Visiting the Widows

Visiting the Widows
Chillakalu Village, India

I must admit that this is one ministry I have really looked forward to being a part of.

Being a widow myself, I always feel an immediate connection with other widows, especially younger widows. And when I first learned of their program here, my heart leapt with joy at the thought of coming and seeing this first hand.

First you need a little background on the Hindu faith and widows. It has been a custom in this culture that if a husband dies, then the widow would be burned to death with her husband’s body. The Hindu faith taught that this would move the family 14 steps closer to nirvana. This practice was officially outlawed almost a century ago. The practice continued long after that and to this day there are still some widows who die along with their husbands. Because of this custom, widows who lived were considered outcast and often not helped by family members. Widows receive little sympathy in this culture.

In order to minister to these widows, IPCC has created a sewing school. The widows take 5 months of sewing lessons. When they graduate they are given a sewing machine, table, chair, material and all they need to start a sewing business so they can support themselves. There are two classes on the compound and several others locally.

When I walked into the first class, it was all I could do not to burst into tears. They were all standing at their sewing machines to honor me coming to visit them. As I looked around the room I was overwhelmed by their youth. I never asked their age, but there were many there in their mid-teens. Even Reid noticed their youth and asked me how old they had to be to get married.

The widow on the left accepted Christ after we shared the Gospel with the women.

We gathered around in a circle and I shared with them about us and our mission call. We shared the Gospel and they each got salvation bracelets. This would be our first of several visits with this group.

We were blessed to have one widow pray to receive Christ that day.

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