Backpack for the kids of Chilakallu Village, India

Chilakallu Village, India
House of Hope
By: Gloria Gault Geary

We got settled into our rooms and had lunch. Jaipaul went over some of the customs and guidelines we needed to know. After a time of rest, we got to meet and play with the orphans for a while. They currently have 35 orphans. We had purchased school backpacks for all the kids and some toys and games (thank you Calvary United Methodist Church for your support of this!). They were thrilled to get the goodies and it turned into a playtime for all of us. We had bought some tea party type toys for the younger girls. When we gave them the toys, it didn’t appear they knew what to do with them, so I sat down in front of them and started playing.

They laughed as I pretended to drink tea and gobbled up the chicken.>
I offered the tea cup to a little girl who just looked at me, so I drank it again and then offered the cup to another. She caught on. My boys couldn’t help themselves and they jumped in too. Soon all the girls were cooking, serving and eating.


We had purchased games for the older kids and match box cars for the little boys. I wish I could have caught on camera the eyes of the little boys when they saw the cars. Everyone one of them came up to me at some point and showed me the car they had gotten.
Making roads in the sand for their cars.



They were proud of their car and wanted me to know it.>

The event turned into a giant playtime for everyone and at one point I stopped and just looked around. A very simple toy and some time focused on a child. I began praising God for bringing us to these precious children. What joy I felt to spend time loving on them and what joy exuded from their hearts to just be kids and play.

<Katrina and Hepsa

Katrina is part of our ministry team.
She grew up in Haiti where her parents were missionaries. She has a depth of knowledge about the Lord and a humble, giving heart.

Chilakallu Village, India

Monday June 30, 2008
House of Hope
By: Gloria Gault Geary

We left the hotel at 5:00 am to travel to the village. We were a convoy of three SUVs, the last one was carrying all the luggage. It was a 4 hour plus drive and we slept a good portion of the way. The Indian countryside was a mixture of beautiful sights and fascinating people. Watching individuals live their daily lives of walking their oxen to get water or move their lambs and goats to market provides great entertainment for new visitors.
We passed many shrines, temples and too many idols to count. Seeing the locals drive is a whole different story. In order to get a driver’s license in India, one simply buys it at the store. Traffic was heavy and there is a mixture of buses, large trucks, auto rickshaws, motorcycles, oxen, goats, bikes, and pedestrians, not to mention the occasional Mother Hen and her family.

In order to pass the slower traffic one must get in the lane of oncoming traffic. The traffic going in the other direction is also passing the slower traffic. There were many moments I spent in prayer for our safety as we would narrowly miss a head on collision going about 60-70 miles per hour. I noticed the locals were not the least bit fazed by it. This is normal travel for them. I felt like God had sent out an extra army of guardian angels for us this morning and they were going before us making the roads safe. My guess is the guardian angels who take care of India must do a lot of overtime on the road.

We stopped at one point and watched a local woman prepare a fresh coconut for us to drink. It was delicious. Suddenly our cars stopped and there seemed to be a parade in front of us. Isaac put the car in park and said, “It is a welcoming party!” We all jumped out and there filling the street were about 100 kids and adults. There were 5 men with drums beating them wildly and as we walked up each of us were greeted with a lay of fresh flowers. Harrison got two. They were shooting off fireworks and paper poppers everywhere. I was handed several small flowers from different girls and women and everyone was saying welcome to us. It was an overwhelming and humbling welcome. The boys were being welcomed too and everyone was trying to get close to shake hands or touch us and the girls who were a part of our team.

The welcoming party began walking down the street and locals were standing on the side watching and observing these missionaries who were visiting their village. We walked a couple of hundred feet and then entered the House of Hope compound. I looked up to notice large signs welcoming us by name. The fireworks and drums continued. We were all covered with colorful confetti. As we came near the main house, they brought our team up to the porch and the others stood on the lawn. Jaipaul spoke briefly in their native language and made some introductions. He then asked me to pray. I was so humbled by their warm welcome I wept as I prayed for God to bless these people and our time with them.

"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Mark 9:37

Please pray for us as we minister, that God would guide us and would touch those here.

A scorpion comes to dinner!

We were enjoying a lovely dinner with our Indian friends when a scorpion showed up without an invitation!

Yes, George (far right) caught it and brought it in for us to see.

George is known for the animals he catches…snakes, monkeys, rats, and more.

Jaipaul offered to deep fry it if one of us would eat it!

We love our new friends and invite you to pray for them too!

Arriving in Hyderabad, India

Sunday June 29, 2008
Harsha Hotel Room 205
By:Gloria Gault Geary

We arrived India after 11:00pm on Friday and got checked in and settled into our hotel after 1:00 am Saturday. Our travel time from Ghana was almost two full days, we drove four hours to Accra from Aflao, then flew to Lagos, Nigeria to pick up more passengers. From Lagos we flew to Frankfurt, Germany and had a 5 hour layover there. Finally we caught our last flight to Hyderabad, India. Both Hatcher and Harrison had fevers while we traveled and God bless them, they never once complained.




Jets, my seatmate who was a delight to fill me in about India history.



Jets was raised Christian in India and is currently studying in the UK. He was coming home for the first time in two years.

Hyderabad is the fifth largest city in India. It is considered one of the friendliest cities and a great place to visit in India.

The boys and I already like India. The people are kind and gentle. We again are a bit of a rarity here and continue to get stares everywhere we go. Harrison also has many people reach out to touch him here as in Ghana. Often men will stop the boys to shake hands with them and speak to them. It really is sweet how kind they are to my children and I can tell they are genuinely interested to see American children here.









Hatcher’s seatmates who also are currently living in UK.


We have spent the last two days sleeping, eating, and learning a few customs. One of the most interesting customs to me is the fact that when someone nods yes here, they nod the top of their head from left to right (versus we nod with our chins up and down). When I first noticed this, I thought they were stretching their necks. Then when I realized several people did this while I was talking to them I had to ask the meaning. It is a bit humorous at first (as I am sure my nodding my chin up and down must be to them), but I am trying to teach myself to nod differently while we are here.


We shopped for some India style clothes for me


Our hosts here are Pastor JaiPaul, his brother Isaac and several others involved in their ministry, India Pentecostal Community Church (IPCC). This ministry was started by their father almost 40 years ago and this family has been a major influence of Christianity in India. Currently India is approximately 70% Hindu, 26% Muslim and 4% Christian. In the past several years Christians have been given a tough time by the government, but that has subsided recently.

Two of the Praise and Worship team members at Pearl City Church.These ladies worked at Google here in Hyderabad.

We have four young girls who are from New York and we will all be ministering together. Tomorrow we head to the Village.

Our Sunday feast after church at Pearl City Church

What a treat to worship with believers in India!




See the AutoRickshaw at left…on the streets of Hyderabad.

Hyderabad, India

Please pray for our safety in India and that God uses us to His utmost!

Charminar, the most enduring symbol of the city.

Hyderabadis, as residents of the city are known, have developed a distinctive culture which is a mixture of ancient Hindu traditions of Telugu people and Islamic Culture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyderabad,_India

According to Wikipedia, some 909 million of India's 1.13 billion people are Hindu. Muslims make up 151 million or 13.4 percent of the population.
Only about 2.3 percent of Indians - or 26 million - are Christians.

To find out all about India's 5th largest city just click: http://wikitravel.org/en/Hyderabad

Please pray that all we meet joyfully receive the good news of Jesus Christ!

Ghana Prayer List

Please pray for:
The country of Ghana, that God would spark a fire of revival in the heart’s of His people and pour out His blessings on them.

Pray for the children of Ghana, that they grow in the truth of God and His love for them. Pray for God to pour out His Spirit upon them,


...the sick in Ghana and those who care for them,

…This little boy had something stick in his eye….we prayed for his healing…please pray too,

…Our dear sister, Florence who has a huge heart for children and wants to go each week to schools to share the Gospel with children. She blessed us so with her time and help.

Pray also for the WMU,

...for Patricia and Emmanuel to be blessed with children,

...the pastors and leaders, that they would be role models of the love of Jesus and have a servant’s heart for those they lead.

Please search your heart ~ your help is needed!

Volta Region Ghana Mission desperately needs our help

I am impressed with the stewardship of this ministry. Their churches do not sit empty. They double as schools during the week and also house orphans. This is not a ministry who spends their money on needless items. Their one car is a van without air conditioning. The van runs such that we always knew when it arrived…we could hear it. The senior leader, Rev. Wisdom and his family live with the orphans and keep an eye on them. There are other workers who live there too. One pastor was given a motorcycle and I’ve seen him drive around others to ministry work.

Our ministry team was made up of individuals who took time off from work to be with us. The pastors all work to support themselves and then also minister. While this sounds admirable, I am sure it puts much stress on their families and on the pastor who in essence is working two full time jobs. One team member, Sister Florence is raising two orphans and pays for all their needs. She worked with us for two full weeks forgoing the money she would earn at her shop during that time.

These are leaders who have a heart to serve and are willing to sacrifice much to do the work of God. This is a community whose entire financial income go to feed their families and take care of basic necessities. They are often not in a position for the “wants” of life, they are still working on the “needs”. Hot showers (and often just showers), soft beds, pillows, housing, food beyond what is needed to live…these are luxuries in this culture.

Please prayerfully consider if God might be calling you to financially help support their work.

God blessed the early church mightily and part of the reason He blessed them was that they gave to those in need. As Americans, we have an abundance of financial wealth. Giving a little from our abundance will greatly bless these people.

“…and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.” Acts 4:35

Ways you can help
· Free to you but of immeasurable value to the teacher and kids – good used Sunday school supplies..pictures of Bible stories, lesson plans (most read and understand English), Christian videos and DVD’s for children (Bible man, Angelwars, etc), used toys in good condition – mail them to:

Ghana Ministry

207 S. Limestone St.

Gaffney, SC 29340

· $10 or more donation to purchase a projector…this will be used for churches, schools, children’s ministry and to show the Jesus Film in public locations… total cost is $1850.00

· $50 per month to provide for visits to the school to witness to children… this would pay for gas and help the missionary….schools would be visited every quarter.

· $100 per month to sponsor a pastor…this money would give them more time to minister instead of working another job to support their family (and more time with their family)

· Several churches are attempting to purchase the land they are currently using…typical land costs for a church are $2500 -3500. Land prices are going up every year.

· The WMU have a dream to build a retreat location for church groups and schools to use. The land cost would be about $4000.00. Once the retreat is built, they believe it will provide funds to help their mission.

· For the orphans: They currently have 40 orphans who live next to the main church. They need a dining hall for the children to eat. The children currently eat under a canvas covering outside. $12,000 can build the dining hall which would be used for Sunday school classes on Sunday and for school classes during the week.

How to donate?

Easy ~ Just click the PayPal button below for a safe and secure site!

The safer, easier way to donate online!

It only takes a minute to setup your account.

Please note: You may be asked for an email for the recipient.

Copy below so you can paste into PayPal:

revwise_6@yahoo.com

You may also ship items and donations directly to:

Pastor Wisdom Shelter Ameku

First Baptist Church

Good Shepherd Happy Children's Home

P.O. Box AF 162

Aflao, Volta Region

Ghana, West Africa

The Girl in the Black Hood

Hotel Makavo
Aflao, Ghana
Gloria Gault Geary

I noticed the black covering first and my insides quivered. When she walked closer I wanted to reach out to her and hug her. She looked at me fearfully and I smiled and nodded to her. In hindsight I wish I had tried to speak to her and had witnessed to her. Each day since I have looked for her on the street, yet haven’t seen her again.

Photo: Fetish Priest with a young girl who has become a Trokosi ("wife of the Gods") . She will live her life as a labor and sex slave to the Fetish Priest.

She was no taller than Reid and probably not much older. She is a slave to the fetish priest of a local cult. Wearing the black signifies her slavery. Her parents gave her to the priest in return for spiritual protection of the family. The child will never go home again. She will not go to school. She is property of the priest and is used by him in any way he desires. Any children she bears become slaves too.

I spent the majority of the night last night praying for this child and all those like her in this country. This practice was officially outlawed in 1984, but unfortunately still continues today.
Yesterday we drove past an older woman who wore a large black material belt around her waist. She is also a slave, one who has grown up in the cult shrine.

Because the voo doo and cult activities have been a part of this culture for so long, even those who have professed Christ will occasionally turn back to the old ways. These are the types of spiritual warfare the Christians here deal with everyday.

Please pray against this evil that enslaves innocent young children and pray that more will come to know the goodness of Christ and will seek the one true God for their protection.

I have a new understanding about why “You are the most high God” is such a popular song here.
You are the most high God, Jehovah

You are the most high God, Jehovah

All other gods
These are the words of man
You are the most high God
There is none like You.

You are the most high God, Jehovah

You may read more about this tragic sin of Human Trafficking at: http://www.christlivinginyou.com/human_trafficking

Ghana odds & ends

We'd like to share some our memories from this wonderful sun-baked coastal country.







A sampling of the food and the warm smiles of Ghana



The market at night is lit up by Bunsen burners…their only lights.










Twice when we stopped on our way to Accra, the battery in the van died. The boys were all too happy to be a part of pushing the van to jump start it.

Here's a cute Hippo video from Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/v/G3NueKXS6dk&hl=en&fs=1

A Kiss from God

One of our family fun times on this mission trip is to snuggle in front of the computer at night and watch a video together. As we snuggled together to watch 'Amazing Grace' one night, I made the comment that all we needed was popcorn to make the evening perfect. The boys all agreed. At home we almost always have popcorn when we watch a movie.

The very next morning when we arrived at our first stop, we climbed out of the van to discover these young women with a basketful of popcorn bags. The boys and I looked at each other and said, “Wow, that is a God-thing!”

He had provided not only for our needs but our simple wants too.

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. Isaiah 58:11

Answered prayers in sweet unexpectaed ways

Aflao, Ghana
Tuesday June 24, 2008
By Gloria Gault Geary
Photo by Reid Geary

I stood in front of them praying for God to stop the rain so we could give them a chance to accept Jesus. In answer to my prayer, the rain did not stop, but the sweet sound of teenagers singing praises to God began. Spontaneously these teenagers started singing!

I didn’t recognize the song but the few words I caught were ones of lifting praises to Him. It touched my heart. After several verses, the song ended and they looked at me. I braved the first few bars of “You are the most high God” and one girl in the front nodded and turned to the group. Immediately the whole group belted out this joyous song.

I raised my hands to praise the Lord as we sang.

It was a beautiful time and the sounds of their voices were overpowering the sound of rain. When they finished singing the rain had tapered off enough for us to speak. Several children raised their hands that they wanted to accept Christ and we all prayed together.

God always answers prayers; sometimes He just answers them in a more beautiful way than we could have thought to ask.

Can you think of a time that God answered your prayer in a different and yet better way than you had asked?

Thank Him for that gift.

Thank you God for answering prayers!

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” 1 John 5:14-15

A short trip to Adina Beach

Victory Baptist Church
Adina, Ghana
By: Gloria Gault Geary

We took a short trip to a neighboring town called Adina. Pastor Christian has been a part of our ministry team and we visited his church in Adina. Pastor Christian actually oversees 12 churches, is the Pastor of two churches and ministers in the country of Togo each Monday.

He also works a job to support his family. He has a gentle and kind spirit about him and it is obvious he has a heart to serve the Lord by serving others.

Earlier in our visit I had shared with the team that we had been at IHOP (http://www.ihop.org/) and what their prayer room was like. Pastor Christian had shared that he wanted to open a prayer room at their church in Adina. Other churches in the area come to where the church is to pray. The church is on the beach. When Pastor Christian asked why they came there to pray, he was told they felt the presence of God there more. Since then Pastor Christian has wanted to create a place where all can come and pray.

As we visited several local people gathered and we prayed for the community, the church and the local fishermen.

We all dipped our toes in the Gulf of Guinea while we were there.

It Rained...

Just at the end of our second presentation, the rain started again.

The timing was great in that they had heard the Gospel presented and they had listened well.
This was another group of teenagers.

Hatcher spoke and the kids were very much interested in what he said.

We all ran into a room seconds before the onslaught started. The rain was so heavy on the tin roof that it was impossible for the kids to hear us.

The Eavesdropper

Aflao, Ghana

We visited two schools today. Our first was a pre-school full of precious children. The boys and I have sung the song, “You are the most high God” almost constantly since we first heard it here. So when we arrived at the school we sang the song and the children sang along.

I spoke to the children and shared about God. While I was speaking I noticed a woman peaking through the fence, listening. It touched me that she wanted to hear and see what was happening at this pre-school.

Hatcher began sharing the Gospel and I realized this woman was still listening. I began praying for her. I knew that this message was for her and God had scheduled this visit just for her. She mostly tried to stay hidden but every now and then she would get very close to the fence. She stayed and listened for the entire time we were there. When we left, I looked for her but she was no place to be found.

Please pray for this dear woman who wanted to hear the message of God bad enough to eavesdrop through a fence in a school yard.

Joyfully serving our Lord,

Gloria, Hatcher, Reid and Harrison

The Man with the Evil Spirit

Hotel Makavo
Aflao, Ghana
By Gloria Gault Geary

I had prayed for him during the service. There was something about him that called me to pray for him, but I couldn’t tell you what it was. I didn’t think much about it until when we got in the van to leave; he got in the van too. He was the only person in the van who I had not met before. The minute I saw him climb in I knew God was calling me to pray for him.

Coffe, this man and Osborne were all in the front seat. The boys and I were spread out in the back three seats. As soon as we took off I asked Osborne to tell me about this man. I knew he was a part of one of the new churches they had just planted. He was a member and had come to Christ one month and 10 days ago. I asked Osborne if he would ask the man if I could pray for him. The man agreed and I asked Osborne to ask him what prayer request he had. The man spoke and Osborne translated.

He was a fisherman and there was an evil spirit in his house that continued to shut down his business. His forefathers had allowed the evil spirit to come in. He wanted me to pray for the evil spirit to leave, so he could make a living in his business.

As I heard the translation several things went through my mind and I felt God was showing me what to do to deliver this man from his situation. I told Osborne to explain to the man that he would first need to “stand in the gap” for his forefathers. The door had to be shut in order to take away the legal right the evil spirit had there. Now that he belonged to God, he could go before God and ask Him to forgive his forefathers for what they had done to allow this evil into his home. As I shared this, the Lord put on my heart the story of when Moses had “stood in the gap” for the Israelites. I used this story as an example. (Exodus 32: 7-14) I explained that he would have to be like Moses and stand in the gap.

Osborne nodded and explained this, then led the man to pray and ask forgiveness. When they were done I prayed and rebuked the evil spirit. I stood in the authority Jesus has given me and poured the blood of Jesus on this man, his business and his home.

We arrived at the hotel and all three men got out of the van to tell us goodbye. I snapped a picture of them and asked Osborne what the man’s name was. He grinned and said, “Moses.” I smiled very big and said, “That is God!” I knew then that God was answering this man’s prayer and had brought us together for this short ride to do just that.

“And these signs will follow those who believe in My name they will cast out demons…” Mark 16:17

Hatcher shares the Gospel at a school in Ghana

Hotel Makavo

Aflao, Ghana, West Africa
By: Gloria Gault Geary

Photo by Reid Geary: Hatcher shares the Gospel at a school

Please pray for the Christians in Ghana, they have a daily spiritual battle with the many cults and voodoo fetish priests here.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement to us.

Ghana has been everything I expected and more...

We are in Aflao, Ghana (on the Gulf of Guinea) and leave for India in two days. Ghana has been everything I expected and more.

We have spoken to several thousand children and adults, visited the sick in the hospital, prayed over many who are ill or are fighting evil spirits.

Ghana is a country where voodoo is still practiced regularly.

God has used us in many ways and He has used Ghana to teach us.

Photo: Hrrison and the children who visit us daily at the hotel to play with the boys.

Preparing to speak in Ghana

It is 8:00am

The boys and I will be speaking to a joint service today.

I have prepared a speech for the adults and we have prepared a program for the kids.

Harrison wakes up complaining that he doesn’t feel good, he has a stomach ache. I feel his forehead and he has a fever. We all gather around him to pray and before we have finished I can feel his fever has left. We all start to get ready and Harrison suddenly throws up, not a serious one but one none the less.

He lays down to rest and within the hour he is back to his vivacious self.

5:20 pm
No more signs of illness for Harrison, he ate like a horse at lunch and is happily singing and playing legos beside me now.

Thank you Jesus! :-)

Fun & Interesting Facts in Ghana

Yes, it is an anthill! (ok, mountain) We estimated it was taller than Uncle Jimmy (6’9”) These anthills were plentiful in some areas.






Because everyone walks and they are so close to the ocean, the sand can prove to be tiresome for transportation. To improve the consistency of the roads (which are sand) they sometimes put trash on the road to mix into the sand.






Families of chickens are everywhere. Once during a talk at a school, a hen and her chicks walked right between us and the audience. Reid and I both looked at each other, grinned and then kept talking.




Children are active in the family businesses. They learn the trade at a young age. Almost everything is carried on the head. We were a rarity with our backpacks.

A boy witnesses in Ewe language

One little boy was brave enough to get in front of the whole school and show that he had learned the meaning of the colors.

We took a video of him and I pray we can put it on the website for others from Ghana to hear the Gospel in their own Ewe language.

Difficult teens?

Our third school was different than all the rest. It was a very large school, but we spoke only to the middle school children. When we arrived and walked up to the school, there were many students who laughed at us. They were not being mean, I think they were really just excited, but it made the boys very uneasy. As we entered the room and they quieted the kids down, I could tell they were going to be somewhat rowdy. After all, they are teenagers! There were kids outside every window and a crowd outside the door. The room inside was packed. As I looked around the room, I prayed to God, “Lord, please give me something that will speak to their hearts.” “Go to the Word,” came His quick reply. I opened my Bible and there was the Book of Revelation with Chapter 1 verse 2 underlined. I understood what He was telling me. This would be a different talk. I told Rev. Wisdom I planned to do something a little different and asked his approval. He nodded in agreement. I had already asked all three boys if they wanted to share the meaning of the colors and all three did not. It was not an easy audience and they knew it.

I read the scripture out loud. “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.”

I then asked who could tell me what Book of the Bible it was from. I explained there was a prize for the one who could answer correctly. “Matthew, Acts, 1 Corinthians, Psalms”...they guessed and guessed but no one was correct. I prayed for God to give someone the answer. A young girl about half way back raised her hand and said, Revelation. I handed her a 1 Cedi bill and the whole room exploded. It took a few minutes to calm them down. I explained that the lesson I wanted them to get was that reading and knowing the Word of God PAYS in many ways. I had their attention. I knew the Spirit of God was on me and I just started talking. The audience sat perfectly still and very quiet. Their ears were open and I knew God was planting many seeds in their hearts. The more I talked, the more God seemed to tell me what to say. He was talking to a group of teenagers who were facing the temptations of life. He knew where they were and spoke directly into their lives. I knew this message was specifically for them. God was speaking to them and I believe they knew it too. We gave them an opportunity to ask Jesus in their heart. Sister Florence took over and prayed in Ewe with them. I prayed over them before we left.
There have been days as we have traveled that I have wished for home or doubted we should have left and then there are days like this when I know we are being used by God in ways we will not understand this side of eternity.

Please pray for these teenagers. Pray for teenagers all over the world. God knows what they are going through and is ready to carry them through in His truth.

Ghana Teenagers

Hotel Makavo Aflao, Ghana

This morning the rain was light, so we visited three schools. The first was a school of about 100. Harrison shared the Gospel and even showed what skipping was. As part of sharing the Gospel, we explain that the Bible tells us the streets of Heaven are paved with gold. (The meaning of the color yellow on our wristbands)

God lives in Heaven and wants us all to be there with Him. We then tell them we are planning a skipping party in Heaven down those streets of gold. When we all get there, we will all skip down the streets together. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

You only need to make sure you will be there!