News Letters

Below are publications designed to keep you informed on Kingdom business with Larry Michael & Beki McConnell and the God of Wonder Ministries, Int.   We hope that you are encouraged as you read the updates and are blessed to hear the many things God is doing with GWMI ministry and our lives.  Please click on the links below to open the file.  Letters distributed via snail mail are in Portable Document Format (PDF) and will require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them and may take time to download depending upon your connection speed.  Download Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Larry Michael & Beki also distribute e-letters.  (They are very fast & convenient) 

2013

April News-Letter ***New*** This is the first installment of a number of newsletters of my missions trip to Uganda.  For six weeks, I am here in Uganda to distribute Bibles and teaching resources, to teach, preach, encourage and minister to (serve) my Brothers  and Sisters.  Setting out to deliver the Word of G-d in Bumbo, Uganda, with Teacher David and Pastor John Michael.  This is week one of six weeks.  I am excited to see what G-d has in store for me.

April News-Letter Week 2 ***New*** The Congregatioin in Bumbo were thrilled to receive their Complete Jewish Bibles.  This week I got to spend time with Pastor Isaac Were.

April News-Letter Week 3 ***New*** TI just finished a few days of preaching, sharing the Gospel and giving out Bibles.

April News-Letter Week 4 ***New*** Our ministry in Uganda is enabled by the gracious hospitality offered by Emily Dwyer  and her team at Acts for Messiah.    

May News-Letter Week 5 ***Under Construction***

May News-Letter Week 6 ***Under Construction***

2012

May E-Letter  Jewels of Africa - Coming along side "ACTS for Messiah founder Emily Dwyer in Tororo, Uganda was a true blessing for Pastor Larry Michael and our entire family.  Making Disciples, Baptizing (Immersion), Teaching All, Being a Blessing, Uganda Praise Reports, and Prayer requests.

2011

Feb E-Letter - Joy Comes to Waiting Family!  You are Missionaries to Africa, We want to Support YOU!  Uganda Prayer Requests

2010

November E-Letter - Now is the time for Prayer!  The most positive thing we can do is to pray.

June E-Letter - The McConnell Family is happy to announce they are working to return to Africa!  Their next international destination is Uganda, East Africa. God of Wonder Ministries will be partnering with Acts for Messiah who has been established in Uganda for the past decade. 

Last year the McConnell family were privileged to help rescue Baby Joy who was an abandoned HIV+ baby that all the doctors expected to die.  Thanks to our merciful God, Joy is now a happy and healthy 2 year old!

So far, $650 has been  raised by GWMI supporters towards her adoption.

2009

November E-Letter/Thanksgiving Greeting - Just as the pilgrims experienced that first Thanksgiving, it is much easier to give thanks when you have gone with out, and now have enough.  Imagine the joy of dancing in the first rain after a drought.  Or a hot shower, after 2 years of cold showers!    

August E-Letter -  Baby Joy celebrates her first birthday It was like every other day for her... a miracle!  Plus highlights of the Eban House Children's Home Outreach!   

May E-Letter - After 11 months of loving and caring for baby Emma, we have said a tearful "good-bye". Emma's sweet and cheerful personality will always be a cherished memory, and we are thankful to have been her family for almost a year.  The once weak and lethargic baby Joy is now rolling over and trying to sit up! She likes to coo and call for us to be with her, and always rewards us with a beautiful smile.

 February E- Letter  - Baby Joy had nothing to smile about.  Doctors at the hospital where she had been abandoned after her premature birth labeled her "failure to thrive," along with her other medical difficulties.  Baby Joy had tested positive for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).  Left in the hospital for five months, and then moved to another institution, Joy never knew the love of doting parents.
 

January News Letter -  With the closing of private orphanages, Ghana Social Welfare is now requesting NGO's to act as Foster Homes to act as temporary homes for children at risk, until they can be returned to their birth family or placed for adoption.

2008 

December E-Letter -  For the third time in a month, elections will be held this Friday to determine the next President of Ghana.  Rumors of unrest, and civil outrage over possible voter fraud are spreading daily.  Dozens of people were seen with machetes and sticks storming the Electorial Commission in Accra on New Year's Eve, and vandalizing property.  Police used a water canon to subdue the supporters of the current ruling party (NPP), who fear the oppositional NDC party regaining political control.

November E-Letter - Beki spends Thanksgiving Day in a Ghanaian Circuit Court and receives the breakthrough we all have been waiting for.  Baby Emma and her future sister have been approved by the Ghanaian Judge to be adopted by an American couple!  HAPPY THANKSGIVING ! ! !  Our prayers have been answered and these children have just passed another major milestone on their way to live with their forever family.  We have so much to be thankful for!

September E-Letter - The past three months have transformed baby Emmanuella's life... when she came to us she was just over 5 lbs as she turned 5 months old suffering with multiple health problems. Mayfia memorizes scriptures very fast, and is busy 'hiding God's Word in her heart.' By the grace of God, we've been serving in Ghana for 18 months now!

June E-Letter - Emmanuella's mother was suffering from TB and HIV, and the loss of her husband due to HIV, when Emma was born.  Being very weak herself, the mother wasn't able to nurse the tiny infant, and Emma's Uncle did his best to get porridge into her everyday.    After 5 months of camping...in the bush, waiting for the electricity and running water to be installed in the Children's Home we had to make a difficult decision.

May Newsletter - For the past five months, a group of 30 to 60 children ranging from age 3 to 16 have been meeting for worship and bible study under our palm tree several times a week.  "He can't have a Bible he's a Muslim.  Sixteen Children choose to follow Yeshua (Jesus) in Public Baptism. Being a Mom is hard work - and being a Mom in a third world country is very hard!  Daily trusting God to protect Josiah, Gracie, and Mayfia can be difficult - like when poisonous snakes are in our front yard!

May E-Letter - Village thief is Baptized.  In Ghana, the children are taught in public schools that Muslims, Christians, and traditional African (Spiritism) worship all praise the same god, who created man and the earth. This syncretism (merging of spiritual beliefs) leads to a high level of tolerance between religious groups.  This week, another 6 children came to GWMI worship services for the first time, and prayed to accept Yeshua as their Messiah.

Feb E-Letter - An African Anniversary!  By living with, and like Africans, we are learning to minister in more applicable ways. Since we are living without electricity (Praise God for the generator which gives us some electricity!), or running water, we now know experientially some of the daily hardships of the people, and their physical needs.  Being a Blessing!  Giving up their Christmas holidays to share with others, Jack and Dorine, Tyrone and Peterson selflessly ministered to us at GWMI, and the people of Ghana. Thank you for being a blessing!  Pastor Andrew is always singing praise songs, but when he received the needed laptop for his continuing education, his praises were glorious!

2007   

November Newsletter in .pdf or November Newsletter in .html (faster loading)- Providing a home for up to 60 children is impossible . . . .without the GOD OF WONDERS!  The children's facility is nearly complete but we need your help to make it a home. . . Two of the men had to leave their village at 3 AM, and the third Pastor leads all night prayer meetings on Friday nights!  Their dedication and thirst for the Lord, is contagious.   When our friend Pastor Andrew, was thrown in jail, while doing his job for another organization, God showed up! 

Oct E-Letter - Mayfia has not had an easy life - Children are often passed among family members, and can be used as laborers in the house and farms, or to sell merchandise on the street. The Central Region is the 3rd poorest region in Ghana, and child traffickers take advantage of desperate families to purchase children to work in the fisheries on Lake Volta.   The Ghanaians in the Northern Regions suffered through a drought this summer, and have been flooded with torrential downpours in September.

Aug E-Letter - One of the biggest adjustments we've had to make since leaving the US, six months ago, is realizing that "Things move slowly in Ghana!"   The next big miracle will be watching how God provides all the necessary furniture and supplies to bring these children home!

August Newsletter Although our 'assignment' has changed since our arrival, our commitment to raising leaders of Righteousness from the forgotten orphans of Africa has not!   We believe that the believers of Africa, can fulfill the Great Commission in their generation, by discipling and training new believers to reach the 'uttermost parts of the earth'.  We believe that the believers of Africa, can care for their sick and elderly, and raise the 15 million orphans in Sub-Sahara Africa to be leaders of Righteousness in their generation.  We believe that the believers of Africa, can "prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God" Ephesians 4:12b-13a.

July E-Letter  -  "Introducing 'God of Wonder Ministries, International'" Four months to the day of our arrival in Africa, GWMI became an official Non Government Organization (NGO) in Ghana!   Ajumako Children's Home - The first project underway is the Ajumako Children's Home, located in the Central Region, which is the third poorest region in Ghana.  Larry spoke to over 600 teenagers at the "Esian Senior Secondary School", in a powerful service on the root sin of 'discontentment'.  Later that same morning he preached at the Word Alive Esiama church. A video clip of the worship service can be seen online at www. GodofWonder.org/videos.htm

June E-Letter  -  "You have seven days."  One week, to pack up and leave Ghana.  The Immigration officer confiscated our passports, and we left the office wondering how God was going to work this out.  We had been busy setting up a home, registering our car, and pursuing ministry opportunities.  Now we had a week to leave.