Happy Reading!

As a missionary, I don’t think I communicate any more than you.  I just wanted to talk about the importance of communicating with us missionaries on the field.

Every month I write thank you cards, letters, and e-mails to the great folks, who continue to support this ministry financially.  Occasionally, I’ll make a couple of phone calls to supporters back home to tell them how much I appreciate their regular prayer and financial gifts.

I also try to write something for this blog every week or two.  A friend and fellow pastor in Ohio has recently been offering some good blog ideas for me to post.  He often makes me think of the basic things in my daily life, and I have appreciated his suggestions.

Sometimes the internet doesn’t work.  And that makes it challenging to update my blog or to send e-mails.  And there are times when I can’t make a phone call, because the phone service is down.  This can be frustrating at times, and I continue to be reminded that this is just one reality of living in northern Ghana.

One of the larger mobile phone companies is called “M-T-N.” This was one of their billboard messages.

Every two months I write a prayer letter.  I try to keep you updated on what I have been doing the previous two months.  I like including pictures in the prayer letter though some events are hard to capture with the camera.

In addition to these regular forms of communication, I use Skype and occasionally Facebook to chat with friends and supporters.  My mom and I try to talk on Skype every couple of weeks which is always a real joy for both of us.

Occasionally, I receive cards and letters of people just telling me what is going on in their lives.  Christmas is a big time to receive lots of greeting cards and letters.  This past Easter I received a handful of very nice cards.

I like using all these forms of communication, but I will admit the one form of communication that I enjoy the most—and it is most difficult right now—is face to face communication.  I miss being able to sit down with a friend over a cup of coffee or tea and simply visit.

Since this is not an option with anyone from the States or Canada, I also very much enjoy a hand-written or typed letter or greeting card just telling me what is going on in your life and also offering encouraging words.

Let me offer a few suggestions for you the next time you’d like to offer some sincere, honest encouragement to me.  Write things like:

• You have said that life in Ghana is tough at times, and I cannot imagine the difficulties, but I believe you can do the work that God has called you there to do.
• We thank God for you going to Ghana.  You have told us about some of the challenges, and we pray that God will continue to strengthen you.
• I thank God for our friendship, and I care about you very much.  Please keep up the good work that God has started in you.
• You are a blessing to us and to those around you.  We want you to know that we really believe you can do this work even when it seems the work is overwhelmingly difficult.
• You are not alone in your ministry.  We pray for you often that you God will give you peace and joy and rest in Him alone.

I simply want to be reminded sincerely that many supporters—family and friends back home—really do care about me.  I know that all my supporters really care about me and this ministry, but I really want to hear this occasionally, because being far away from friends and family, it’s easy to forget.

Thank you very much for your continued support of this ministry.  May God be glorified in all you think, say and do.

Chris LaBoube serves as a Scripture Media Advisor in Ghana.  You can learn more about him by checking out his personal blog, the LaBoube Listening Post.

Planning for meetings and workshops can be especially interesting when considering the problems of transport. I admit to being a bit spoiled. During my years in the States, I have served on various church committees. Some would meet regularly, some not so regularly. But once they were scheduled, there was never any question as to when and where the committees would gather, and most of the members lived within a ten or fifteen mile radius of the church. Logistics were easy. But that’s not Africa. The Shekgalagari Bible Translation Project Advisory Committee meets quarterly. There are eight people on this committee who attend somewhat regularly. Four of them live in Hukuntsi, two in Kang, one in Ghanzi, and one in Maun. Look at the diagram to see how these towns/villages are situated with respect to each other and the distances between them. The sizes of the circles reflect the relative sizes of the population centers.

 Our first meeting of the year was scheduled to take place in Kang at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, February 11. Four of us, Pastor Richard Rudowske (fellow LBT missionary and project coordinator), the project secretary, the Advisory Committee chairman, and I were at the Kang office at 9 o’clock waiting for the others when we got a phone call. The call came from Hukuntsi. It seems that the Hukuntsi people were still waiting for a hike because the morning bus had broken down. Understand there were a lot of people wanting to take that bus to Kang. There wasn’t any way they could all find secondary transportation now. That left us with one option. Unless we wanted to postpone the meeting, we had to wait for the Maun and Ghanzi members to show up, then have everyone pile into Rich’s van and drive to Hukuntsi. We had to bear the unanticipated cost of renting a meeting place and the loss of almost four hours of waiting and traveling time. We made the drive ok and were lucky to find a last-minute meeting place, not an easy thing to do in a small village like Hukuntsi. At one o’clock we were finally settled and started.

Meetings and workshops give me headaches. This is one of the reasons. Almost always you can count on an unexpected happening. And hardly anyone arrives on time. This isn’t something you can fault. Getting places by a set time is a problem, even when you try hard. It all comes with the territory.

John Strasen has a translation ministry among the Shekgalagari people of Botswana.