by Otis Hall, Executive Pastor
As many of you know, Autumn Ridge has been closely connected to the people in West Africa for many years. We’ve partnered with missionaries, Compassion Evangelical Hospital (CEH), and incredible leaders and pastors whom we’ve seen God move through in amazing ways.
One of the major ways we’ve seen God move in West Africa has been through the Compassion Evangelical Hospital (CEH). Etienne Ouattara has been the Director of CEH since 2007, leading and impacting the community through growth and outreach. During that time, many doctors, electricians, and engineers from our church traveled to Guinea to provide quality and culturally appropriate healthcare and education. These volunteers have used their specific skills and talents to serve with compassion and share the Gospel in a majority Muslim country.
Another way we’ve seen the Gospel spread in West Africa is through our partnership with Guinea and Northern Ghana. Our long missional direction at Autumn Ridge has given me the honor of working with an incredible leader, Emmanuel Mustapha, or ‘Muss’ for about nine years. Muss has planted over 2000 churches in West Africa since 2005 and is working to plant 2000 more churches by 2029. Those kinds of numbers are staggering. Those who partner with him have helped rebuild and staff the government hospital, started hospitals and trade schools, built a Christian academy, improved educational training for teachers, and developed programming for young people to grow in their faith and connection to their community.
When one hears about the number of lives being changed by the missional work in Ghana, an immediate response may be: ‘it can’t be true; discipleship can’t be happening on that scale!’ To which I would say the only way to understand it and truly believe it is to see it for yourself. I invite you to do just that.
That invitation was given to Pastor Rick, Dr. Steve Merry, and Etienne Outarra last month. For two weeks in September, I led them to Ghana to see it for themselves. This was a chance for them to see the first-hand work that is going on in Northern Ghana – to see if it was real and to ask questions.
As they learned more about Muss’ ministry, they learned about his focus on four pillars of development:
- Church Planting
- Leadership Development
- Infrastructure
- Social Ministry (education and health)
They also got to experience the impact these four pillars of development have on the surrounding community, much like a short-term team from the congregation would experience them. We participated in church planting and church encouragement, baptized 46 people, held leader training sessions with many new church leaders, toured places centered around developing trade skills, and visited both the hospital and Christian Academy.
Additionally, we looked for areas of alignment between the kingdom initiatives going on in Guinea, Ghana, and Autumn Ridge. My hope was to find areas where the leaders in these West African countries could connect over their common directives, inspiring each other in ministry and learning from each other. My hope was also to find ways for Autumn Ridge to deepen our partnership in West Africa through the combined works of the Global Missions Resource Center and the CEH.
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What came out of the trip was beyond any expectation or hope I could have had. In our time together as leaders, we talked about the challenges we face as we do ministry in Guinea, Ghana, and the United States. The amazing thing is that many of the issues we face cross country and culture. Churches worldwide are trying to find unity in the Gospel. We are aligned in our focus to lead people to Jesus, develop leaders, and care for those who are unreached and under-resourced. As I sat and listened to these leaders discuss how each works in their context, I was filled with joy to see how God has connected us across the miles for His common goal. I rejoiced as I watched what Jesus said in John 10:16 play out in front of me:
John 10:16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
On the final days of our trip, we drove from Northern Ghana to the Southern Coast in the capital city of Accra. We began dreaming and planning trips between leaders and pastors in all three countries – Guinea, Ghana, and the United States. We visited and shared with each other, thinking about when we could begin bringing teams from Autumn Ridge to West Africa, sharing your unique skills and talents to help these amazing ministries continue growing and advancing the Kingdom.
I can’t wait to see how many of you will accept my invitation and come see it for yourselves. I am excited to see how many of you will help in the advancement of these two influential ministries by traveling here with a team to help develop new ways to train teachers, teach finances, advance trade development, and even train other leaders.
If you are interested in joining a team or getting to hear more about the work going on in Ghana, we have an opportunity coming up for you! Muss will be traveling here for our Love is the Agenda missions event in November. We will have a meal with him on Thursday, November 10th at 6pm where you can hear more about his missional and church-planting work. If you’d like to attend, please reserve your seat HERE. You can also learn more about our partnership with Compassion Evangelical Hospital by visiting their website and stopping by their booth at the missions festival in November.
Thank you for being a part of these ministries, building God’s Kingdom here and in West Africa. I look forward to seeing how God will continue to deepen our relationships with Etienne and Muss, expanding their ministry and reaching many more lost people with the Gospel of Jesus.
