Feb. 12, 2010

Source: HCJB Global (written by Ralph Kurtenbach and Harold Goerzen)

An HCJB Global ministry trip with members of the Colorado-based Woodmen Valley Chapel congregation is giving team members varied opportunities to serve as the Voice and Hands of Jesus in the West African country of Ghana this month.

"This is the church's first partnering trip with HCJB Global," said Deb Brown, global impact coordinator at Woodmen Valley in Colorado Springs. "And it's the church's first team to go out to conduct mobile medical clinics."

The initial eight-member team from the church arrived in Ghana on Feb. 6 to help build a facility called the Tree of Life Health Post. The clinic is next to the offices of Theovision, a partner ministry that is hosting the team in Accra.

This weekend the group will be joined by a seven-member medical team from Ecuador along with Brown and three additional members from Woodmen Valley. For the next two weeks they will help conduct mobile medical clinics in rural villages and hold vacation Bible schools for local children.

HCJB Global President Wayne Pederson is scheduled to help dedicate two partner radio stations during the team's time in Ghana. Both stations-one in Asamankese near Accra and the other in the central Ghanaian city of Assin Fosu-went on the air in December 2009.

"Pray that the radio stations' launch will successfully draw many listeners to Jesus," Pederson said. "Pray that the construction of the clinic will be financed and completed by the end of the year."

"We're excited about what God is doing in this partnership," Brown added. "The church supported media ministries in the past, but now to come alongside HCJB Global, both with the radio ministry and reaching out in healthcare, it's a more holistic approach. Our desire is not only to reach people spiritually, but to meet their needs physically as well."