That’s right! The Jones family is taking a mission trip to the country of Ghana, Africa, for one month: mid-November through mid-December. We have many ministry opportunities. Velvet and the children will be helping orphans and teaching in a small Christian school while Eric is preaching and praying throughout many villages in the Volta region of Ghana with our host, Pastor Emmanuel Fiagbedzi (http://www.thekingsvoiceministries.org/aboutus.html). Additionally, we believe God is going to use this experience to lead me (Eric) into new areas of ministry that will be exercised for God’s kingdom and His church back at home in the United States.
Why go to Ghana? Why now? Simply put, because God said, “GO.” Here’s the story:
It happened the week of June 15th. I had dedicated this week to some serious prayer and fasting as I was aggressively seeking direction from God and crying out for a fresh anointing from the Holy Spirit. That Tuesday, June 17th, a pastor from Ghana, Pastor Emmanuel, ended up in my family room, where we had a time of fellowship, prayer, and powerful ministry. When he left, I found myself telling Velvet, “I really like that guy. There’s just something about him.”
Two days later, Velvet and I were at a large prayer event called Prayer Quake. Jackson Senyonga, from Uganda, was ministering after a wonderful time of worshipping God. In the middle of his message I clearly heard the Holy Spirit tell me that I needed to go to Africa and spend one month with Pastor Emmanuel. With excitement, I told my wife what God had told me as we drove home late that night. She was immediately on-board.
Okay, here is where it gets even better. On Saturday morning, we received a message from Pastor Emmanuel that he felt like I needed to spend one month with him in Africa. Velvet and I were blown away as we had not talked to anyone about this. God had given us unbelievable confirmation; He couldn’t be any clearer.
What it will take: We are responsible for paying for our own expenses, which are estimated to be around $13,800. Most of that cost is the airline tickets just to get there and back. As a family, we are making efforts to raise money by having a large garage sale (our kids are contributing toys), and we are planning fund raising dinners, too. It would be a wonderful blessing to have help with these expenses. If you feel led to participate with us in this exciting mission, with a donation of any amount, we would be most grateful. Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. If you choose to donate by check, please make the check out to “City of Grace” and on a separate piece of paper write “JONES-OUTREACH”. Please mail the check to Eric Jones, c/o City of Grace Church, 655 E. University Dr., Mesa, AZ 85203. We also need faithful, intentional prayer support as we take this leap of faith. Please respond to this email and let us know if you would like to receive updates and commit to lifting us up in prayer for the next few months.
Thank you so much. We look forward to sharing all that God does while we minister to the people of Ghana. We are expecting God to do some exciting and significant things through us and in us. We appreciate your prayers for the Lord’s continued direction, protection, and grace to be poured out abundantly upon our family.
In awe of God,
Eric & Velvet Jones
www.TransformedDaily.com (Eric’s Blog)