Ghana & Ethiopia Mission Trip (2005 Aug-Sep 15)
I made this trip to visit Ghana and Ethiopia in Africa from August 25 to September 15, 2005, covering 23 days. The main purpose was to visit the group that Kate Kwarteng, a Ghanaian lady who was a member of Hope Bangkok, International Fellowship (IF), started 2 years ago. The trip to Ethiopia was actually supposed to be just a transit to change flight for Bangkok. The initial length of trip planned was 13 days. However, God worked a lot of miracles until the whole trip had to be extended to 23 days with 2 groups already starting and another 2 potential groups on the way. Here are the stories.
I traveled for almost 30 hours from Bangkok via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Lagos, Nigeria to Accra, Ghana. And from Accra to Kumasi I traveled by road. It was a very tiring trip as all the flights and transits were after midnight, and half of the road trip was very bumpy and dusty. I left Bangkok on Thursday, August 25 and arrived in Kumasi on the following day, considering the 7-hour difference in the 2 time zones. The temperature was good in Kumasi; it ranged from 15 at night to 25 in the day!
The first testimony started right at Bangkok International Airport, prior to my departure. You know, I had never been to Africa before. I was thinking to myself that it would be good if I could have an African to travel with me just in case I needed help; at least for this first time. God was so good and affirmed me that He was with me right from start. Dennis, a man from Uganda who visited IF only once, was standing right behind me in front of the check-in counter! He greeted me, and I looked lost at first glance. After a little while, we were on board in the same flight! We had a long talk in Bangkok and in Addis Ababa during the transit. I told him I was going to Africa for church planting. At the end, he told me he would help our church planting work in Uganda, and we would keep in touch. What a bonus! This wasn’t even in the plan.
Upon my arrival at Accra Airport in Ghana, Kate, who traveled all the way from China to Ghana 3 weeks before me to help our church planting work there, asked her relative to help pick me up. You know how the Africans honor ministers, don't you? They came with a black Mercedes. And, throughout my stay in Ghana, I traveled everywhere in this Mercedes with a chauffeur driving for me. How was that? God is an awesome God, isn’t He?
Kumasi is a mid-sized city 3-4 hours by car north of Accra, the capital of Ghana. Here, I spent days with the leadership team, which was made up of 5 people. Most of the time we met was spent for training and demonstrating how to run a group of their size, as well as sharing God’s word on 2 Sundays. The services were in Kate’s house. And, there were more than 20 people on both Sundays. No musical instrument, but the atmosphere was terrific! By the way, I got them a guitar later though they knew how to play only one key.
Apart from this, I decided to extend my stay in Ghana for a few more days to avail time for surveying for larger church venue, conducting a mini membership orientation and helping start the first student care group in Kumasi. Once again, God was good. There was another testimony here. I met one sister in Hope Singapore online in the internet one day; only 15 minutes before she signed off. I asked her whether she knew any Ghanaian coming back to Ghana from our Hope churches overseas. Immediately, she called someone in Malaysia and gave me phone numbers of one Ghanaian brother. I showed Kate the phone numbers. She screamed with joy and said, ‘This man lives in Kumasi. And from his name I know he’s from my tribe!’ We called one of the numbers, and there we found Paul, a brother having just returned from Hope Kuching to Kumasi only 4 days before! He came back just at the right time! Paul was in Hope Kuching for 3 years, and he knew how we do things in our church. He was there in our first student care group and was a great help! This is definitely not an accident. God linked us up together at the right time!
How we met Paul for the first time was also very interesting. You may want to read this too. We had never met each other before. After talking on the phone, we made an appointment to meet somewhere. Kate, her daughter and I went together in a car. At the meeting place, Kate’s daughter got off the car to look for him but couldn’t find him. When we were driving off the car, Kate’s daughter saw 2 men on the roadside, one of which her friend. She waved at her friend, and the man waved back. Later, we called Paul. He asked where we were. We said we were in a black car. He asked whether it was the black car with someone waving their hands a moment ago. What turned out is that Paul was Kate’s daughter’s friend’s friend. Both of them came together. God put Kate’s daughter’s friend, of course also Paul’s friend, into the scene to help us identify each other. Some may say, ‘What a small world.’ I say, ‘What a great God!’
Another similar story happened when I was online another day. I met a brother in Hope Oslo in the internet after a very long time. I just casually said, ‘Hello’, and told him I was in Ghana. He quickly told me there was a Ghanaian in Hope Oslo and gave me his email address before he quickly signed off. I wrote to the owner of this email address immediately, and found a reply with a phone number of his relative when I was online again on another day. I showed Kate this phone number. Once again she screamed and told me this man also lived in Kumasi. We called him, and he was in church on the following Sunday!
Look at what God did in Ghana. Kate and I are very sure and can testify God’s presence and guidance in the trip. Now, Kate has planned to return to Ghana again in the next few months. This time she wants to stay longer and open a new restaurant in Accra to help church planting in the capital city, starting from her and her son who’ll start school in Accra in November 2005. She’s very much on fire for God. And I thank God for this family.
These are only some of the things that happened in Ghana. Now, I’ll tell you what happened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In fact, I only planned to make a short visit to meet some friends during my transit in Addis Ababa. When I extended my stay in Ghana, I had to postpone my trip from Addis Ababa to Bangkok too. I had the initial confirmation that I would have seat on the plane and leave on September 10, which meant I would be in Addis Ababa for 3 days only. But what actually happened is that I had no seat on the day and couldn’t leave till September 15, altogether 8 days! The first thing that came into my mind was, ‘God must have something for me to do here.’ And, I was right when things started to unfold.
Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, is a city located 2,100 meters above sea level with temperature around 10-20 degrees when I was there. In Addis Ababa, I knew only a few people who visited IF Bangkok a while ago. Possibility of planting a church here within such a short stay was just a tiny piece of cloud for me. I only planned to leave some materials that introduce Hope of God with one of them; just in case she could introduce us to someone in the future. Now, remember the story of that little boy who gave Jesus the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish? I started with the little I had by faith, and God did work miracles!
All these visitors to IF were busy when I arrived there. One of them asked her brother to take care of me. I met this man on the following day. Later, I found out that he was a born-again Christian, worked in one Christian organization for 10 years and had just resigned from his work a few days ago because he believed in church planting and wanted to start to do it. He had been praying for God’s direction and had no idea of my purpose of visit in Africa. What could I say. I just thanked God. I showed him the VCDs I used for training in Ghana. He was very amazed in the Core Values, Vision Statement and Principles of Ministry of Hope. On the following day, he brought 2 more friends who had been involving with some kinds of Christian ministry. They watched the VCDs; with him watching it over again. They were all amazed. He’d told his friends about Hope the day before. These 2 men came with questions. But by the time they had finished watching the VCDs, they told me that all their questions had been answered. They said, ‘It’s a holistic ministry.’ They had never heard such things before and asked how they could join such vision. Things rolled on. I went through the same training I did in Ghana with these people. On the last day, they – now 3 – introduced to me the fourth man, who had just returned from a trip from the upcountry, and it was only a few hours before I went to the airport for my departure. And, yet they still had another man, the fifth one, being interested to join us. All of them are in the 30’s; young, teachable and visionary.
To add to the intensity of God’s presence in Addis Ababa, I’ll tell you 2 more short stories:
Story 1: One day I was browsing the internet. The man next to me saw me browsing a Christian website and asked whether I was a Christian. I said, ‘yes’, and told him I was here for church planting. He told me he was working in a Christian organization and offered to help immediately. Not an accident, I’ll tell ya. Now, we still keep in touch.
Story 2: There was one Ethiopian man who was in IF last year. I wanted to meet him during this trip. But this man works in a town hundreds of miles outside Addis Ababa. I wondered how I could meet him. But, without my knowledge, I happened to be in Addis Ababa during the Ethiopian New Year holidays, and this man came to visit his family in the city. So we met! He also joined the training I was conducting for the rest of the men. On the last day, he said, ‘I want to start a Hope church in the town where I work!’
Now you’ve got the answer why God put me in Addis Ababa for 8 days, haven’t you? In fact, 8 days in Addis Ababa didn’t seem to be enough. These are some of what happened from close-to-nothing on the first day. I could have just quickly made the transit and rushed back home 8 days before to spend time with my family and friends. In fact, I was terribly tired and wanted to come home badly. But I knew I wouldn’t be in Addis Ababa often. I’m glad I took the step of faith, and God did His awesome part. Before I came, I tried to plan for something great, but God worked greater things. I’d like to encourage those who read these stories to be bold to go for church planting. Most people I met knew the Gospel, but they said our Core Values, Vision Statement and Principles of Ministry are very unique and make us very different and attractive. I believe there are a lot more people who will co-work with us and join us if you will only visit them and share with them your life story in Hope of God Church. After all, it’s not only you. He’ll keep His promise: “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
When I saw the sun rose over Mumbi, India from the plane, I knew I would be home again in a few hours. But the past 23 days in Africa had created an impact somehow somewhere, and it would last long. You can do it too. Glory be to God alone!
Pastor David Chen
Hope Bangkok, International Fellowship
September 22, 2005
Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Togo, Benin Mission Trip
(2006 February 05-24)
Ps Joshua (Foil), Tira and I (David) made this trip to visit Africa from February 05-24, 2006. The initial plan was to visit Hope Kumasi in Ghana, Hope Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and a group of Christians in Nigeria who wanted to join us. After this 20-day trip, we could possibly open 3 more countries in West Africa: Togo, Benin and Nigeria.
Our team left Bangkok for Africa on Sunday, February 05. Tira left us to enter Addis Ababa for her 3-month stay to strengthen Hope Addis Ababa. Ps Joshua and I continued the 24-hour journey to Kumasi, Ghana. Upon our arrival, we did our first preaching at 4 a.m. Bangkok time! Hope Kumasi has grown from 20+ to 40+ since last September and they have moved from Kate’s house to a new venue at a school.
In Kumasi, Ps Joshua emphasized the student group, and I the leadership team. Everyone was on fire. They wanted to reach 100 by end of 2006 and were already looking for a larger venue to accommodate that growth. After 3 nights in Kumasi, we moved to Accra, the capital of Ghana. We hoped to start a group there.
We arrived in Accra with only phone numbers of two strangers given to me by a team member in my home church. We started out by calling one of the numbers, wondering how God would lead further. Later, we met. Out of the blue, he asked me whether I knew Paul. Which Paul? It was the same Paul who used to be in my church years ago! I had been searching for him for years, hoping that he would help us start a church in Ghana. I called him immediately. Paul told me later that he felt God wanted him to start a Hope church in Accra the moment he received my call. Gee! That was easy.
Initially, we only planned to visit Ghana, Nigeria and Ethiopia on this trip. But I had been thinking and talking with our team in Bangkok about starting churches in Togo and Benin, the two small countries between Ghana and Nigeria. God heard it and made a way for us.
During the flight from Addis Ababa to Accra, we met one Togolese man who gave us his phone number. We adjusted our plan in Ghana to visit him in Lome, the capital of Togo, over the weekend. We traveled for 3 hours to the Ghana-Togo border only to find out that we had only single-entry visas for Ghana, meaning that we might have a problem to re-enter Ghana. What should we do? We decided to take a step of faith (again) since the land of Togo was already right in front of us. We crossed the border only to become very lost as people in this country spoke French. We could hardly understand anyone. We called that Togolese man, and he came with a Mercedes-Benz. He treated us to a nice Italian dinner, booked a hotel for us and took us sightseeing around the city, which helped us survey the land.
In Lome, Togo, we prayed that God would open doors. Ps Joshua prayed specifically for three things. One: For me to preach in a church on Sunday; Two: That one pastor would join Hope; Three: That we would be able to re-enter Ghana. And God answered all of these prayers, one after the other.
Ps Joshua was sick on the second night so he decided to pray while I went to an internet café. And again, like in my last Africa trip, miracles happened at the internet café. (I wonder whether this can be included into our V&P – Just joking.) While I was struggling with the internet as everything was in French on the screen, I impolitely glanced at the pc next to me, and I saw one English word ‘Church’ on it. I quickly asked the man next to me whether he could speak English. He said, ‘Yes’, and told me he was a pastor. I greeted him and introduced myself as a pastor from Thailand. Immediately, he invited me to visit his house, which was a really long walk away through so many small roads without light. I could only see because it was a full-moon night. He introduced his wife to me, and we had a talk by candlelight as there was no electricity there. Immediately, I started to share Hope vision and why I was in Togo. He invited me to preach in his church, and the first pray was answered!
After preaching in the service on the following day, the pastor’s wife cooked a nice Togolese lunch for us in their house. We had a few hours of good fellowship with the pastor’s family. That evening, we showed VCDs about Hope to the pastor and his wife. They asked us how they could join Hope. We asked them why. They told us that after I had left their house the night before, they prayed from 2 to 5 a.m., and God revealed something to them: That night the pastor dreamed that he was traveling to do God’s work with me on a Harley-Davidson to all over Africa (Gimme a break. I don’t know how to ride a motor-bike L); his wife prayed and saw another white man with me even before she met Ps Joshua; One member told them after the service that she had a dream of two white men talking to them in their house – this dream came to her even before I met the pastor at the internet café, and she was very surprised to actually see two white men in church on Sunday; there are not many white men in this country. The pastor told us that they made this decision by their own freewill because they were convicted of God’s call. So, the second pray was answered!
Later, this pastor shared Hope vision to one of his friends in the country of Benin. He was also interested to help us start a group in Benin too. What a Bonus!
You may be wondering about the third prayer now. We went to another internet café on the first day. We talked to the manager and found out that he was a Christian. We visited his church and met a man who ask us whether there was anything he could do to help. We mentioned about the visa problem for Ghana. He quickly smiled and told us that he knew almost everyone at the Ghana Embassy in Lome! He wrote a letter for us to show to the embassy and called up the chancellor to help us. This enabled us to get the visa within just 1 hour, instead of 3 days! Aha aha... The third prayer was now answered!
After we had crossed the border back into Ghana, we hired a taxi to Accra. After a little talk with the cab driver, we found out that he was a God-fearing Christian. He had just bought the car. He prayed to dedicate the car for God’s work, and he got 2 pastors as his first customers. He was very excited. We shared Hope vision and testimonies from our last trip and this trip with him. He was even more excited. He decided to offer his whole time to be with us and take us anywhere we wanted to go for the remaining 2 days in Ghana. On the last day before we left Ghana, we met the Paul who used to be in my church in this brother’s house. We showed Hope VCDs to both of them. And they wanted to help start a group in Accra!
We left for Nigeria on the Valentine’s Day. I have a friend who’s one of the princes in one of the states in Nigeria. I call him Prince. We stayed in his big house with a black Mercedes-Benz sport car for transport. He accompanied us to meet one lady in Lagos, introduced by a Nigerian brother in Bangkok. This lady promised to help us to start a group in Lagos soon.
Prince has a humanitarian project in his state. He planned to meet two important persons in Nigeria: A king who is very influential in the Nigerian government; Queen Elizabeth II is his godmother. The other is the Commissioner of the Ministry of Health and Care for his state. We met the secretary of the king as the king couldn’t meet us on that day, but we left our names there. Later, we met the Commissioner. After Prince’s little talk with our help, the commissioner decided to give 20 plots of land to Prince. Prince was happy. Prince told us that he would share some plots of land for Hope church in his state in the future!
In between the journey, Prince brought us to meet the Chief of the Anglican Church in one state. We shared Hope vision and testimonies of what God did in my last trip to him. He was very keen to help us to start a church in his state.
At the end of the trip with Prince, we went to meet a contact, introduced by Ps PN, in another state. We thought we would just meet him and some staff. But he invited 40 pastors in that state to meet us. Again, we shared Hope vision. After hearing Hope vision, they wanted us to help them start churches in their state too.
We traveled from our last destination to Calabar, a big city from where we flew back to Lagos. Another miracle happened here. I once met a pastor of a very big church in Calabar, together with his wife, in Bangkok years ago. But I didn’t have his contact information. I kept on mentioning to Ps Joshua that I wanted to meet him. At Calabar Airport, I met his wife! She was very excited to see me unexpectedly in her own city. She quickly rushed to bring the pastor to see me only a few minutes before we left. The pastor was very happy to see us and invited me to preach in his church on our next trip. This pastor is the Chief of the Pentecostal Church there. I know God has a good plan in all of this.
We came back to Lagos to catch our flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on the following day. Prince’s brother, another prince, brought us to his church. It was a small but very dynamic church. The pastor liked us a lot. We liked him too. We’ll keep in touch.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was our last stop on this trip. It was around 40 degrees in Lagos and 15 in Addis Ababa in their summer! We met Tira again, together with the core team, here. We spent a few days to train the group (that was started during my last Africa trip) how to run a church. We discussed how Hope Addis Ababa can bless Africa and we planned together for the church venue and office, as well as accommodation for Tira and more team members in the future.
We can’t stop thanking God for what He did on this Africa trip. Three more countries can possibly be opened in West Africa, despite the need for intensive training after this. We thank God that He prepared His people for us in every city we visited. He opened every door when we did our part with lots of prayers and hard work by faith. God’s presence was really with us. Miracle after miracle happened. We haven’t recorded them all. We experienced firsthand what happened in the book of Acts when the disciples planted churches with God support. It can still happen today. We praise and thank God for all these wonderful things. All glory be to God alone. We also want to thank the leadership team in Hope Bangkok and everyone who prayed for us back in Thailand and elsewhere. We give this credit to you too.
David Chen, Joshua Khoo & Tira Wongyun
Hope Bangkok, International Fellowship
