Missions Throughout the Years
Pleasant Hill Baptist Church has been blessed by the Lord to be able to help several of our former pastors and/or members accept the call of missions. Rev. Homer and Ossie Littleton
Rev. Homer Richerson Littleton March 20, 1904-April 18, 1964 Ossie Price Littleton Dec. 24, 1907-Oct. 12, 2001 (Stephens Memorial Gardens) Homer, son of William M. Littleton (1871-1910) & Sara R Guinn Littleton (1875-1946) (Lona Gwinn Littleton is named as mother in the obituary) Buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery Brother Homer Littleton was ordained as a Gospel Minister on December 30, 1928. He came from a family of moderate means, his father having died in 1910. When he entered Mercer University he did not know one day where the next day's expenses were coming from. One Bible Class had pledged to give him $10.00 per month, and maybe others. When things got rough he confided in his close friend Ernest Thomas, who grew up neighbors with him, that he was going to have to drop out of school. Brother Thomas was having to live within his means with a wife and small children but he did have a job. Having a great desire to see his friend continue his education Brother Thomas gave him signed drafts that Brother Littleton could fill in and get money for tuition when he had gone as far as he could on what he had. Both families survived and Brother Ernest Thomas and wife feel like it was money well spent as they had a part in representing their Saviour in foreign lands. Brother Homer Littleton and wife, the former Ossie Price, and two children, the youngest being 14 months old, left on their first mission to Nigeria on March 30, 1940. They left on their fourth mission to the Gold Coast, September 16, 1953. Their family then consisted of five children: Mary, Ruth, Jimmy, Ester, and Deborah. On this trip the two oldest children were left behind to attend school in the states. Rev. and Mrs. Littleton were members of Pleasant Hill Church while on the mission field. In July, 1958, the members of Pleasant Hill Church were greatly grieved by the message of Miss Mary Littleton’s death in a car accident. She was the eldest daughter of Missionaries to Africa, the Rev. & Mrs. Homer Littleton. The church responded with flowers for the funeral and a memorial love gift to the family. (Mary Elizabeth Littleton, 1933-1958, age 24). In 1975 Mrs. Homer Littleton taught the Foreign Mission Study, "Sick and Ye Visited Me" as a church-wide study and supper meeting. (notes above from the Church History document) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Brief History of Ghana Baptists (an excerpt) Written by Kojo Osei-Wush Paper delivered at the Heritage and Identity Session, BWA Annual Gathering, Ghana, July 2007 Excerpt from gbconvention.com Source: Kojo Osei-Wusuh/BWA Heritage and Identity Commission The earliest Baptist work in Ghana was by one Mark C. Hayford, a Ghanaian, who received his call and ordination to the ministry in Nigeria. By 1926 Hayford had planted about forty-five churches, but after his death in 1935 these churches began to die. The current Ghana Baptist Convention’s early beginnings were associated with the Nigerian Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention of USA. Nigerian Baptist brethren came to Ghana (formerly known as Gold Coast) to trade in the early part of the 1900’s. These Yoruba Baptist traders later grouped themselves to form Baptist churches in Ghana. In 1947 the Yoruba Baptist Association, which these Yoruba churches in Ghana formed in 1935, made an appeal to both the Nigerian Baptist Convention and the Nigerian Baptist Mission (NOTE: the mission is made up of Southern Baptist Convention missionaries working in Nigeria) to send some missionaries to start Baptist churches among the Ghanaians. The Yoruba Baptist churches were failing to attract Ghanaians, because the Yoruba language was used in all their worship services. In response to the request of the Yoruba Baptist Association, the Nigerian Baptist Mission in 1947 sent the Reverend and Mrs. H R. Littleton to Ghana to start Baptist churches among the indigenous people. Their efforts resulted in the establishment of the first indigenous Baptist church in 1952 at Boamang in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. In 1947 the Yoruba Baptist Association changed its name to Gold Coast Baptist Conference to enable the emerging Ghanaian Baptist churches to be part of the group. When Ghana gained her independence from Britain in 1957, the conference was renamed Ghana Baptist Conference. From its beginning as the Yoruba Association, this conference was under the Nigerian Baptist Convention. In 1963, the Nigerian Baptist Convention granted the conference independence. The conference was renamed Ghana Baptist Convention in January 1964. The convention works in partnership with the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention, USA. In the past few years, the IMB has changed her mission strategy, whereby that body is now pursuing the people group concept. Thus the IMB’s support sent to the convention in terms of personnel and finance has dwindled greatly. The Ghana Baptist Convention is now seeking partnership with other Baptist bodies or churches to carry out the vision(s) God has given to her in Ghana and beyond. Excerpt from gbconvention.com Source: Kojo Osei-Wusuh/BWA Heritage and Identity Commission |
Rev. Wayne & Elinor Pennell
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