Joy and laughter :)

Five months ago I came to Ghana West Africa and not knowing anything and feeling quit lost.
But God has done amazing things in my heart and life and the people around me that have touch my heart so much. I have learned, loved and grown more than I ever thought I could. Lindsay and I have become great friends; God blessed me so much with her and our shared passion to help these kids. Our time here has been filled with funny moments and through our adventures we have ran into hilarious situations. So we have made this list of our funny memories.


You Know You are in Africa When…

- You wake up to an army of frogs outside your window.
- There is no animal that can possibly make some of the noises you hear.
- The sound of a goat and a screaming child sound exactly alike.
- You think it’s Christmas when the kids catch a bush rat.
- Kids put beetles on a string.
- You can send a text message, but can’t take a shower.
- Children are whipped in church.
- You don’t know what to teach until 2 days after school has already started.
- You don’t have to go to the store, you just drive up and down the street.
- You rejoice at the idea of a flushing toilet.
- Ants become a part of your daily diet.
- Clean becomes a relative term.
- You have to explain to the kids that mermaids aren’t real.
- The sight of white people makes children fall into buckets of water. ( that really happened)
- You can cause an entire marketplace to erupt in laughter.
- You get proposed to on a daily basis (even when you don’t shave your legs)
- You simply cut the mold off of food rather than buying new ones.
- French toast is a delicacy
- You go to bed when it gets dark outside, and wake up when it’s light.
- Night life consists of two person tap light discos.
- Ginger snaps and warm powdered milk tastes like home.
- You scream at the sight of a white person in the internet café.
- Your boogers are always black
- You have to push start public transportation
- Real peanut butter is worth its weight in gold
- Getting passport pictures taken is a huge blow to our self image
- Lizards jump from person to person during church services ( One jumped from Lindsay onto me)

Dear Family and friends,
I am so sorry that I have not written lately.
So like I said in my last writing about not feeling like Christmas, well I was very wrong.
My Christmas here has been one of the most joyful days I have ever experienced. We lined up all 43 bags and called up each kid to receive their gift. Every time I would give a kids a gift I felt I would explode with joy and excitement. We also were able to buy skateboards CD players and movies for group gifts. We had a Christmas message and prayer from our pastor here. It is more blessed to give than to receive. I felt blessed with the true Christmas joy.

To all you Mothers and Fathers, I have such a new respect and honor for you. Being a surrogate parent to 45 kids will strip you of all pride and knowledge you think you may have. I have also found that I have went from trying to be “cool best friend” to the “you better listen to me or else authority figure”. Most of the time I feel like I have failed, but I know that God doesn’t judge my successions but my faithfulness, and only God knows what true success really is. Being faithful is not easy. Please keep pray for wisdom in how to deal with the kids and helping carry the hurt that so many of the kids carry alone.