“I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me into you home. I needed clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me. . . .I can guarantee this truth: Whatever you did for one of my brothers or sisters, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.”  Mathew 25:35-36, 40

            Part of this month’s work here has been a fix-up, clean up, paint up of our compound guesthouse. This flurry of activity is Chuck’s delight. He loves the painting and the fixing that finally sees a job well done. I, on the other hand, am not handy this way. I don’t paint; I pick colors. I don’t enjoy the chaos before everything is done and in place. Now we are down to the final touches, and even I got a bit involved in the cleaning of furniture, scraping of a table and arranging of remnants of missionaries before us in order to make a comfortable living quarters for our guests. As we were working we were always thinking of the people who are coming to visit. Our area facilitator is coming with his wife and family. We love them, and like to think of the place being ready and the kids having toys and a table just for them. Our business manager is coming and his fiancée will visit. Won’t it be fun to surprise them with a comfortable place to stay? The motivation for the work was for whom we were doing it.

            Isn’t it the same of the things we do each day? Some are fun parts of working in God’s kingdom. Other times there is grief, frustrations and weariness. What keeps us going in these times? It is clearly stated in the Bible section above. What keeps us going is for whom we are doing it. Together we are doing it for our Savior Jesus Christ. Let’s walk through this month together and see what WE (you, our supporters, and us) did for Jesus.

            The school at Hemang is growing and developing. A picture exchange with a New Jersey church saw us visiting there. As we approached the school the kids saw our truck and we heard the laughter, shouts and welcomes. We brought two interesting things - clean paper and crayons. The teachers had already talked to the children about things they could draw and examples were on the board. We handed out the paper and the packs of crayons. Nothing happened!!!  Finally we realized that the children hadn’t seen crayons before and didn’t know how to go about opening the box. So we helped. Then there was another awkward pause. No one really knew how to use them. We modeled drawing and coloring and put our hands over little hands to get the feel of doing it. Then the creativity began as the children took off on their drawing project. What a thrill to see the parents outside beaming with pride over what their children had created.

            While we were working we sang and shared. Someone had sent us candy canes and so we talked about Jesus the Good Shepherd. Ablaze balloons helped us talk about being on fire to share God’s Word. We sang a popular Ghanaian chorus, “Send your fire again, Your Holy Ghost fire. . .”

            We talked to parents about the importance of Christian education and their part of saving for the small tuition we require. Together you and I did this for Jesus!!

            Pastors here are going through the difficult transition to local provision for their needs. Sometimes this causes emergency situations where immediate needs must be met. One young pastor came to us in tears. His baby was dying with malaria and needed IV’s and drugs. Thank God that because of you his need was met and the baby is fine. WE did it for Jesus.

            We rejoice over another local writing project completed. This time we partnered with Lutheran Media Ministry here to create the first locally produced Lenten devotions. After the texts were assigned it was great to meet people and have them talk about their thinking on a section of God’s Word. We met on a Saturday morning to complete the writing process. That week saw Media ministry staff entering the devotions on to a disk, Chuck editing and printing, and volunteers from Media Ministry collating and stapling the finished product. It was great to go to church and see people excited about purchasing these. If you think locally produced materials don’t matter, here’s an insight. Benedicta (Miss B as Chuck calls her), the young woman who works for us, has been intent on listening to our after breakfast morning devotions. Friday a guest came at that time, and we sat in the kitchen talking. Quietly she slipped to the porch and brought back the Bible and the devotion booklet so we could share the devotion before beginning our day. We’ve also had encouraging reports of partners stateside using these devotions as well as one friend in Japan. WE did it for Jesus!!!

            You may also rejoice with us that 1100+ students across Ghana are using locally produced Sunday School materials. This includes deaf ministry workers here. WE did it for Jesus!!

            There are challenges, too. Our students are still waiting for their vicarage to begin. We have had some critical water shortages where it has been difficult even to find water to buy. The power is sometimes running only partially or not at all. We are missing family -especially on days like today when our new granddaughter Caroline was baptized. But we thank God that we are here. Together because of you, our family, friends and supporters, we are able to do these things for Jesus.  In your mission, wherever you are, keep telling yourself, “We are doing it for Jesus.”

Your Partners in Jesus’ Ministry,

Chuck and Jeanette Groth

Prayer Requests

That the church here will support their pastors and vicars
That ministry to people who need to know Jesus will move forward
That the print ministry here will continue to develop
That our new area facilitators will be a powerful force in charging the Ablaze movement in Africa
Continued sponsorship of us so that we can continue to work here
Good health
Safe Travel

Prayers Answered

Continued support for the work here
Strength for the church leaders worldwide to “Do it for Jesus”
Good health
Safe travel

Groth contact info:

Rev. Charles & Jeanette Groth
CT 839
Accra, Ghana
Email: Charles.Groth@lcms.org

Pictures: (click to see larger)

	Children Ablaze! – Children at the school in Hemang with Ablaze! Balloons
	Children & crayons – Check out the smiles!
	Lent Devotions – Media Ministry staff putting together the Lent Devotion books around our dining room table.