Missionary to Africa: ‘God Spoke: This is Where You are Going’

"He knew He would open those doors later on and I would have this opportunity to serve. His plans are so perfect for us.” – Tate Glenn

The $12,000 will cover various expenses, such as travel and lodging; provide money for outreach work; and include a stipend so she can get out of the village occasionally during the six months she's in Ghana, working at the medical clinic and other programs Kingdom Cares International built in Asikuma (officially the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District), created in central Ghana in 1989.

Kingdom Cares also aims to make health care more universally available to children in Ghana and recently paid for medical insurance for 1,500 of them. Extending educational opportunities, especially through scholarships to pay private school fees because the free public schools are too long a walk for most children, is another critical mission of the organization.

"Young and Fun" or Pilgrimage to Primitive Village

As a 13-year-old home-schooled student in Pleasant Hill, Glenn knew she wanted to work in Africa. At the time, she had been thunderstruck by the public health crisis of AIDS in Africa and set a goal to help bring about a cure as a physician.

“God spoke into my heart: ‘This is where you are going,’ “ Glenn said.

But life went on, and without really intending it, the dream became more elusive. It didn’t fade as much as it went into a state of dormancy – waiting, deep in her core – to come alive again.

In her final year at Iowa State University, where she majored in kinesiology and health with an emphasis in community and public health, Glenn was focusing her internship search on inner city hospitals, where she could see herself “doing something young and fun, living in New York City.”

But opportunity after opportunity fell through, or they involved so much red tape that she abandoned them.

And then her younger brother, who’s involved in Kingdom Cares International’s basketball program, reminded her of her childhood dream to become a doctor and work in Africa.

“I was like, oh, doh, that was what you were going to do,” Glenn said, mocking herself. “You were going to work in Africa.”

She arranged for a short internship at the Kingdom Cares medical clinic in Ghana in March. So humbling was the resilience of those living in such abject poverty that it was measured in degrees – the haves were those with clothing; the have-nots were barely swaddled – that she knew she wanted to make a longer commitment.

The job she will be doing in Ghana didn’t even exist at the time.

Two days after her return, she got a call from a Kingdom Cares’ medical missions committee member saying that an on-the-ground liaison to help build relationships was needed in Ghana long-term and the job was hers if she could raise the money to pay her salary.

Despite her brother’s good-natured jab – “Have you heard of that thing called a salary? he reportedly teased. “You don’t have to raise it.” – Glenn knew this was a chance to walk the talk.

Or, as John put it in 3:18: “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”

“God has spoken to me so often that He wants me to take action,” Glenn said. “He has made it pretty clear in his words that is what he intends for us.”

Baby Steps in the Face of Staggering Needs

There are skeptics, of course, folks who say that humanitarian missions in Africa are largely useless because staggering human needs seem to be a perpetual problem there.

But Glenn said turning her back on those needs would be like accepting that malnourishment, ignorance and lives cut short by infectious diseases are their lot in life and that she is not only powerless to affect that, she shouldn’t even try.

The difference “is in that one individual case,” she said. The difference is George, a young boy who resides permanently in her heart, but who nearly died. He has a more secure future because he received medical attention at the Kingdom Cares clinic, which Glenn said has the potential to change the dynamic of the village.

“He came to us malnourished and with ringworm on his head,” she said. “We were able to help him. Is that not worth it? You have to take it in little bite-sized pieces and look at it that way.”

The difference is also in making a 5 or 10 degree adjustment in how a situation is viewed, one she didn’t fully understand until she returned to Iowa after her brief internship this spring.

" ... They were not being greedy; they have just never felt secure that they do not have to hoard or acquire things they can sell later." — Tate Glenn

She had taken gifts for the children and was beginning to feel frustrated when they asked for more, that it was slightly rapacious.

“I felt like a horrible person, because here was this 10-year-old person who just wanted a gift,” she said. “Later, I saw that they were not being greedy; they have just never felt secure that they do not have to hoard or acquire things they can sell later.

“You can be overwhelmed by the need or you can take small, baby steps to get there,” Glenn said. “That’s how you are changing the environment. As Christians, we all want to do something, even if small baby steps are necessary to make the change.”

The Rev. Brandon Mick, one of the pastors at Westkirk Presbyterian Church, said the church has a long tradition of mission work in Europe.

The Westkirk Presbyterian Church has a long tradition of mission work in Europe, said the Rev. Brandon Mick, an assistant pastor. He said Glenn’s work opens yet another avenue for congregants to answer the call in Matthew 25:31-46  to care for “the least of these.”

“That’s a lot of what Tate is doing – showing Christ’s love for people who desperately need it,” Mick said.

You Can Help

Support fundraisers at Westkirk Presbyterian Church, 2700 Colby Woods Drive, Urbandale:

• Pancake Breakfast: 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, June 8
• Spaghetti Supper: 4:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, June 28

Connect on Facebook: Team Tate, Supporting Kingdom Cares in Ghana

Follow Tate Glenn’s blog: Iowa Girl Made for Africa (from Dreaming OF Africa to Dreaming IN Africa)

Make a tax-deductible donation: Donate directly to Kingdom Cares online at KingdomCares.org, designate your gift as “Tate in Ghana” or mail a check to Kingdom Cares, ATTN: Tate, 6095 NE Industry Drive, Des Moines, IA 50313.