I thought I would drop you a note about my recent thirteen day trip to West Africa (Liberia, Ghana, and Togo). I accompanied Rev. Larry Goodwin, director of Missions for Calvary Ministries International, an organization of which I am a part of. We had the honor and privilege of ministering to men and women who have a hunger to reach their nations with the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our purpose in going was to minister to pastors and church leaders. We do not go to give money to them, tell them how to administrate their ministries, or indicate that the way we do church in America is how they should. Our passion is to speak into the hearts and lives of pastors to encourage them to accept the fact that the Holy Spirit that directs and empowers us in this country is the same Holy Spirit at work in them. Our encouragement to them is that though we have an abundance of national resources, what they need to reach their individual nation is present there and the power of the Holy Spirit is present to enable them to reach every people group on the continent. Our desire is to encourage them to believe they are just as much a part of the Church of Jesus Christ as we are, in particular, not off-shoots of the American Church or second-class members of the Body of Christ.

Though our numbers do not even come close to what you may see on your favorite ministry program, our effectiveness is equal to any you may see or hear of. We believe that if God is going to change the Third-world nations, those who are developing from abject poverty to not so much poverty, it is going to happen through the local church, not government, politics, or for that matter, American ministers going to "evangelize" these nations. It is going to happen as the churches in each of these countries began to understand that they possess the same Holy Spirit as we do. And in so doing, major spiritual changes will begin to take place that will eventually have a water-shed effect and change the various cultures at every level.

We are committed to establishing networks of churches, indigenous churches already a part of each culture (equipped far greater than we are) to make the necessary impact on "their" nations. Our hope is to assist them by imparting knowledge we have that before change takes place in the culture, it must take place in their hearts as men and women of God. And, praise God, it is!!

In the three years I have had the opportunity to participate with various teams of pastors seeking to make this vision a reality, exponential growth has taken place among these African pastors and leaders. What numbered in just a handful of pastors just a few years ago, now numbers in the hundreds. It has been exciting to see this growth take place, maturity in administrating their churches and organizations, without the control or direction from us. We have dropped principles in their hearts and they have ran with them. And, success is defined in what they are realizing in their own organizations as they have networked, seen growth throughout their nations, and the results have been awesome.

Thank you for your prayers for our teams that have been so instrumental in assisting this process that God and African pastors are realizing in their own cultures. I believe in the years to come, you will hear of monumental results that can be tied to the seeds we have sown in their hearts. You will see and hear how God has brought about His vision for West Africa and has spread it throughout the continent. Please keep these godly pastors on your prayer list that the seeds we have sown will become a tremendous harvest that will change the world in which they live.

Blessings!