I was caught in action doing one of my many jobs at GCUC by a student working on a yearbook for the college. Since I do not allow cell phones in the classroom this budding Christian entrepre-neur came to my office under the pretenses of not being able to access his user account. We had 30 computers and 10 printers donated to the college and are now trying to build a new computer lab to house the units. I have configured the new server and all we need now is $2000 to install desks and chairs. Anyone inter-ested in this project please send donations to AME with Computer Lab in the Memo.

Cont’d pg. 3

Vol. 14 Issue. 1

Cline Connection

African Mission Evangel i sm

US: African Mission Evangelism Attn. Scott Danner 7343 Ridge Rd. Lexington, NC 27295 336-764-1900 sdanner@ameghana.org Africa: African Mission Evangelism P.O. Box DD142 Dodowa, Ghana 828-398-0637 (Skype:pcnghana) patrickcline@ameghana.org

PC’s Working Furlough 1

Fundraising Drive 2

Project Hope 2

Scenes from the North 3

Witches, Fairies, and the Boogeyman

4

Inside this issue:

This is an unusual year for

me in that I am coming to

the US without my family

for a short working fur-

lough. I have not done this

in the past because I like

for the family to stay to-

gether as much as possible

but it cannot be helped this

furlough cycle. As many of

you know we take 4-6

month furloughs every 2-

1/2 to 3 years mostly be-

cause of the work load here

and the cost associated

with travel.

Ghana has improved much

in the last 15 years and

communication is one area

where the improvement

makes such trips much

easier on the family. That

is as long as Ghana Tele-

com can maintain their

system well.

Heather and the kids can-

not come home with me

this time however because

of their school responsibili-

ties. We never intended for

Heather to stay at AIS but

with much prodding from

NICS (the backing partner)

and the fact that tuition for

Kayla alone would be

$17,000 at Lincoln Commu-

nity School (a secular in-

ternational school) made

the decision one more

based on realities of fi-

nance as opposed to desire.

Heather’s heart (and as I

US WORKING FURLOUGH PC is coming to US for short working furlough

Winter ‘08

write this; her body) is in the orphanage work and the

children in the far north of Ghana. Heather is a won-

derful wife and mother, often making sacrifices where

necessary for the mission. She would prefer to work

with Beacon House Orphanage and rescue babies from

certain death, or worse, than teaching at AIS but at this

time in her life AIS needs her. This is the current con-

flict in our lives in Ghana, torn between that which we

want to do and that which needs to be done. Neither

choice is wrong but each is laden with its own an-

guishes.

MR. ROGOWSKI USED A SLIDE PRESENTATION (THANK YOU JOHN BREMAN OF LAKE BUTLER, FL FOR THE PROJECTOR) AND LECTURE TO BRING OUT THE SALIENT POINTS ON HOW SATAN WANTS US ALL TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT AND SOME WAYS HE CAN ACHIEVE THIS IS TO USE SOCIETY’S “NORMS” TO MAKE US COVET THINGS THAT ARE NOT WITHIN HIS WILL FOR US OR TO DIVIDE OUR ATTENTION AWAY FROM FULL SERVICE.

Drive to Pay Off Faculty House

The payoff balance on the loan is

about $19,900. We recently refi-

nanced the loan but have come to

the conclusion that if we do not soon

pay off the loan we will begin to

negate the gains made by taking

the loan in the first place. The

monthly payment is also needed in

other areas of the mission as you

will see later in the newsletter.

The number ONE item on the peti-

tion list to our supporters is to pay

this house off by August. Heather

wants to make more trips to the

North as her teaching job allows but

each trip costs nearly $1000,

roughly 4 months on the loan. Help

Heather to go by giving towards

paying off the house. Earmark all

donations as “GCUC House”.

churches and to the people of Vea.

The children in Vea loved the “doggie

dog shoes”. I thought they looked like

rabbits! For most of the little ones

this was the first time they had ever

received anything that was new. The

funds raised were used to assist

Youth Alive with their feeding pro-

gram for children just north of Bolga-

tanga. This is an especially tough

year for the folks in the upper regions

of Ghana because many food crops

were destroyed and they are now ei-

ther depending on food-aid or buying

food from the south which is ex-

tremely expensive and not part of

their normal diet.

Eight years ago we arranged for a

loan to build the faculty house on

the GCUC campus in which we are

now living. The house is for the

college not us, we only live there

while in Ghana. This loan is

through the Church Development

Fund and collateralized by

Heather’s aunt and uncle.

Over the years we have lived in this

house we have saved an enormous

amount of money in terms of rent.

The average rent for a house that is

livable, safe, and within driving

distance is $1800/month. That

comes out to nearly $173,000 in

rent for something that would not

be an asset for anyone but the home

owners. Instead we borrowed $30k

and put in another $12k to build a

campus faculty house that will

serve the kingdom for decades to

come. I think we made a wise busi-

ness decision!

Occasionally I arrange for a special Chapel

speaker to come to GCUC and talk about

issues related to holistic mission practices on

how we as Christians can affect positive

change in our society. This semester we had

as special guest speaker, Roger Rogowski, a

retired community health specialist and for-

mer Mercy Ships program director. He

spoke about how the plan of salvation is not

only a spiritual path to free us from the grip

of Satan but how salvation also frees us from

the bonds of poverty, bad health, malnutri-

tion, and the many other forms of societal

degradation that suppress our God-intended

potential.

The freedom we have in Christ allows us to

pursue the will of God and part of His will is

to be fruitful. God desires for us to be full of

joy too not downtrodden by the rules of a

powerful religious elite. This is a message

Muslims need to hear!

SCD Happenings

PAGE 2 CLINE CONNECTION VOL. 14 ISSUE. 1

Heather helping a young boy in Vea find a

new T-shirt and pick out a yellow pair of

doggie dog sandals with the help of Project

Hope.

Project Hope Since the devastating floods in Vea the

children at the American International

School made it possible to distribute

over 7oo sandals and used clothing.

Many bags of used clothes were also

given out to three nearby Christian

Heather, and her second grade class (yep, she only has 5 students now. Want a job?) have packed up some clothing and sandals, called ‘chalie-waties’, for her annual trip to the Upper East Region of Ghana near the Burkina Faso border.

I leave Ghana on the 15th of January, so by the time you read

this I probably will be in the US making my rounds to some of

our supporters in NC. Right now, I will be in the US until

March 17th and return here for 3 weeks over the Easter Break.

If enough churches make speaking arrangements with me in the

coming weeks to justify the return trip and travel in the US I

will return April 6th.

The dollar has devalued to such an extent that the plane ticket

for me alone is $1700. Furthermore, my living budget in the US

is about $1300/mth. Please don’t misunderstand me, I REALLY

want to speak to the churches but at the same time my prag-

matic nature reminds me that we have mission responsibilities

that need finances and our presence. Also, if the family comes

home in June it would be for only 6 weeks and the cost would be

nearly $8k!

There is the possibility that Heather and Hunter could come to

the US as Hunter needs testing for his dyslexia to establish

benchmarks and an (Individual Educational Program (IEP).

This is extremely important to Hunter as he will be in 7th grade

next year and the IEP is ever so important for his educational

progress. The testing is about $1800 and with a plane ticket

this short trip is $4k. Needless to say we are relying on prayers

Scenes of the Upper West Region

Furlough Cont’d

The people in Vea have suffered greatly since the

Spring floods and are in need of just about every-

thing you can imagine. The floods also created or-

phans so Heather and Romana went there rescuing

more children that lost their parents in the floods.

Even though they take every precaution possible,

like only working through Social Welfare and taking

only children who have no family, there are still

dangers from people who want the children for

slaves, or worse, as well as those who are less than

honorable.

A fear in my mind since the people from a French

NGO called Zoe’s Ark, were jailed in Chad for child-

trafficking is that a similar thing would happen to

Heather and Romana. Knowing Africa the way I do,

I am quite sure that the locals hired set the French

NGO workers up by taking children from nearby

refugee camps and putting them up as orphans.

Heather and Romana only use locals that have some

affiliation with the church or are graduates of our

college in conjunction with Ghanaian social workers.

Something we both would like to see at GCUC is a

School of Sociology where a degree in Social Work is

offered. Anyone have some experience, an advanced

degree, and a desire to serve a mighty God?

PAGE 3 CLINE CONNECTION VOL. 14 ISSUE. 1

The children named the shoes “doggie dogs” because of the face on the shoe top. For many this was their first shoes and you could tell by all the cuts and sores on their feet. Needless to say there were many happy kids, and par-ents, the day Heather came to town!

“Mama Lartey” is a Christian lady that has taken in several street children and saved one child from being killed as a “fairy”. Heather is giving her some deter-gent and other household sup-plies to help with her work. She also left school fees for one young child.

being answered to give clear direction in this and

ask that you petition God on our behalf as well.

US Address: 7343 Ridge Rd. Lexington, NC 27295 Ghana: P.O. Box DD142 Dodowa Ghana, Africa

AFRICAN MISSION EVANGE LISM

witches. One little boy was served

poison by someone we call the

“boogeyman” because he did not

die like his twin brother did dur-

ing the first attempt. They were

poisoned for being “fairies”. His

little life was in constant danger

from being condemned to death by

the local juju priest. If not for

“Mama Lartey” he probably would

be dead now. Another set of twin

boys also survived poisoning and

we are now looking for a family

outside of Ghana to adopt them.

Only with your prayers and support

can we continue to fight this spiri-

tual battle! Through continually

teaching God’s word will these

chains of a very real demonic world

be broken. Often we want quick

returns on our mission investment

During the years God has used

our family and mission to save

many children by snatching them

out of the grips of certain death.

With your help and the love of

families we gave them a future of

hope through Jesus. However,

the work is never done.

Over the past week Romana Testa

of Beacon House and I were in the

Upper East region of Ghana res-

cuing seven children which we

will be able to place for adoption.

Thirteen other children will be

placed in a new Christian chil-

dren's home just certified for 60

children it was started by a mis-

sionary couple from Virginia. This

year alone two young sisters were

saved just moments before they

were to be killed for being

and quick ending wars against the

evil one. However, the adversary is

not someone we can simply bomb

into defeat. The adversary is cun-

ning and patient and will never end

until Jesus returns to claim his own

in the final battle.

Do not become tired and give up

because you cannot see an end to

the fight, in all likelihood you will

pass the fight on to your children.

That is why EVERY child is impor-

tant whether they are our own

blessings or someone else’s sup-

posed curse. With God’s help lives

are being changed the HOPE that

only Jesus can give is being re-

ceived and new spiritual warriors

are being nurtured.

In Christ’s Service,

Heather

Witches, Fairies, and the Boogeyman

US Phone: 336-764-1900 Skype: 828-398-0637 (pcnghana) E-mail: patrickcline@ameghana.org sdanner@ameghana.org

Establishing Christian Education in Ghana

To:

http:\\www.ameghana.org