Saturday, August 25, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
One Day More...
we visited the Village of Hope Orphanage today, and it was a different experience than I, at least, anticipated it would be. The orphange is 90% funded by the Church of Christ, and its a really nice facility. There are 160 kids that live at the orphange, and they range in ages from nursery to 25 (25 is the age that they shoot for to have the "kids" be independent by). They are broken down into 7 different "families" who live in different homes on the orphanage.
We got to talk to the directors of the orphange, as well as a few of the house parents. Then we took a tour (Ama went with us, and was a tad jealous of the supplies available to the students... they had quiet a few). After the tour we just hung out with the kiddos for a bit. We played a bit more soccer, a little basketball, but no slide. :)
Coming home from the orphange, it really started to hit me that we're leaving tomorrow, and just how much I'm going to miss it here. Our hosts gave us gifts tonight, they're all so super sweet!
so... I suppose this is my last Ghana-blog. Sorry it's so incoherent, I'm so tired and my brain has stopped working!
See you soon!
We got to talk to the directors of the orphange, as well as a few of the house parents. Then we took a tour (Ama went with us, and was a tad jealous of the supplies available to the students... they had quiet a few). After the tour we just hung out with the kiddos for a bit. We played a bit more soccer, a little basketball, but no slide. :)
Coming home from the orphange, it really started to hit me that we're leaving tomorrow, and just how much I'm going to miss it here. Our hosts gave us gifts tonight, they're all so super sweet!
so... I suppose this is my last Ghana-blog. Sorry it's so incoherent, I'm so tired and my brain has stopped working!
See you soon!
Sunday, August 12, 2007
CELEBRATE
Dave gave a great sermon today and we celebrated communion with our African friends. It is a great spiritual experience. In addition, due to another black out, we moved to outside tonight at 6:45 pm for an unplanned candlelight worship time. We soon realized that all of you were in church at the Flipside at the same time for the morning service. It made us feel like we were all worshiping together. Another 6 kids accepted Christ today. They were from the neighborhood and participated in a little football tournament that we put on. We used some Gatorade water bottles for prizes and presented the gospel after the "awards ceremony." It was another great way to seek God work when we just are faithful.
All of us went out for Loretta's (the house cook) birthday. It was a great celebration and a nice way to say thanks for all she has done to make us more than well taken care of.
We are scheduled to visit the Village of Hope Orphanage on Monday (as seen on Oprah's child fishing slavery special). It should be a heart tugging time. Pray for God's guidance.
Time is running out on the trip and my internet minutes...so take care.
All of us went out for Loretta's (the house cook) birthday. It was a great celebration and a nice way to say thanks for all she has done to make us more than well taken care of.
We are scheduled to visit the Village of Hope Orphanage on Monday (as seen on Oprah's child fishing slavery special). It should be a heart tugging time. Pray for God's guidance.
Time is running out on the trip and my internet minutes...so take care.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
a day of rest and relaxtion... mostly!
Last night we had a ton of fun dancing and playing pool. It's been so neat to see different sides of Ghana! However, we didn't get back home till after 1:00am, so our 5:30 wake-up call bird didn't even phase me this morning!
Once everyone was up and about and ready to go (which didn't really happen till almost 11:00) the team went back to the Faith Community Baptist Church campus and painted the Junior School (our Junior High) building. I'm not the greatest painter, but it was great to look at when we were all finished! I've loved participating in the wide variety of ways God has been using us to bless that school.
After we finished painting, we went home for lunch, and then most of the team went into town to visit this resort where you can swim for 3 Ghana Cedis (around $3). I didn't go (I opted for sleep and some down time instead), but everyone said they had a great time. (I heard many rave reviews for the strawberry ice cream the resort served).
The house was definetely quieter tonight. A lot of us have gotten used to our mid-afternoon naps, and you could tell energy was lagging with out them. However, we're all excited to go to church tomorrow. Dave is speaking (we've all been urging him to keep it "short and sweet") and their having a communion service. I'm so excited to take part in that aspect of our Christian walk with the people here. After church, we're taking out a few of our Ghanian friends who have been such a great help (Loretta, Ama, Kate, Moses and Simpson, a teacher at the school who helped us get hundreds of kids quiet every day!).
I've said it before, I know I'll say it again, and I'm sure you're all tired of hearing it, but I'm still amazed by how quickly this trip has gone by. Tomorrow is church, Monday we're visiting the orphanage, and Tuesday night we'll be flying home. See y'all soon!!
Once everyone was up and about and ready to go (which didn't really happen till almost 11:00) the team went back to the Faith Community Baptist Church campus and painted the Junior School (our Junior High) building. I'm not the greatest painter, but it was great to look at when we were all finished! I've loved participating in the wide variety of ways God has been using us to bless that school.
After we finished painting, we went home for lunch, and then most of the team went into town to visit this resort where you can swim for 3 Ghana Cedis (around $3). I didn't go (I opted for sleep and some down time instead), but everyone said they had a great time. (I heard many rave reviews for the strawberry ice cream the resort served).
The house was definetely quieter tonight. A lot of us have gotten used to our mid-afternoon naps, and you could tell energy was lagging with out them. However, we're all excited to go to church tomorrow. Dave is speaking (we've all been urging him to keep it "short and sweet") and their having a communion service. I'm so excited to take part in that aspect of our Christian walk with the people here. After church, we're taking out a few of our Ghanian friends who have been such a great help (Loretta, Ama, Kate, Moses and Simpson, a teacher at the school who helped us get hundreds of kids quiet every day!).
I've said it before, I know I'll say it again, and I'm sure you're all tired of hearing it, but I'm still amazed by how quickly this trip has gone by. Tomorrow is church, Monday we're visiting the orphanage, and Tuesday night we'll be flying home. See y'all soon!!
Friday, August 10, 2007
God Continues to Bless!
What a week it has been. The football tournament was a huge success. We expected 200 and ended with well over 250. For most of the team (or at least those of us addicted to soccer/football) perhaps the closest thing to nirvana was experienced with a 15-20 minute parade thru the slums of Medina with drums beating as loud as possible and a mass of jerseys and LA Galaxy TShirts strung as far as you could see. With support staff we were closing in the range of 275 strong. Considering we were walking thru a Muslim neighborhood created an even greater feeling as everyone would come out to get a feel for what was going on. The tournament was a success and we squeezed the finals into the 2nd day due to a conflict with summer school classes starting on Wednesday. The awards ceremony was rocking as it was a combination worship service / awards ceremony. The guest speaker was one of the premier sports broadcasters/tv personalities/newspaper writers in Ghana who is also a Christian. He delivered an excellent message. God almost stretched our prizes to cover the troops, but we will have to follow up with a small second order. Galaxy stuff is everywhere as well as Flipside stickers. We had NO idea how big a deal a ball was (even a small size 1 juggler). It equates to power in the neighborhood because the one with the ball gets to call the shots for who is playing and what the rules are. They liked the ribbons, bags, shirts, jerseys, and water bottles...BUT craved a ball!
VBS was also a huge success but it presented a chance to put into action the "flexibility" we talked about. There was a power struggle between some of the teachers that wanted to start summer school this week and the acting principal (Pastor John's Daughter) who wanted to the kids to be at VBS. In a way they both won and lost but in the end, the kids that missed VBS were the ones that lost out. There were 51 children out of about 250 on Friday that accepted Christ for the first time. In addition, they all had a blast. We tried to be as loud a possible so that the teachers that insisted on trying to have class rather than send them to VBS would have second thoughts next time. I'm sure Betsy will give more VBS details in her blog.
As far as Ghana goes, my one word is CONTRAST. The list could go on forever as it relates to the contrast. The bottom line is that inner city poverty/slums sit next to well equiped and large homes. Nice businesses are not that far from 5x5 shacks that are supporting a family. You can tell there is a state of growth here...but most of the people are not benefitting. One thing is consistent...the people are incredibly nice! More than anywhere I have ever been! Fortunately, most of the people seem to have access to minimal, basic food and water. After that, the rest is a wide range of contrast. My time is up but keep praying for our last few days and events.
VBS was also a huge success but it presented a chance to put into action the "flexibility" we talked about. There was a power struggle between some of the teachers that wanted to start summer school this week and the acting principal (Pastor John's Daughter) who wanted to the kids to be at VBS. In a way they both won and lost but in the end, the kids that missed VBS were the ones that lost out. There were 51 children out of about 250 on Friday that accepted Christ for the first time. In addition, they all had a blast. We tried to be as loud a possible so that the teachers that insisted on trying to have class rather than send them to VBS would have second thoughts next time. I'm sure Betsy will give more VBS details in her blog.
As far as Ghana goes, my one word is CONTRAST. The list could go on forever as it relates to the contrast. The bottom line is that inner city poverty/slums sit next to well equiped and large homes. Nice businesses are not that far from 5x5 shacks that are supporting a family. You can tell there is a state of growth here...but most of the people are not benefitting. One thing is consistent...the people are incredibly nice! More than anywhere I have ever been! Fortunately, most of the people seem to have access to minimal, basic food and water. After that, the rest is a wide range of contrast. My time is up but keep praying for our last few days and events.
Chillin' Out Max and Relaxin' All Cool...
We love hanging out with all the kiddos here in Ghana... From sharing testimonies during craft today, to playing Red Light, Green Light, to numerous football matches, it's been a blast!
Today was the last day of VBS. we ended up with over 250 kids (100 of them were in our 11+ group and 50 in our 5-6 group... although that ranged from 2-6!). It was amazing. Chris shared the bridge diagram, which helps explain how salvation works and FIFTY-ONE 7+ year olds raised their hands and said they prayed the prayer for the first time. YAY! :)
We had to day good bye to a lot of kiddos after VBS... Charise was really bummin' about is (as we all were), but about 45 minutes after we arrived back at the house, 8 girls from the school came to see her! They had seen she was sad, and they knew the way to where we were, so the hiked the mile from the school to see her one last time! :)
Once again, Ian, Joel, Chris and Aaron played football with the neighborhood boys... I even played with the older ones for like 10 minutes... but it was too intense for me! (those guys are, as I've been saying all trip, hardcore!)
Tonight, Ama is taking us out dancing to celebrate the end of VBS and the football tournament! (YAY for their sucess!) I'm really excited to show off my uber-white dance moves!!
Tomorrow we're going to be painting a building at the school and rehearsing to sing a couple of songs in Twi, the language spoken in this area of Ghana (I finally asked Ama today, and it's prononuced "ch" (as in church) "we" (but not a harsh e, it's kinda soft... I'm not explaning it well. My grammar teacher from APU who taught me Phonetics would be appalled).
Hope you're all having a fabulous Friday!
Today was the last day of VBS. we ended up with over 250 kids (100 of them were in our 11+ group and 50 in our 5-6 group... although that ranged from 2-6!). It was amazing. Chris shared the bridge diagram, which helps explain how salvation works and FIFTY-ONE 7+ year olds raised their hands and said they prayed the prayer for the first time. YAY! :)
We had to day good bye to a lot of kiddos after VBS... Charise was really bummin' about is (as we all were), but about 45 minutes after we arrived back at the house, 8 girls from the school came to see her! They had seen she was sad, and they knew the way to where we were, so the hiked the mile from the school to see her one last time! :)
Once again, Ian, Joel, Chris and Aaron played football with the neighborhood boys... I even played with the older ones for like 10 minutes... but it was too intense for me! (those guys are, as I've been saying all trip, hardcore!)
Tonight, Ama is taking us out dancing to celebrate the end of VBS and the football tournament! (YAY for their sucess!) I'm really excited to show off my uber-white dance moves!!
Tomorrow we're going to be painting a building at the school and rehearsing to sing a couple of songs in Twi, the language spoken in this area of Ghana (I finally asked Ama today, and it's prononuced "ch" (as in church) "we" (but not a harsh e, it's kinda soft... I'm not explaning it well. My grammar teacher from APU who taught me Phonetics would be appalled).
Hope you're all having a fabulous Friday!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
And the days go flying by...
Day two of vbs is over... we were talking tonight as a team about the rest of our trip... tomorrow is the last day of VBS, Saturday we're doing a painting project at the church, Sunday is church and a thank you luncheon, Monday we're visiting the orphange, and Tuesday we have to be at the airport by 6:00... we we're all shocked at how quickly the time has flown, and saddened by the realization that tomorrow is our last day with so many of the kiddos we have come to know and love (many of the don't attend the church, so we won't see them Sunday)
VBS was rockin' today. We had a few less kiddos (the summer session of the school started today), but the ones we had were so much fun! I've continued to be amazed by the other members of our team, their flexibility and their willingness to do whatever is needed to serve this kids. They're all pretty awesome!
Tomorrow at VBS we're extending an invitation to all the different age groups to accept Christ as their personal savior... so if you could be praying for them and us, that'd be awesome (we'll be starting VBS at 9:30am... which is like 2:30am in California... so maybe shoot up a quick one tonight before you head off to bed :))
sorry this post is so short, I just wanted to let everyone know we're all still alive (and feeling a lot better... Becky is all better, and Cristabel is singing the praises of benadryl!)
have a blessed friday!
VBS was rockin' today. We had a few less kiddos (the summer session of the school started today), but the ones we had were so much fun! I've continued to be amazed by the other members of our team, their flexibility and their willingness to do whatever is needed to serve this kids. They're all pretty awesome!
Tomorrow at VBS we're extending an invitation to all the different age groups to accept Christ as their personal savior... so if you could be praying for them and us, that'd be awesome (we'll be starting VBS at 9:30am... which is like 2:30am in California... so maybe shoot up a quick one tonight before you head off to bed :))
sorry this post is so short, I just wanted to let everyone know we're all still alive (and feeling a lot better... Becky is all better, and Cristabel is singing the praises of benadryl!)
have a blessed friday!
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