Letter from Glen and Carol Hallead in Ghana
June 26, 2008
Dear Partners in Mission,
We write with some exciting news for the Hallead family. Next month we will be leaving Ghana to return to the United States where we will prepare to move back into a pastoral ministry role. While our term wouldn't normally end until January, 2009, we deemed it prudent to act earlier due to the nature of our children's educational needs and school schedules in the United States.
We cannot express to you the joy and the sense of encouragement that your support has brought us over the years, and we would strongly encourage you to continue the supportive kind of relationship you have had with us with another PC(USA) missionary or family. There are many good and godly PC(USA) missionaries at work around the world who would covet the kind of encouragement and support that you have provided to us. We’d be more than happy to make some recommendations, if that would be of help to you. We especially pray that the support you have been providing us will continue in Presbyterian work, especially because there are such exciting changes afoot.
We also realize that this will come as a surprise to some of you and I regret that. We have had a terrible time with spam filters and having our email blocked to entire email service providers. It has been quite frustrating. We have tried to keep folks updated through our blog but that also has its limitations. Amidst this reality, however, we trust that you have assumed the best and prayed for God’s grace to abound, which is what we assume and how we pray. And it has.
Finally we realize that this will also be a bit of a disappointment to many, some of whom we have only recently begun a relationship with and who were looking to expand your church's mission understanding and service through our ministry. Please know that there is a bit of a disappointment for us as well, since we had hoped to finally settle in and work toward retirement in Africa. However, it was not to be. Educational and other issues have led us to decide to return to the United States, where we can better provide for our family.
There have been some incredible highlights in this journey, and we want to salute certain congregations and individuals who have played an important role in our ministry these last nine years:
Individuals
John and Debbie Walker; John and Melany Hamilton; Samer and Kathy Tallaa; Jerry Vuncannon; Jan Hartman; Gerald and Sarah Knepp; Jim and Becky Deters; Dennis Muchiri; Jen Clarke; Patrick and Kathy Doran; Cathy Swindell; Roger Taylor; Ellen Wilson; Kate Oliver; Jim McCrae, Mo and Stacey King; Crystal Corman; Ted and Jan Cook; George and Marge Sopp; Jim Breed; John and Pam Scafe; Don and Kathy Williams; Lawrence and Doris Simpson; Dot Gladden, Carolyne Mwangi; Stephen Sjoerdsma; Tom and Barb Metzler; Bill and Nancy Paul; Peggy Simpson; Doug and Mary Kay Mitchell; Boyce and Carol Cox; Jon Speck; Rob and Sue Deming; Bill and Lois Blake; Claire Brennecka; Zelda Howington; Mary Lou Thayer; Jerry and Dianne Shields; Kirwin Stewart; Danny Swindell; Jill Bednarek; Karen Super; Marlene Moshage; Chaiyun and Margaret Ukosakul; Al and Ruth Wagner; Paul and Jane Petersen; Dale Dykstra; Hope Sibson; Steve and Kay Hein; Trevor Smith; Dave and Ann Smazik; Naomi Munson; Kirwin Stewart; Debbie Damron; Susan Smith; Laird Stuart; Mark Tammen; Miriam Oswalt; Carrie’ Ismail; Sara Fretheim; Dave Glenn; Leith and Carol Fujii; Suzanne Cresswell; Jim and Ann Camp; Ron and Jinny Miller; Scott and Khanita Satterfield; Jeff and Debbie Underwood; Kathy Pearson; Robert Howington; Gayle Schmitt and Linda Chalus; Don and Bev Scharlau; David Underwood; Carol Rowe; H.H. and Sarah McConnell; John and Joyce Petro; Laura Tupper; Lois Wilson; Loren and Penny Thomsen; Walt and Joyce Doelp
Congregations
Big Run PC, Big Run PA; Calvary PC, San Francisco CA; Christ PC, Tallahassee, FL; Columbia PC, Decatur GA; Covenant PC, Madison, WI; Eastminster PC, Evansville, IN; Faith Community PC, Novi, MI; Faith PC, Tallahassee, FL; First PC, Aurora IL; First PC, Fairbury, IL; First PC, Galena, IL; First PC, Gibson City, IL; First PC, Hastings, MI; First PC, Kankakee IL; First PC, Kalamazoo, MI; First PC, Mendota IL; First PC, Midwest City, OK; First PC, Ottawa, IL; First PC, Sterling, IL; First PC, West Chester PA; Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg, VA; Lake Shore PC, St Clair Shores, MI; Liberty Corner PC, Liberty Corner NJ; Park UCC PC, Streator, IL; Parkway PC, Tacoma, WA; Redeemer PC, Manistique, MI; Slate Lick PC, Freeport, PA; St. Andrews-Covenant PC, Wilmington, SC; Sunnyside PC, South Bend, IN; Third PC, Rockford, IL; Trinity PC, Pensacola FL; Trinity PC, Tallahassee, FL; Union PC, Union, KY; United PC, Minonk, IL; Waltham PC, Utica, IL; Westminster PC, Albany, NY; Westminster PC, Spartanburg, SC; Westminster PC, Pittsburgh, PA; Westminster PC, Rockford, IL; Worthington PC, Worthington PA.
And there were so many others by whose prayers and financial support PC(USA) mission continues to be possible. Please receive our thanks in this most informal of ways. We pray that as we settle into what Carol and I think of as home, but which has become for our sons Jacob and Caleb a foreign land, we will have the opportunity to find a more appropriate way to thank you. For now, receive our prayers of thanksgiving to God for having had the opportunity to serve Him and through you, so many others who have now heard and seen the good news and been encouraged in their faith. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and forever. Amen!
In Faith and Hope and Thanksgiving,
Glen, Carol, Jacob and Caleb
The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 4
