Swimming

I have found myself doing things and saying things that mothers say to their children.
Lindsay and I have been taking groups of 10 to a swimming pool in Accra for the past two weeks. Before we get out of the car I give the “ be respectful speech” along with “ don’t run”, said that many times. We took a group of girls the first time and had a blast! They had never been in water that they couldn’t stand up in. The feeling of not being in control was nothing they had ever felt. It was so funny to see big girls hang on you and float and squeeze into small blow up tubes. Lindsay and I had met a guy that offered to give them free swimming lessons, they did great. I felt very proud of them. Yesterday we took a group of boys, some were fearless, some swam with water wings while others had a death grip on your neck. I loved it. The feeling of being needed and them trusting that you will catch them when the jump in the water.

Only 2 ½ months left! When I think about it I get excited to see family and friends, but I know that my heart will be broken and thinking of leaving these kids kills me. I know that they will be ok and may have learned some things from me, but I will forever carry them in my heart and will never be that same. Learning to love, laugh and live they way they do, will I hope never leave me. I have heard it said that if you have lived in Africa that your heart will never leave, I know this will be true for me.

Feb 22

These past few weeks have been crazy!!!
Dad, Mom and Hannah came here to Africa. It was such a happy moment when I saw them for the first time in 5months. I was so excited to share this with them. There is so much that words can not explain. We took them on tro tros to our market where we get our food. We mainly spent a lot of time with the kids and having time to get to know them.
After saying good bye to them a few days ago, I was again reminded that I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but right here and doing what I feel God has called me to do. That feeling of complete satisfaction in being here is the best feeling ever. God always know what is best for us, we just need to trust and give hime our lives to the One who has the best plan for our life. I have been thinking a lot about coming home and not really know where to go or what to do. Please pray that I will die to my plans and trust in what He has for me. Keep the kids in your prayers too. They are all growing up and are pushing boundaries , just going through what teens go through but without the support of caring parents.
We are half way through our second term in school. My class is doing so well, I love it when I hear them use words or phrase that I have taught them. The other day I was telling them to sit down in Twi and then saying it in English, then Moses started yelling sit down sit down, he sat and got the other to join him in yelling and sitting. Seeing that understanding is one of a teachers greatest joys.

Thank you again for all your prayer and support. I know I say that every time, but I truly mean it.

God Bless











-Some things that have been on my heart-

Some one recently asked me, “how do I view Jesus”.
I have been asked that question many time when I was younger and have always said what the right thing was to say, but was it really how I saw him?

Matthew 25:35:36 says “ For I was hungery and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in , I need clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you come to visit me.

I see Jesus in the broken lives of these kids, the homeless mother with a new baby, the old man that is crippled and begs for food. Or maybe the cranky neighbor, the friend that hurt you? Verse 40 “ The King will reply, “ I tell you the truth, whatsoever you do for the least of these you do also for me.
I feel like what He has said has finally come to life for me. When it should have come many years ago, yes being here I see the hungery and the very poor, but aren’t we all poor, I mean in spirit that is. Yes, help the poor, feed the hungry, but who are we doing it for? If we do it for ourselves what good is it for the heart of whom we are serving? Do it for the one who has called us to go. So go and do it for Him and he will heal hearts and give hope to the hopeless and strength to the weary.
So to me Jesus is the ultimate servant. He who gave of himself so that others may have life. The King of kings, the Healer, the Alpha and Omega. He says that we are to be like Him, that means to serve.

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.

Merry Christmas!!!

Well to be honest it does not feel much like Christmas at all. There are no Christmas trees, no lights on houses (that would be mud huts here) and there are no Santa’s laps to sit on at the mall. But then again what is the real meaning of Christmas? I have always felt like I have tried to keep Jesus at the center of Christmas, but being here and having the birth of Jesus really be the center of all the kids talk about and sing about reminds me that He is the focus. We have been teaching the kids Christmas songs to perform to their parents on Christmas. Last Thursday we learned "Do you hear what I hear?" While they were singing I really felt the true meaning of Christmas and for the first time I really listened to the words of the song. We are also reading an advent story to the kids every night. We have been reading about the prophets that foretold the birth of Jesus. I guess not having all the things that remind me of Christmas, I am able to focus on the true meaning without having all the commercialism get in the way. We were able to get every child a good pair of shoes and socks, underwear along with a TV and some DVDs. We are so excited to give them their gifts, we know they will be so thrilled to get there own pair of new shoes.

OK so I didnt write this blog, I have to give Lindsay the credit. We had a very hard time tyring to put this last weekend into words. Lindsay put it so much better than I could.
Last weekend I spent a few days traveling through a part of eastern Ghana called the Volta Region. It is in this region as well as other parts of West Africa including Togo and Benin, that the practice of Trokosi slavery is widespread. It is this region that four of our children at Haven of Hope used to call home.

Trokosi is a belief system in which entire villages believe in and worship a variety of gods. However, in addition to idol worship, this religion requires that in order to atone for sins and appease the gods, one must offer a child, preferably a virgin daughter to the Trokosi priest over the local shrine. That child is then enslaved for a lifetime, at the will and whim of the priest. They are his, for work or for pleasure. There are hundreds of these shrines throughout West Africa, but thanks to the concern and efforts of Every Child Ministries and its full time employees in the Volta Region, three shrines have agreed to the liberation of their slaves just in the past few years and another is being negotiated at this time, hoping for another liberation ceremony in the summer of 2009!

As I mentioned, four of our children come from this region of the country and our mission last weekend, at their request, was to take them to their former homes in order to greet what may remain of their families. While each reunion had its own unique circumstance, their commonality was a lack of attachment, emotion, and love in each instance. As we passed from Sogokopie to Aflau over countless rivers and through soaring coconut trees, I began to ask myself what it was that made these reunions different from those we had witnessed previously in Accra. As much as I tried to avoid the Sunday school answer, it was the only answer that made any sense. The difference was God. Even though they have struggled through poverty, prostitution, and despair, many of the mothers in the streets of Accra know God and believe in the sacrifice of His son. These families in the Volta Region, who participate in an idol worshipping, child enslaving religion completely devoid of the knowledge of the one true God, know nothing of love because God is love. Today I ask that you pray for ECM and its employees in the Volta Region ministering daily to those trapped in the Trokosi traditions, that they may radiate Christ’s love in a land where there is very little.

Please keep the kids in prayer over the holidays, some are very sad about not being able to see their families.

Nov 10th

Dear friends and family. Sorry I have not written lately, things have been busy around here
These past couple of weeks has been the biggest mix of emotion, I have ever felt. So a part of my work here is helping with the street ministry on Sundays. Felicia the street ministry director has planed for some kids to come each week to see their parents. Our first trip was last week, it was sad for some, and for others there were tears of joy. We took our second group today. The pure joy of the mothers and seeing the kids run into their arm gave me an overwhelming joy that brought me to tears.
God has been teaching me the really importance of love and how much it can change lives. God loved us so much that he gave his only son. For some reason I am just now grasping the depth of love that He has for us. Love is so powerful. I have seen that first hand here in my relationships with the girls. Mary, one of the girls we took to the street ministry last week. She is a very beautiful 12yr old sassy girl that runs with boys. She is very tough and would sacrifice her body for the sake of wining a soccer game. She had a very big wall built up around her heart, I think seeing her mother and having to trust me in an overwhelming situation broke down those walls. To be honest loving her was not easy at first, but true love casts out all fear. To receive hugs, love and time from her makes it all worth it. I look at how much God loves us, to be soaked in that kind of love is a feeling I can not describe.