Foreign
Mission Committee Newsletter
GHANA
The Foreign Mission Committee of the
Protestant Reformed Churches has, in the past months, been busy in the work connected with
the mission
field in Ghana. Since Synod of 1998 the FMC had been investigating the requirements of
"sponsorship" for sending a missionary to Ghana. In
January of this year, however, the FMC decided no longer to pursue sponsorship but rather
to send a missionary to Ghana independently. The main
reason for deciding against sponsorship was that this would involve us in compromise of
our beliefs and practices. The FMC determined that it is not
only possible for us to enter Ghana independently, but also, we believe,
preferable.
As a result of this decision, the FMC
advised Hull PRC to resume calling a missionary to Ghana. Hull concurred with the advice
of the FMC and
immediately formed a trio, extending a call a few weeks later to Rev. Richard Moore. Rev.
Moore accepted the call and preached his farewell on
March 7, 1999. He was subsequently installed as our foreign missionary to Ghana on March
19, 1999, in Hull PRC. Rev. Smit conducted the
installation service, preaching on II Timothy 4:1, 2.
Another aspect of the work of the FMC with
regard to Ghana has been the seeking of volunteers to assist our missionary. We have
received a good
response to the requests that were sent out to the churches. Rev. Moore himself reports
below concerning these volunteers.
The FMC is very thankful to God for
providing us with a man to be our missionary to Ghana. And we are thankful that Rev. Moore
and his wife
express such willingness and eagerness to do this work. Our prayer is that the Lord will
bless the work, according to His will, for the gathering and
salvation of His people in Ghana.
Rev. and Mrs. Moore are currently busy
making preparations for the move to Ghana. What follows is Rev. Moore’s own report on
the preparations.
NEWS FROM OUR MISSIONARY TO GHANA
— REV. RICHARD MOORE
Since taking the call to Ghana, Jan and I have
been busy making plans and implementing them with a view to going to Ghana. I have sent
letters to
our contacts in Ghana informing them of our decision to come to their country to begin our
Mission labors there. We heard very soon from Rev.
Gabriel Anyigba, our dear friend there, that he was thankful that we are now coming to his
country. He has offered to help us in all ways possible, and
is now looking into the different housing that will be available to us in Accra. We are
thankful for this dear brother in the land of Ghana. We are still
waiting to hear from some of our other contacts, but it is not so unusual that it takes
quite a bit of time before getting correspondence from them.
We have brought to a conclusion most of our
work in the Hull congregation, so that we might concentrate in the preparations for our
trip to Ghana. I
still do preach 'used' sermons for Hull when they do not have supply, and am still
teaching the catechism classes, and do lead yet the Young People's
Society. Other than a few sick visits the rest of the labors have been put aside.
Also I have met several times with the FMC
and Hull Council with respect to the labors and the setting up of things for the work on
the field. These
meetings have been very fruitful, and have demonstrated a good unity between the bodies of
the FMC and Hull's Council with the missionary. We
are thankful for this and pray that God may continue to so bless us in this great work
together.
One of the things that has kept me busy
during the last few weeks has been the interviewing of the volunteers for this work in
Ghana. Also included
in this is the informing of the volunteers of the work required and other things about the
field itself. In this regard we are very much blessed by the
fact that God has led several couples (4) and individuals (5) to be willing to give up a
year in their lives to labor with us in Ghana. This means that we
are in the process of selecting those that will be asked to go first to the field, and
attempting to determine others that will be able to follow. We should
make some decisions concerning this at a meeting that we shall have on April 12, the Lord
willing. The FMC and Hull's Council along with the
missionary has determined that it be best to have the volunteers come to the field about 3
or 4 months after the missionary and his wife are on the
field. Please remember the need we have for these volunteers, remember them in your
prayers, and also understand the funding for the expenses
involved to have the volunteers in Ghana will be raised by offerings in your
congregations, may God grant that we have abundant gifts for this
purpose.
Further, with respect to the preparations of
going to the field Jan and I have been making provision for getting all of our medical
things in order,
namely shots to protect us from various diseases that one could encounter on a foreign
field. We also are about to make application for our visas. We
are planning to get one year multiple entry visas with a view to establishing residency in
the land for religious purposes. We do not anticipate any
difficulties with respect to this.
Much time is being spent determining what we
shall take with us, which will be kept to a minimum. We have set up the financial accounts
necessary
for the funding of the field from the United States’ side, and will do the same in
Ghana as soon as we get there. Also we are preparing to sell all of our
personal goods at an auction sale on April 17. After this sale we plan on taking a trip
into the Northwest, to visit family and to visit churches to speak
of our work on the field. And returning from there we plan on doing the same in the
Chicago and Grand Rapids area. We hope to have occasion for a
half-hour informal talk on the field in each of these areas. Then back to Iowa for a
couple of weeks, and then to Ghana probably in the second or third
week of June.
Our plans are to keep our churches informed
by regular newsletters from the field. We covet the prayers of our people as we undertake
this
important and blessed work in Ghana.
Rev. Richard Moore
PHILIPPINES
The other main area of work for the FMC has
been the Philippines. We have kept in touch, through correspondence, with our contacts in
the
Philippines. Through this, and through the visits of the delegation in October, we see a
definite and genuine interest for the Reformed Faith among
these contacts.
Synod 1998 authorized the FMC to send two
delegations to the Philippines. In accordance with this a delegation was sent by the FMC
in October,
1998. This delegation consisted of Rev. R. Smit and Rev. A. den Hartog. These men visited
contacts in four places in the Philippines: Davao,
Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, and Manila. In addition to preaching on the Lord’s days, the
delegation conducted visits to the families in their homes.
This proved to be a very profitable means of becoming acquainted with the saints there. In
this way the delegation was able to come to a better
understanding of the needs, both physical and spiritual, of these people.
At this point another visit by a delegation
is being planned for May. The tentative dates are May 20 through May 31. The Lord willing,
the two
ministers on this delegation will be Rev. Kortering and Rev. Kleyn. Their wives also plan
to go along. The Kleyns and the Korterings will meet each
other in the Philippines. The plan is to conduct this visit in much the same way as the
last delegation. This will include visiting as well as preaching
and teaching among the contacts we have in Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Daet, and Manila.
Please remember the FMC and its work in your
prayers, both as another delegation visits the Philippines and as our PRC missionary and
his wife
prepare to move to Ghana. May we as churches show Rev. and Mrs. Moore our support and
encouragement in the difficult and exciting work that
lies before them. And may God be pleased to use us as churches for the gathering and
salvation of His elect from the nations of the world.
Last Modified: 26-Apr-1999