Governor, First Lady Join Ghana Church Mission

Governor Brad Henry and First Lady Kim Henry will depart Friday for a 10-day church mission trip to Ghana, Africa. The Henrys will be part of an assistance group sponsored by His Nets, a non-profit Christian organization focused on combating the malaria epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. It's an out-of-the-ordinary absence for a sitting governor and means Lt. Governor Jari Askins takes the reins during his absence.

Mission members will provide malaria prevention education and distribute free mosquito nets to needy families in Ghana. The nets help protect people, particularly pregnant women and young children, from malaria and other mosquito-borne illnesses. Malaria claims the lives of thousands of Ghanaians each year and is considered the deadliest disease in Africa.

The Henrys are helping raise funds to pay for the mosquito nets. The mission group plans to distribute 5,500 nets at a cost of six dollars each.

Dr. Paul Calmes, the former pastor at the Henrys’ home church, the First Baptist Church of Shawnee, is leading the mission trip. This will be his third mission to Ghana.

The Henrys are scheduled to return on June 25. They are paying for the trip with personal funds.

Ghana is situated on the southern coast of West Africa and is bordered to the east by Togo, to the west by the Ivory Coast and to the south by the Atlantic Ocean. At 92,000 square miles, the country is about the size of the state of Oregon and has a population of approximately 22 million. Ghana is a constitutional republic and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, an organization of independent states comprised predominantly by former colonies of the British Empire.

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