Posted on Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 3:38 pm

Our Missionaries

Part of who we are at 707 is having a passion for Loving the World.

We have friends who regularly travel around the Cleveland area, and around the planet, pursuing their calling and giving their lives in service to Loving the World.

Please read up on what is happening and take some time to pray for our missionaries and friends around the world.

As the year goes on, we'll continue to post here the names, descriptions, and photos of our teammates as they travel.

Ghana, West Africa

For the last 13 years, Cuyahoga Valley Church and Teams to the Nations have been serving in the western region of Ghana that is home to the Nzema people. Previously an unreached people group, Nzema land now celebrates 30 churches that have formed the Nzema Baptist Association of the Ghana Baptist Convention. We have witness the spread of the Gospel in beautiful and miraculous ways.

This team has the opportunity to help train and encourage Christian leaders while also sharing the Gospel with people who may never have heard the name of Jesus. The team assists in planting 2-3 new churches by showing the film The Passion of the Christ in small villages. The team also assists in developing a healthcare facility and a pure water treatment center.
For more information about the next scheduled trip contact Gina at x254 or grutti@cvconline.org

In July of 2009, our worship leader, Bryan Karas, accompanied Joe Sanson and John David Geib on a trip to visit the churches of western Ghana.

As part of this trip the team oversaw the beginning stages of freshwater wells being drilled in 5 Nzema communities.

These wells are a direct result of our Advent Conspiracy last Christmas.

Check out Bryan's photos from his trip at http://picasaweb.google.com/bryankaras

El Salvador

Love and Hope Children’s Home, an orphanage committed to community outreach, is a model of authentic biblical community and unconditional love.
Work projects include necessary construction at the orphanage, serving food and meeting other material needs in and around the city of Nejapa, and hosting a retreat for local youth.
For more information about the next scheduled trip contact Gina at x254 or grutti@cvconline.org

Slidell, Louisiana

In our ongoing effort to help love a community still suffering from the damages of Hurricane Katrina, we are sending another team to Slidell. From June 13th through June 20th, we have a group of around 35 heading down to Louisiana. We will be partnering with reconstruction teams and local churches to help rebuild the area. Let's keep them in our prayers.

Ted Pantone: Kenya

My work is fascinating. We are in full swing with executing some pilot programs with several government ministries. My work here is really the work of God. We are preaching the good news to the poor that their children do not need to die from diarrheal disease. It is work that resounds with my soul. Practically speaking I am doing operations management. They are also using my experience working with engineers and manufacturing at Beckett to assist in some of our efforts in those areas. In the next month projects I am managing will bring safe water to 11,000 people. By the end of the year I will be managing a project to bring safe water to 400,000. We hope to use that project as a model for other districts in Kenya and other countries as well. We already have pilot projects in 7 other countries. It is all so cool. One very exciting piece of news is that we just this week received a major grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Mr. Microsoft just agreed to fully fund our program for the next 2-3 years. Thanks Bill, if this email ever finds you. The other good thing about that grant is that it means all other funding organizations will take us very seriously, as they respect the stringent research Gates puts into their grant recipients.



Prayer Requests:



My prayer is this: I am grateful for the Lords favor on my life. I see his hand everywhere. I am fully aware that I am where I am because he wants me to be here and has given me the talents to get here. I pray that he will continue to show me favor so that I can spread the good news that God loves and wants full life to many more people. I pray that God would bless my relationships here in Kenya. That I would know how to love people well at work and in life and have insight to preach the gospel in compelling ways. I pray that God would help my Kenyan colleagues to develop into great leaders of our project. I pray for the many Kenyans we are trying to help, that they would have safe water to drink, and the God would be lifted up by our work. I also pray that I would be safe and have lots of fun while I am here. That God would give me the strength to push through the difficulties and have joy and peace in every situation. And more than anything else, that my faith would be strengthened in this season of open doors.

Thanks for reading, caring, and loving.

Much love to you all.

Ted

(John 10:10)