Letter from Glen and Carol Hallead in Ghana
November 17, 2008
Dear Friends,
We’re writing today both to thank you for your many years and means of support and to bid you a bit of a farewell. Glen ended his term of service with the PC(USA) on October 31 and Carol will end hers on January 31, 2009. As most of you are aware, it became evident that the time was right for us to make a move. We really needed to find better educational opportunities for our sons, Jacob and Caleb, and there were no positions open at this time in the PC(USA) mission field that would provide what we felt we needed with a ministry in a location to which we felt called. We pursued several other possibilities with such organizations as the Antioch Partners and the African Inland Mission, but simply did not feel the Lord calling us in any direction other than a return to parish ministry in the United States. God moved quickly and amazingly in our connectional system, and Glen began serving the First Presbyterian Church of Wellsboro on November 1.
(We soon began to realize what a small world it was when we met our new next door neighbors, Dave and Doris King, who were members of the First Presbyterian Church of West Chester, Pennsylvania, one the congregations that supported us for a long time.)
The adjustment to the United States has been good and yet quite strange, with all the hoopla of the elections, the difference in views of time and scheduling, the ease of getting things done, and the coolness of the weather. But God has been so amazingly faithful in all of this that we stand in awe of his Grace. Both Jacob and Caleb made the Distinguished Honor Roll their first semester (above 93% average in all classes). The congregation we are serving has bent over backwards to make our welcome sincere and warm, including holding a kitchen shower to fill our pantry and provide some needed kitchen items (including important things like Kenyan tea and Ethiopian coffee).
But we find that we are already missing our connections in the mission field. We have made such great friends in places like Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Thailand, and other places—connections and friendships developed over the years and made possible by your generous support. Many of these connections will remain strong. Some will need to move to the back burner as we refocus.
Megan Bauhof, one of the last YAVs to serve in Ghana with us, and one of 5 who have gone into long-term mission.
New ministries appropriately involve a bit of looking back, and so we reflect on the fact that your mission funding meant direct ministry with over 30 Young Adult Volunteers, almost 20 percent of whom are now engaged in or seeking appointment for long term mission work. Through these volunteers thousands of young lives were touched by the good news, through educational activities, evangelistic outreach, and development projects. Additionally, scores of relationships were established in the name of Jesus Christ through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The hungry were fed, the naked clothed, and the sick were visited in such far off places as Udorn Thani, Thailand; Isiolo, Kenya; Maradi, Niger; and Gbadzeme, Ghana. An orphanage is now supported, and some of its children have now graduated from universities; chapels (Ghanaian Church buildings) have been roofed and members can now worship freely even during the rainy season; Burmese have heard the good news proclaimed while being hunted down by some of the most oppressive government tactics known to mankind. By your support of the Halleads, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission has advanced, and we stand in awe of the work that you have made possible.
We hope that you will continue and even consider increasing your support for PC(USA) mission. It makes a difference. We also hope that you will know how much our lives have also been transformed by our involvement in PC(USA) mission. It’s always a two-way street. We are blessed to be a blessing, and we trust that you have been blessed in this relationship as well. We do not know what the future holds at this point. We hope to return some day to the mission field, but we know that whether or not that ever happens we have already been afforded the blessing of a lifetime in having served the Kingdom in unparalleled ways. You made that happen and we are truly thankful. Why not take a few minutes, even right now and give God thanks. (And while you are on your knees, be sure to ask what He would have you do next to advance his Kingdom’s work through PC(USA) mission?)
In faith and gratitude,
Glen and Carol Hallead
The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 4
