Hello everybody!!
Last time I was on the internet I did not have enough time to blog and I am so sorry for that!
I shall catch ya'll up a bit! So, we had moved from Accra to location 1 and it was such a wonderful time. We had to go to many remote locations on a tractor and I will tell you it has been so enlightening to discover what neccessity is versus luxury! The girls and I went to go get a pedicure at this local shop. I have a video of our experience, but I have to say it was hilarious. One person went at a time and we all used the same basin. The funny part was when they were going to buff my foot they came at me with scissors!! If you have had a pedicure before you will understand what they were trying to do, but needless to say it was a little different than a pumice rock.
We moved on from location 1 to location 2. The second location was in the mountains and absolutely gorgeous! This portion of the trip consisted of lots of medical ministry. It was so great! We worked along side Dr. Margaret, Grandma, and she is absolutely precious. Noonie, she went to school for her pre=med at Tulane! She lives right next to the local clinic and is the only doctor. She is on call 24/7. One thing I have noticed about African healthcare is that nosocomial infections are less prominent due to the fact that they get their patients in and out super fast. The most common sickness is malaria or dysentery. We went to alot of villages to distribute worm medications and perform basic first aid. It has been so great to go and meet the peoples physical needs as a doorway to speak to them about Jesus. One morning we were in a village and we ran low on medication. The men had all come in to be treated first, then women, and then children. I was praying so hard that we could have enough drugs because children kept on coming and we were completely out of pills. As I was praying I felt compelled to start digging at the ground. I started finding pill packets buried in the dirt and the missionaries I was with found some pills in trash boxes. I could not help but think about the prayer 'Give us this day, our daily bread.' We had just enough for the last child. No more and no less. God provided exactly what we needed!! We went to alot of muslim communities and spoke with them about health and academic education. Some of the places we went were 100% muslim. They were receptive to our wisdom and we had lots of great questions come up. Pray that these peoples hearts would continue to be softened by the holy spirit. One thing that is needed here espeically is clean water. At some places there will not be a well to pump water from for miles and miles which is dangerous for young children especially. We are so blessed in America to be safe to drink from the faucet. Think about that when you are brushing your teeth tonight and pray that God would work in a mighty way to provide clean water for these villages.
So when we were in location 2 we were about to head to location 3, but we got some medical news. Three of my teammates and myself were diagnosed with malaria. In the Ghanaian culture it is like the common cold. They have had it many times and their bodies have built of certain immunities. We had to delay our trip to location 3 for 5 days. We all had a mild case of it...I promise we are all ok!! Luckily Dr. Margaret caught it asap and we were medicated immediately. She made us go on bedrest for days and we just took it easy. We went to get tested again and two of my teammates were clear of it, but Sarah and I still had it. So we were put on IV. It was definitely an experience and it was a nice time to just be still. I've noticed how easy especially in the American culture to want to go go go go go all the time..which I enjoy doing alot ha but the rhythm here is so much slower. The days are less packed and I have had the chance to do ministry, but also to just sit and spend time in the Bible and praying. It has been good self discipline to be forced to sit and take the time to listen to what God wants to reveal to me.
We changed our route for location 3 and went straight to location 4. It is beautiful as well! We have gone to villages that honestly are so rocky and hilly I feel like I am in Bible times! We have had powerful prayer services for hours with people. We just arrived here and Sarah and I will be going to the hospital in a few days to get retested to make sure all the malaria is out of our system.
Prayer requests:
1. Continued health for my team and I.
2. A focus of our mind and spirits to be here. It has been easy for all of us to get excited and ancy to get back to America. So, pray that all of us will serve the next few weeks will serve with all of our hearts and that we won't get distracted by the fact we will be going home soon.
3. Pray for the churches that we are going to that there will be men and women rising up as leaders to reach their communities.
4. Pray for the missionaries that we are working with to be strengthened spiritually, physically, and emotionally.
I love all of you so much and I cannot wait to hear what has been going on with ya'll this summer! I am excited to sit and catch up! :-)
Friday, July 31, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
You are the Most High God Jehovah
Hi there everyone!!
I have officially been in Africa for 2 weeks!! God has been sooooo good!
As we were flying into Accra it was so crazy because from a birds eye view all you can see is little huts and dirt roads. The missionaries we have been working with are so awesome! My favorite is Kobe :-) He is like the father figure of our team. Anyways, I had some culture shock as we were driving down the street. The roads are dirt...so no lines...no policeman pulling people over for wreckless driving ha so basically every man for himself. People are walking up and down the street with baskets balanced on their heads of things to sell. They walk up to your car every chance they can. I have discovered Plantain chips which are really yummy :-)
We have traveled to our next location and we are staying at a 'hotel'. As we have traveled farther north there are fewer that speak English and many that speak 'Tree.' I am working on learning the language ha but everybody laughs at my southern accent. Apparently, I am the southern belle of this trip!
We have gotten to do some recreational things here and there such as we attended a professional futbol game, went to some waterfalls, a museum, and saw these 'holy' monkeys that are supposedly the children of the gods (needless to say we prayed hard for that village).
Our ministry work has been really awesome. In the mornings, we have been going to different schools to teach math and english (I actually tutored some kids in math haha!), we have been having some counseling sessions, we have helped some of the vocational schools make and lay concrete, and we have been preaching in these schools too. During the afternoons we have been doing ministry in the marketplace and that is overwhelming in itself. There are soooooo many people! But the key to any Africans heart is music and dance which has been lots of fun for me ha! The church services we have attended have been extremely charasmatic and refreshing. Every night we have been going to remote villages to play games with the children and preach the gospel. There have been many that I have wished I could treat medically somehow, but we won't have a doctor to work with until we get to our next location.
God is working in a mighty way through prayer and preaching. One of the biggest things I am learning on this trip is to really have an ear to listen to God and faith to believe that He is able to do anything.
My prayer requests would be the following:
1. I am sick right now with a stuffy nose and soar throat, so please pray for a fast recovery. Also, that my teammates would be healthy!
2. Pray against the discouragement of the devil in these villages and schools we are going to. There are many witch doctors in the communities and many lost souls. Pray that these peoples hearts would be softened before we come to them.
3. Pray that we would have the strength and endurance to be able to love on these people as Christ would. That we would not let ourselves get in the way of what God is trying to do.
I wish I could write more details, but the computer I am using is extremely slow ha! But Praise God that I have a computer to talk to ya'll with! :-)
I am praying for ya'll as well! I hope that the Lord is doing a great work in everybody this summer. I pray you allow God to use you! People need the gospel in Africa and America!
Nyamesheramo!! (God Bless ya'll!)
I have officially been in Africa for 2 weeks!! God has been sooooo good!
As we were flying into Accra it was so crazy because from a birds eye view all you can see is little huts and dirt roads. The missionaries we have been working with are so awesome! My favorite is Kobe :-) He is like the father figure of our team. Anyways, I had some culture shock as we were driving down the street. The roads are dirt...so no lines...no policeman pulling people over for wreckless driving ha so basically every man for himself. People are walking up and down the street with baskets balanced on their heads of things to sell. They walk up to your car every chance they can. I have discovered Plantain chips which are really yummy :-)
We have traveled to our next location and we are staying at a 'hotel'. As we have traveled farther north there are fewer that speak English and many that speak 'Tree.' I am working on learning the language ha but everybody laughs at my southern accent. Apparently, I am the southern belle of this trip!
We have gotten to do some recreational things here and there such as we attended a professional futbol game, went to some waterfalls, a museum, and saw these 'holy' monkeys that are supposedly the children of the gods (needless to say we prayed hard for that village).
Our ministry work has been really awesome. In the mornings, we have been going to different schools to teach math and english (I actually tutored some kids in math haha!), we have been having some counseling sessions, we have helped some of the vocational schools make and lay concrete, and we have been preaching in these schools too. During the afternoons we have been doing ministry in the marketplace and that is overwhelming in itself. There are soooooo many people! But the key to any Africans heart is music and dance which has been lots of fun for me ha! The church services we have attended have been extremely charasmatic and refreshing. Every night we have been going to remote villages to play games with the children and preach the gospel. There have been many that I have wished I could treat medically somehow, but we won't have a doctor to work with until we get to our next location.
God is working in a mighty way through prayer and preaching. One of the biggest things I am learning on this trip is to really have an ear to listen to God and faith to believe that He is able to do anything.
My prayer requests would be the following:
1. I am sick right now with a stuffy nose and soar throat, so please pray for a fast recovery. Also, that my teammates would be healthy!
2. Pray against the discouragement of the devil in these villages and schools we are going to. There are many witch doctors in the communities and many lost souls. Pray that these peoples hearts would be softened before we come to them.
3. Pray that we would have the strength and endurance to be able to love on these people as Christ would. That we would not let ourselves get in the way of what God is trying to do.
I wish I could write more details, but the computer I am using is extremely slow ha! But Praise God that I have a computer to talk to ya'll with! :-)
I am praying for ya'll as well! I hope that the Lord is doing a great work in everybody this summer. I pray you allow God to use you! People need the gospel in Africa and America!
Nyamesheramo!! (God Bless ya'll!)
Monday, June 8, 2009
Orientation!
Hello everybody!
I am writing ya'll from West Palm Beach, Fl and it has been so encouraging to get support from everybody! I left my house yesterday at 6 AM! (Shout out to Ashley for being crazy and coming to see me off at 5:45 AM! Love you!) I arrived yesterday afternoon and met my team members! They all seem like great people and although we are all very different, I think that God is going to use those differences in a mighty way. We are staying here a few days to learn about the different culture, social norms, and meet other Edgers that are traveling to other parts of the world! At one of the sessions for the Africa teams we met a couple that was just awesome! It's been neat to meet so many people with the same passion to serve the Father.
My first challenge has been presented to me. It is not culturally acceptable in Africa to use the left hand when eating, greeting, receiving gifts, etc. because it is considered unclean.
I tried eating chicken fingers without my left hand and failed.
Hopefully repetitious practice will remedy that!
I found out something that makes me think I might be secretly African...they are never on time! ha but ofcourse I am working on that! ;-)
Things to reflect on:
1. It is important to have a 'can do' attitude. An attitude that reflects optimism in all situations!
2. It's not about me.
3. Everybody we come in contact with is an image bearer of the Father and they are somebody that He loves whole heartedly therefore we are called to love them as well (even the more difficult personalities ha!)
On that note, I cannot wait to update and let ya'll know what it is like once I get over there!
Until then keep speaking to the Holy one about our trip and the people we will encounter!!
I am writing ya'll from West Palm Beach, Fl and it has been so encouraging to get support from everybody! I left my house yesterday at 6 AM! (Shout out to Ashley for being crazy and coming to see me off at 5:45 AM! Love you!) I arrived yesterday afternoon and met my team members! They all seem like great people and although we are all very different, I think that God is going to use those differences in a mighty way. We are staying here a few days to learn about the different culture, social norms, and meet other Edgers that are traveling to other parts of the world! At one of the sessions for the Africa teams we met a couple that was just awesome! It's been neat to meet so many people with the same passion to serve the Father.
My first challenge has been presented to me. It is not culturally acceptable in Africa to use the left hand when eating, greeting, receiving gifts, etc. because it is considered unclean.
I tried eating chicken fingers without my left hand and failed.
Hopefully repetitious practice will remedy that!
I found out something that makes me think I might be secretly African...they are never on time! ha but ofcourse I am working on that! ;-)
Things to reflect on:
1. It is important to have a 'can do' attitude. An attitude that reflects optimism in all situations!
2. It's not about me.
3. Everybody we come in contact with is an image bearer of the Father and they are somebody that He loves whole heartedly therefore we are called to love them as well (even the more difficult personalities ha!)
On that note, I cannot wait to update and let ya'll know what it is like once I get over there!
Until then keep speaking to the Holy one about our trip and the people we will encounter!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
