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Ghana Mission Partership

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The Ghana Mission Network (GMN) is a community of PC(USA) presbyteries, congregations, and individuals, committed to supporting, advising, and exhorting one another in Christ's work in both Ghana and the USA, through partnerships involving the PC(USA), the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, (EPC,G). 

Several individuals from the Presbytery of Lake Michigan have been active in the Ghana Mission Network since its beginning in 2002. Our entire presbytery became involved with the network when it established a partnership with the Ho-East Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, in April 2005. To celebrate the fifth anniversary of this partnership, our presbytery has invited five partners from the EPC,G to come to Michigan to be observers at the Uniting General Council of the World Communion of Presbyterian churches at Calvin College, 18-28 June, and to participate in the 9th Ghana Mission Network meeting here in Kalamazoo, 28-30 June. A major goal of bringing these partners here to Michigan this June will be to review, reaffirm, and re-energize the partnership relationship between our presbytery and the Ho-East Presbytery. 

Albion First has invited a partner from the Presbyterian Church of Ghana to be here at the same time and attend both the Uniting General Council and the GMN meeting. In addition, official delegates from both the EPC,G and from the PCG will be attending the Uniting General Council and the GMN meeting. This will allow some very productive times together with these special guests on the two Sundays, 20 and 27 June, and at the GMN meeting, 28-30 June. Since our Ghanaian guests will be in Michigan a bit before and after these meetings, there will other times that we may interact with them. 

In particular, you are invited to attend some or all of the 9th Ghana Mission Network meeting held in Kalamazoo, Michigan, from mid-afternoon Monday, June 28, through mid-afternoon Wednesday, June 30, 2010. The program for this meeting will be built around the theme, Dwelling Together in Unity. Details of the program will be distributed later.

We particularly invite you to attend the June 28 Monday afternoon program, evening meal, and worship service held at First Presbyterian Church, 321 West South Street, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 49007, phone 269-344-0119. The activities will conclude with an evening "Ghanaian" worship service held in the church sanctuary with drummers from a Ghanaian church in Chicago. We also invite you to participate in the remainder of the 9th Ghana Mission Network meeting when it moves to the Transformations Spirituality Center, Congregation of St. Joseph, 3427 Gull Road, Kalamazoo Michigan, 49048, phone 269-381-6290 for lodgings and the remainder of the meeting. The conclusion of the meeting will be Wednesday afternoon following a closing worship service.
 
 

 

Trip Report Aug 2007

  • On Sunday, 29 July 2007, 22 folks from the Presbytery of Lake Michigan returned home rejoicing for a very successful Worship and Study Mission Trip to Ghana. Leaders for this trip were Rev. Karen Haak, Interim Presbytery Executive, Rev. Doug Petersen, pastor, Benton Harbor First, and Laurie Hartzell, seminarian, Benton Harbor First.
  • The only travelers who had been to Ghana before were John Petro, Joyce Petro, and Laurie Tupper, all from Kalamazoo First. Other travelers were Gabrielle Baur, Nathanial Baur, DaNay Edgar, Kaylin Edgar, Nora Edgar, Nate Gargano, Veronica Harmon, Ted Hartzell, Jeanette Holton, Jewel Jones, Anne Petersen, Michelle Stone, Gloria Winn, Bob Ziebart, Evan Ziebart from Benton Harbor First; and Marnie Stein from Grand Rapids Westminster. This includes six youths under age 20, who were traveling with parents.
  • Travelers attended worship services in Accra (Teshie and Bubiashie), Tema (Kekeli and Sakumono), Ho (Bankoe, Fiave, and SSNIT Flats), Sokode (Bagble and Etoe), and Peki (Wudome). The service in Peki celebrated the commissioning of 20 new pastors.
  • A Durbar celebration with special music, colorful dancing, and speeches by local leaders was held at Sokode Bagble for the dedication of a new primary school building. Recognition was given to Kalamazoo First for helping to purchase building materials. Chrisotoph Bansa, Sokode District Chief and our visitor from the Ho-East Presbytery in June 2006, was one of the speakers. Karen Haak responded on behalf of our presbytery.
  • A meeting was held with the Ho-East Partnership Committee to discuss our presbytery level partnership. Meetings were also held with several congregations in the Ho-East Presbytery to discuss existing and emerging congregational level partnerships.
  • The group met with the Moderator of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church to discuss our common goal of reaching out to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.
  • Visits were made to historic sites in Ghana, including slave castles at Cape Coast and Elmina and the Canopy Walkway in the rainforest at the Kakum National Park.
  • Karen Haak, Doug and Anne Petersen, John and Joyce Petro, Marnie Stein, and Veronica Harmond traveled to Ghana one week earlier than the rest of the group for a Ghana Mission Network meeting at the Accra Women’s Centre in Abokobi. Sixty delegates total from the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, met together for worship and conversations about the meaning of partnership in the context of being faithful disciples of Christ.
  • Partners in Ghana reached out to their visitors from Michigan with compassion and hospitality in a way that gives new meaning to mission partnerships. The important things are not about how much stuff one has or gives away, but about the quality of the relationships that one builds. This mission trip was about building these enduring relationships with each other. This trip was a life changing experience for everyone.
  • Congregations in our presbytery are encouraged to participate in this partnership.

Report on Ghana -Spring 2007

Ghana celebrated the Golden Jubilee of its independence on Wednesday, 6 March 2007. The former Crown Colony of the Gold Coast was the first British colony in Africa to achieve self-government, and the second sub-Saharan nation to do so. (Sudan achieved its independence in 1956.). Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first Prime Minister, chose the name of Ghana for the fledging country. On 1 July 1960, Ghana became a republic with Kwame Nkrumah as its first President. The intervening years have had some very difficult times, but for over ten years now, the country has matured under a democratically elected government with a stable economy and improving educational and health systems. It is a very bright light in the developing countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Nevertheless, a long road still lies ahead for the country, as it strives to enter the Twenty-First Century global economy.

Several churches within our presbytery have developed partnerships with churches in the Volta Region of Ghana. Grand Haven First established its partnership with the Ho-Kpodzi congregation in 1980 when Jim and Ruth Wierenga traveled to Ghana in response to an earlier visit to its congregation by Rev. Samuel Mensah from the Ho-Kpodzi congregation. Kalamazoo First Presbyterian Church has had a partnership with the village of Sokode Bagble since 1991 in response to an invitation to visit his home congregation by Frank Abror, a graduate student in Blind Rehabilitation at Western Michigan University. Through the years, there have been several mission trips to and from Ghana.

The partnership was expanded to be a partnership between the Presbytery of Lake Michigan and the Ho-East Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, when a delegation from our presbytery traveled to Ghana in spring 2005. Currently, five churches in the Presbytery of Lake Michigan are linked in congregational partnerships with five churches in the Ho-East Presbytery. In June 2006, Christoph Bansa traveled to Michigan from Ghana to visit nine congregations in our presbytery.

Twenty-three people from our presbytery will participate in a Worship and Study Mission Trip to Ghana from 13 to 29 July 2007. Included in this group will be Rev. Karen Haak, our presbytery’s interim executive presbyter, and Rev. Doug Petersen, pastor of Benton Harbor First. In addition, 17 others from Benton Harbor First, one from Grand Rapids Westminster, and three from Kalamazoo First will be traveling on this trip. Seven of these folks will travel to Ghana one week earlier to attend a meeting of the Ghana Mission Network at the Accra Women’s Centre. A major focus of this meeting will be women’s issues in Ghana and in the United States.

Please pray for our Ghanaian brothers and sisters as they celebrate their country's Fiftieth Anniversary. Please pray for those who travel from our presbytery to Ghana this summer and for their partners in the Ho-East Presbytery. May this trip be a blessing for all of us here in the Presbytery of Lake Michigan and for all of our partners in the Ho-East Presbytery.

Joyce Petro, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Update Fall 2006

The Presbytery of Lake Michigan has had a partnership with the Ho-East Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana since April 2005. Christoph Bansa, from the village of Sokode Bagble in the Volta Region of Ghana, traveled to Michigan in June 2006. During his time in Michigan, he spoke at a presbytery meeting and visited nine different congregations in our presbytery. He was an articulate spokesperson for our presbytery's partnership with the Ho-East Presbytery. Because of renewed enthusiasm for this partnership, the Ghana Partnership Committee now involves Benton Harbor First, Grand Haven First, Marshall First, Kalamazoo First, and Paw Paw First.

Six members of our presbytery's Ghana Partnership Committee attended the Ghana Mission Network meeting that was held on 22-23 September 2006 at Stony Point Center, a Presbyterian conference and retreat center in Stony Island, New York. Our presbytery's Ghana partnership is one the more active partnerships of the roughly 10 or 12 similar partnerships between PC(USA) presbyteries and partner Presbyterian presbyteries in Ghana. Ghana is country in West Africa with over 20 million people that is slightly smaller in size than Oregon.

A Worship and Study Mission Trip to Ghana is planned for 13 through 29 July 2007. Besides visiting partners in Ghana for about one week, the trip will include visits to Accra, Kumasi, the slave dungeons at Cape Coast and Elmina along the Guinea Coast of Ghana, and a canopy walk in the rain forest. For more information about this trip, please contact Laurie Hartzell from Benton Harbor First, phone ( 269.473.2941), e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or John Petro from Kalamazoo First, phone ( 269.342.6817), e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

2005 Ghana Mission trip was completely successful!

Twelve people from the Presbytery returned home full of joy and praise on 12 May 2005 after having had many fantastic experiences on their 16 day trip to Ghana. The highlights of the trip included the signing of the new presbytery level partnership agreement with the Ho-East Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, and wonderful meetings with people from at least eight different churches in the Ho-East Presbytery. The group assisted with two work projects, one was related to a new primary school building and the other was making cement blocks for the new headquarters building of the Ho-East Presbytery. The group also enjoyed touring southern Ghana, with visits to Accra and Kumasi, as well as to the slave castles in Cape Coast and Elmina.

Rev. Dave Van Arsdale, Kalamazoo First, was the leader of the group. The group consisted of seven people from Kalamazoo First, three from Marshall First, and two from Paw Paw First.

Plans are to bring a small contingent of leaders from the Ho-East Presbytery to Michigan in May or June 2006. The next trip from the Presbytery to Ghana is tentatively planned for November 2006.

Contact John & Joyce Petro for more info on the Partnership, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Ghana Partnership History