Letter from Glen and Carol Hallead in Ghana
February 1, 2008
Dear Friends,
Nigerien musicians.
Remember the old Ford advertising slogan, “Quality is job #1?” Recent developments in the PC(USA) suggest the church might want to use a similar slogan: “Interpretation is job #1.” Increasingly, congregations and judicatory bodies are insisting on quality and timeliness in interpreting their work. Information and reporting are crucial elements of the mission funding system. This is an appropriate expectation for those of us in the church to have of one another. To that end, Carol and I have a number of ways to communicate our ministry, our lives, our dreams, and our faith to the broader world community.
We have made arrangements with a Thai organization to manage our Web site. While it is “hosted” on a server in the United States by a Presbyterian-related organization, the actual nuts and bolts of registering it and updating the Web pages are all handled by Thai Christians. This site provides us with a permanent presence on the Web. The pages are designed to convey introductory material about who we are, what we do, and why we do it. It has a statement of faith and our family mission statement, links to organizations we work with and support, an explanation of ways in which you can keep in touch with us and support us, and many other features.
A chapel in rural Ghan with a roof that was built with funds from PC(USA) congregations.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) also maintains a Web page for us. This Web page provides introductory information about us as well and also has links to every newsletter we have written (some available only to those who visit the site) since January 2000. It also provides direct links for you or your church to find out more about what else is happening in this area of the world, to provide support to us and other PC(USA) missionaries, and to make connections with other PC(USA) missionaries and mission work. The mount of information available is amazing.
We also maintain a blog about our personal and family experiences that we are trying to update once or twice a month. We’re hoping to make this bigger on pictures and smaller on narrative in order to give you a view of the world around us.
We also write these newsletters, which are an important means for us to convey what is happening. We write them three or four times a year, and they’re edited and mailed by the Mission Connections Office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for which we are very grateful.
Carol and I also partner with more than 60 people to pray for each other on a particular day of the week. We invite our partners to contact us regarding their prayer needs while we keep them posted on our own.
Every other year (or so) we try to make a trip back to the United States to visit our partner congregations and other supporters to talk about what we are doing and why we feel it is crucial to the PC(USA) and to the work of the church of Jesus Christ. But those times are trying. It often means living out of a suitcase for two or three months at a time, moving from house to house and congregation to congregation. We do it because we believe it is important, but it can’t provide the coverage we want and need. That’s why we have these other forms of communication.
One of the missing elements of communication for us is the reverse side of the equation. In all candor: we don’t often hear from our congregational partners. We’d love to hear from you. Mail us your congregation’s newsletters. Have the mission committee take turns writing a monthly email or letter. Does your congregation have a Web site? Send us the address. We’d love to be in closer contact with you. Frequently we hear of Presbyterian groups travelling in Ghana that we were not previously aware of. We celebrate that movement and would love to participate, but we need to know about it. Next time you’re travelling internationally, why not check out the Mission Yearbook of Prayer & Study to find out where PC(USA) missionaries are serving. You can contact them all at through the Mission Connections Web site.
It is our hope and prayer that you and your congregation will find the means to communicate with and to support those representing you, your congregation, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) around the world. We are constantly asked (by Ghanaians and even other Americans living here in Ghana) about people and congregations in the PC(USA) and what they’re like and how they do this or that. In this increasingly small world, we are being thrust together in ways that will increasingly need clear and consistent communication, especially among the people we serve. We hope to do that in a helpful and responsible manner and invite you into that world as well.
Do you want to know what grocery shopping is like in Accra? Check out the January 31 posting at our blog. Would you like to know more about the lessons learned by our Young Adult Volunteers in Ghana or what’s going on in the country of Niger (pronounced Nee-jair)? Check out the August or March 2007 newsletter links on our PC(USA) home page.
Would you like photos for a mission bulletin board display? Write us at Glen Hallead or Carol Hallead . Do you want to know how we connect with the PC(USA) or how your congregation can support us? Check out our home page.
We want to be responsible interpreters of God’s mission for you. Let us know how we can do that better. Write us, pray for us, and also let us know how we can be supporting you.
In service,
Glen and Carol Hallead
The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 4
