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.