Northern Ghanaian women (MIS photo)
Ghana (MNN) ― Missionaries Kirk and Nicole Sims are doing a little bit more than just evangelizing the natives of Ghana: they are challenging the Christian Ghanaians to fulfill the Great Commission as well and become missionaries themselves.
Before coming to Ghana, the Sims were pastors in the U.S. and were constantly asking their congregation, "When are you going to get involved in mission? And when are you going to be a part of this?" Kirk said. "And God turned it back on us and said, ‘Well, when are you going to be a part of this movement?'"
Thus, they headed to Ghana through The Mission Society and are now equipping the people there to minister to the unreached around them from different countries or people groups.
"We're just excited to be a part of what God is doing in Africa. Some statistics say anywhere between 20,000 to 25,000 souls a day are being added to the Kingdom through different ways of growth, evangelism and discipleship. And you can really see that it's almost like a brush fire burning across Africa," Kirk said. He went on to say their host church in Ghana plants around 200 churches each year.
Now as they challenge the Ghanaians to step out and become missionaries, the Sims said it is a paradigm shift to go from the one being evangelized to the one doing the evangelizing.
However, "we're finding many Ghanaians rising to that burden and saying, 'Yes, I want to be sent out. I care about my neighbors in Burkina Faso and Mali who need to hear about the love of Jesus,'" Nicole said.
With the willing participation of so many Ghanaians, the Sims now face the questions of what a congregation planted by Ghanaians would look like, how they will raise money, how to care for the missionaries sent, and how do the Ghanaians adapt to the new cultures and languages they will enter.
The Sims said these questions are not unlike the ones missionaries from the U.S. ask as they set off to bring God's love to another country. These questions must be answered taking both cultures into consideration, and ultimately, following God's direction.
Kirk said it is also important to enter "those cultures with great humility and love, knowing that God has been trying to get their attention for many years and generations and that God is at work. [The Ghanaians] can learn so much from those people and those cultures."
The Sims ask for prayer as these individuals are sent out. Pray for the Ghanaians' hearts to be softened towards people of different ethnicities and cultures and for them to view these people just as God sees them. Also, pray for the church leaders there as they seek God's direction.
To learn more about The Mission Society and their work in Ghana, visit their Web site.
