Meet Pastor Thomas Sherro
In this month’s CIM’s Ministries newsletter, we introduce you our supported Evangelical Church of Ghana Pastor Thomas Sherro.
(With Pastor Thomas in front of one of the churches that he oversees in Guno, Ghana)
I first met Pastor Thomas when he was pastoring a church in the town of Gushegu in northwestern Ghana. The area is a Muslim dominated area and I was touched and impressed with his commitment to serving the Lord. There were times when no one showed up to Sunday services except for his wife, but Pastor Thomas would preach anyways. He was also very committed to the villages where he shared the gospel. This was where I could see his passion. There were numerous times where we were lost as we trekked to remote villages, but Pastor Thomas always pushed on and we made it every time. His love for the villagers was second to none.
Pastor Thomas has now been assigned to the Tamale area in the Northern Region of Ghana. He is married to Priscilla and have 4 grown children, and 7 grandchildren. In the Nanton region he oversees preaching points and churches in Guno, Torope, Zali, and Cheshe. As well, he still looks after two churches in the Gushegu area: Kumblik and Dimugi. These areas are predominantly Islam and have minimal receptiveness to the gospel message. He also works with an agricultural initiative in Guno where sustainable farming practices are taught and promoted to community members with the purpose of sharing the gospel message. This keeps him very busy but he is faithful in his work.
Healthwise, Pastor Thomas suffers from high blood pressure which requires medication and frequent visits to doctors. With rising inflation, their family also has many financial problems. They are two years behind in rent and struggles to pay utility bills. Please uplift these needs to the Lord.
Ministry wise, support is needed in the following areas: both the Guno and Cheshe churches desire to build a mission house but require funds to do so. The congregation at Kumblik meet in a mud chapel which easily collapses in rain storms while the congregation at Dimugi meets under a tree. Both congregations pray that a permanent church building may be built soon. Pastor Thomas relies on his motorcycle and petrol to visit these locations. There have been numerous times when he could not make it because he did not have enough money to pay for the petrol. Recently, Pastor Thomas has informed us that their family are running low on food and they can not pay their daughter’s school fees. Having to support his family and traveling to these sites is very difficult on a pastor’s salary. Currently, a church in Toronto, Canada, along with the Evangelical Church of Ghana, pays part of his salary, but it has been very hard to make ends meet.
Ghana is experiencing very high inflation rates currently. In March, 2024, the inflation rate was at 25.8%. This has put tremendous strain on the church pastors, their congregations, and the teachers that we support. The salaries that they are being paid can not cover all their expenses. Often, we will get requests for rent, payment of utility bills, medical bills, petrol and it breaks our hearts to see their suffering.
But through it all, God remains in control and provides. Over the last year, some of our supported pastors received funds for motorcycles, rent, and utility bills. A church in Seattle, USA, donated funds for a school building project in Torope in Northern Ghana. We thank our supporters and donors for their support. Please continue to pray for the situation in Ghana and if you can support financially, please click on this link. https://www.cimcanada.org/donate
We would also like to meet with Ghana supporters for updates and a time of prayer over Zoom in the coming months. Please stay tuned for more details.
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 third 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.
ASSET CLASSES AND TAX CONSEQUENCES
When a person writes a will, it is important to consider the tax treatment of different assets. Let’s assume a married couple has 3 adult children. They own their own home, have a rental property, money in a RRIF and TFSA, and some cash savings. Let’s assume that all these assets have the same value of $300,000, except his savings account has $5,000. In their will, their eldest child gets the RRIF, their second child gets the parents’ house, and the third child gets the rental property. The TFSA will go to several charities which are dear to the couple and they have been supporting these worthwhile causes in their lifetime.
Some years later, the wife died, and the husband became the sole owner of the house and the rental property by reason of Joint Tenant with right of survivorship. The RRIF is roll overed to him as a provision in the Income Tax Act. The TFSA became his as he was named as the successor holder. The savings account was joint and also became his. When the husband dies, his estate will be distributed accordingly.
The charities got their money first because they were named as contingent beneficiaries and the donation bypassed the will. The will went through the probate process, and the probate fee was paid out from the savings account. A final income tax return was filed and the husband’s tax bill was about $132,000. He has an income of $300,000 (due to deemed disposition of his RRIF at $300,000) and $25,000 of taxable capital gain arising from the rental property (assuming he bought the property at $250,000 and sold for $300,000). His estate trustee will have to either ask one or all of his children to help pay because there isn’t enough cash in the estate.
While the estate trustee tries to be fair, one or all of his children will have to chip in to settle the tax bill. The donation credit of about $87,000 ($300,000 x 29%) helped to lessen the blow. I would say that the Will failed because it did not fulfill the wishes of the deceased.
Can things be better? Absolutely! The father could have purchased life insurance to pay for the tax bill and funeral expenses. He could also set aside more cash in his savings account. Finally, he could have instructed the trustee to liquidate all his assets and use percentages to divide his estate equally.
This case illustrates the importance of understanding the tax implications of the different asset classes and making provisions to meet the tax obligations.
In the coming months, there will be different topics on effective estate planning. Stay tuned.
May 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. 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 Pastor Thomas and his financial issues. Pray for wisdom to know how to empower church members to support their churches in these economically challenging times.
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 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.