Meet Pastor Caleb Nasala
In this month’s CIM’s Ministry News Update, we introduce you to Caleb Nasala, one of our supported pastors for the Evangelical Church of Ghana. Along with his wife, Pastor Caleb oversees a very remote area in the Northern Region of Ghana. Based out of the small village of Gmanjere, he is currently in charge of 24 churches and preaching points, many of which are very remote and hard to get to. In fact, contacting Pastor Caleb is very difficult to do as mobile phone coverage is very spotty. During one of my earlier visits, I remember that most of the homes do not have power and people had to bring their phones to the market in order to charge them.
(With Pastor Caleb’s church in 2022)
But through it all, Pastor Caleb is very committed to spreading the gospel to some of the least evangelized people groups on the face of the earth. Not many things can deter him from reaching his goals and destination. My most memorable experience with Pastor Caleb was in 2018 with a short-term team from Montreal. Pastor Caleb wanted to bring us to Gulugu, a village so remote that he was only able to make the trek once every 2 to 3 months. We took his truck, took some really rough roads, drove through streams (Pastor Caleb actually walked through the streams seeing how deep they were to make sure that the truck could get through), and finally when we could not go any further, we hiked through streams to finally arrive in Gulugu. The villagers were very grateful that we made such an effort to share the gospel and bring encouragement to the church there. Unfortunately, on the way back, our truck, got stuck in a stream. We had to be pushed out but the engine had died. We were stranded in the middle of nowhere with no phone coverage. We waited over 5 hours but no one came. Then miraculously, I got a phone signal for about 5 minutes. I was able to get in touch with a member of Pastor Caleb’s church who contacted our driver. Right after the call, we lost signal again but our driver was able to come rescue us close to 2 am in the morning. This episode confirmed to me the commitment of Pastor Caleb to reach the most unreached for the Lord and I am very fortunate to be a part of it.
The Gmanjere area is predominantly engaged in traditional religions where fetish worship is very common. Fetish worshippers believe that objects such as a small stone carving of an animal have magical powers to protect their owners. Over the last few years, Pastor Caleb has led some of these followers to the Lord, and after destroying their idols, have been discipled by Pastor Caleb.
In another nearby community, with the support of parents, they were able to start a school which currently has 112 students.
Travel in the area is very difficult and the best way to get around is by motorcycle. In the last year, with the support of CIM donors, we were able to purchase a motorcycle for Pastor Caleb. This will make it easier for him to reach some of his preaching points.
(Pastor Caleb with motorbike donated by supporters of CIM in 2023)
Challenges include the completion of a church building in Gmanjere. Two other structures that were used as churches at his preaching points have collapsed due to storms. Health concerns are also another challenge with members of his church suffering from mental illnesses, epilepsy, and other forms of spiritual attacks.
Please remember Pastor Caleb in your prayers. Not only is he dealing with spiritual warfare, travel difficulties, the remoteness of his location, but inflation continues to be a major factor in Ghana. To supplement his income as a pastor, he farms maize and soybeans to support his family.
To read our International Worker Janice’s blogs.
https://www.cimcanada.org/janice-ministry-updates
Rev. Isaac Quan
Executive Director for CIM Ministries
Olivia Luong, writes her fifth article in a series to bring awareness to simple estate planning to CIM donors. The goal is that donors will consider some or all of the strategies in addition to their regular giving.
Named Beneficiaries
Life insurance policies, Tax Free Savings Accounts, Registered Retirement Saving Accounts (including RRIF, LIRA, etc.) all allow the naming of beneficiaries. It means that when the account holder passes away, the money in the accounts will pass on to the beneficiaries.
These are additional advantages. First, once a death certificate is presented to the financial institution, the money can be paid out rather quickly. It does not have to be distributed through the estate. Second, because the will is a public document, anyone can make an inquiry and have full access to its content. The money can be given to anyone or any organization in private.
Financial institutions and insurance companies allow 2 classes of beneficiaries: primary and contingent. If the primary beneficiary predeceases the policy/account holder, money is then passed to contingent beneficiaries.
For registered retirement plan holders, the primary beneficiaries for married couples should be the spouse. The Income Tax Act allows the full amount to be rolled over to the spouse’s plan without tax consequence. For single people, they can name anyone, and their beneficiaries can use the money in any way they please, but the taxpayer’s estate is responsible for the tax as it is treated as income in the year of death.
The primary beneficiary of any TFSA account is called successor annuitant, and the person must be the spouse of the account holder. The successor annuitant can transfer the deceased TFSA money into their own TFSA without affecting their own contribution limit.
Christians can donate to their favourite charitable causes by naming them as one of their contingent beneficiaries. For example, I have named my spouse as my primary beneficiary. My contingent beneficiaries include a percentage to my children (50%), and 10 charities sharing the remaining 50%. The donation tax receipt can be used to offset other tax liabilities in the final income tax return. In reality, CRA allows for donating 100% of the income in the year of death, and can also retroactively apply to the previous year’s tax return by filing an amendment. Do consider including CIM in your giving through named beneficiaries.
In the coming months, there will be different topics on effective estate planning. Stay tuned.
July Financials 2024
1. General Fund - for general and administrative purposes, such as staff salaries
2. Designated Fund - for specific ministries in different field locations as designated (cannot be transferred between funds)
*All financial figures are in Canadian dollars and rounded to the nearest dollar
Pray With Us:
Pray for guidance and direction in our ministries in Togo. Pray for Pastor Matthieu’s family as he embarks on the next chapter of his life.
Please continue to pray for peace in Ukraine. The invasion rages on and innocent lives are lost each day. Pray for House of Mercy as they take care of refugees, physically and spiritually. The war has intensified as Ukraine has invaded Russia in the last month. Pray for Pastor Vlad as he ministers to the Romas.
Pray for guidance and direction for our next steps for our Roma Ministry. After attending the Roma Network Conference and subsequent visits to Roma communities, we have been presented with different opportunities.
Pray for the pastors and teachers that we support in Ghana and Togo. Inflation is still greatly affecting their lives. Pray for wisdom to know how to empower church members to support their churches in these economically challenging times. Pray for peace as it is an election year. Pray for rain for the farmers who are greatly affected by climate change. Pray for Pastor Caleb and his ministries.
Pray for Pastor Isaac as he finalizes plans for a trip to Ghana and Togo in September.
Pray for Janice in Ghana as she continues with her ministry after her maternity leave. Pray that she can find balance between her work with CIM and caring for Lucy. Pray for the process of obtaining an indefinite residence permit.
Pray for the finances of CIM Ministries. Pray for new donors and a healthy general fund to run our ministries. In order to run our ministries effectively, we are currently seeking monthly donors. Click here to donate.
Pray for CIM USA as they are still looking for an Executive Director and Director of Ministry.