Friday, July 31, 2009

Odo Mura Su na Jesu Di a' do me

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! :-)

1 comment:

  1. Praying for you Melissa!! I hope to see you at some point after you get back and hear more about the trip. I miss you bunches. You are such an encouragement to me! I hope the rest of the trip goes well and that everyone has a safe trip home. Love you!

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