I have been absent from my post here in the blogosphere because I was on a 10-day trip to Ghana, West Africa.  This wasn't a mission trip, although I did attend to some "mission business" (an oxymoron?) while there, carrying out some administrative tasks on behalf of the partnership Barrie Free Methodist Church has with the Free Methodist Church in Ghana. On a side note, this Canada-Ghana partnership will be featured in the upcoming MOSAIC, if I hurry up and submit my article to Lisa Howden so she can publish it already.

I was in Ghana this time because I've recently sold the fair-trade business I started in Canada after our two-year short-term (another oxymoron?) mission.  I was introducing the new owners of the business to their Ghanaian partners and suppliers, the hard-working, resourceful people who make the recycled glass beads, elephant grass baskets, and beautiful cotton batik cloth, which have gained popularity in our corner of the world.

All that to say, whether on business or mission, each time I travel to Ghana, I am challenged by the encounter. 

We travelled to the top of the country to an area called Bolgatanga.  The women there make baskets for income, but live off the land, farming and raising livestock for their food.  They sleep in mud compounds with thatch or tin roofs.  They own few material possessions.  It was painfully obvious that the lifestyle we are accustomed to is worlds apart.

While we stayed here,

they slept here.

It didn't feel right for our differences to be in such close proximity to one another.

Read more: Asking the Impossible

Jared Siebert, Director of Church Development, is hosting with Church Planting Canada a Church Planting Summit which begins today. Jared chats about the Summit as well as life in Saskatoon in this week's video blog.

Friday, April 27 and Saturday, April 28
The Board of Administration (BOA) will be meeting Friday and Saturday at the Ministry Centre in Mississauga. Please remember them in your prayers.