In Proverbs 21:5, the Bible says, “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” As the spiritual year 2024 ends, the Ghana Leadership Team of the Navigators met just like it happened in November 2023, to review, and plan for the ministry in 2025. The meeting which started on 26th November and ended on 1st December 2024 was crucial. Key things discussed were the review of the ministry’s 5-year strategic plan, which started in 2021, the development of the ministry goal for 2025, and strategies to help fully fund the ministry vision for 2025.
The first 3 days of the meeting were led by Mr. Okike Offia from Nigeria and the focus was on reviewing the Navigator’s 5-year strategic plan and identifying the successes and the shortcomings to help understand and appreciate the efforts over the past 5 years. Through that prayerful exercise, it was clear that even though the ministry couldn’t achieve the entire strategy, there were several success stories to be grateful to God for.
After days of brainstorming, reflection, prayer, and inspiration from the Holy Spirit, the team agreed that the way forward was not to outrightly throw away the existing strategy and develop an entirely new one since the strategy was still relevant and besides, has not been fully implemented to the later as anticipated. Hence the team agreed that the strategy should be slightly modified and maintained for the next 5 years. With that in mind, the team came out with the 2025 ministry Goal; A fully funded ministry with functional entities in five new locations led by committed competent laborers. This goal was further broken down into three SMART objectives 1. Grow our funding from 51% to 120% of our budget by the end of 2025. 2: Have effective 2E ministry in 5 new locations in Ghana 3: Have 5 new Gift Income Laborers (GIL) and 10 new Conventional Income Laborers (CIL) by 2025.
The team was also privileged to have the brief presence of the Regional Director of the Navigators Africa, Mr. Edward Mupada who shared a few words of encouragement. He also took the opportunity to talk about the INTO AFRICA 2025 (IA-25) Conference slated for April 2025 in Kigali-Rwanda and encourage all team members to be part of this experience.
The rest of the days were mainly focused on Ministry Partner Development (MPD), which is very important because, without funds, the vision would continue to be a mirage. The facilitator, Mr. Emeka Ohahuru from Nigeria walked the team through the basis of fundraising as a spiritual exercise. He emphasized that fundraising is as important as the vision itself. He made it clear that MPD goes beyond just asking people for money but rather, it’s an invitation for people to be part of what God is doing. He also helped the team to debunk most of the common myths such as fundraising is begging, etc. around fundraising. It became clearer and more convincing to the team that MPD is far beyond what most of them thought. Scriptural references like Exodus 25:1-9, 35:4-9, 20-29, and 36:1-7 were instrumental in helping to have a biblical definition for MPD.
Also, throughout the period, the team had group devotion every morning focusing on Philippians 2:1-30. Some topics covered were the sovereignty of Jesus Christ, Sacrifice for Christ, and Servanthood, among others.
At the end of the review, convictions were built, and the team was fully equipped and agreed that it was possible to raise funds for the ministry to be fully funded in 2025. One statement that stood out in the discussion was, ‘If one fails to raise funds for their vision, then they do not really believe in the vision’. Some of the testimonies from participants were; “I had a lot of fears about fundraising but that has been dealt with”. Mrs. Yvonne Ahenkorah”, I have been encouraged that a NO should not discourage me from continuing to raise funds”. Mr. Emmanuel Asante, “Mission, calling, and vision have constantly run throughout all the discussions making me realize how interconnected they are”. Mrs. Adjeley Seddoh.
On the last day, Mr. Okike Offia took the opportunity to recap and charged the team to keep growing in their walk with God because that is the foundation. He went further and indicated that it will take self-sacrifice, and commitment, to achieve the vision and goal the ministry has set. He therefore encouraged everyone to give their all to see this vision come to fruition. A Big thank you to Mr. Offia and Ohahuru for their continuous selfless sacrifices, availability, and commitment to the ministry anytime their expertise is needed.
We ask you to keep praying with the team for full commitment towards these plans and goal set for 2025.
