MSN: News & Updates

September 2008
BREAKTHROUGH FOR MISSION SUPPORT NETWORK
FIVE NEW CHURCHES FOR ATEBUBU, GHANA!
Dear Friends,
Your prayers have meant so much to us and we are sure it is the reason for the ministry's current breakthrough! Since coming back to the US, God has provided the resources needed to plant five new churches in Ghana among people who have never heard the gospel. This means that 500-1,500 people will be saved in one month and discipled by trained leaders the rest of the year. It is such a privilege to be a part of something so big in the nations. We are believing God for over 20 new churches in 2008/2009.

Each church plant cost $1,500 and includes an outreach, a pastor’s salary for six months and a dirt bike for the pastor. It’s hard to believe you can plant a church with an immediate congregation numbering 70 to 300 people for so little, but it’s true! It’s also hard for us in our technologically advanced culture to believe there are people and places that have never heard the name of Jesus, but there really are! I (Cathy) recently spent time with a friend at a local restaurant and the owner heard what we were doing and suddenly said, “I want to plant a church!” I was shocked! We are realizing people really want to be a part of something that results in salvations, discipleship and having an impact in the Kingdom of God.

We are in awe of what the Lord is doing! It's so beyond what we could do ourselves that it reminds us that this is not our ministry but His. We just want to do what He is doing, which makes for an interesting life!

HOW CAN YOU PLANT A CHURCH IN A REMOTE VILLAGE?
What does a church plant in a remote village look like? Well, first it means going to a village, doing an outreach that includes showing the Jesus Film, preaching the gospel and discipling new believers for next year by a seasoned pastor. The pastor will travel on his motorbike back and forth twice a week or he may live in the new village. At the same time the pastor will raise up a new leader who lives in the village to eventually take over. Many, if not all of these pastors are also farmers. Leaving their villages and families is very difficult since their farms' productivity is their only means of income, therefore they need our financial assistance in order to do kingdom work. If you want to participate in planting a church you can make a donation online at www.msnministries.org. You can also send a check to the address listed in this email. We also want to take a moment to say, "Thank you" to all of those who have been participating with us in this incredible journey.

WOULD YOU GO EVEN IF IT WERE FOR ONLY ONE?
It's amazing to watch the Lord fulfill the mission statement he gave us. We are really blessed to partner with our new friend Peter Atiaha in the Atebubu, Ghana region.

“Gospel, Rural Thrust” were the words Pastor Peter was given by the Lord years ago. For twenty years he has pastored and planted over 90 churches and is a mature believer trained in the U.S. He has recently established ten more churches called, Assembly of Zion Church, two Bible schools, and one elementary school. He is the president of the counsel of churches in the surrounding area and respected in his community.

As we have been getting to know Peter, he asked us a very interesting question. He said, “Would you go and preach the gospel to a group of 1,000?” We said, “Yes.” Then he asked if we would go for 300, 200 or even 50? Stuart said, “Yes, even for one.” He told us that the enemy has separated these people in the villages by huge amounts of land and broken them into small groups making it difficult to reach them with the Gospel. Just that morning I was asking the Lord, “Why are we here in this remote place when you know we want 1,000’s and 10,000’s of souls and we want to go where there are major revivals? Then I was reminded that we said we wanted to go to the places where they have never heard the name of Jesus. Peter went on to tell us that there are still many remote villages that have never heard the name Jesus even in Ghana. Since then, we have decided that whether it’s one or one million, we will preach and demonstrate the Kingdom of God while in Africa and other places.