Missions comes with so many diverse experiences! But If you have been involved in outreach and invitation to an extent, one of the things you can’t extricate yourself from is the need of the people especially in Africa.
The story was no different for me when I was sent to start a church in Elmina, a coastal town in the Central region of Ghana. The church started in a cinema hall after a crusade. I started with about 5 or 6 young men and most of them complained that they did not have clothes for Sunday services. Thankfully I had some clothes to spare so I gave it to them.
Believe it or not, I would see them wearing the clothes I gave them on Saturday evenings when I went out on outreaches. Definitely not in preparation for Sunday service. No. They were hanging out with girls in the area! My heart broke many times. I got upset countless times. I seemed to have sown seeds in the wrong places.
A few years down the line, I was transferred from that mission. I was attending a major conference in Accra (about 11 years down the line) and to my surprise here they were. The same guys I started the church with in Elmina, attending the conference! Even more shocking, they had become shepherds taking care of sheep! Amazing!
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. (1 Corinthians 3:6).
How alive this scripture became to me!
The work of a missionary involves a lot of ‘planting’.
Sometimes we get weary because we do not see the results the way we expect. But I have learnt that there is always a harvest in due season!
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season, we shall reap if we faint not. (Galatians 6:9).
I was listening to a message about the anointing and mantles recently. I suddenly realized that perhaps those clothes I gave to those ordinary young men maybe changed something in their lives!
Let’s keep planting seeds!
Emmanuel K. Yeboah