Dr. Mona Reide in Ghana during one of her many visits to impoverished areas in the world.
ACCRA, GHANA — Dr. Mona Reide is the senior pastor of Grace International Outreach Church, located in East Lansing, MI. The church and the pastor are members of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (PAW). As church member Ishmael Odamtten often says “we are small but powerful.”
In 1992 Dr. Mona Reide, her three children and nephew, who are now adults, began work in Ghana West as the first missionaries to Ghana from the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World.
Dr. Reide said, “God had called me to Ghana while completing my doctorate. Our small congregation is bringing hope to the nations, under the leadership of their pastor a missionary with a vision from God.”
As a research affiliate at the University of Ghana, Legon in the Institute for Statistical Social and Economic Research, Dr. Reide was assigned to three regional hospitals in Ghana, where she completed research for her doctoral dissertation on the cultural beliefs and health practices of pregnant women and their families.
When not working in the hospitals, she stayed in small towns and villages preaching, teaching bible studies, baptizing in the river and learning the culture of several ethnic groups (tribes). Her children fell in love with Africa. As her work continued, she and Bishop Emmanuel Baffour Awuah established twenty-five churches in Ghana. International Humanitarian Services (IHS) in the USA was established in 2000 to continue the humanitarian work. Today her work has taken her around the world to share the love of God with children and their families through her humanitarian and religious work. When the Tsunami hit India and the earthquake hit Haiti she was there bringing relief and hope.
Bringing Hope to the Hopeless
Mar. 4-15, 2011 Dr. Mona Reide was joined by church member Ishmael Odamtten and other volunteers; including physicians, nurses, educators, ministers, missionaries and MSU students to Ghana West Africa to provide free healthcare, health promotion activities, nutrition, home visits and hope to children and their families in the Greater Accra Region and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Team volunteers represented several Pentecostal Assemblies of the World churches, along with other denominations. The National Ministry of Health provided approval for the humanitarian outreach. The Pentecostal Assemblies of the World and International Humanitarian Services worked collaboratively to provide this life changing journey for the volunteer team. The team medical director was Rockelle Rogers-Branhan M.D., Pastor Kimberly Brown from Port Huron served as the team chaplain, while Bishop Emmanuel Baffour Awuah provided in-country coordination in Ghana.
The team conducted home visits in the Labadi area of Accra, a very poor area where many people do not have access to healthcare due to poverty. Homes sit in a circle facing a small courtyard, where everyone gathers to cook. From outside it appears you are entering a narrow cement passageway that leads you through a maze until you suddenly find yourself inside a large courtyard with several doors facing the courtyard. Behind each door lives a family from the Ga group (tribe) with their own story. The team visited several homes in these compounds, where Christians live beside worshippers of various deities. The team provided families with free food, health promotion training, health screening, free medicine and spiritual encouragement.
The team then traveled about 5 hours outside of Accra to the Asante-Akim district of the Ashanti Region. Services were provided in an area known as Jaunsa. The population in Jaunsa is approximately 5,000 who are mainly poor farmers. The mission team held free medical screening clinic in Jaunsa, where about 500 children and their families received free healthcare, medicine, clothing and other relief items. Returning to Accra, the team provided spent time encouraging children from 3 months to 18 years old, that had been left at the orphanage many time because parents could no longer care for them. The orphanage has about 250 children plus staff and depends entirely on donations. A special meal for 270 was prepared and served by the team with assistance from local Ghanaian volunteers. Many poor children in Ghana are unable to attend quality schools due to school fees. When they do attend school supplies are a luxury. The team provided these orphans with schools supplies, toys and other special gifts.
“Our hearts were touched as we brought faith, hope and humanitarian assistance to ‘the least of these’,” Dr. Reide said.
The diverse mission team that traveled to rural areas of the West African nation raised money to finance their foreign mission work.
The International Missions Department, PAW provides missionary training, project assistance and oversight for 40 missions in Asia, Africa, South America, Europe and the Caribbean.
http://pawimd.org/home
International Humanitarian Services Inc., provides training through literacy, nutrition, health education / disease prevention and disaster relief training, research and outreach programs.
http://www.internationalhumanitarianservices.org/
Dr. Reide is the founding pastor of Grace International Outreach Church and the first female chair of the International Missions Board of Directors for PAW. Grace International Outreach Church located in East Lansing, MI is an international ministry. Worship services are held Sundays at 11:30 am in the Michigan State University (MSU) Student Union and bible studies are held Wednesdays at 6:30 pm in the MSU Psychology Building. The ministry is in the process of obtaining permanent space in the East Lansing area. http://www.graceinternationaloutreachchurch.org/
Each year, through International Humanitarian Services Dr. Reide provides 2-3 boot camps to train those desiring to travel as missionaries or humanitarian workers to other countries. The next training will be held September 2011 in East Lansing.
