Pastor Chuck Heidenreich

We are a family of six ordinary people who happen to be called by God to serve Him in Takoradi, Ghana.  Our family has had the privilege of attending Greater Grace Church since 1990, which has motivated us to study the Bible more in depth, consider the mission field, and go beyond what we had ever imagined for our lives.

Chuck

When I made a personal decision to become a Christian in 1979 on the chairlift riding high above the snowfield at Timberline Lodge in Oregon, my entire life was totally geared toward making the U.S. Ski Team, which God did allow. Spiritually though, God totally changed the direction I was going in my life. In my human nature, I expected that I would be reasonably successful in business, but NEVER did I expect to be a father of four beautiful children, or that I would ever consider leaving my executive marketing job and going to Bible College .. never mind moving to Africa. However, God plays funny tricks on you when you think you have it all figured out….

In the fall of 1999, we responded to the call of God to attend Bible College and leave a “promising” career to follow the “promises” of God (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our time in Baltimore at Maryland Bible College & Seminary and the headquarters of Greater Grace World Outreach was a true joy. It is so great to be a part of a worldwide church with a vision to reach the lost. As I entered Bible College I soon found myself humbled to be the “old man” in the class, but I pray my wisdom gained through experience helped others.

As I continued my studies, I meditated on my favorite verse, 1 Thessalonians 5:24 "Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”, I became fully assured that God would do “it” and all the excuses I had for not going to Africa to respond to God’s calling were torn down

Looking at Susan one evening I said, “You know what missions majors do when they graduate? Don’t you?” We both knew the answer. It was then that I began to continue in earnest my desire to be discipled under Pastor Scibelli and become involved in the work in Africa. I began to travel to Africa with Pastor Scibelli whenever I could and apply my administrative gifts to the office support at the Missions Office..

When we moved to Ghana in September of 2002, my desire was to be "useful and available" to God wherever He called us. Now that we have been here in Ghana for over 4 years I continually see God’s plan unfolding. We are planting a new church in a new city, making new disciples, hosting a radio program, visiting people in their homes, and continue to assist other Greater Grace World Outreach Churches in West Africa along with Children of Grace.

Susan
I was raised in southern California, got saved while at college, and met my husband to-be while skiing in France. Five years after we were married, we moved east to the terribly cold place of Massachusetts. As our faith grew, God called us to Baltimore to study at Maryland Bible College and Seminary. And just few years later we realized that God was calling us to be missionaries in Ghana.

As the pastor’s wife or the “Osofo Mommy”, I love to talk to our church members and encourage them.  It is my desire to manifest the love of God to the “Body of Christ”. When I am not home schooling the children, I have the honor of going on the streets or door-to-door telling others the “good news” of Christ’s love.  On Sunday mornings I teach our Sunday school children.  I am finding it a great blessing to restudy the basic Biblical truths in order to share them with the children.  We also gather the women for prayer every other week. It is such a blessing to take an hour or two out of our schedules to come to the Throne of Grace and ask God for the desires of our hearts.

Nikki (18)
Nikki spent four exciting years here in Ghana.  She loved using her creativity to help with the music and drama ministry, and evangelism.  In April of 2006 she completed high school (home school) and went back to the United States.  She is now attending Maryland Bible College and Seminary in Baltimore.  We are very happy for her yet miss her terribly.  We are hoping she will be able to visit us soon.

Sari (16)
In-between my grueling 8-9 hour school days as a homeschooling junior I listen to tons of music, spend time with friends, play tennis and Scrabble (my newfound love!), write, play tambourine and piano – singing along of course. I enjoy doing all of this stuff, especially writing. I would like to make a career of it someday. I also love going on evangelism with the church.

At church on Sundays and Thursdays I am a tambourine player and singer, the “sound lady” and the pianist. On Saturday evenings after music practice, I bake cookies (another thing I enjoy doing) to sell at church on Sunday morning. The profit goes towards the fund to buy the tambourine chorus another tambourine. And of course, no girls’ life would be complete without the endless hours of gabbing with her friends – or at least the desire to do so even though she has not time.

Katie (11)
The ever energetic Katie has a new adventure this year – she is attending Takoradi International School. This is her first year in a traditional school and is thriving in it. Katie is very much a people person and constantly goofs around with her friends (or pretty much anyone) from church and school. Over the past year she has learned how to play the tambourine and is now thrilled to be able to play with the tambourine chorus during church services.  

Ryan (9)
Since Ryan is now 9 years old it is difficult for us to still call him our baby. Ryan is now the only child that Mom is home schooling this year and because he is the only pupil, Ryan has a flexible schedule to accommodate his love of golf. The neighborhood kids have also been teaching Ryan football (soccer) many afternoons a week. Ryan is helping us build the church as he occasionally brings his friends with him to services. He is also learning how to set up the sound system . Sari calls him her “chord untangaler.”