The Road to Africa:
People on a Mission

In October, 2008, twenty-two people did something most people only dream about, and others would never consider. They boarded planes bound for Ghana, Africa. These people, were from different cities, some from different countries, and all were at different stages along life's journey. Collectively, they were coming together for one specific reason. For the next twelve days, they would immerse themselves into service for their brothers and sisters living in a distant country. All twenty-two had agreed to become team members for the non-profit organization, The Branches of the Vine. They would live together, eat together, pray together and work together, to provide medical, educational, and humanitarian needs to the people of Ghana. Every year, BOV sends two separate teams to this region, and every year each team is made up of a diverse group of dedicated individuals. They are young and old, male and female, black and white, and they come from every denomination. They each have a story to share, a tale to tell. For the roads leading them to Africa are always as richly diverse as the travelers who made the journey.
What you are about to read is just two stories out of the many that could be told. You will meet Missy, the forty-two year old wife and mother from Cincinnati, OH, and Peter, the sixty-seven year old retired husband and father from Liverpool, UK. They are unique, and they are the same. They come from two very different walks of life, yet they both possess a heart full of love for God's people. They both received the same particular call to serve, yet they each picked up at very different times in their lives. And although they both discovered divine treasures upon this foreign soil, it was obvious each precious stone had been Hand-carved just for them. Here is how they happened to find themselves on a road leading to Africa, and what they both found once they got there....
Missy's journey to Ghana began in February 2008, when her husband, Mick, opened the car door, handed her the keys, and then pointed her in the right direction. His actions caught her completely off-guard, for this had not been part of their original plan. Up until this point, it had always been Mick who was to take the trip, to be a member of a mission team headed for Africa. After all, he was the one who had felt the call, he was the one who had dreamt the dreams, and he was the one who couldn't get this country out of his mind. But we're skipping ahead too quickly. Let's back up and start their story from the beginning....
It was the summer of 2006 when Mick first approached Missy about Africa. He had been having strange conversations, odd dreams, and a persistent, undeniable pull towards this foreign land. He didn't know what it all meant, but thought that maybe he and Missy should start listening together. It didn't take long for God to reveal more of His plan, once they did. That November, Mick and Missy had a 'chance' encounter with Andrea Ledford in a Christian bookstore. Missy used to work with Andrea years ago, so it was natural for them to stop and catch up on life. During the course of their conversation, Andrea brought up The Branches of the Vine and the work this organization was doing in Africa. Mick and Missy exchanged silent and knowing glances, but refrained from sharing any of their thoughts with Andrea. They needed time to digest the information and discern what it meant for them.
As time has a way of doing, it slipped past and life got busy. Although Mick and Missy continued to discuss Africa over the next several months, it wasn't until May 2007, on a 12-hour trip home from North Carolina that they finally decided it was time to do something. Africa had been their only topic of discussion the entire drive home, and when they finally pulled into their driveway, they had agreed to research some possible charities and contact Andrea. It had been six months since they last spoke to her, and they weren't even sure what was happening with BOV.
As Missy began to carry items into the house, she passed by the baby stroller stored in their garage. A neighbor had been collecting their mail while they were away, and had placed all two weeks worth inside the carriage. As God would have it, sticking out from the top of this pile was a letter from Andrea, her return address label clearly visible. Missy reached for the letter and began to cry, as she and Mick read the contents together. Andrea was going to Africa, and she was looking for help. Standing inside their Cincinnati garage that afternoon, Mick and Missy realized that the letter they were holding was actually God's road map, personally drawn-up just for them.
They immediately decided to help BOV, financially. But they didn't want to stop there. Mick and Missy collected items to donate, they connected the organization with their family parish, and they looked at sending Mick along on the fall 2008 mission trip. That's when they met with an unmovable roadblock, however. Mick's job wouldn't allow it. Try as he might, he just couldn't make his schedule work with the trip he wanted to take. It was then that he turned to Missy, and handed her the keys.
Mick was now certain it was Missy that God was calling, but she was not so easily convinced. Although she whole-heartedly supported Mick's desire to go, the idea of boarding a plane to Ghana herself had never even blipped across her radar screen. She saw herself as the mother of three young daughters, who needed her at home. She had no past experience doing mission work, and she knew it was way outside her comfort zone whenever she even considered the idea. Nevertheless, Mick was persistent. One night he pointedly asked her for a reason why she shouldn't go, and Missy couldn't think of a single one. She finally had to admit to herself, that if Mick was so willing to care for things back home, she should then be willing to answer God's call overseas for the both of them.
With the decision finally made, Missy was in, 100%. She became the Assistant Team Leader for the October 2008 Ghana team, and immersed herself totally into taking care of details. God, in turn, took care of her. He led her down every mile of the road she would eventually journey. Missy found Ghana to be absolutely miraculous, every moment, every minute. From handing out bibles and blankets to prisoners in the exact number needed, to placing cross pendants around the necks of the smiling children of Ghana. She was left forever changed. One particular morning she knows she will never forget. The team had arrived in the village of Nsakina, for the second day of a two-day medical clinic. When Missy stepped off the bus that morning, eight young boys, all of whom were excited to see her return, immediately and warmly embraced her. "I get hugs - wonderful hugs - from my children every day. But I can't forget, nor do I want to, that group of boys and their hug that will stay forever in my memory."
Peter, on the other hand, has traveled down the road to Africa twice. First in October 2007, and coming back a second time with Missy's team the following year. He says he definitely heard God calling him, although he admits the voice that touched his ears sounded much like Dr. Maria Akrofi's, the wife of Archbishop Justice Akrofi.
"Such a lovely woman, she is. But when you ask her to pray for you, one must be prepared. If she says you need to go to Ghana, you have no choice but to book yourself a ticket."
A retired social worker from Liverpool, Peter now volunteers his time as a caseworker at Asylum Link, a local charity for refugees and asylum seekers. He knows about helping others, since much of his life has been dedicated to this very service. Yet, going to Africa meant something even more to him. It meant an opportunity to right some ancient wrongs.
"Liverpool U.K. has a long history of contact with Ghana. Its ships took the slaves from West Africa to Virginia, and returned with cotton, sugar, and tobacco, which made the city prosperous. It was a blessed privilege to be included in the impact zone....to know the healing presence of Jesus....and to return with a heart touched by the beauty of His people." To have a part in such a positive movement, in a region that has experienced such pain and suffering, was of utmost importance to Peter. In fact, he hopes to make a third trip to Ghana with BOV in the fall of 2009.
"One of the delights of mission work is that you meet so many people in the same boat, all exploring what God is doing with them and in their lives."
Nevertheless, Peter realizes that being so far away from home can heighten one's anxiety as well. Yet he still encourages others to consider this type of service for the Lord. He discovered for himself, that mission work made him more open to see and hear what God is doing all around him.
"There were special people that touched my heart from the team, from the church in Ghana, and amongst the people of the villages, even in the briefest of moments we were able to get alongside each other. I think mission work can make you restless for more of God's doing."
Two particular events will forever stand out in Peter's memory from his trip to Africa in 2008. At a healing and prayer service held just prior to returning home, he was moved by the ?Äòprayer tower' in which the people who had gathered together, implored God to visit the sick, bind the evil one, and release His people from captivity.
"I have never been in a prayer meeting like this before, where hearts are tuned and the Lord's presence is tangible."
Peter also remembers how powerful the experience was to pray in partnership with his entire Ghana team, especially as they held hands together in prayer over the children of Africa and asked God to bless their lives.
"There were those who joined together in prayer, and those who held others in prayer. I think it united the entire team in a very special way. The was much healing for everyone involved, as our Lord Jesus touched our lives."
Healing seems to be the reoccurring signpost, down Peter's road toward Africa. We all have something to learn from his journey. There is a hope and healing waiting for each of us as well, should we decide to follow our own God-given route in life. For Peter, the road that led him to Ghana was merely a matter of hearing and responding to God's call, through the words spoken to him by his dear friend, Maria.
"She knew I needed it more than it needed me."

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