches are growing rapidly; but the valid knock on African Christianity is that it is shallow: “a mile wide and an inch deep”. Millions of people attend church every Sunday, yet there is no broad visible transformation in these countries.

In fact, some of Africa’s most murderous dictators, including Charles Taylor in Liberia were regular church attenders and even known to preach!  To them, there was no dissonance between attending church on Sunday and slaughtering thousands of people.

Compare that to the remote town of Moseaso, where YLI held a conference last year. Our coaches Isaac and Naomi have returned many times to Moseaso and prayed over a teenage boy who suddenly fell paralized and mute one day after returning home from school.  During my own visit to Moseaso, I also prayed with them over this boy who was laying on a cot and able to communicate only by grunting.  Over the past year, he has miraculously improved, regaining his speech and use of his body.

A couple hundred miles north of Moseaso, coach Adam Brown has been praying and working tirelessly to bring a clean water solution to a village where he has been proclaming the gospel over the past couple of years.  If all goes well, by the end of May the people of the village will have clean water year around for the first time.  It is exciting for me to see springs of H2O and Living Water flow from the lives of the coaches!

As the leader of YLI, an indicator for me that our leaders in Ghana are maturing in the YLI vision is when I see their lives more and more consistently mirror what we teach about living a lifestyle of love among the lost and the power of deeply discipling a few.

Through the YLI coaches’ actions of not just preaching the gospel, but also allowing the kingdom to invade Africa through their lives, a new generation of Christian leaders with a deep transforming faith is being planted in west Africa

Thank you for praying! It was a fantastic trip and I know your prayers were a central reason why everything went so well.

We rolled in late last night — it was just under 24 hours of travel from door to door which really is not bad coming from Africa.  I’m feeling surprisingly good today.

Below is my Ghana Trip Highlights: Top 10 List (in no particular order) — sorry to be a little long winded; but, it was a great trip and some of you want detail.  Others can do a quick scan.

1. The water hole en route to Kpenchela. We stopped on the way to see this water source — the primary source for villages in the area. It was moving to see 2 women w/ 10+ gallon buckets fill up, hoist the buckets onto their heads and walk up the steep bank w/out spilling a drop.  They would then walk for miles in 100 degree heat back to their village — all for filthy water that the area animals also wade into.  [People seem to carry everything on their heads in Ghana.]

2. Our day in the remote tribal village of Kpenchela. YLI coach Adam Brown has been discipling Matthew who is from the village and the Lord is now using Matthew (and others) to bring His truth and love to these wonderful people.  It was amazing that the village Chief and Elders joined us — and their presence drew much of the village to come and see.  The 4 of us each had a chance to speak to the crowd that assembled.  As a more tangible demonstration of Jesus’ love, we want to help the village w/ a water collection and storage system so they have access to clean water.  Once back in Tamale, we interviewed 2 men who have a company that can build the system.  If their references check out, we hope to begin and complete construction before the rainy season begins this summer.

3. Vincent Asamoah. We spent all of our time in Ghana w/ Vincent.  He is 47 but has a contagious childlike spirit — he is also a very wise man who has a heart for God and for Ghana.  He was an incredible blessing to us from beginning to end.  I will miss Vincent most of all.

4.  “All Nations” Orphanage in Kumasi. A husband and wife have taken in 45 children.  We bought some huge sacks of rice and went for a visit.  I sat w/ about 20 of the orphans for the time we were there — they gathered in close around me and were so loving and kind.  They taught me how to say, “How are you?”  “I am fine.” in their language.  It touched my heart to hear these impoverished children say over and over again, “I am fine.” (the Lord is taking good care of them). I taught them how to sing “Happy Birthday” in French (they are studying French and English in school).  They had fun guessing my age — they guessed all in the 20’s and 30’s and then went right to 100.

5. School Visits. Adam Brown and the three young leaders he is discipling in Tamale have developed great relationships with several area schools where they are teaching children about Jesus.  We all spoke multiple times to school kids of all ages.  The first time, we suddenly were asked to speak to a group of around 300.  I sensed the Lord wanted me to tell them a story…I kept searching my mind for a story until I realized God wanted me to tell them my story.  To try and communicate more in their context, I told them when I was their age, I was like “a lost goat” that had wandered away from home (we saw goats everywhere we went in Ghana)….for the next group, I told them I used to be like “a lost cow”.  Totally dependent on the Holy Spirit to communicate!

6. The People of Ghana. A tradition in Ghana is the day of the week you are born is your name (or a second name).  I was born on Saturday, so, my name is Kwame.  Any time I met someone and asked them, “Are you Kwame?  Kojo?  Kofi? Yaw?” And then I would tell them, “I am Kwame.”…they would give me a big smile and open up.  This even worked w/ the more serious folks in customs at the airport.  Overall, the people of Ghana are among the friendliest I have met anywhere in the world.  I thoroughly enjoyed them.

7. Ash Zook’s Leadership. Ash fits into the culture remarkably well and knows his way around all the cities.  He did a great job leading the trip and made it so easy for us first-timers.  It was obvious the YLI coaches have a real love and respect for Ash and the Lord is using him in a wonderful way to build His kingdom in Ghana.  Ash, Gary, Rich and I got along extremely well and had lots of fun together.

8. Gary Franklin’s Teaching at the Coach’s Conference. Gary led a powerful teaching/discussion w/ the YLI coaches on the first part of Matthew 23 where Jesus rebukes the religious leaders for their religious ways.  This was a great warning to us all.  As Paul writes, “The letter kills but the Spirit gives life.”

9. Running in Tamale w/ Emmanuel. It was over 100 degrees every day we were in Tamale (brutal!); however, I was able to run twice at the crack of dawn.  The first time, I started running and w/in 2 minutes there was a (20’ish) young man running w/ me.  I asked him his name and he told me “Emmanuel”.  That was God’s way of saying to me, “I am totally with you on this trip.”  Emmanuel ran w/ me for a little over a mile (in regular shoes!) and then told me he was tired.  I went another couple of miles and then looped back….and there he was waiting for me to run some more.  My runs took me to the outskirts of town and past the kind of huts you would see in “National Geographic”.  I got some great looks from the locals; but, everyone waved and said hello.

10. YLI Coaches. What a blessing to meet and bond with the YLI coaches, many of whom I remember Jim Moye regularly talking about 7-8 years ago!

Thank you for making all of this possible with your prayers.  God heard and answered!  And thank you also to those of you who donated money for the trip or provided shoes and books.  Our friends in Ghana were excited and thankful to receive the many books, children’s Bibles and 140+ pairs of shoes.  But more, they were thankful we came to love them and be with them…and they were thankful for all you “behind the scenes” people who made it possible!

Love to all, Rob

The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”   Matthew 25:40

Our “YLI Elder” was bestowed a humorous gift this morning for his 47th birthday. Rob found this hat at the Kumasi market and we couldn’t resist. Happy birthday Vincent!

This is an update from my iPhone since we’ve had no power and internet recently. Its frustrating not to be able to share photos from the coaches conference, Vincents basketball site and the All Nations Orphanage. The only photos online are on my (Ash Zook) personal Facebook page.

This morning we are packing 6 of us and all bags into our car for the 7-14 hour drive up north to Tamale.

We have had some great conversations with our Ghanaian leaders about the diverse spiritual climate in this country and how Christ is making himself known in the lives of the humble who seek him.

One coach from the north recently began helping out a muslim youth with daily meals, a room to sleep in at his own and as a mentor. The young man, through the coach’s authentic love and concern has taken the decision to follow Jesus as well and is learning to walk as a disciple of Jesus. He and the coach now work as a team to go out and love and serve in their community. The coach has asked for prayer for the boy’s family, safety and increased wisdom for himself as well. It reminds me of the second part of 1 Corinthians 8:1, “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up”. Seeing our friends here radically loving people in need is more exciting to me than any other sign of spiritual growth.

It has been a crazy amount of fun to travel with Vincent, Gary, Rob and Rich. We’re laughing constantly, but I am also greatly benefiting from their eyes and perspective here.

Gary did an incredible job leading the coaches through a study in Matthew 23, having them interpret it through their unique African experience.

Rob poured out a lot of love in kids in the orphanage and they soaked it up like sponges. He became a student, letting them teach him some Twe, the local language.

Rich has captured our trip with photos and video, and led the kids at the orphanage in songs that blessed us all. He’s a servant.

All three have listened to the life stories of the Ghanaian coaches, prayed for them and opened up their own lives as well. Some of the challenges faced are so different (pressure to worship idols, seek guidance from diviners and total rejection and violent threats from family), so there has been little advice giving and a lot of listening.

Ok, my finger is getting tired typing on this little iPhone keyboard, but hopefully we’ll stumble upon some reliable electricity and internet soon.

The car is packed and we’re off to Tamale right now!

Ash

February 24:  This is Ash writing from Delta flight 166 which took off from Atlanta just fifteen minutes ago.  DL166 stops in New York for two hours before departing on an overnight trip across the Atlantic to Accra, Ghana.

This is going to be a special trip; especially because of how the team came together.  As you read on about the people sitting with me on the plane to Ghana, and their stories, I hope you also will see the divine “coincidences” that are at work in our midst.

Rob Ketterer:  Rob has been on the YLI board since the very beginning in 2002; and, this is his first trip with YLI to Ghana (but that was not by his choice).  In 2004, Rob and Jim Moye planned a trip together.  The dates were picked, tickets purchased, shots received…but only two weeks before their departure date, Jim collapsed at home and shortly afterward was diagnosed with brain cancer.  Since then, Rob has been praying about another opportunity to experience for himself YLI’s ministry in Ghana, and TODAY is the day!  It is an honor for me to join Rob on this adventure.

Rich Erwin:  Rich works for the mission organization Operation Mobilization.  He actually lived for two years on a missions ship that traveled the world.  He is also on the global outreach team at Grace Evangelical Church in Fayetteville, Ga.  Grace Church has a calling to minister to next-generation indigenous leaders around the world, and asked Rich if he would visit Ghana to check out YLI’s relational style of discipleship.

Rich agreed to the trip and then began to look into the history of YLI.   He was amazed to find that YLI was started by Jim Moye!  In the 1980’s, Rich was a youth counselor at Northside United Methodist and was part of the group that was discipled by Jim Moye.  Rich’s first missions trip was to Jamaica with Jim! 

Gary Franklin:  Gary is a new YLI board member for 2010.  He is the founder of The Leaders Heart, through which he disciples business leaders, and is the lead pastor of Grace Evangelical Church.   Gary has mentoring and discipleship experience with leaders from India, Cameroon, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia.  I am excited for the YLI coaches in Ghana to hear Gary’s voice, and to be exposed to the wisdom and experience he will bring to our leaders.

For the next five days we will be joining the YLI coaches at our home base in Kumasi for teaching, encouragement, friendship and community.  Our team of four will then  travel with our national leader, Vincent  Asamoah, to the northern region of Ghana to partner with one of our key local leaders, who is serving and reaching out in love to people who are living in remote villages and struggling with severe physical and spiritual poverty issues.

We will be doing our best to update http://www.youngleadersinternational .org and the Friends of Young Leaders International Facebook group.  We appreciate your prayers and are thankful for your friendship and support!

We have uploaded a new Jim Moye message to the audio page of the YLI website.

In this message, given at the missions conference at Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Coral, Florida, Jim passionately casts the vision that God gave him for YLI.

After listening, please post your reflections and comments (just click on “Leave a Comment” above).  We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Enjoy!