What Is Next For CIM, Ghana and Togo?
Earlier this month, I traveled to Ghana and Togo. The main purpose of the trip was to meet with our partners, Evangelical Church of Ghana (ECG) and Eglise de la Grace en Christ du Togo (EGCT) and discuss our partnerships and how we can effectively spread the gospel cross-culturally in West Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic has altered how we do missions. We will continue to send short term missions teams but we realize that we need to do more to help our partners spread the gospel locally.
I met with our international worker, Janice Jabab in Ghana, and along with Pastor Matthieu Ayena (our Togo ministry director from Ottawa), we met with ECG leaders and EGCT leaders respectively. Overall, I was very encouraged and found the meetings very productive. In both countries, we agreed that the training of local pastors was of utmost importance and emphasis needed to placed on this part of the ministry. In the past, CIM had sent pastors to teach at the ECG Bible School in Kpandai, but after the school was moved to Accra (capital city of Ghana), we have put more priority in sending teams to northern rural areas to evangelize to villages.
(with Janice and Pastor Matthieu)
(with leaders of Evangelical Church of Ghana
(With leaders of Eglise de la Grace en Christ du Togo)
In the following videos, the leaders of ECG and EGCT share about their ministries:
When we were in Ghana, Worldwide Evangelization for Christ (WEC) were holding mission training sessions. Their goal is to empower local university students to share the gospel to their peers and enter the mission field. Both Janice and I had the opportunity to share during their training. CIM has been working closely with WEC over the years and it was great to be invited to speak.
In the following videos, a student shares about the training and also the leaders, Billy and Josephine Cheung, share about the ministry.
The economy of Ghana has declined dramatically over the last year. With the introduction of e-levy’s (fees on electronic money transfer), and a sharply declining monetary unit (cedi), life has been very difficult on the locals including the pastors that we support. When I was in Ghana in January, the exchange rate was roughly 6 compared to the USD. When I arrived this time, the exchange rate was 10.3 and the by the time I left it was over 11.
The following newscast clip shows some of the effects of the declining cedi.
CIM is currently looking at what is possible to assist our partners in Ghana and Togo as they face these increasingly difficult circumstances. We are working to finalize the details right now. Please stay tuned for an announcement in upcoming weeks.
In our final video, Janice thanks our donors.
Overall, I found the trip very informative and productive, and I too would like to thank our donors for their giving and prayers. We appreciate your generosity and look forward to further partnering with you both financially and spiritually in the years ahead.
Rev. Isaac Quan
Executive Director
CIM Canada
September Financials
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 CIM USA as they are still searching for an executive director after Christine Pi retired. They are also recruiting for a Director of Ministry to oversee STM and daily operations.
Pray for peace in Ukraine and for safety for partners at House of Mercy. There have been increased bombing and missile strikes on civilian locations over the last few weeks and lives are continually being lost. However, praise God that many refugees are coming to the Lord through the work of House of Mercy.
Inflation, the depreciation of the Ghana cedi, and added government fees are severely affecting the lives of the pastors and teachers that we support. Please pray that they will be able to make a living and also support their families.
Pray for the training and discipling of pastors both in Ghana and Togo. Pray for CIM’s guidance and direction as to how we can come alongside and assist.
Pray for our upcoming BOD meeting in Toronto on November 5 and 6. This will be our first in person meeting since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Administrative Assistant
If you are keen on being a part of a small ministry team committed to sharing the Gospel and making a difference in lives across the globe, then you may be interested in joining the CIM team. This opportunity is remote and you would be supporting ministry work in Ghana, Togo, Ukraine and Canada.
Please email us at contact@cimcanada.org for more details.