Guinea Trip FAQs at The Copeland Ramblings

What mission are you with?
We are members of NTMC which stands for New Tribes Mission of Canada. NTMC is a non denominational mission organization whose goal is to reach tribal groups with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They work primarily with tribal groups that have never had the chance to hear the gospel in their heart language
What does NTM do in Guinea?
NTM currently works with six different tribes in Guinea, West Africa. NTM’s primary work in Guinea is to establish self sustaining, God glorifying churches. NTM missionaries are also involved in medical clinics and various other programs that improve the living standard of those they work with.
What do you see yourselves doing in Guinea?
We feel that God is leading us to work in Conakry, Guinea as guesthouse operators. The guesthouse is a vital part of the support team that keeps the tribal missionaries focused on the task at hand.
Why is a guest house needed in Conakry, Guinea?
For this question I had Dalton Dueck, a missionary in Conakry express his views on the need of a Conakry guesthouse:
“NTM is by far the biggest mission working in Guinea and with our large number of personel, the need for a guesthouse is great. Without a guesthouse here, we have two other options. One is for people to stay at hotels, in which case anything decent is upwards of $70-80/night and up and so is really out of reach for most of our people. The other option is two other guesthouses that are run by two other missions. These guesthouses are an option, but the one that is well maintained is often full and the other one is for a mission that has no personel in Conakry and so their guesthouse is limited in many ways because there is no one there to maintain it.NTM is also a growing field and we have a large influx of personel coming in the next year or two that will only add to the need here in Conakry.
All that said, a guesthouse for NTM is a great need in order to provide an affordable, restful place for our upcountry coworkers to be able to come to take care of their needs in Conakry. Among other things, they come down for medical needs, supply runs, comings and goings at the airport, and meetings with other missions or local Christians. A guesthouse turns into a very busy place when you think of a mission of NTM Guinea’s size. Another purpose that it serves is to serve other evangelical missions in Guinea. There are numerous ministries working in Guinea and our Guesthouse has been a popular place to stay among these groups as well. Most missions in Guinea are fairly small and so they depend a lot on the larger, more established missions for a lot of things and this includes guesthouse facilities. It is a great way for us to serve fellow believers as well as a means of interacting with those serving the Lord in other parts of Guinea.

As guesthouse hosts, you will be involved in a lot of different aspects of ministry. Obviously, your main focus will be serving your coworkers as they come into town. This can involve airport runs, supply buying, medical runs, serving as a cashier, and in general being a help and source of encouragement as people need it. You will also be doing some bookkeeping, taking reservations, and managing workers that help with the upkeep of the guesthouse facility. Even though your main ministry is to your coworkers, there will be no shortage of oppurtunity to show the Guineans that you come into contact with the love of Christ and to have a ministry with them as well. There are also many local churches that you can get involved with and you can get to know and minister to local Christians as well.

You won’t be short on things to do. There is a lot of work to do and I can definitely say that the Conakry guesthouse and the guesthouse ministry are a need and not a want! I hope that spells it out a little for you and tells you and your supporters that you are needed here.”
Why are support workers necessary?
Missionaries working in the tribal locations can not focus on the major job of learning a tribal language and culture without a support team. The support teams helps them by taking care of tasks such as buying supplies and taking care of paperwork and finances. If a tribal missionary has to take care of all these details they will not have the time necessary to do the work that we are there to do!
Why did you go to Guinea for this short trip?
We felt that a short trip to Guinea would be profitiable for a few reasons:
1. To help establish a new guest house in Conakry, Guinea.
2. To acquaint ourselves with Guinea and meet our future coworkers
3. To be able to share our own stories and experiences with supporters rather than just what we’ve heard
4. To be more prepared next year when we are packing and getting ready to move permanently
Did you accomplish what you wanted to do in Guinea?
About a week before we left the plans for a new guest house fell through. A new guest house won’t be ready until this November. Though we were a bit disappointed about this God worked it out for the best and we then had the time to help missionaries Pete and Faith Olver work on their new home. Pete had a lot of work to do before they moved in but didn’t have a lot of help, they were thankful for the help we were able to be to them. We feel that this trip was beyond invaluable in preparing us to both share about Guinea with you and also for when we get ready to go full time. God has used this trip to increase our passion for what He is doing in the hearts of Guineans and we are excited to share this passion as have opportunity with friends and family.
What are your future plans?
We are spending this rest of our summer in California with Debra’s family. This also provides us with a great opportunity to get together with those from Deb’s home church in Camarillo and share our experiences and passion for reaching the people of Guinea with God’s Word. We will return to Ontario, Canada in late August and then pack up and move to Quebec City. We will be in Quebec City for about 10 months studying French. French is the trade language of Guinea and required before our service begins.
When do you plan on arriving in Guinea?
Next June we will finish our time in Quebec learning french. We then plan on coming back to California for a number of months to reconnect with friends and family before leaving for Guinea. We also need this time to finish our paper work that will procure Debra’s Canadian citizenship. We feel very strongly about the importance of gaining Deb’s Canadian citizenship before leaving for the field full time. We hope to ultimately leave for Guinea shortly after Christmas 2008. We are excited about arriving and being able to speak French and converse with Guineans.