Everyone was back to work and school today. The morning started with a nice refreshing breeze, but it wasn't long before the day grew very hot under a bright African sun. We have mostly has slightly overcast although bright skies so far, but today was strong direct sun. Some of the team is a slightly pinker version of themselves by the end of today. One member of the team did have to stay back at the compound today as he was unwell through the night...hopefully some rest today and he'll be back on his feet real soon.
Bev and I gave our P5 and P6 classes word search puzzles today. They had never seen one before, and once they got started, there was no stopping them! They didn't even want to stop to go for break...many stayed the whole break working diligently at it...even the teachers took a sheet and got in to it. I had given my Grade 7 class some last Friday, and today they showed me how they had completed them through the weekend! I wish I had more to give them.
Today's lesson in our junior high school classes was really special. Russ and Jack thought of the idea of bringing in different team members to the class to talk about their profession...what it took to get where they are at; what they like about it; what the challenges are...food for thought as these young people start thinking about their future.
Dr. David Mensah, both area chief and director of NEA, was our speaker today. Bev's class joined mine to hear him. It was so great hearing his educational background, his roles and how NEA is there to help them afford an education if they cannot. He asked them directly how many had lost their father (9 of approx. 50), lost their mother (3) and lost both parents (1). He encouraged them to work hard...it's not about being the smartest or the fastest to learn, it's about being willing to work hard and not give up. He was very inspiring and encouraging. He then went to Russ and Jack's class to do the same.
More of the bond beams were framed an poured today, and they called in some brick makers to make some more bricks. It was interesting to watch them work...they worked very hard. Those bricks are now curing in the sun.
Midday, a Ghanaian man approached Joe and asked if there were any bulletins or information on the church. Joe referred him to David who spoke to him. When I arrived for lunch, David had gathered some of the elders and pastors to pray for the man as he accepted the Lord and chose to join the church! You never know what a day will hold when you are just making yourself available doing what you are gifted to do :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Celebration Sunday
We were welcomed by a beautiful fresh breeze this morning...beautifully fresh!
Another wonderful breakfast prepared us for the 1/2 hour bus ride to the church we helped build last May in Subinso. Being welcomed by some of last year's volunteers that aren't working for with us this year was SO special...it really felt like home :) Sammy was one of the men that Joe worked with most of the time last year. He had hernia surgery last October when the Medical team was here, so he was unable to help this year. Our Sam brought him a hard hat to replace the one that broke last year on the jobsite. We were able to meet his wife and son as well. Jonas was there too in his traditional robes. Special to Linda and I was seeing Elvis again...he was 16 when we were here last May, and although small, he amazed us with his hard work and great attitude. Now 17, he is awaiting the opportunity to go to school. I had him speak to Brenda to be sure he understands the process required to qualify for a scholarship...apparently he was too late applying for this coming year. After working in the schools this past week, I was amazed at his ability to understand us and how well he spoke English and engaged in conversation. He certainly has a piece of my heart.
The service was beautiful. The sanctuary was full so the children stood at the doors until they were welcomed to sit on the steps on the platform. They were fun to watch. Singing their doxology, we then sang ours to open the service (Every night before dinner we've been singing it for the pastors to learn ...'Praise God from who all blessings flow...') The drums and dancing then started as they worshiped with Abraham (in the wheelchair) leading, testimonies were shared with words and song, when the offering was taken there was more music and dancing, and then Jacob opened up the sermon introducing Rans as the little bird who's song even the elders listen for. (Rans is quite a bit smaller than Jacob).
Rans shared the story of two ants he watched one day. The ants normally travel in armies yet there two ants were alone. As he watched he noticed that one was not moving well...it appeared he had a hurt leg. The second ant was well, but was watching over the crippled one. The sun was hot, so the healthy ant pushed the crippled one under a leaf into the shade. The story was about how we need to care for each other. When Noah built the ark, it was to save humanity as God ordered him to...he obeyed by availing himself to God's instructions. He compared the new church building to the ark. Sitting right in the middle of Subinso No.1 & Subinso No.2, the church is like an ark to help save the people of the area. People available to help other people...just like the ant did...just as we did by helping fund and build a building they would not have been able to afford for many many years on their own.
The commissioning occurred at the end of the service with representatives of the chief helping cut the ribbon and David annointing the front door with oil. We then mingled with everyone again before meeting under the mango tree where we had lunch every day the year before. Brenda had made her amazing sandwiches and banana muffins for us to have lunch.
Pete and I pulled away from the group for a few minutes to bring a family some gifts from Cassie and Elizabeth who had met last them last year. When we walked up to their house, the parents were laying on the cool concrete of their porch and Malia (the young girl they had spent time with) was just being bathed. I introduced ourselves by saying Malia's name, and they immediately recognized us as friends. Malia looked around and found some pants to put on and her sister put a green dress over her head. Her mother then asked that sister to get a different dress out of the house...a really pretty cream coloured one...obviously her best dress. While they were dressing Malia in front of us, they brought us chairs to sit on. Once Malia was dressed, we showed her and all the kids that gathered around the pictures that Cassie and Elizabeth had printed of them from last year. The older kids immediately recognized them and named Madam Cassie and Madam Elizabeth. It was so amazing :). They hadn't forgotten! We then took pictures, left them their gift and left them a very happy family. Thank you Cassie and Elizabeth for that opportunity.
After lunch we walked down the highway to the creek that runs between Subinso No.1 and Subinso No.2 and Jacob and Peter walked into the waters with Shawn Noble as he was baptized. David's words of instruction, prayers and blessing were words that worked in all our hearts. It was very special.
Coming back to the compound, many of us had a nap and at 5 the teachers met up to review the coming week's plans. Before we ate dinner, David had us gather around to pray for needs shared by us and the young pastors...another beautiful moment. Dinner was fabulous once again.
Rested, inspired and ready for more hard work this coming week, everyone continues to be doing very well! Thank you all!
Kim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Another wonderful breakfast prepared us for the 1/2 hour bus ride to the church we helped build last May in Subinso. Being welcomed by some of last year's volunteers that aren't working for with us this year was SO special...it really felt like home :) Sammy was one of the men that Joe worked with most of the time last year. He had hernia surgery last October when the Medical team was here, so he was unable to help this year. Our Sam brought him a hard hat to replace the one that broke last year on the jobsite. We were able to meet his wife and son as well. Jonas was there too in his traditional robes. Special to Linda and I was seeing Elvis again...he was 16 when we were here last May, and although small, he amazed us with his hard work and great attitude. Now 17, he is awaiting the opportunity to go to school. I had him speak to Brenda to be sure he understands the process required to qualify for a scholarship...apparently he was too late applying for this coming year. After working in the schools this past week, I was amazed at his ability to understand us and how well he spoke English and engaged in conversation. He certainly has a piece of my heart.
The service was beautiful. The sanctuary was full so the children stood at the doors until they were welcomed to sit on the steps on the platform. They were fun to watch. Singing their doxology, we then sang ours to open the service (Every night before dinner we've been singing it for the pastors to learn ...'Praise God from who all blessings flow...') The drums and dancing then started as they worshiped with Abraham (in the wheelchair) leading, testimonies were shared with words and song, when the offering was taken there was more music and dancing, and then Jacob opened up the sermon introducing Rans as the little bird who's song even the elders listen for. (Rans is quite a bit smaller than Jacob).
Rans shared the story of two ants he watched one day. The ants normally travel in armies yet there two ants were alone. As he watched he noticed that one was not moving well...it appeared he had a hurt leg. The second ant was well, but was watching over the crippled one. The sun was hot, so the healthy ant pushed the crippled one under a leaf into the shade. The story was about how we need to care for each other. When Noah built the ark, it was to save humanity as God ordered him to...he obeyed by availing himself to God's instructions. He compared the new church building to the ark. Sitting right in the middle of Subinso No.1 & Subinso No.2, the church is like an ark to help save the people of the area. People available to help other people...just like the ant did...just as we did by helping fund and build a building they would not have been able to afford for many many years on their own.
The commissioning occurred at the end of the service with representatives of the chief helping cut the ribbon and David annointing the front door with oil. We then mingled with everyone again before meeting under the mango tree where we had lunch every day the year before. Brenda had made her amazing sandwiches and banana muffins for us to have lunch.
Pete and I pulled away from the group for a few minutes to bring a family some gifts from Cassie and Elizabeth who had met last them last year. When we walked up to their house, the parents were laying on the cool concrete of their porch and Malia (the young girl they had spent time with) was just being bathed. I introduced ourselves by saying Malia's name, and they immediately recognized us as friends. Malia looked around and found some pants to put on and her sister put a green dress over her head. Her mother then asked that sister to get a different dress out of the house...a really pretty cream coloured one...obviously her best dress. While they were dressing Malia in front of us, they brought us chairs to sit on. Once Malia was dressed, we showed her and all the kids that gathered around the pictures that Cassie and Elizabeth had printed of them from last year. The older kids immediately recognized them and named Madam Cassie and Madam Elizabeth. It was so amazing :). They hadn't forgotten! We then took pictures, left them their gift and left them a very happy family. Thank you Cassie and Elizabeth for that opportunity.
After lunch we walked down the highway to the creek that runs between Subinso No.1 and Subinso No.2 and Jacob and Peter walked into the waters with Shawn Noble as he was baptized. David's words of instruction, prayers and blessing were words that worked in all our hearts. It was very special.
Coming back to the compound, many of us had a nap and at 5 the teachers met up to review the coming week's plans. Before we ate dinner, David had us gather around to pray for needs shared by us and the young pastors...another beautiful moment. Dinner was fabulous once again.
Rested, inspired and ready for more hard work this coming week, everyone continues to be doing very well! Thank you all!
Kim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Friday & Saturday - Days of Peace, Reconciliation and Organization
The larger villages have 'market day' on a certain day of the week...in Tinga it's on Friday and is just up the hill north of the building site. Dried herbs, tomatoes, corn (maize), millets, small and large fish and many other things I couldn't identify are laid out on tables and tarps on the ground. As you walk through the maze of the market, you see new and used clothing, sandals made of rubber tires, beautiful fabrics and other nick-nacks piled on tarps or in booths. Different from Subinso were the Nigerian women selling their wares too. They do stand out from the Ghanaians because of their dress, style of hair and tattoos on their faces. I had noticed some of their beautiful young teens girls and children walking on a path by the school fetching water throughout the week. I never would have thought that the women from 2 West African countries could look so different.
Some of the ladies on the team bought fabric, but the most special thing found at the market was another special story...a lady, Veronica, approached Jacqueline excitedly thinking that Jacqueline she was Susan from the medical team. She was excited to share that she was doing well after her hernia operation last year :). It was also special for us teachers to see some our students there to and some introduced some of us to their families.
David did not join us in Tinga today as he was called to the Peace Centre at New Longoro to be the mediator and final decision maker for some chiefs. He has been instrumental in resolving large conflicts in the past, but he admitted tonight that he was nervous about this meeting. For the first time ever, he brought in his Bible and quoted scripture...'Blessed are the peacemakers...' and a Proverb as well. Part way through the meeting, one of the men stood and apologized for he felt he was the main reason they were all there. Other men opened up too as David invited them all to share their part so that he could make a wise decision. Many years of hurt, anger and frustration were released and as David said, 'They were cleansed of it all', and they hugged each other and when the meeting was over, it was like a celebration or party! Amazing!
David also shared how many of the churches here have started by drunken men who are looking for a way to overcome their drinking. As a drunk, these men beat their wives and children, and do not work as they should on their farms to provide for their family. Out of their desperate need, they come to Jesus and He does. They are new men...whole families and communities are affected and others want the same transformation and the churches grow. Brenda said that the pastors are tracking the new churches and their number of members to determine where the next build project is needed first.
David also spoke about how God uses all of our abilities...we are all extremely important to the work happening here. There is no favoritism for any of the teams that come out. The medical team is no more important than the build team or the teaching team, or vice versa, etc...God uses all of our talents and abilities and our availability is a blessing to many.
The bond beam on the south side of church was framed and poured on Friday and all the painting and creasoting is complete. Saturday the north side bond beam was completed. Things continue to go very well.
Friday was craft day in the school...for some of us it was a great day, but as Jack said tonight after dinner 'There are days that the teachers win, and days that the children win...today the children won'. The funniest story and craziest part of their day was when a lizard (gecko) came into their class and 50 grade 1 kids were moving desks to kill it, stepping on it, and finally went outside to get rocks to stone it. Those children beat not only the teachers today, but the lizard too. Hearing Jack tell the story is extremely funny!!!
Kindness and manners..our lesson in class Friday. I started by praising them for the great respect they show to their elders and they appreciated that with big smiles. Then I added a big 'but' and spoke about how they treated each other. We wrote on the board words that describe kindness and they then drew pictures showing acts of kindness. When it was time to do their craft, the usual grabbing and mobbing for materials happened once again (manners and kindness forgotten), so we waited until they settled into their desks again before we continued to let them move on in their craft and as the class watched me, I took up one of the boys crafts...instead of 3 stickers like he should have had, he had seven...I just looked at him and said 'why?'. He was not the only one who had taken more than they should...you could see the shame coming over their faces. Our disappointment and discussion about not being able to trust them humbled them and the rest of the class time went much better. The actual student I challenged later came to me to say 'sorry', and I was so glad that we could show them discipline without the traditional caning or hitting they are used to. A great lesson learned...we'll see how they are on Monday once again.
Saturday must have been he hottest day here yet...not sure of the exact temperature, but the sun was very intense midday. Being Saturday, the teachers were not in class, but joined with the construction team and some of them worked on the building site, while others returned to the school to repair desks at the primary school. A few of the students were there to watch, and one was even sitting at his desk reading...many of them really want to learn...if they make it to higher levels of education as they come through the education system here in northern Ghana, they have really done well!
Glenn, Pat, Bev and I stayed on Carpenter to sort through the school supplies we brought along with the supplies we brought last May and things Brenda had from previous teams. It was a full day, but work that we 'Beavers' really enjoyed doing...not much brings us more pleasure than organizing things :)
Dinner was special as we celebrated Sam & Pete's birthdays with streamers, balloons, party poppers and chocolate cakes Brenda lovingly baked for them today along with banana muffins for the Ghanaians who do not like chocolate!!!
The dinner hall emptied quickly because the 2nd game for Ghana was playing in the African Cup. First half 0-0, and second half ended 2-0 for Ghana. I enjoy their reactions when Ghana scores ;). I hang around trying to get a great picture of their reactions, but it happens so quickly that I haven't really caught it yet.
Tomorrow we get to sleep in with breakfast at 8 instead of 6:30, and we will be heading to Subinso for thier commissioning service, and possibly another baptism. It will be so great to worship in the building we built last May, and I'm sure we will see some familiar faces that we haven't seen yet. I also have a special delivery from Cassie and Elizabeth to give to a family that they got to know last year :)
Everyone is ready for a day of rest, and thankfully everyone is doing very well :)
Walking to dinner Saturday night, there was an amazing African sunset!
Thank you again for all your thoughts, support and prayers,
Kim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Some of the ladies on the team bought fabric, but the most special thing found at the market was another special story...a lady, Veronica, approached Jacqueline excitedly thinking that Jacqueline she was Susan from the medical team. She was excited to share that she was doing well after her hernia operation last year :). It was also special for us teachers to see some our students there to and some introduced some of us to their families.
David did not join us in Tinga today as he was called to the Peace Centre at New Longoro to be the mediator and final decision maker for some chiefs. He has been instrumental in resolving large conflicts in the past, but he admitted tonight that he was nervous about this meeting. For the first time ever, he brought in his Bible and quoted scripture...'Blessed are the peacemakers...' and a Proverb as well. Part way through the meeting, one of the men stood and apologized for he felt he was the main reason they were all there. Other men opened up too as David invited them all to share their part so that he could make a wise decision. Many years of hurt, anger and frustration were released and as David said, 'They were cleansed of it all', and they hugged each other and when the meeting was over, it was like a celebration or party! Amazing!
David also shared how many of the churches here have started by drunken men who are looking for a way to overcome their drinking. As a drunk, these men beat their wives and children, and do not work as they should on their farms to provide for their family. Out of their desperate need, they come to Jesus and He does. They are new men...whole families and communities are affected and others want the same transformation and the churches grow. Brenda said that the pastors are tracking the new churches and their number of members to determine where the next build project is needed first.
David also spoke about how God uses all of our abilities...we are all extremely important to the work happening here. There is no favoritism for any of the teams that come out. The medical team is no more important than the build team or the teaching team, or vice versa, etc...God uses all of our talents and abilities and our availability is a blessing to many.
The bond beam on the south side of church was framed and poured on Friday and all the painting and creasoting is complete. Saturday the north side bond beam was completed. Things continue to go very well.
Friday was craft day in the school...for some of us it was a great day, but as Jack said tonight after dinner 'There are days that the teachers win, and days that the children win...today the children won'. The funniest story and craziest part of their day was when a lizard (gecko) came into their class and 50 grade 1 kids were moving desks to kill it, stepping on it, and finally went outside to get rocks to stone it. Those children beat not only the teachers today, but the lizard too. Hearing Jack tell the story is extremely funny!!!
Kindness and manners..our lesson in class Friday. I started by praising them for the great respect they show to their elders and they appreciated that with big smiles. Then I added a big 'but' and spoke about how they treated each other. We wrote on the board words that describe kindness and they then drew pictures showing acts of kindness. When it was time to do their craft, the usual grabbing and mobbing for materials happened once again (manners and kindness forgotten), so we waited until they settled into their desks again before we continued to let them move on in their craft and as the class watched me, I took up one of the boys crafts...instead of 3 stickers like he should have had, he had seven...I just looked at him and said 'why?'. He was not the only one who had taken more than they should...you could see the shame coming over their faces. Our disappointment and discussion about not being able to trust them humbled them and the rest of the class time went much better. The actual student I challenged later came to me to say 'sorry', and I was so glad that we could show them discipline without the traditional caning or hitting they are used to. A great lesson learned...we'll see how they are on Monday once again.
Saturday must have been he hottest day here yet...not sure of the exact temperature, but the sun was very intense midday. Being Saturday, the teachers were not in class, but joined with the construction team and some of them worked on the building site, while others returned to the school to repair desks at the primary school. A few of the students were there to watch, and one was even sitting at his desk reading...many of them really want to learn...if they make it to higher levels of education as they come through the education system here in northern Ghana, they have really done well!
Glenn, Pat, Bev and I stayed on Carpenter to sort through the school supplies we brought along with the supplies we brought last May and things Brenda had from previous teams. It was a full day, but work that we 'Beavers' really enjoyed doing...not much brings us more pleasure than organizing things :)
Dinner was special as we celebrated Sam & Pete's birthdays with streamers, balloons, party poppers and chocolate cakes Brenda lovingly baked for them today along with banana muffins for the Ghanaians who do not like chocolate!!!
The dinner hall emptied quickly because the 2nd game for Ghana was playing in the African Cup. First half 0-0, and second half ended 2-0 for Ghana. I enjoy their reactions when Ghana scores ;). I hang around trying to get a great picture of their reactions, but it happens so quickly that I haven't really caught it yet.
Tomorrow we get to sleep in with breakfast at 8 instead of 6:30, and we will be heading to Subinso for thier commissioning service, and possibly another baptism. It will be so great to worship in the building we built last May, and I'm sure we will see some familiar faces that we haven't seen yet. I also have a special delivery from Cassie and Elizabeth to give to a family that they got to know last year :)
Everyone is ready for a day of rest, and thankfully everyone is doing very well :)
Walking to dinner Saturday night, there was an amazing African sunset!
Thank you again for all your thoughts, support and prayers,
Kim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Friday, January 27, 2012
Thankful Thursday
Imagine this...35 degrees in the shade, cool bottles of water and hot homemade/homegrown/pesticide & hormone-free meals and fresh fruit served three times a day. These are just some of the material things we are thankful for everyday while we are here :). The biggest blessing being here iwatching and listening to David and Brenda as they encourage us, love the people here and show us by example what love, true gratitude and servant hearts look like.
Just this morning on the drive into Tinga, we were following David up the road and many of us saw a hawk-like bird fly at his truck. It had lodged itself between his driver side mirror and the window, but David shares that if it's legs hadn't been caught like that, it would have flown straight into his face and probably caused an accident. When asking David about it, his first words were to thank God for His protection. (He grabbed the bird and kept it...someone enjoyed it as a meal today).
Something really special when we got to the school yard this morning was meeting Aziz. He is a boy in Bev's Primary 5 class. Posted on the wall in the classroom are the kid's marks for first term...Aziz is one of the top kids in his class. He has managed to do this even though his past year he was in hospital for treatment and a second time for surgery! Aziz was presented to the 2010 Medical Team unable to speak or swallow anything. I may be wrong on some of the exact details, but I understand that the medical team thought he may have been poisoned by something and sent him with funds to the hospital for treatment. He was being fed by a feeding tube in his stomach when David & Brenda saw him last April in Tinga, and NEA helped subsidize the family's savings to afford the surgery he needed. We could see the scar on the left side of his neck/collarbone area and he is well today. Just another example of another beautiful life saved with the help of our annual Ghana Medical Team!!!
On the building site, the window frames are all installed, all the walls are going up quickly and the bond beam will be framed and poured tomorrow. It really is amazing how many hands and motivated hearts make things happen!
Classes continue and progress is made. Today both Bev and I loved working with our small groups in the late morning session. To sit under a tree around a table, have a chance to really get to look each student in the eye, get a better chance to know their names, and really see how they are doing and having a chance to work on helping them is so special...this kind of teaching is so much more the type of teaching I am designed for. I pray that these 45 minute sessions really help each one of them, and in turn the class as a whole.
Out of today's session, Bev and I have decided that tomorrow's lesson topic in the class will be 'kindness' and 'manners'. The children here are extremely respectful to authority and their elders, but not so nice to each other. They won't let us carry our bags and jump up to help if we go to move a chair or anything like that, but when another child is struggling or makes a mistake in their schoolwork, they make jeering comments and may even hit that student on the head while telling them they should know the answer! They come by it honestly though...the teachers speak very gruffly to them, hit them on the head to get their attention or in discipline, hurry them along in their work and even in their printed materials or in sentences on the board they write things like 'If you are late to class, your teacher will beat you'. (This was a sample of a compound sentence). I'm not sure what effect my lesson or heart shaped craft may have on them, but hopefully along with the way we handle them and conduct class, they will at least see there is another way to deal with things. I will be using the verses on what love is from 1 Corinthians 13. We'll see what happens!!!
After dinner, Glenn was sharing with Carol Mensah how much things have changed since he was here in 2000. The fact that the Ghanaian pastors were once again gathered in the conference hall to watch the African Cup, almost a dozen channels are available to anyone who might have a tv connected to an antenna or even a satellite (we've seen them perched on mud huts), and the fact that cell phones are about half as common as we are used to in Canada is truly amazing. Today as we teachers headed back to Carpenter, we saw at least 500 cattle on both sides of the road being led by the African equivalent of shepherds/cowboys. Stephen stopped our truck and we got out to take pictures to see not only the hundreds of cows, but the herdsmen work. They didn't have horses, but they had staffs, wore long traditional dress and headpieces and called out orders to the cattle to cross the road or move around. You could see that they travel and sleep under the stars as they herd the cows...they had tied their sleeping mats and bags on the backs of some of the cows like you would a donkey. The craziest part of the picture was that as one of these herdsmen were leading some of the cattle across the road, he was talking on a cell phone!!!
Another great day...everyone continues to feel well (no one has been sick at all that I have heard!), but today it seems that Jack may have been bit on his back by some ants or something. He felt the burning sensation on the drive home, Bev gave him an antihistamine, and although I forgot to ask about it at dinner, he certainly seemed just fine this evening :)
We appreciate your prayers and we are aware that God is answering them as we continue to work our way through our assignments with grateful hearts and with an eye to see what God is doing through it all...both in us, and in those around us!
Kim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Just this morning on the drive into Tinga, we were following David up the road and many of us saw a hawk-like bird fly at his truck. It had lodged itself between his driver side mirror and the window, but David shares that if it's legs hadn't been caught like that, it would have flown straight into his face and probably caused an accident. When asking David about it, his first words were to thank God for His protection. (He grabbed the bird and kept it...someone enjoyed it as a meal today).
Something really special when we got to the school yard this morning was meeting Aziz. He is a boy in Bev's Primary 5 class. Posted on the wall in the classroom are the kid's marks for first term...Aziz is one of the top kids in his class. He has managed to do this even though his past year he was in hospital for treatment and a second time for surgery! Aziz was presented to the 2010 Medical Team unable to speak or swallow anything. I may be wrong on some of the exact details, but I understand that the medical team thought he may have been poisoned by something and sent him with funds to the hospital for treatment. He was being fed by a feeding tube in his stomach when David & Brenda saw him last April in Tinga, and NEA helped subsidize the family's savings to afford the surgery he needed. We could see the scar on the left side of his neck/collarbone area and he is well today. Just another example of another beautiful life saved with the help of our annual Ghana Medical Team!!!
On the building site, the window frames are all installed, all the walls are going up quickly and the bond beam will be framed and poured tomorrow. It really is amazing how many hands and motivated hearts make things happen!
Classes continue and progress is made. Today both Bev and I loved working with our small groups in the late morning session. To sit under a tree around a table, have a chance to really get to look each student in the eye, get a better chance to know their names, and really see how they are doing and having a chance to work on helping them is so special...this kind of teaching is so much more the type of teaching I am designed for. I pray that these 45 minute sessions really help each one of them, and in turn the class as a whole.
Out of today's session, Bev and I have decided that tomorrow's lesson topic in the class will be 'kindness' and 'manners'. The children here are extremely respectful to authority and their elders, but not so nice to each other. They won't let us carry our bags and jump up to help if we go to move a chair or anything like that, but when another child is struggling or makes a mistake in their schoolwork, they make jeering comments and may even hit that student on the head while telling them they should know the answer! They come by it honestly though...the teachers speak very gruffly to them, hit them on the head to get their attention or in discipline, hurry them along in their work and even in their printed materials or in sentences on the board they write things like 'If you are late to class, your teacher will beat you'. (This was a sample of a compound sentence). I'm not sure what effect my lesson or heart shaped craft may have on them, but hopefully along with the way we handle them and conduct class, they will at least see there is another way to deal with things. I will be using the verses on what love is from 1 Corinthians 13. We'll see what happens!!!
After dinner, Glenn was sharing with Carol Mensah how much things have changed since he was here in 2000. The fact that the Ghanaian pastors were once again gathered in the conference hall to watch the African Cup, almost a dozen channels are available to anyone who might have a tv connected to an antenna or even a satellite (we've seen them perched on mud huts), and the fact that cell phones are about half as common as we are used to in Canada is truly amazing. Today as we teachers headed back to Carpenter, we saw at least 500 cattle on both sides of the road being led by the African equivalent of shepherds/cowboys. Stephen stopped our truck and we got out to take pictures to see not only the hundreds of cows, but the herdsmen work. They didn't have horses, but they had staffs, wore long traditional dress and headpieces and called out orders to the cattle to cross the road or move around. You could see that they travel and sleep under the stars as they herd the cows...they had tied their sleeping mats and bags on the backs of some of the cows like you would a donkey. The craziest part of the picture was that as one of these herdsmen were leading some of the cattle across the road, he was talking on a cell phone!!!
Another great day...everyone continues to feel well (no one has been sick at all that I have heard!), but today it seems that Jack may have been bit on his back by some ants or something. He felt the burning sensation on the drive home, Bev gave him an antihistamine, and although I forgot to ask about it at dinner, he certainly seemed just fine this evening :)
We appreciate your prayers and we are aware that God is answering them as we continue to work our way through our assignments with grateful hearts and with an eye to see what God is doing through it all...both in us, and in those around us!
Kim
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
Walls up Wednesday!
Driving back to the jobsite for lunch just after noon today, we teachers were amazed at the progress the builders were making! By lunch the one side of the main section of the church was 4-5 blocks high and the window openings were being created. The second side was about 2 blocks high. David reminded us at supper that he thought that the very hard job of pouring the floor would be the extent of this week's work, and the walls would only be started next week...the builder's reminded him that they were hoping to have the roof on like the Subinso project, even of this one started in a less prepared state. Experience, and less hot and humid weather would makes the way for this build to go more quickly than Subinso, plus we had to have to get the walls up because we have to write all our donors names on them!!!
Thankfully, everyone is well and blisters are still the biggest injury I've heard of. Keith is doing a great job taking care of doctoring them up as best as possible.
Back at the school, we continue to evaluate our programs and we teachers have met, shared and tried to help each other out...it's a great team!
Jack and Russ who teach Primary 1 in a seperate building from the rest of us are champs! Tag teaming their lessons in class and to cover moments when the neighbouring kindergarten class doesn't have a teacher (or she is taking time to check them out in their class), being seen leading the kids from the classroom marching and chanting 'Ghana loves football, Canada loves hockey' and having the kids so fired up that we had to struggle to get to the truck for our lunch time pick up! (Today as Bev and I slid into the back seat and quickly shut our doors, we took a deep breath, and as we looked at each other we commented that we were getting a taste of what it must be like to be a rock-star, and why they need body guards! It was crazy!!!), Jack and Russ have also been able to get order in their class of over 50 kids the instant they put up their 'trunks' to sing 'Skinner-marinky-dinky-dink'! They are a lot of fun and they are doing some great teaching! They are diligent at preparing their lessons...even when it means spending their evening drawing 50+ elephants on paper for the students to colour the next day. In the afternoon they tackle the opposite spectrum by teaching Junior High 3 (Grade 9)!
Glenn and Donnie are in Primary 2 and are a dynamic duo. Donnie admits having a challenge understanding the kids sometimes, but they watch his every move and even though they hardly know Glenn's name, they know Donnie's...sometimes calling him Johnny. Their humour and fun loving attitude attracts even the teacher to class. The teacher is taking notes, wants to know all the songs and even colours his own coloring sheet along with the kids!
Brenda has Primary 3 all on her own. She is the most experienced and it shows...her class seems to always be attentive and her black board is neatly organized with all kinds of great lessons. Another advantage she has is that she can recognize 2 of the 3 dialects spoken in the class and can ask them to 'sit down' and say other commands in their native language. She has been such a great help to us with her advice, organization and by supplying so many additional school supplies from precious teams over the years.
Pat is alone in Primary 4. She has a smaller class of 22 in a tiny classroom that was most likely designed as a storage room or office. Her blackboard is 1/2 the size of ours and the room is very narrow...fortunately there are windows and a door for light and circulation. Pat's creative and practical ideas balanced with a whole lot of singing, praise and love is fabulous! She beams when she shares stories from her class and inspires us all!
Bev and Ryan are in Primary 5, and have monitoring systems in place to keep their class in order...advice on how to walk between the aisles to see the work bring done and how to hand out stickers without creating a mob are great! In the afternoon they cover Junior High 2 (Grade 8)...these students speak english well and are learning how to compose compound sentences, but when it comes to writing, many are lost. Try doing dictation of basic words that they can read and put into sentences, but they can't understand what you are saying because of your accent! The blank look on their faces is really surprising and it's hard to figure out how to handle it.
Shawn and I are in Primary 6 and my challenge is coming up with enough teaching material, songs and activities to cover 4 hours of teaching time in English alone, and how to make it understandable to all 35. I have a young man, Kussain who really is brilliant...he understands our accent and repeats what we say so the rest can understand, shows us where and how to find or do things, and takes charge in the class when he feels we are not. Honestly he is a great help, but it's hard to set up lessons when you have a couple that are advanced, many others who are far behind and the rest somewhere in the middle. (I hope he continues to help me now that just today I denied his request to buy him a bicycle!). I'm excited about tomorrow when we try changing it up a by teaching the class the first 2 hours, have them take their 1/2 hour brunch break and then take 5 at a time in a small group outside to really be able to get to know them individually, and be able to meet their needs in an almost one on one situation. I am still wondering about how to go to work with my Junior high 1 (Grade 7) class tomorrow...although some in the class look to be 16 at least, when Ryan came in to help me pass the last 15 minutes of class by helping me teach them how to make a simple paper airplane, we found they couldn't even follow simple instructions to fold up the paper. Communication and lack of creativity seem to our biggest challenges...our accents and them not ever having been offered the opportunity to think creatively in a classroom (everything is learned by repetition) is really a challenge to overcome.
Ryan and Shawn are going to attempt to help with the kindergarten for the first time time tomorrow as Bev and I try to do our small groups teaching...I pray that it goes really well for them!
Thank you for your continued prayers! We are enjoying good health, the weather is fabulous, the bugs are few and far between, and Abraham is doing a fantastic job creating great meals for us!!!
Kim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thankfully, everyone is well and blisters are still the biggest injury I've heard of. Keith is doing a great job taking care of doctoring them up as best as possible.
Back at the school, we continue to evaluate our programs and we teachers have met, shared and tried to help each other out...it's a great team!
Jack and Russ who teach Primary 1 in a seperate building from the rest of us are champs! Tag teaming their lessons in class and to cover moments when the neighbouring kindergarten class doesn't have a teacher (or she is taking time to check them out in their class), being seen leading the kids from the classroom marching and chanting 'Ghana loves football, Canada loves hockey' and having the kids so fired up that we had to struggle to get to the truck for our lunch time pick up! (Today as Bev and I slid into the back seat and quickly shut our doors, we took a deep breath, and as we looked at each other we commented that we were getting a taste of what it must be like to be a rock-star, and why they need body guards! It was crazy!!!), Jack and Russ have also been able to get order in their class of over 50 kids the instant they put up their 'trunks' to sing 'Skinner-marinky-dinky-dink'! They are a lot of fun and they are doing some great teaching! They are diligent at preparing their lessons...even when it means spending their evening drawing 50+ elephants on paper for the students to colour the next day. In the afternoon they tackle the opposite spectrum by teaching Junior High 3 (Grade 9)!
Glenn and Donnie are in Primary 2 and are a dynamic duo. Donnie admits having a challenge understanding the kids sometimes, but they watch his every move and even though they hardly know Glenn's name, they know Donnie's...sometimes calling him Johnny. Their humour and fun loving attitude attracts even the teacher to class. The teacher is taking notes, wants to know all the songs and even colours his own coloring sheet along with the kids!
Brenda has Primary 3 all on her own. She is the most experienced and it shows...her class seems to always be attentive and her black board is neatly organized with all kinds of great lessons. Another advantage she has is that she can recognize 2 of the 3 dialects spoken in the class and can ask them to 'sit down' and say other commands in their native language. She has been such a great help to us with her advice, organization and by supplying so many additional school supplies from precious teams over the years.
Pat is alone in Primary 4. She has a smaller class of 22 in a tiny classroom that was most likely designed as a storage room or office. Her blackboard is 1/2 the size of ours and the room is very narrow...fortunately there are windows and a door for light and circulation. Pat's creative and practical ideas balanced with a whole lot of singing, praise and love is fabulous! She beams when she shares stories from her class and inspires us all!
Bev and Ryan are in Primary 5, and have monitoring systems in place to keep their class in order...advice on how to walk between the aisles to see the work bring done and how to hand out stickers without creating a mob are great! In the afternoon they cover Junior High 2 (Grade 8)...these students speak english well and are learning how to compose compound sentences, but when it comes to writing, many are lost. Try doing dictation of basic words that they can read and put into sentences, but they can't understand what you are saying because of your accent! The blank look on their faces is really surprising and it's hard to figure out how to handle it.
Shawn and I are in Primary 6 and my challenge is coming up with enough teaching material, songs and activities to cover 4 hours of teaching time in English alone, and how to make it understandable to all 35. I have a young man, Kussain who really is brilliant...he understands our accent and repeats what we say so the rest can understand, shows us where and how to find or do things, and takes charge in the class when he feels we are not. Honestly he is a great help, but it's hard to set up lessons when you have a couple that are advanced, many others who are far behind and the rest somewhere in the middle. (I hope he continues to help me now that just today I denied his request to buy him a bicycle!). I'm excited about tomorrow when we try changing it up a by teaching the class the first 2 hours, have them take their 1/2 hour brunch break and then take 5 at a time in a small group outside to really be able to get to know them individually, and be able to meet their needs in an almost one on one situation. I am still wondering about how to go to work with my Junior high 1 (Grade 7) class tomorrow...although some in the class look to be 16 at least, when Ryan came in to help me pass the last 15 minutes of class by helping me teach them how to make a simple paper airplane, we found they couldn't even follow simple instructions to fold up the paper. Communication and lack of creativity seem to our biggest challenges...our accents and them not ever having been offered the opportunity to think creatively in a classroom (everything is learned by repetition) is really a challenge to overcome.
Ryan and Shawn are going to attempt to help with the kindergarten for the first time time tomorrow as Bev and I try to do our small groups teaching...I pray that it goes really well for them!
Thank you for your continued prayers! We are enjoying good health, the weather is fabulous, the bugs are few and far between, and Abraham is doing a fantastic job creating great meals for us!!!
Kim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Tournament Tuesday
Today was an early start for an early ending day...we had to leave the jobsite by 3 so that the Ghanaians could get back to the compound in time to watch the 4:00 start of the African Cup...a bi-annual three week tournament played between 16 African countries. Ghana was playing against Botswana...apparently a highly favored match to watch! (I write this as I sit in the conference building watching it with them...they get pretty fired up when they score! Off their chairs and everything!!!). Ghana just won!
Our morning started with a 6:30 am breakfast and a 7:15 departure time. The bus dropped us to the school so the building team got to see the very excited children awaiting our arrival. Shawn and I covered the Grade 6 class from 8am-noon, and I was alone in the Grade 7 class in the afternoon from 1:15-2. Let's just say there were moments I really felt that we were doing just great, and other moments where I wondered what I could possibly be doing there! I think all the teachers would agree that tomorrow we will be even more prepared. Sharing our day's experiences was very valuable...not only was it encouraging that everyone felt much the same way, but great tips and tricks were also shared.
I suppose what Harvey Mackay says is true:
"One sure-fire way to stay creative: force yourself to learn something new." I am certainly learning something new, and need to be creative!
The building team was busy with more concrete poured on the floor, and window and door frames were built. Things are moving along very well. The only injuries this far seems to be some blistering from hammering the very hard African mohogamy wood, or from sharpening hundreds of pencils for the teachers :)
Thank you all for your continuing thoughts and prayers.
Kim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Our morning started with a 6:30 am breakfast and a 7:15 departure time. The bus dropped us to the school so the building team got to see the very excited children awaiting our arrival. Shawn and I covered the Grade 6 class from 8am-noon, and I was alone in the Grade 7 class in the afternoon from 1:15-2. Let's just say there were moments I really felt that we were doing just great, and other moments where I wondered what I could possibly be doing there! I think all the teachers would agree that tomorrow we will be even more prepared. Sharing our day's experiences was very valuable...not only was it encouraging that everyone felt much the same way, but great tips and tricks were also shared.
I suppose what Harvey Mackay says is true:
"One sure-fire way to stay creative: force yourself to learn something new." I am certainly learning something new, and need to be creative!
The building team was busy with more concrete poured on the floor, and window and door frames were built. Things are moving along very well. The only injuries this far seems to be some blistering from hammering the very hard African mohogamy wood, or from sharpening hundreds of pencils for the teachers :)
Thank you all for your continuing thoughts and prayers.
Kim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Orientation Monday
Sitting at dinner tonight, Tim said something that sums things up..."I feel like I've already been here for a week". He explained that he had seen and done so much already, that it felt that way.
Today was a sleep-in day (breakfast was set for 8 am) because we would be starting the day by meeting the chief of Tinga as is customary for us to do since we'd be working in his village. The drive to Tinga was only about 30 minutes north of Carpenter, and I must say that I was very surprised when we entered the town!
David called Tinga a place of commerce...our Ephasus. As we entered the town, there were many attractive new buildings being built with brick and tin...much like what we would be building. Cell phone towers were part of the landscape and we saw a beautiful mango tree being cut down with a chain saw to make room for another build. Along the very busy main street, it was very unusual for us to see young children (aged 8-12) exchanging money with the vendors as they bought their rice sauce lunches that they carried in plastic bags or steel or plastic containers they brought with them. Familiar were the goats, sheep and chickens running around, but to see stores selling 'authorized chemicals' (whatever that meant) and most anything else you could think of, along with cars, motorbikes and trucks lining the street, was very different from the northern villages we have spent time in. One store was selling machinery used for crushing rocks into gravel, and the biggest surprise was that the vendors were Chinese!
Quite recently gold has been discovered just east of the town of Tinga, so it acts as a gateway to many getting in on the action. It really reminded me of the fictional historic novels I read long ago about the gold rush days with pioneers and settlers coming from all over to find their fortune. In this true story, the settlers are the Chinese who have rented space and built neighborhoods to live in.
All of that being said, it makes Tinga a very important town in the region. It is growing and developing quickly, and the church we are building and the people we are affecting through both building the church and in the time we spend with their kids in the schools is very important. The town is very Muslim, and the chief himself has just returned from Mecca... An Alhaja. That being said, I must say that meeting this chief was the best chief meeting I've been to yet! They were very welcoming, and his admiration and respect for David was overwhelming. He repeatedly shared how David is a caring chief who works hard for the people in his villages and doesn't do anything for his own benefit. The amazing thing to David is that although David is a higher ranked chief in this area, this highly influential Muslim chief had David, a Christian man, sit in his chair...a chair that no one else not of the Muslim faith should even touch as it is considered very sacred. Not only had this same chief and his elder invited David to stay in their best accomodations last April when David held a Christian conference there, the chief also offered that the church be built on some of the best land in town...right beside the river that divides the two sides of town which makes it very accessible to everyone there. The chief also spoke of driving through Subinso last May when we were building the church there, and when he was passing back through on his way home only a few days later the building was almost complete...he was very impressed and is thrilled that we we're now doing the same in his village and even said something about throwing us a party! Think about this for a second...a Muslim chief is happy and welcoming of us building a Christian church in his town. God works in mysterious ways!
Heading back to the worksite, we first took time to check out the river where not only do the villagers wash clothes, swim and fish the telapia that David (NEA) put in there, it is also home to crocodiles! Despite the presence of the crocodiles, the fish are thriving...again, God works in mysterious ways. These fish produce needed protein for the villagers and are part of the program that David plans to being to many more villages. Although we were warned of the danger of the crocodiles, this morning they seemed interested in nothing else but basking in the sun.
The floor of the church was not yet tamped or poured, so a lot of tamping, forming and hard mixing was done so that many wheelbarrows of concrete could be leveled to finish the floor. About 1/2 of it got done today despite our late morning start due to the visit to the chief.
The 10 of us that are working in the schools (including Brenda), made our way to the school where we met the teachers of not only the primary school that we expected to be working in, but of the junior high school as well (grade 7 to 9). We sat in the classes and asked to observe so that we would know how to set up our lesson plan to start tomorrow, but really we instead were the observed and created quite the distraction to their day. Donnie is of very special interest to the kids seeing as he himself is only 12. We then spent the afternoon pairing up, setting the schedule and assigning the classes. We will have our work cut out for us as there are only 3 teachers for grades 1 to 6, so while three classes are being taught, three classes are unsupervised and apparently doing nothing. One of the teachers who started in September, didn't even seem to know the kids names in his own classes, and another was home sick and never came in at all so we have no idea about what those classes look like or what they know or don't know. On a personal note, I am not a teacher...not my gifting...but I am willing, and very thankful for Bev and Joyce who lovingly prepared lesson guidelines and supplies for us, for Brenda who helped me pick story books to read, for Jacqueline who helped choose and teach me songs to use, and for Shawn (my co-teacher) who, being in his twenties, is familiar with the books and songs we will use with our Gr.6 morning and Gr. 7 afternoon classes!
Whatever work we are assigned to do in this next 2 weeks, we need to remember that the real reason we are here has nothing to do with the actual building or the lesson plans, it's all about the people. As it says in Ezekiel 3:15, "... I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.". To really help them, we must feel their emotions and respond in love. God will do the rest.
P.S. Tonight after dinner, David shared that Gabriel's (one of the young pastors working with us) uncle died today, so he would not be with us for right now. This uncle suffered of a large hernia and although was on the list for surgery these past two years, fear kept him from showing up for it. It seems that this is what now caused his death. Pray for Gabriel and his family at this time as they deal with his very unnecessary death.
Until tomorrow,
Kim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Today was a sleep-in day (breakfast was set for 8 am) because we would be starting the day by meeting the chief of Tinga as is customary for us to do since we'd be working in his village. The drive to Tinga was only about 30 minutes north of Carpenter, and I must say that I was very surprised when we entered the town!
David called Tinga a place of commerce...our Ephasus. As we entered the town, there were many attractive new buildings being built with brick and tin...much like what we would be building. Cell phone towers were part of the landscape and we saw a beautiful mango tree being cut down with a chain saw to make room for another build. Along the very busy main street, it was very unusual for us to see young children (aged 8-12) exchanging money with the vendors as they bought their rice sauce lunches that they carried in plastic bags or steel or plastic containers they brought with them. Familiar were the goats, sheep and chickens running around, but to see stores selling 'authorized chemicals' (whatever that meant) and most anything else you could think of, along with cars, motorbikes and trucks lining the street, was very different from the northern villages we have spent time in. One store was selling machinery used for crushing rocks into gravel, and the biggest surprise was that the vendors were Chinese!
Quite recently gold has been discovered just east of the town of Tinga, so it acts as a gateway to many getting in on the action. It really reminded me of the fictional historic novels I read long ago about the gold rush days with pioneers and settlers coming from all over to find their fortune. In this true story, the settlers are the Chinese who have rented space and built neighborhoods to live in.
All of that being said, it makes Tinga a very important town in the region. It is growing and developing quickly, and the church we are building and the people we are affecting through both building the church and in the time we spend with their kids in the schools is very important. The town is very Muslim, and the chief himself has just returned from Mecca... An Alhaja. That being said, I must say that meeting this chief was the best chief meeting I've been to yet! They were very welcoming, and his admiration and respect for David was overwhelming. He repeatedly shared how David is a caring chief who works hard for the people in his villages and doesn't do anything for his own benefit. The amazing thing to David is that although David is a higher ranked chief in this area, this highly influential Muslim chief had David, a Christian man, sit in his chair...a chair that no one else not of the Muslim faith should even touch as it is considered very sacred. Not only had this same chief and his elder invited David to stay in their best accomodations last April when David held a Christian conference there, the chief also offered that the church be built on some of the best land in town...right beside the river that divides the two sides of town which makes it very accessible to everyone there. The chief also spoke of driving through Subinso last May when we were building the church there, and when he was passing back through on his way home only a few days later the building was almost complete...he was very impressed and is thrilled that we we're now doing the same in his village and even said something about throwing us a party! Think about this for a second...a Muslim chief is happy and welcoming of us building a Christian church in his town. God works in mysterious ways!
Heading back to the worksite, we first took time to check out the river where not only do the villagers wash clothes, swim and fish the telapia that David (NEA) put in there, it is also home to crocodiles! Despite the presence of the crocodiles, the fish are thriving...again, God works in mysterious ways. These fish produce needed protein for the villagers and are part of the program that David plans to being to many more villages. Although we were warned of the danger of the crocodiles, this morning they seemed interested in nothing else but basking in the sun.
The floor of the church was not yet tamped or poured, so a lot of tamping, forming and hard mixing was done so that many wheelbarrows of concrete could be leveled to finish the floor. About 1/2 of it got done today despite our late morning start due to the visit to the chief.
The 10 of us that are working in the schools (including Brenda), made our way to the school where we met the teachers of not only the primary school that we expected to be working in, but of the junior high school as well (grade 7 to 9). We sat in the classes and asked to observe so that we would know how to set up our lesson plan to start tomorrow, but really we instead were the observed and created quite the distraction to their day. Donnie is of very special interest to the kids seeing as he himself is only 12. We then spent the afternoon pairing up, setting the schedule and assigning the classes. We will have our work cut out for us as there are only 3 teachers for grades 1 to 6, so while three classes are being taught, three classes are unsupervised and apparently doing nothing. One of the teachers who started in September, didn't even seem to know the kids names in his own classes, and another was home sick and never came in at all so we have no idea about what those classes look like or what they know or don't know. On a personal note, I am not a teacher...not my gifting...but I am willing, and very thankful for Bev and Joyce who lovingly prepared lesson guidelines and supplies for us, for Brenda who helped me pick story books to read, for Jacqueline who helped choose and teach me songs to use, and for Shawn (my co-teacher) who, being in his twenties, is familiar with the books and songs we will use with our Gr.6 morning and Gr. 7 afternoon classes!
Whatever work we are assigned to do in this next 2 weeks, we need to remember that the real reason we are here has nothing to do with the actual building or the lesson plans, it's all about the people. As it says in Ezekiel 3:15, "... I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.". To really help them, we must feel their emotions and respond in love. God will do the rest.
P.S. Tonight after dinner, David shared that Gabriel's (one of the young pastors working with us) uncle died today, so he would not be with us for right now. This uncle suffered of a large hernia and although was on the list for surgery these past two years, fear kept him from showing up for it. It seems that this is what now caused his death. Pray for Gabriel and his family at this time as they deal with his very unnecessary death.
Until tomorrow,
Kim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, January 23, 2012
An Incredible Sunday!
'When you are trying to figure out everything, you are exalting your reasoning above God's thoughts and plans for your life' (Joyce Meyer)
Today was a day that started with one plan, but in a moment, a comment was made, a question was raised and the answer was unanimous...we would jump on the bus and drive an hour from Carpenter on a rough road and worship with a brand new church in the remote village of Babatok. David's brother Peter has been sharing with this village over the past weeks, and today, 20 new believers were being baptized in the Black Volta river. The villagers were very surprised to see us, and the kids came running. I'll never forget seeing one little guy playing with rubber bicycle tire as he rolled it through the village ahead of him :).
We started with the custom of meeting the village chief and his elders. We shook hands, sat and listened while he and David spoke to each other through their 'translators'. We then walked with the new church members and many children for at least 10 minutes down a path to the river avoiding stepping on cow poop all the way. The path opened up to a little beach area where young children were playing in the water while the older children 6-12 years old were washing clothes and watching over them with no adults around.
The sun was shining as we watched Rans, Jacob and Peter baptize the men and women while everyone on the bank was singing. David would annoint them with oil when they came out onto the bank, and then he would call one of us or one of the pastors with us to lay a hand on their shoulder and we would pray for them. What an incredible privilege to be a part of the new birth of not only these individuals, but also of a new church for the area. David mentioned to the village chief that this might not be the last time the chief would see some of us there. (Sounded like he was implying this might be another build project option for next year?). As we learned the last time we were here, the children are not shy and they really pursue the opportunity to hold your hand, touch your clothes or try to help us carry or do something. In these communities, it really is the town that raises the children...not individual families like we are used to. You would see the same baby carried on the back of several women or children, and one can only guess that the one that you would later see nursing it was the actual mother!?!
David shared once again with all of us up the bank of the river before we walked back to the village. He shared again the story of when he was quite sure all three of his daughters were going to drown as they fell out of their canoe years ago, but he called out on God's promises in Psalm 91, and a stranger 'just happened' to head out in his motor boat when he saw how quickly the waves rose in order to check that no one was caught in it, and their lives were saved. He shared that now that these new believers had chosen to follow God and not the idols of their village that is highly ruled by whichcraft, Satan would be sure to try to get them to fail, and they would need to stay strong...leaning on the promises God had written for them thousands of years before their village even existed, and before this day when the whites from Canada and the blacks from West Africa would be standing together on the banks of their river. He also shared about his own baptism and how no matter how bad he had been, and all the evil he had done that would most likely have killed him or put him in jail, it was all washed away that day. We sang and prayed some more, said goodbye to the chief and his elders, prayed for a sick man who wasn't well enough to come to the river with us, and made our way home to Carpenter for a late lunch that we finished at about 3.
We came back to our compound to start to sort the clothes, school supplies, gifts and finish up the tools, and then At 4:30 most of us joined up with David to tour the NEA project ground here at Carpenter. Starting with watching an ostrich hatching from it's egg in an incubator, to seeing shea nut trees and hearing about fact that they are the exclusive suppliers of the Shea nut oil to L'Oreal for their moisturizing products, to the certified 90%+ yielding corn seed they process, the fruit trees they eat from, the organic gardens they plant and water with the water from the tanks of the fish growing operations and the piggery whose pigs eat all the peelings of their cassava and yam processing, we were all so amazed to here of the self-sustaining programs developed that have touched the lives of 350 000 people so far in this region, employs 101 staff, supplies the needs of 6000 widows though their peanut farming co-op program and is now approved with funding from CIDA (the Canadian government) together with other funds to start a medical program to support birthing mothers and babies for the first 2 months after birth...a new project born of necessity as 30000 young moms and babies have died in the past couple of years due to birthing and recovery complications. Just last week, 50 nurses/caregivers were here in Carpenter for training in this new program, and a new staff member, Timothy, was hired to oversee the program. To hear more about what is happening here, and about the program you are all doing a part in supporting, visit www.grid-nea.org !!! David reminded us that all of this is not all about one man making this happen, but how each of us doing and being what God has created for us to do to do our part (sending over trucks, labour, money, helmets, clothing, medical care, etc...) has created much that God could work with to care for these people.
Dinner was fabulous once again, and we finished the night sitting chatting too late into the evening after sorting more of the things we brought. I'm certain that everyone will be turning in earlier tomorrow night after a hard days work.
Inspired,
Kim
Inspired,
Kim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Today was a day that started with one plan, but in a moment, a comment was made, a question was raised and the answer was unanimous...we would jump on the bus and drive an hour from Carpenter on a rough road and worship with a brand new church in the remote village of Babatok. David's brother Peter has been sharing with this village over the past weeks, and today, 20 new believers were being baptized in the Black Volta river. The villagers were very surprised to see us, and the kids came running. I'll never forget seeing one little guy playing with rubber bicycle tire as he rolled it through the village ahead of him :).
We started with the custom of meeting the village chief and his elders. We shook hands, sat and listened while he and David spoke to each other through their 'translators'. We then walked with the new church members and many children for at least 10 minutes down a path to the river avoiding stepping on cow poop all the way. The path opened up to a little beach area where young children were playing in the water while the older children 6-12 years old were washing clothes and watching over them with no adults around.
The sun was shining as we watched Rans, Jacob and Peter baptize the men and women while everyone on the bank was singing. David would annoint them with oil when they came out onto the bank, and then he would call one of us or one of the pastors with us to lay a hand on their shoulder and we would pray for them. What an incredible privilege to be a part of the new birth of not only these individuals, but also of a new church for the area. David mentioned to the village chief that this might not be the last time the chief would see some of us there. (Sounded like he was implying this might be another build project option for next year?). As we learned the last time we were here, the children are not shy and they really pursue the opportunity to hold your hand, touch your clothes or try to help us carry or do something. In these communities, it really is the town that raises the children...not individual families like we are used to. You would see the same baby carried on the back of several women or children, and one can only guess that the one that you would later see nursing it was the actual mother!?!
David shared once again with all of us up the bank of the river before we walked back to the village. He shared again the story of when he was quite sure all three of his daughters were going to drown as they fell out of their canoe years ago, but he called out on God's promises in Psalm 91, and a stranger 'just happened' to head out in his motor boat when he saw how quickly the waves rose in order to check that no one was caught in it, and their lives were saved. He shared that now that these new believers had chosen to follow God and not the idols of their village that is highly ruled by whichcraft, Satan would be sure to try to get them to fail, and they would need to stay strong...leaning on the promises God had written for them thousands of years before their village even existed, and before this day when the whites from Canada and the blacks from West Africa would be standing together on the banks of their river. He also shared about his own baptism and how no matter how bad he had been, and all the evil he had done that would most likely have killed him or put him in jail, it was all washed away that day. We sang and prayed some more, said goodbye to the chief and his elders, prayed for a sick man who wasn't well enough to come to the river with us, and made our way home to Carpenter for a late lunch that we finished at about 3.
We came back to our compound to start to sort the clothes, school supplies, gifts and finish up the tools, and then At 4:30 most of us joined up with David to tour the NEA project ground here at Carpenter. Starting with watching an ostrich hatching from it's egg in an incubator, to seeing shea nut trees and hearing about fact that they are the exclusive suppliers of the Shea nut oil to L'Oreal for their moisturizing products, to the certified 90%+ yielding corn seed they process, the fruit trees they eat from, the organic gardens they plant and water with the water from the tanks of the fish growing operations and the piggery whose pigs eat all the peelings of their cassava and yam processing, we were all so amazed to here of the self-sustaining programs developed that have touched the lives of 350 000 people so far in this region, employs 101 staff, supplies the needs of 6000 widows though their peanut farming co-op program and is now approved with funding from CIDA (the Canadian government) together with other funds to start a medical program to support birthing mothers and babies for the first 2 months after birth...a new project born of necessity as 30000 young moms and babies have died in the past couple of years due to birthing and recovery complications. Just last week, 50 nurses/caregivers were here in Carpenter for training in this new program, and a new staff member, Timothy, was hired to oversee the program. To hear more about what is happening here, and about the program you are all doing a part in supporting, visit www.grid-nea.org !!! David reminded us that all of this is not all about one man making this happen, but how each of us doing and being what God has created for us to do to do our part (sending over trucks, labour, money, helmets, clothing, medical care, etc...) has created much that God could work with to care for these people.
Dinner was fabulous once again, and we finished the night sitting chatting too late into the evening after sorting more of the things we brought. I'm certain that everyone will be turning in earlier tomorrow night after a hard days work.
Inspired,
Kim
Inspired,
Kim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, January 22, 2012
We've arrived!
Our bus ride to Carpenter went very well! No exciting stories to tell about flat tires, but many about the way they drive around here and the things we saw on our 12 hour drive. It was great to see everyone getting to know each other a little bit better as we rotated the seating arrangements each time of the 3 times we stopped for a break.
We have seen pictures, but it was great to drive by and see the Subinso church that we built last year...painted and complete. We hope that next Sunday we have a chance to attend church there :)
As we entered Carpenter, it felt so much like home to those of us that were here last May. A new fence surrounds the compound where we sleep...designed to keep the goats away from the buildings, it also adds security if ever it is needed. For those of us that haven't been here since the 2000, 2001 or 2005 build projects, there were so many changes to take in, many new faces, but also some familiar ones! For those that had never been here, but have heard and supported David and Brenda over the last many years, it was very emotional to actually have David & Brenda welcoming them to their home here in Ghana!
We unloaded the truck with the Ghanaian pastors and volunteers stepping forward to do much of it for us, we then gathered and prayed together under the gazebo, sorted all 98 bags into their appropriate rooms, and quickly made our way to the dining room for some spicy soup, spaghetti and fresh fruit salad...including mangos which were a surprise because they aren't really in season! All of it was SO great! Once our bellies were full, some of the men went straight away to sorting the tools we brought (it was like Christmas to them) while others of us worked through some music options to bring to tomorrow's church service.
After a lovely cool shower and moving into our wonderfully comfortable room, it is time to sleep! The compound is quiet and everyone is in their room, and more than ready for a great night's sleep.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
We have seen pictures, but it was great to drive by and see the Subinso church that we built last year...painted and complete. We hope that next Sunday we have a chance to attend church there :)
As we entered Carpenter, it felt so much like home to those of us that were here last May. A new fence surrounds the compound where we sleep...designed to keep the goats away from the buildings, it also adds security if ever it is needed. For those of us that haven't been here since the 2000, 2001 or 2005 build projects, there were so many changes to take in, many new faces, but also some familiar ones! For those that had never been here, but have heard and supported David and Brenda over the last many years, it was very emotional to actually have David & Brenda welcoming them to their home here in Ghana!
We unloaded the truck with the Ghanaian pastors and volunteers stepping forward to do much of it for us, we then gathered and prayed together under the gazebo, sorted all 98 bags into their appropriate rooms, and quickly made our way to the dining room for some spicy soup, spaghetti and fresh fruit salad...including mangos which were a surprise because they aren't really in season! All of it was SO great! Once our bellies were full, some of the men went straight away to sorting the tools we brought (it was like Christmas to them) while others of us worked through some music options to bring to tomorrow's church service.
After a lovely cool shower and moving into our wonderfully comfortable room, it is time to sleep! The compound is quiet and everyone is in their room, and more than ready for a great night's sleep.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, January 21, 2012
On the bus to Carpenter!
Good morning everyone!
I apologize for the technical problems I have had posting to this blog address. I continue to work on trying to figure out why my test posts work fine, but my actual posts are being added to our old blog from our trip in 2011.
Please feel free to go to my blog labelled Africa 2011 to see of there might be updates that are posted there instead of here.
We are well! Thankyou for your prayers as we make this long bus trip to Carpenter...cargo truck is now in front of us, and we are navigating the traffic and construction well.
I apologize for the technical problems I have had posting to this blog address. I continue to work on trying to figure out why my test posts work fine, but my actual posts are being added to our old blog from our trip in 2011.
Please feel free to go to my blog labelled Africa 2011 to see of there might be updates that are posted there instead of here.
We are well! Thankyou for your prayers as we make this long bus trip to Carpenter...cargo truck is now in front of us, and we are navigating the traffic and construction well.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
The time has come...
It's amazing to think back to how we got to where we are today with this project!
The team has come together...each one doing their part to get things ready.
Just three short months ago, we were awaiting the green light to move forward.
The need was spoken (May 2011); the desire to help was felt (Aug 2011); the details were evaluated (Sept 2011); the blessing was given (Oct 2011); the preparations were made and now the work will be done (Jan 2012)!
In October, most of the team was assembled, and we waited and prayed that if it was God's will that this church building was to be built in the village of Tinga, we were ready to go. With great thanks for the support of Uxbridge Baptist Church who funded the largest part of the building costs, and with many thanks for the efforts of the team members and their friends and family for gathering the balance of the funds and donations needed to get us to Africa with the tools and supplies we need, we are leaving in less than 24 hours! 24 team members, 98 checked bags and approximately 48 carry on bags are ready to board a bus, 2 planes and yet another bus to make the 48 hour trek to Northern Ghana.
We ask that you pray for the team. Pray for our health, safety and team unity, but most important of all, that we would travel, work, rest and play showing God's love to some to whom we may be the only Bible they ever read.
Our team:
Timothy Evans
Paul Hurlburt
Ryan Lamoureux
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| 20 of the team of 24. |
Joe Lawson
Kim Lawson
Keith Lewis
Jacqueline Luinstra
Pete Luinstra
Sam Luinstra
Brian Noble
Linda Noble
Shawn Noble
Bev Ott
Jack Ott
Nolan Ott
Larry Simpson
Arie Spiering
Donnie Weddel
Doug Weddel
Glenn Weddel
Pat Weddel
Josh Whitehead
Russ Whitehead
Wayne Wilson
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| Many helped pack all the tools Sam and Brian worked so hard to get! |
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| Thank you to everyone who donated so much for us to bring with us! |
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| Ryan and his family lovingly put together luggage tags! |
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| Linda graciously sewed and packed many small gifts that Bev shopped for! |
Thank you friends and family for all of your support as we prepared and as we embark on this special trip!
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