Sweet, Sweet Spirit

This weekend we had a three day weekend. Friday was African Unity Day so we had no school. Lindsey, the new mini missionary, had just come in on Tuesday so Joy and I took her shopping on Friday to some of my favorite spots. I taught her how to barter with the people and told her the prices that she should pay for everything. It was a lot of fun. Then on Saturday we (Lindsey and I) had a great outting with Rob and Libbie. They took us to Boti Falls which are two beautiful waterfalls, I believe, north of us. When we drove up to the gate we didn’t really see anything that would lead to any kind of a waterfall and sat in the car going, "Okay, now where do we go." There was no one there and we were told this was a big tourist attraction. Then a man came up and said he would be our guide and was he ever! He guided us to the waterfalls which were exactly 250 steps down from where we were. It looked like the Garden of Eden! It was so beautiful! I could not believe it. The water falls are two streams that split of from the Volta River and fall about thirty feet from each other. One is called the male stream and then the other is the female. I don’t know why, they just are. After that Stephen, our guide, hopped in the truck with us and drove us to "Umbrella Rock" and then guided us to the "Three Headed Palm Tree." It was all in total Ghanaian fashion and I would not have had it any other way!


I was thinking about all the National Monuments that I have been to back home and they all have nice paths to them and some try to look rustic but are really not. Here, there’s no trying about it. They take you through the bush and the villages to get to these places. The palm tree is in some guys front yard and he has banded together and bamboo ladder that you can climb to take a snap in the tree. For the Umbrella Rock we walked through a village, then through the grave for the village, through the bush, down some rocks and then out of nowhere we are standing on this cliff looking out into the mountains! I mean it was breath taking, both the view and the walk.

The best part was nothing was planned that we did. The only thing we planned to do was to go to Boti Falls and the rest was just incidental. Stephen hung with us for about eight hours and took us all around, we even drove through his home town.

This was a tough day, it was my last Ghanaian church service. I cried probably for one half of it. It was really interesting because for the months of April and now May we have bought these little booklets that contain all the bulletins for the entire month. They have all the songs in them that we are going to sing and the speaker. But today they revamped the entire service and so they handed out regular paper bulletins and I know that it was all in God’s plan that they changed the service. Just this morning I had prayed that I would have the strength I needed to make it through not just this day but this week. One of the first songs that we sang was entitled "I’m Devoting All My Strength." The words are very few but very powerful:

I’m devoting all my strength
To serve my Saviour Jesus;
I am giving all my life
To please my risen Lord
Wordly things, I may lose;
Better Far, Christ I choose!
I’m devoting all my strength
To please my risen Lord!

I think the part of the service that touched me the most was when we sang "Sweet, Sweet Spirit." My feelings and thoughts that were going through me completely shifted the song from talking about church to talking about Ghana. It was really the last three lines of the chorus that made me tear up the most. Those are the words I will leave you with tonight. My eyes are crossing so I’m thinking its time for bed!

Without a doubt we’ll know
That we have been revived
When we shall leave this place!

Thank you for taking this journey with me!

Sarah

Not Enough Time

Here I am with only one week left! I can not believe it and I think that is because I do not WANT to believe it. To be completely honest last week I was ready to go home and rest (because this has been anything but a vacation) but right now I’m not so sure.
I have often wondered what it is about Ghana that I love so much and what makes me feel so at home here. I have seen mini missionaries come through that do not like Ghana. They do not like the food or the "abrasiveness" of the people here. If they do not like it, what makes me? Then I got an email from my sister the other day that made it all make sense. She told me that God planted Ghana in my heart long before I ever knew where Africa was. That really helped me understand my own heart. It is not me alone that loves Ghana but rather it is the heart that God gave me for Ghana and that is why I am here.
I know that I am here for such a time as this and I knew coming in that this chapter would end and I would eventually go home. Then I got busy living in my dream utopia and forgot about the going home part and now here it is.
I am filling out report cards for my little ones and it is so cute! As I am filling them out I keep going back and thinking about all the funny things that they have done and what amazing children they truly are. I giggle when I get to the section of the progress report for gross motor skills. I am suppose to comment on things such as can the child "balance on one foot," "hop on preferred foot," or "kick a stationary ball." One of the biggest reasons that I giggle is that I get to think about all the times they have tried to hop on one foot and fallen over into the grass or have run up to a ball to kick it and they miss. But then I also get to remember the first time they kicked a ball or caught a ball that was thrown to them and the joy that shined throughout them. I will always know that I was there for that moment. I will leave and they in time might forget me but I pray they will never forget how proud their madam was of them when they hopped on their preferred foot or wrote their first letter. I know I have turned into a sap but if you were here you would do the same thing!
Today Agbeko was sick so we could not have our one on one time. Instead I ventured out to play football with the big kids. I had not played football since I was probably in the fifth grade so I have forgotten everything except that you kick the ball and try to get it into the goal. Well, these kids play football every free minute of their lives so they know just a bit more than me. They were doing tricks all over the field and here I was the old maid trying to keep up with them. Do not get me wrong I am pretty much a pro when it comes to playing with my four year olds. I beat Joshua every time poor kid. Even with my struggles I did manage a few assist and a very impressive head bud.
I guess that is it for this addition of Sarah (Smore) in Ghana. Tune in next time when I will be leaving Ghana. You should all be thanking God that you will not have to witness that!
Returning to a village near you!
Sarah
Prayer Request:
-Mothers. I know I have not written that lately but it is a huge need.
-The energy crisis. The whole country of Ghana needs rain and fast! The rainy season was suppose to start in April and it never came.
-For the children that are still sick. We had 23 out of school on Monday with malaria and an upper respiratory infection.
-For me as I leave. Its not going to be easy.

Just a few updates

Usually I do not write blogs on Saturday because I like to write about my Sundays but I needed to give some updates on previous stories so that is why you are hearing from me on a not so regular blogging day.

Update 1: Pascal's house.
I wrote a while back about Barbra's worker, Pascal, and his house burning down. I am glad to say that he has been able to get enough money together to put up a roof and paint the walls of his house! He at least has it to where his landlord will leave him alone for a while which is quite a relief. His wife's baby is due at the end of June I believe and by then they should have a nice new house to live in.

Judith, one of the missionary kids, has put on a couple of bake sells at her school to raise money for him and his family. Also his church has pitched in and helped him along.

~Please pray that he will be able to finish his house before the baby comes. Pray for Stella as she is going through all this plus being with child.

Update 2: Madam Comfort
I went and saw Madam Comfort today. Praise the Lord her pin was taken out of her right foot! They finally did it last week. Once again they gave her no medication they just took it out. She said she screamed it hurt so bad and then could not sleep for the next few days because she was in so much pain. Finally, they gave her some pain medication but she said the pain was so much it did not even help. The problem now is that because the pin was sticking out about three inches from her heel she could not properly move her foot so now her leg is slightly twisted and her toes are almost permanently pointed. Hopefully she can get the cast removed soon so that she can go home.

The man that hit her is not being very helpful with paying the bill. She can not leave until the bill is paid but everyday she is there the bill gets more and more. The driver is trying to get the insurance to pay for it but the insurance will not pay the bill they will only reimburse him after he has paid it himself. Today I actually saw a small bit of worry in her eyes as she talked about that situation. She is so scared that the man will never pay and will continue to give her the run around.

The hospital has given her a job while she is there. She sells medical supplies from under her bed. She sells sanitation pads, minerals, and if someone wants to check out of the hospital on the weekends they have to pay her their bill before they can leave. She said they gave her the job because she can not walk so she can't run away with the money. She seems very proud of the fact that she is working from her bed. I am not exactly sure if she is getting something from doing this but at least it keeps her occupied.

~Please continue to pray for her healing. Her right leg does not look good at all and who knows about the left its been in a P.O.P. for close to four months now.

Update 3: Our village.

Everyone on the compound seems to be getting sick. I have been sick the past few days and was feeling so down I did not go to school on Thursday or Friday. We think it was a malaria flareup. Which stinks but I knew it would be possible. Half the village has malaria and the other half has a sinus infection. Meal times are really quiet these days. No one really has much of an appetite and is rather droopy just trying to sit up and eat the little that they can. Tonight at my table we had three kids go to sleep while eating.

~Please pray that we all heal quickly. Illness flies around this village like I've never seen before. Also with the heat it makes being sick that much worse.

Update 4: Energy crisis

I've mentioned it in passing here and there but the energy crisis due to the lack of rain has gotten progressively worse in the past couple of weeks.

Because Accra gets all its electrical power from the dam and the water is low right now they roll out light through the city. The separate the city into little sections and they are all on a certain power roll out schedule. Each section is out of light for 12 hours every 36 hours. When I first got here it was every 4 days they were out for 12 hours and now its down to 36 hours. Even with that sometimes they cut it out during the time its suppose to be on. We are really lucky out here because we are not on the roll out schedule.

The biggest problem is that people are getting really testy about it and are all really up in arms about it. We need rain desperately! Food prices are going up, the price of water is going up, everything is going up because we don't have the rain that we need.

~Please pray for the rain to come and come quickly! This is a necessity and an urgent one!

Alright well I think that's all for now. I should hit the sack now so that I can get some rest. Tomorrow is church and I have to be in full swing for that. Also, Rob, Libbie, and I are having lunch with Pastor Peter! He's the music director that I love so much. Us and him and his family are meeting tomorrow around one and I'm too excited!

Always my love,
Sarah

I Remember Why

Yesterday was such an amazing day! I walked outside and it was not sweltering hot! It was actually cool. A nice overcast sky helped me not to melt into a puddle of sweat as soon as I walked outside. The best part of that story is that it stayed that way the entire day!

Not only was the weather fantastic so were my kids. They were good from the time they came to class til they left. Yesterday was the first time we had no time outs the entire day! NONE! We all sat and read the Bible story, learned our letters, numbers, colors, without any time outs. I was so happy and proud of my class. I prayed and prayed for today to be the same but it was another day.

This afternoon I came home from class and it had been a really hard day. My kids were not bad they were just really wild. My threes were especially wild. I came home and sat down at my computer and just seemed to stare at it for while and then remembered that I had my one on one with little Grace. For a couple of minutes I thought about not going. "I am really tired. I’ve had a long day and could really use the rest." Then I realized that was not me talking. Satan knows that my kids depend on their one on one time each week. He knows how much they look forward to it and he uses my weariness to try to get me not to go. Even though I knew I needed to go and that I was going to go I was still not in the most energetic mood. That was until I got to the playground.

All the kids know that my pink backpack means that I’m taking someone to the gazebo to "play" (they don’t really realize it’s a time for learning because I sneak it in). And all the kids that I take to the gazebo know who goes on what day. I was looking through the sea of beautiful brown faces when this little fire ball in a bright pink shirt and deep purple knickers comes bouncing towards me screaming, "IT’S MY TURN! IT’S MY TURN!" She’s running and yelling as though if she does not get to me fast enough I’m going to either turn around and go home or worse yet take someone else with me. She runs towards me almost as if she is going to bowl me over and then she abruptly stops does the proper greeting, takes my hands and leads me to the gazebo. At that moment I remembered why I got off my chair and out of my house. It does not matter how tired I am or how long my day was, Grace does not care. If I had not come would she understand that I was sleepy? Probably not. She just took a nap and to her the whole world sleeps when she does. All she cared about was that she got to be alone with someone that would hug her and love her, just her. She does not have to compete for the attention during that because she knows it all belongs to her.

I love those moments where everything adds up and I just sit there and go, "I remember why." God has given me so many of those moments here and I thank him for each one. His blessed reassurance that I am here for a purpose and a reason beyond what I will ever know is everywhere I go.

Always remembering,

Sarah

Memories I never wish to forget... but might.

This probably won't make any sense to anyone else in the whole world but me. I wanted to write this so that when I got home I could look back and laugh or remember how much I loved this place. Some of the things are funny and some are sad but they have all made up my time here. Browse through if you wish to. If you wish me to elabrate on any of these just give the word.

- Two little boys walking towards each other dancing
- Getting lost in Marcola with two very small porters carrying two very large loads... on their heads!
-Rubbers = plastic bags
-Obruni = white person
-Mary telling me that she loves me
-Agbeko writing for the first time

-Picnic in Abrui
-Manning calling me "Mamma"
-Gye Nyame = Except God
-Susan leaving
-Walking into Calvary Baptist and hearing "He is Exalted" and crying
- Rob telling Libbie "and she’s the only child in Africa that does that."
-Mama Cecilia’s nephew getting his arm chopped off with a machete on Kotoku Road
-Running down the street in Nsawam after a roll
-Taking snaps on the side of the Motorway on wicker furniture
-Finally feeling free
-Frankie’s Fried Chicken... I got a salad
-Haggling with the kiosk people
-Getting off the plane
-Flying over the Sahara Desert at dusk and the color of the sunset
-The slave castle and the intense emotion that pours from it
-Realizing I’m a woman and not a girl or even a young lady
-Falling in love with my parents all over again
-Discovering what I really find important and what is unimportant
-Seeing joy in the most surprising places
-Walking into my first Ghanaian village and not being able to speak
-Uncle Ben on the cell phone
-Almost getting robbed at the Arts Center by the little "Africa Child" man
-Mr. Samson calling me his "dear, dear sister."
-Adwoa Mary crying when Mamma Elizabeth left
-Joshua not letting me go... ever
-Zeekey’s smile
-Grace’s laugh
-Maa Bea telling Madam Libbie "I’ll fight you for it" over a piece of rubber fruit
-Walking through Marcola and being so shocked at everything but not wanting to admit it
-Going mango and pineapple crazy!
-Eating everything with my hands
-Noah and Martha telling me I look like a queen in my dress that one Sunday
-Watching Dereck and Diana grow up
-My green mamba
-Stan in my garden
-Susan and I’s storm documentary
-The tree being cut down and Cathy and I dancing
-The preacher at church talking about hip implants and breast augmentations and her having no idea what any of it meant
-Dancing in church
-Wanting to go home
-Wanting to stay
-Getting offended when anything negative is said about Ghana
-Eating pancakes with Nancy on May Day
-Flying down Kotoku Road trying to get to dinner and laughing the whole way.
-My night out with Cathy and Melissa at the Ghanaian Village
-Explaining my earrings to everyone
-My Ghanaian name is "Abena"
-Sweating all the time
-Lent... it went well
-Lights off during harmattan
-Watching movies with Susan and googling absurd things in the middle of them
-Susan in general
-Hearing little voices singing in a language I will never understand
-Comfort’s heart of gold, courage, and intense faith
-The mammas pride on Ghana Day
-My first kenkey meal
-Not knowing what I was eating for the first two months
-Pastor Pete saying "Funky"
-Mary just wanting to be hugged
-More kisses less time out
-Being called "Madam Sarah"
-Bra = come
-Et te say = How are you?
-E ye = I’m fine
-Madase = Thank you
-Never blinking
-Getting hugs everyday from little people that love me too much
-Obruni faces after playing with chalk
-Having so many sets of parents
-Hearing the kids say the ten commandments
-Holding Janet, Joanna, and Jennifer’s hands under the table
-Having so much love for a child it hurts... times 60!
-Being blessed and being able to recognize it
-Being thrown up on three times in one day
-Holding a grudge over 100 cedi
-"Just let it go girls" - Rob
-Never wanting to be the same again
-Stretchy t-roll
-Urinate= use the rest room
-"Eating your nose"- picking your nose
-Not knowing exactly when I became Ghanaian

This blog is brought to you by the letter "F"

Ah! Watermelon, pineapple, mango and banana... nothing like a big bowl of fresh fruit after a long hot day! I have become the biggest fruit eater of anyone while being here. Its all I eat for breakfast and then my afternoon snack and then dessert after dinner and sometimes in between just because. Oh how I wish I could take back trunks and trunks full of pineapple and mango when I go!


I just came in from teaching my little ones. We had a pretty good day. My four year olds are learning about farm animals this week. It does not make much sense with my kids for chickens and cows to be considered "farm animals" because they have never seen them on an actual farm but just wandering in the bush and in the villages. In the lesson plans that Rafiki gives me it says to talk about farms and the barns where the animals live so today we did. Well, at least we tried

"Where do the cows live?" I asked.
"In the bush!" they all replied.
"Where do the chickens live?"
"In the bush!" they all replied again.
I didn’t argue with them because they were right. Needless to say, the barn concept was not fully grasped.


This past Saturday Rob, Libbie, and I took a road trip to Aburi. Aburi is a wood carving village in the hills. It is the most beautiful place! It took us just about an hour to drive there. We were a little early so not everyone’s kiosks were open but it was still fun to bum around. We actually got a little lost trying to find the wood carvers. I really enjoy getting lost in Ghana. If I were driving it probably would not be as much fun but just riding along- it’s a blast. We ended up walking through the actual carvers themselves and not the sellers. That was amazing! Most of the carving is done with a machete. They have the smallest piece of wood that they are carving and they are chopping into it with this ginormous blade! I was afraid to take any pictures because I did not want to distract them and then have them cut off their fingers or something of the sort. I told myself before I left that I was not going to buy anything because I am 100% full in my suitcases already but then I saw a couple things that I just could not live without. I will make room for them somewhere.

On our way down the hill back home we stopped on a "lookout" to have a tail bed picnic. Nothing out of the ordinary. We had a cooler full of fruit, egg salad, crackers and jelly (that was for me!), and other picnic essentials. Like I said nothing out of the ordinary... except if you are Ghanian. They thought we were crazy! Whole tro tros of people would slow down and just stare at us. We gathered picnicing is just not in the Ghanaian culture. However, we still did and had a grand time doing it. That was probably the most fun of the entire trip.

Sunday was as grand as ever! We sat in a different pew this week so the "spot the obrunis" game had a little twist to it this week. I realize every blog I write I talk about church but I just can not get over the joy and spirit of this church. It is so amazing and beautiful. I cherish singing with them and worshiping with them. I leave with my heart so full and ready for the week. Without it I don’t think I would survive.

Well, I’m off now. I have to go and clean the school with the kids. A daily chore.

Until next time...
Sarah


Prayer Request:
-Ghana desperately needs rain. The electricity is the city is off more than on because of the drought.
-I am tired. It takes a lot of me to admit that to so many people but I am. Please pray for rest.
-Madam Comfort, there is still no word from the doctor about a discharge date.