12.5 hours is the amount of time we had electricity this week! From Wednesday-Sunday we were sleeping in some rather warm temps and enjoying the non breezy hot African air! Thankfully our 'juice" as Aidan calls it came back on tonight. However I'm spending the night at the Mozley's....it's there lights out night tonight...so I'm staying again with no fan moving the air at all!!! I know this is hard for you guys at home to picture since it's been cold there :) Which, even though I'm hot and sweaty....I don't miss really cold days at all!!!
This is a short update to let you know this week was great. We started Community Bible Club Saturday and the leaders did a GREAT job! I'm excited to see how God will work through them. We had a good turnout, but there's so many kids in that area, so we have lots of work to do :)
I am traveling up north this week with the Mozleys to film them during their Christmas expidtion. We're taking water filters and some other presents to some preachers up North. They don't get a whole lot and part of what the Mozley's do is encourage the preachers in the hard parts of Ghana! It will be great to capture on tape and I'm excited. We will be gone for a week and travel all the way from West Ghana to East Ghana....seeing places I've never been to!
I'll give a more indepth blog upon my RETURN!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
have a great week
m
12.17.2006
12.13.2006
december 11
Monday morning and I’m tired. It’s bad to be tired coming out of the weekend. I think it had to do with the fact that we had lights out Saturday night and I didn’t get much sleep at all. It was HOT. I have realized I love air conditioning. I mean I really love it. I love to wake up and it is cool in the room and you’re underneath the sheets covered in a see of coolness. Ok anyway.
This past week was busy and it looks like it will be that way for the next couple of weeks. The Community Bible Club is kicking off this Saturday at 10am (that’s 4am US time so if you happen to be awake at that time of morning…keep us in your prayers) it should be interesting to see. The Ghanaian leaders here are doing such a great job of working together. Now there are moments when I just want to jump in, get right to the task and do it the American way. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be to try and be incarnational. We just know the way it can be done and inherently when you’ve seen something be successful you want it to be brought up, talked about and used. The idea that is. So it’s harder in actuality to not be demanding and get frustrated when things aren’t going the way you think they should. Thank God He’s big.
The leaders are working on curriculum and have been come up with areas they want to cover for the year. Now it’s putting together those ideas and biblical stories in an organized fashion. Which can I add I have found that pre planning and organization aren’t ‘big deals’ here. Frustrating for a task driven American. But Gifty, Felix, Leford, Mark, Ben and Daniel are really putting in lots of time outside of their busy schedules to try and get this off the ground. We are using Medina Methodist church as a meeting spot and there have been some bumps with not talking to the right people before starting. So we pray to learn from those mistakes!
Now for videos…I’m still working on the Mozley’s video and the Sims video. It’s been hard to get those two projects rolling in the editing room so you can pray for that.
Nicole’s mom and dad left last Thursday and I put together a little picture and video clip reel for them to take home. I have to say watching their faces made my insides light up to see their joy of being able to take home this DVD of their grandbabies and time in Ghana.
I didn’t have language last week, but the time is just flying… like right now it’s 11am and I feel like the day just started, but in reality it’s flying!
Here’s a cool God story. Last week Michael called me and said there was a videographer/documentary guy working up at the school Michael’s attending. So Michael mentioned me and said what I was doing here, and I think I’m going to go work with him tomorrow in Accra. That will be an adventure to see how the ‘professionals’ do it!
So let me tell you about yesterday. Sunday at Medina Methodist West and it was Harvest day. Now harvest is a day that Ghanaians spend about 5 hours in church. Sunday school, regular church and then harvest ceremony. It’s intended to be a fundraising event for ‘church projects.’ This is an area that is extremely hard for me to swallow because there is someone in the front of the church calling out amounts of money and then if you are going to give that much, you walk down front and put it in the offering. Now this just goes against the American cultural grain in the first place of tithing and how nobody knows what we give because we keep that confidential. I know that’s cultural and can understand why that part gets on my nerves. But it can be a breeding ground for those who have more money to be recognized in a way that makes someone else’s offering that might be less money look ‘that of something less.’ And so I wonder if it’s biblically wrong?
I asked Gifty about her thoughts on harvest and she said, “Sometimes is makes people seem like they have more power since they have money.” And through other conversations it seems like there could be the thought that one is more blessed because they have money. But what about the widowers offering. That which comes from the heart and isn’t a large financial amount.
So yesterday we gave our envelopes anonymously. I had decided to give a certain amount and then when I got to church I asked Nicole how much she was giving. I knew in my heart this had to be a me and God thing. I had to be comfortable what I was giving with Him because they might announce my name and what if everyone else thought it wasn’t enough. I’ll admit after talking to Nicole I increased it but then I thought to myself wow this is hard. Culturally they see us not giving that looks like we don’t support the church where we go a majority of the time. Biblically I feel like God knows my heart and I gave what I felt was a generous offering to Him so people in the church don’t need to know. So here’s the tension. When you’re trying to be incarnational how much do you do that is cultural compared to what you believe is biblical. And when you do the biblical does it put such a wedge between the culture that you can’t break in? Because what if one day when you’ve broken in then you can start to explain the reasoning behind what you do. Or do you stick to your guns and do the thing that you feel is biblically right possibly causing the relationship not to happen? So many questions for God and I to work through. This is what makes living cross culturally challenging. And sometimes I want to throw my hands up in the air and say I AM GOING HOME to a culture I can be open in. A culture that understands me. A culture where I can push the box because you know what’s inside the box. It makes me think about Jesus’ approach more and more as an outside the box pusher. That’s a hard role.
This week is going to busy. I’m back to language Mon, Tues and Wed.
I’m so thankful for Jesus coming to earth. This season I’m even more thankful for an open relationship with God since I’m thousands of miles away from friends and family. I’m thankful all day long I can talk with Him.
Happy birthday Jesus.
This past week was busy and it looks like it will be that way for the next couple of weeks. The Community Bible Club is kicking off this Saturday at 10am (that’s 4am US time so if you happen to be awake at that time of morning…keep us in your prayers) it should be interesting to see. The Ghanaian leaders here are doing such a great job of working together. Now there are moments when I just want to jump in, get right to the task and do it the American way. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be to try and be incarnational. We just know the way it can be done and inherently when you’ve seen something be successful you want it to be brought up, talked about and used. The idea that is. So it’s harder in actuality to not be demanding and get frustrated when things aren’t going the way you think they should. Thank God He’s big.
The leaders are working on curriculum and have been come up with areas they want to cover for the year. Now it’s putting together those ideas and biblical stories in an organized fashion. Which can I add I have found that pre planning and organization aren’t ‘big deals’ here. Frustrating for a task driven American. But Gifty, Felix, Leford, Mark, Ben and Daniel are really putting in lots of time outside of their busy schedules to try and get this off the ground. We are using Medina Methodist church as a meeting spot and there have been some bumps with not talking to the right people before starting. So we pray to learn from those mistakes!
Now for videos…I’m still working on the Mozley’s video and the Sims video. It’s been hard to get those two projects rolling in the editing room so you can pray for that.
Nicole’s mom and dad left last Thursday and I put together a little picture and video clip reel for them to take home. I have to say watching their faces made my insides light up to see their joy of being able to take home this DVD of their grandbabies and time in Ghana.
I didn’t have language last week, but the time is just flying… like right now it’s 11am and I feel like the day just started, but in reality it’s flying!
Here’s a cool God story. Last week Michael called me and said there was a videographer/documentary guy working up at the school Michael’s attending. So Michael mentioned me and said what I was doing here, and I think I’m going to go work with him tomorrow in Accra. That will be an adventure to see how the ‘professionals’ do it!
So let me tell you about yesterday. Sunday at Medina Methodist West and it was Harvest day. Now harvest is a day that Ghanaians spend about 5 hours in church. Sunday school, regular church and then harvest ceremony. It’s intended to be a fundraising event for ‘church projects.’ This is an area that is extremely hard for me to swallow because there is someone in the front of the church calling out amounts of money and then if you are going to give that much, you walk down front and put it in the offering. Now this just goes against the American cultural grain in the first place of tithing and how nobody knows what we give because we keep that confidential. I know that’s cultural and can understand why that part gets on my nerves. But it can be a breeding ground for those who have more money to be recognized in a way that makes someone else’s offering that might be less money look ‘that of something less.’ And so I wonder if it’s biblically wrong?
I asked Gifty about her thoughts on harvest and she said, “Sometimes is makes people seem like they have more power since they have money.” And through other conversations it seems like there could be the thought that one is more blessed because they have money. But what about the widowers offering. That which comes from the heart and isn’t a large financial amount.
So yesterday we gave our envelopes anonymously. I had decided to give a certain amount and then when I got to church I asked Nicole how much she was giving. I knew in my heart this had to be a me and God thing. I had to be comfortable what I was giving with Him because they might announce my name and what if everyone else thought it wasn’t enough. I’ll admit after talking to Nicole I increased it but then I thought to myself wow this is hard. Culturally they see us not giving that looks like we don’t support the church where we go a majority of the time. Biblically I feel like God knows my heart and I gave what I felt was a generous offering to Him so people in the church don’t need to know. So here’s the tension. When you’re trying to be incarnational how much do you do that is cultural compared to what you believe is biblical. And when you do the biblical does it put such a wedge between the culture that you can’t break in? Because what if one day when you’ve broken in then you can start to explain the reasoning behind what you do. Or do you stick to your guns and do the thing that you feel is biblically right possibly causing the relationship not to happen? So many questions for God and I to work through. This is what makes living cross culturally challenging. And sometimes I want to throw my hands up in the air and say I AM GOING HOME to a culture I can be open in. A culture that understands me. A culture where I can push the box because you know what’s inside the box. It makes me think about Jesus’ approach more and more as an outside the box pusher. That’s a hard role.
This week is going to busy. I’m back to language Mon, Tues and Wed.
I’m so thankful for Jesus coming to earth. This season I’m even more thankful for an open relationship with God since I’m thousands of miles away from friends and family. I’m thankful all day long I can talk with Him.
Happy birthday Jesus.
11.30.2006
little mid week thought!
It’s 10am Ghana Time November 30, 2006. I am in Kirk and Nicole’s office sitting at the desk, which looks out the front window. There’s a GREAT breeze today, which is nice. It’s saving me from being drenched in sweat as I work inside. My plan today is to work on some video projects and my mind seems to be preoccupied and I kept thinking about blogging…so here it is. It’s like and after school special since I don’t usually blog in the middle of the week! J ha.
I’m spending some God time this morning reflecting on some things and reading Psalm 126 and 127. This morning I have thought of the joys of singleness but honestly I am also bordering on dwelling about, “Will I ever get married?” Now honestly I don’t usually dwell on this. But it seems lately these thoughts of marriage have started coming up more frequently.
I almost got married once. I was 23 when we broke up. It was hard for me because he essentially was my best friend and I put him on a pedestal that he would surely fall from because he is human and if you can believe this…I’m not perfect as much as I thought I was! I didn’t know the first thing about marriage for a lifetime or about marriage with God in the center so it was good we broke up. However at the time the break up hit me hard. Sometimes it stills hits me.
It wasn’t until we broke up that I really started following the Lord. We broke up on a Thursday and that next Sunday alone and weeping I begged God to show me Himself and teach me about him because I knew life wasn’t over… there had to be more.
So for the past four years God has taught me about Himself through the Spirit and what it means to believe in Jesus. I have loved, truly loved, being single, as I had found my identity in boys since I was sixteen. For the past four years it has been God showing, teaching, guiding me into the person He created me to be…come. I say become because I don’t think it ever stops…growing in Him that is.
But this morning I am thinking about marriage again. I still struggle with being attracted to someone and then dwelling on the possibility that ‘he’ might be the one I marry.
And this is what I want to talk about. I am the only one who does this? I mean is this the devils’ attempt to get you off course for the day and start letting your mind sort through all the possibilities? Just as I typed that I think the Holy Spirit just talked to me…that’s exactly what the devil wants to do…disrupt my course of what Kingdom work could be done today and get me focused about thinking of myself. Hum…. This is precisely the reason I love God. I love how we can be in prayer for ANY and EVERYthing. So today right now I’m ending this blog on the note of prayer. For all girls who want to sit and daydream about that future ‘guy’ they might marry. That God continues to give us peace in the fact He’s got this under control. I pray for myself that I would pray for my future husband and not dwell on the fact that I don’t have one and don’t know who it might be. But I pray that if I’m to marry then God’s working on his heart as He is working on mine. Jesus- give us strength in the battle of the mind! You might be thinking I’m crazy right about now…which could be entirely true! Oh and if you’re a boy…don’t worry most women are crazy….it’s just depends if they’ll admit it or not! Haha kidding…sort of!
Have a GREAT DAY! Hey Jesus’ birthday is next month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes!
I’m spending some God time this morning reflecting on some things and reading Psalm 126 and 127. This morning I have thought of the joys of singleness but honestly I am also bordering on dwelling about, “Will I ever get married?” Now honestly I don’t usually dwell on this. But it seems lately these thoughts of marriage have started coming up more frequently.
I almost got married once. I was 23 when we broke up. It was hard for me because he essentially was my best friend and I put him on a pedestal that he would surely fall from because he is human and if you can believe this…I’m not perfect as much as I thought I was! I didn’t know the first thing about marriage for a lifetime or about marriage with God in the center so it was good we broke up. However at the time the break up hit me hard. Sometimes it stills hits me.
It wasn’t until we broke up that I really started following the Lord. We broke up on a Thursday and that next Sunday alone and weeping I begged God to show me Himself and teach me about him because I knew life wasn’t over… there had to be more.
So for the past four years God has taught me about Himself through the Spirit and what it means to believe in Jesus. I have loved, truly loved, being single, as I had found my identity in boys since I was sixteen. For the past four years it has been God showing, teaching, guiding me into the person He created me to be…come. I say become because I don’t think it ever stops…growing in Him that is.
But this morning I am thinking about marriage again. I still struggle with being attracted to someone and then dwelling on the possibility that ‘he’ might be the one I marry.
And this is what I want to talk about. I am the only one who does this? I mean is this the devils’ attempt to get you off course for the day and start letting your mind sort through all the possibilities? Just as I typed that I think the Holy Spirit just talked to me…that’s exactly what the devil wants to do…disrupt my course of what Kingdom work could be done today and get me focused about thinking of myself. Hum…. This is precisely the reason I love God. I love how we can be in prayer for ANY and EVERYthing. So today right now I’m ending this blog on the note of prayer. For all girls who want to sit and daydream about that future ‘guy’ they might marry. That God continues to give us peace in the fact He’s got this under control. I pray for myself that I would pray for my future husband and not dwell on the fact that I don’t have one and don’t know who it might be. But I pray that if I’m to marry then God’s working on his heart as He is working on mine. Jesus- give us strength in the battle of the mind! You might be thinking I’m crazy right about now…which could be entirely true! Oh and if you’re a boy…don’t worry most women are crazy….it’s just depends if they’ll admit it or not! Haha kidding…sort of!
Have a GREAT DAY! Hey Jesus’ birthday is next month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes!
11.27.2006
november 27-thanksgiving abroad
It’s the Monday after my first Thanksgiving abroad. Everything was almost like being at home. We cooked all day and had way too much food considering there are tons of starving people…and some not too far from where I live.
It was fun though. We had about 30 people at Claire and Michaels house. In my family tradition we eat the Thanksgiving meal at lunch and then have leftovers for dinner. But we actually met at the Mozley’s at 5pm., which worked out good because it took us all day to prepare what we brought.
I’ve gotten into cooking which in itself is ironic. I cook more and eat better in Africa than I did in the States? I don’t know why I’ve developed a desire for cooking. It could be that going to the grocery store here is such a task at the end you feel accomplished so making something out of what you purchased, which took all day, gives you a sense of joy…. especially when people like it. So for this thanksgiving celebration I made green bean casserole, with fresh not canned green beans and apple crisp desert. Our total family, the Sims, made more than that…if you want to take a look at the fact that I didn’t starve in Africa for Thanksgiving check out the pictures on flickr. This was all on Saturday.
On actual Thanksgiving Day the Sims family, Nicole’s Mom and Dad, which are here visiting, Gifty and I went to Champs Restaurant and enjoyed traditional Thanksgiving nachos!
Even though the food was plentiful Thursday and Saturday and I was with my African missionary family I was probably more thankful this year than in years past. I am always thankful for God, but this year I’m even more thankful for the relationship with Him because I would not make it here without His constant love and companionship. Then thinking about my relationship with God makes me think about Jesus and the fact that we even have a relationship with God. Huge mind boggling God. And then the Spirit starts showing me parts of me and parts of God in me and in others…it’s AWESOME!
Of course I also mentioned some other pretty big things like family … my family here and my mom, dad, sister and nephew back home and all my extended family and Kingdom family and friends…. And then this year I’m really thankful for…. Skype and mail and email J !
You know my dad and I am reading the Psalms together and on Thanksgiving Day was Psalm 121…a song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem, NLT. So then I thought about how Big God is and wondered what He looked like to people who were pilgrims back in the day.
Now before the holidays I had a meeting with the Director of Communication/Publication for Methodist Church Ghana on Wednesday. We met for about four hours and they want to start a new program via satellite targeting current Methodist members and unreached peoples. So I asked some questions about usefulness and tried to ask some of the hard questions that we sometimes loose sight of once we’ve been ‘doing’ church for a long time. You know how sometimes we compare other people’s ministries in a bad way we want to “do” what they’re doing? Hopefully you don’t know what I’m talking about.
Anyway it’s in the starting stages and I’m honored they want to include me in some of the decision-making process… and I’m sure the thoughts that I might have connections to supplies necessary for the production equipment is a bonus. I also got to take a look at a production studio Ghana style and it’s not quite like what we would have in the States, but they have digital editing bays. In college I trained on analog and digital so there not that far behind. However I don’t know about you but something that I don’t associate with Africa in general is the fact that they have TV, cable, Satellite and broadband slow but it’s expanding.
But Ghana is a developing Nation and there are some really rich people here with tons of influence. So then I think this could possibly help people see what needs are here within your own country.
So be in prayer that this 30minute program would be guided effectively and started for the right reasons. Also pray that we would continue think outside of the box and not comparatively to what other people are doing.
Also the Community Bible Club will kick off on December 16th at 10am-12pm. We are finalizing main curriculum points to cover for the year. Please keep the whole club in your prayers.
As for this upcoming week…I’m working on some DVD projects and I have to say thanks to my Aunt Leslie. Her fourth grade class wrote me letters to ask about Ghana and how God is moving over here. Thanks- what a blessing.
Love-
Margaret
It was fun though. We had about 30 people at Claire and Michaels house. In my family tradition we eat the Thanksgiving meal at lunch and then have leftovers for dinner. But we actually met at the Mozley’s at 5pm., which worked out good because it took us all day to prepare what we brought.
I’ve gotten into cooking which in itself is ironic. I cook more and eat better in Africa than I did in the States? I don’t know why I’ve developed a desire for cooking. It could be that going to the grocery store here is such a task at the end you feel accomplished so making something out of what you purchased, which took all day, gives you a sense of joy…. especially when people like it. So for this thanksgiving celebration I made green bean casserole, with fresh not canned green beans and apple crisp desert. Our total family, the Sims, made more than that…if you want to take a look at the fact that I didn’t starve in Africa for Thanksgiving check out the pictures on flickr. This was all on Saturday.
On actual Thanksgiving Day the Sims family, Nicole’s Mom and Dad, which are here visiting, Gifty and I went to Champs Restaurant and enjoyed traditional Thanksgiving nachos!
Even though the food was plentiful Thursday and Saturday and I was with my African missionary family I was probably more thankful this year than in years past. I am always thankful for God, but this year I’m even more thankful for the relationship with Him because I would not make it here without His constant love and companionship. Then thinking about my relationship with God makes me think about Jesus and the fact that we even have a relationship with God. Huge mind boggling God. And then the Spirit starts showing me parts of me and parts of God in me and in others…it’s AWESOME!
Of course I also mentioned some other pretty big things like family … my family here and my mom, dad, sister and nephew back home and all my extended family and Kingdom family and friends…. And then this year I’m really thankful for…. Skype and mail and email J !
You know my dad and I am reading the Psalms together and on Thanksgiving Day was Psalm 121…a song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem, NLT. So then I thought about how Big God is and wondered what He looked like to people who were pilgrims back in the day.
Now before the holidays I had a meeting with the Director of Communication/Publication for Methodist Church Ghana on Wednesday. We met for about four hours and they want to start a new program via satellite targeting current Methodist members and unreached peoples. So I asked some questions about usefulness and tried to ask some of the hard questions that we sometimes loose sight of once we’ve been ‘doing’ church for a long time. You know how sometimes we compare other people’s ministries in a bad way we want to “do” what they’re doing? Hopefully you don’t know what I’m talking about.
Anyway it’s in the starting stages and I’m honored they want to include me in some of the decision-making process… and I’m sure the thoughts that I might have connections to supplies necessary for the production equipment is a bonus. I also got to take a look at a production studio Ghana style and it’s not quite like what we would have in the States, but they have digital editing bays. In college I trained on analog and digital so there not that far behind. However I don’t know about you but something that I don’t associate with Africa in general is the fact that they have TV, cable, Satellite and broadband slow but it’s expanding.
But Ghana is a developing Nation and there are some really rich people here with tons of influence. So then I think this could possibly help people see what needs are here within your own country.
So be in prayer that this 30minute program would be guided effectively and started for the right reasons. Also pray that we would continue think outside of the box and not comparatively to what other people are doing.
Also the Community Bible Club will kick off on December 16th at 10am-12pm. We are finalizing main curriculum points to cover for the year. Please keep the whole club in your prayers.
As for this upcoming week…I’m working on some DVD projects and I have to say thanks to my Aunt Leslie. Her fourth grade class wrote me letters to ask about Ghana and how God is moving over here. Thanks- what a blessing.
Love-
Margaret
11.20.2006
november 20
Gosh…I’m two weeks behind on my blog! Here goes…
Week before last I worked on a couple video projects. Last Friday, November 10, I started taping myself… which was funny, for a four month update video the Orchard showed to Grow Zone…maybe Ri-Zoo? And thankfully it went through over e-mail in a 5mb file. Now for those who don’t get kb’s and mb’s in computer lingo (I say this because in truth I really just learned all this last week as I was trying to send my e-mail) 5mb isn’t a huge file, but it’s not small either. The thing is here in Ghana our cable that runs Internet isn’t very thick so even the fastest Internet service through DSL is SLOW compared to the States. …. What does that mean for video? It means you have to wait until Saturday when virtually no one is online and there’s enough space to send a file J but thankfully it went through. Not only was I working on my video for The Orchard, but also Michael Mozley had a tribute for a funeral we taped and sent via e-mail for a friend who died. So it was a HUGE praise the Internet worked for those two videos.
Last Sunday we worshiped at Medina West. The church close to my house. I know there are people, Christians, there who love the Lord. But again this Sunday challenged me so much in the judgment department.
This past Sunday during the worship service we broke for five minutes to talk about giving money. The church broke into ‘classes’ so they could write down how much money you were giving to Annual Harvest. Annual Harvest is a time where the church here focuses on giving money for future “projects.” We brought a guest, non-churchgoer, that morning. One of the reason’s he doesn’t go to church is because he feels they always talk about money. What happened that Sunday? We had four offerings, broke to meet in small groups to talk about money, talked about money in the sermon and then broke for five more minutes at the end to talk more about money. Don’t get me wrong, I think the Bible is clear that we are to have giving hearts and are blessed from giving. I also think there’s more to giving than money, and when we talk about the financial side of giving once the Spirit is moving in us we continue to ask for His guidance and there becomes an overflow that we want to give. It’s not something we do as a check mark… and hey I’ve given my 10% and I’m a good Christian. It’s the heart of realizing EVERYTHING is God’s and we’re to be faithful stewards. Anyway. I prayed the whole church service that if I was to say something to leadership about how confusing breaking in the middle of the service was to someone who was new. And what if it was their first time to church was this the best way to operate? I didn’t want to come across as just a white person trying to change things, but I think this is biblical and felt on my heart this was something worth talking about. After church I got to talk with the Assistant Preacher. Through some great conversation I learned they have small groups at the church that meet on Friday and Saturday, but the attendance isn’t up to par. The most people show up on Sunday, hence the reason to stop service and collect money. However the guy, David, and I had about a 15-minute conversation in which I learned cultural lessons and I think he started to understand how confusing it was for a first timer.
Anyway- I could go on forever about how there’s a whole lot of hierarchy in the Methodist Church here…so be in prayer that God continues to shape my heart and give me direction of where I’m supposed to go with the conviction and feelings inside my heart.
Now fast forward to this past week.
I’m reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. It’s GREAT.
I received a phone call Monday night around 7:30pm. Monday day was a great day. I was with Nicole and Kirk running errands and we rode the trotro home. My first trotro experience. There are about 15 people at any given time on the trotro. To catch it you stand at a bus stop and wait to hear the trotro mate screaming through the window from behind the passenger seat “Medina, Medina, Medina” or wherever the destination is of that particular trotro. It’s quite interesting and extremely cheap. So we waited at the stop and heard our destination route. Culturally you don’t talk on the trotro, but I didn’t really blend in that much anyway, so you know I had to ask some questions. I was dropped off at my language class at the University of Legon stop. The person I was asking questions to ended up being a student on campus and he and I walked together until we parted ways. The people here really are nice and help you whenever you need anything. I didn’t know what to do since it was my fist time and he took my under his wing.
Then I had language and I’m starting to hear more and more. Kirk, Eli, Aidian and Gifty came and picked me up from class and we went home and ate dinner.
I was reading Velvet Elvis when Lauri Korum called. She’s a nurse at the US Embassy. She is the one who helped me when I had that sinus infection for a month when I first moved here. She received a call from the Peace Corps and she called me. They needed someone to come and sit with a girl who they said was suicidal. When Laurie called me I agreed without thinking about it, hung up the phone and then thought to myself. Oh my gosh what did I just get myself into? I don’t know anything about suicidal people or how to be with them. Then I started praying Lord if you want me to do this then you’ll have to guide me. I of course can’t put into words the feeling of comfort and peace that came over me. Then Laurie called back around 10 minutes later. They wanted someone with medical experience. Whew! Off the hook. I figured God just wanted me to say yes even if He didn’t need me. But then at 9:30pm they called back and were coming to pick me up at 10:30pm. I called Marley, the prayer leader back home, and she sent e-mail to the prayer team and called my mom. My mom got some of the best prayer warriors in my family to start praying and I didn’t even know all of this until the next day. That night though I didn’t get too sleepy and stayed awake just incase “the girl” needed or wanted to talk. I only saw her once at midnight and then at 6am when she woke up to shower. She seemed to be really nice and I don’t know everything she’s going or has been through. I just told her I didn’t know and that I had been praying all night. We had some other conversations but besides that that was it.
The awesome part is that she had probably around 50+ people praying for her because God has set up a prayer team back home for events and reasons just like this. I left the Peace Corps office around 7:30am Tuesday heading home. I thought about a lot of things like what a great organization it is for humanitarian efforts. I actually once looked into the Peace Corps but it didn’t work out. That was really before I was following the Lord. I thought about how amazing it is to me that some volunteers don’t know Jesus and make it in terribly hard and depressing situations. I don’t know how they do it. I do remember what it feels like to think you can do things on your own and feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. Sometimes I still feel like that, but now I have Someone who knows more than I, who takes on my burdens, carries them and gives me peace. I got home around 8:45am because traffic was terrible and took my car straight to the mechanic shop. I was supposed to be there at 7am so I was two hours late. Thankfully he understood. I went with him to the “shop” to get my car’s a.c. fixed. This is funny because we met a man under a tree next to a gas station…that was the shop! My mechanic friend Kwasi, needed to keep the car so I took the trotro home…by myself this time.
It’s neat how God let me ride the first time on Monday because He knew the next day I would need to have transport and this way I wasn’t nervous at all. I love the steps He gives us at our needed pace of grace.
The trotro drop off point is about 1/2 mile from my house so I walked home. By this time I hadn’t slept in 28 hours so I was pretty tired. I stopped by a neighbors orange stand and bought an orange. As I walked down the road, tired, sweaty with orange in hand looking back at the night and morning I felt great. It was a moment I think I will remember forever. The feeling that I’m right where God wants me to be. Hard as it is especially with holidays coming up. And I walked a thankful thankful walk home. It was nice to be able to get around a place by yourself; feel needed and like you understood a little bit about the culture. I cherish that moment.
I slept from about 11am-4pm and got ready for our bible club meeting Tuesday night. There are five/six Ghanaian leaders, Nicole and me that meet once a week. We’re working on developing the club and last week Claire Mozley came and talked about ways to engage the kids and gave us tips from the collection of information she has from Ghanaians and having lived here 7 years. It was great…there’s some pics of the team doing activities!!!! We were trying them out for the kids’ sake J
Wednesday was language training and running errands. Thursday night Nicole’s family arrived for their three-week visit. So we went to the airport and picked them up around 7:30pm! It was so much fun to see grandchildren running to their grandparents! They have been so much fun since they’ve been here. Nicole’s mom has fibromyalgia the same thing my mom has. So be in prayer that this intense heat doesn’t get her down. It’s been EXTREMELY hot lately…we’re definitely in the dry hot season.
Saturday morning I went to my first Ghanaian funeral. It’s a very sad story. Foxy was 24 and died about a week ago after a tragic accident very close to his home. He was on a motorbike when someone clipped the back of him and slung him and his friend into a parked 18wheeler full of logs. He hit the logs with his head…head on. He worked with Sammy our electrician and has done a lot to our house. Pray for the guy who was on the back of the bike and Foxy’s family. It’s so hard to loose someone so young and to have seen the whole thing.
So then Saturday afternoon we celebrated Jimmy’s birthday with a game of bowling. Yes…I didn’t even know they had a bowling place here…seems non-African doesn’t it?
It was great fellowship and we were the only ones in the place so the Ghanaian guys were yelling with us and cheering us on!
Saturday was a day about life and death. Kind of surreal.
Sunday was another amazing day. We went to the Ga rural mission. That is an area where the people speak Ga. I am learning Twi, but there are I think like 50 something languages just in Ghana? I just asked Gifty and she couldn’t remember…but she said it’s probably more than that. Anyway- these are churches out in the bush. Jacob, who works with the Methodist church, took us to about five churches in the area. So we went to encourage them. It was a great experience to see the joy on these people’s faces, since there are not a whole lot of visitors. Quite inspiring. We left the house around 7:30am and got back around 4pm. It was a long day, but awesome…we only got to talk with really one church. After driving all the way out there, there was a funeral in the village so everyone was at the burial. But the fellowship was still great. I ate some sugar cane off the side of the road, like I used to behind my grandmothers house. Good memories.
That kind of brings things up to speed.
I still need y’all to pray for Gifty and her family. Lots of things going on there. Pray for Nicole’s parents…this heat is really bad right now. Pray for guidance I have a meeting with the Director of Communication for the Methodist Church this Wednesday to talk about videography. Pray for the holidays and my heart being away from family…selfish prayer, but I know I’ll need them cause It’s going to be hard…although…praise the Lord, my video camera is serving as a web cam and I can see my family!!!! So I’ll be able to see Brogan open presents on Christmas morn!!!!!
Love to all-
Margaret
Week before last I worked on a couple video projects. Last Friday, November 10, I started taping myself… which was funny, for a four month update video the Orchard showed to Grow Zone…maybe Ri-Zoo? And thankfully it went through over e-mail in a 5mb file. Now for those who don’t get kb’s and mb’s in computer lingo (I say this because in truth I really just learned all this last week as I was trying to send my e-mail) 5mb isn’t a huge file, but it’s not small either. The thing is here in Ghana our cable that runs Internet isn’t very thick so even the fastest Internet service through DSL is SLOW compared to the States. …. What does that mean for video? It means you have to wait until Saturday when virtually no one is online and there’s enough space to send a file J but thankfully it went through. Not only was I working on my video for The Orchard, but also Michael Mozley had a tribute for a funeral we taped and sent via e-mail for a friend who died. So it was a HUGE praise the Internet worked for those two videos.
Last Sunday we worshiped at Medina West. The church close to my house. I know there are people, Christians, there who love the Lord. But again this Sunday challenged me so much in the judgment department.
This past Sunday during the worship service we broke for five minutes to talk about giving money. The church broke into ‘classes’ so they could write down how much money you were giving to Annual Harvest. Annual Harvest is a time where the church here focuses on giving money for future “projects.” We brought a guest, non-churchgoer, that morning. One of the reason’s he doesn’t go to church is because he feels they always talk about money. What happened that Sunday? We had four offerings, broke to meet in small groups to talk about money, talked about money in the sermon and then broke for five more minutes at the end to talk more about money. Don’t get me wrong, I think the Bible is clear that we are to have giving hearts and are blessed from giving. I also think there’s more to giving than money, and when we talk about the financial side of giving once the Spirit is moving in us we continue to ask for His guidance and there becomes an overflow that we want to give. It’s not something we do as a check mark… and hey I’ve given my 10% and I’m a good Christian. It’s the heart of realizing EVERYTHING is God’s and we’re to be faithful stewards. Anyway. I prayed the whole church service that if I was to say something to leadership about how confusing breaking in the middle of the service was to someone who was new. And what if it was their first time to church was this the best way to operate? I didn’t want to come across as just a white person trying to change things, but I think this is biblical and felt on my heart this was something worth talking about. After church I got to talk with the Assistant Preacher. Through some great conversation I learned they have small groups at the church that meet on Friday and Saturday, but the attendance isn’t up to par. The most people show up on Sunday, hence the reason to stop service and collect money. However the guy, David, and I had about a 15-minute conversation in which I learned cultural lessons and I think he started to understand how confusing it was for a first timer.
Anyway- I could go on forever about how there’s a whole lot of hierarchy in the Methodist Church here…so be in prayer that God continues to shape my heart and give me direction of where I’m supposed to go with the conviction and feelings inside my heart.
Now fast forward to this past week.
I’m reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. It’s GREAT.
I received a phone call Monday night around 7:30pm. Monday day was a great day. I was with Nicole and Kirk running errands and we rode the trotro home. My first trotro experience. There are about 15 people at any given time on the trotro. To catch it you stand at a bus stop and wait to hear the trotro mate screaming through the window from behind the passenger seat “Medina, Medina, Medina” or wherever the destination is of that particular trotro. It’s quite interesting and extremely cheap. So we waited at the stop and heard our destination route. Culturally you don’t talk on the trotro, but I didn’t really blend in that much anyway, so you know I had to ask some questions. I was dropped off at my language class at the University of Legon stop. The person I was asking questions to ended up being a student on campus and he and I walked together until we parted ways. The people here really are nice and help you whenever you need anything. I didn’t know what to do since it was my fist time and he took my under his wing.
Then I had language and I’m starting to hear more and more. Kirk, Eli, Aidian and Gifty came and picked me up from class and we went home and ate dinner.
I was reading Velvet Elvis when Lauri Korum called. She’s a nurse at the US Embassy. She is the one who helped me when I had that sinus infection for a month when I first moved here. She received a call from the Peace Corps and she called me. They needed someone to come and sit with a girl who they said was suicidal. When Laurie called me I agreed without thinking about it, hung up the phone and then thought to myself. Oh my gosh what did I just get myself into? I don’t know anything about suicidal people or how to be with them. Then I started praying Lord if you want me to do this then you’ll have to guide me. I of course can’t put into words the feeling of comfort and peace that came over me. Then Laurie called back around 10 minutes later. They wanted someone with medical experience. Whew! Off the hook. I figured God just wanted me to say yes even if He didn’t need me. But then at 9:30pm they called back and were coming to pick me up at 10:30pm. I called Marley, the prayer leader back home, and she sent e-mail to the prayer team and called my mom. My mom got some of the best prayer warriors in my family to start praying and I didn’t even know all of this until the next day. That night though I didn’t get too sleepy and stayed awake just incase “the girl” needed or wanted to talk. I only saw her once at midnight and then at 6am when she woke up to shower. She seemed to be really nice and I don’t know everything she’s going or has been through. I just told her I didn’t know and that I had been praying all night. We had some other conversations but besides that that was it.
The awesome part is that she had probably around 50+ people praying for her because God has set up a prayer team back home for events and reasons just like this. I left the Peace Corps office around 7:30am Tuesday heading home. I thought about a lot of things like what a great organization it is for humanitarian efforts. I actually once looked into the Peace Corps but it didn’t work out. That was really before I was following the Lord. I thought about how amazing it is to me that some volunteers don’t know Jesus and make it in terribly hard and depressing situations. I don’t know how they do it. I do remember what it feels like to think you can do things on your own and feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. Sometimes I still feel like that, but now I have Someone who knows more than I, who takes on my burdens, carries them and gives me peace. I got home around 8:45am because traffic was terrible and took my car straight to the mechanic shop. I was supposed to be there at 7am so I was two hours late. Thankfully he understood. I went with him to the “shop” to get my car’s a.c. fixed. This is funny because we met a man under a tree next to a gas station…that was the shop! My mechanic friend Kwasi, needed to keep the car so I took the trotro home…by myself this time.
It’s neat how God let me ride the first time on Monday because He knew the next day I would need to have transport and this way I wasn’t nervous at all. I love the steps He gives us at our needed pace of grace.
The trotro drop off point is about 1/2 mile from my house so I walked home. By this time I hadn’t slept in 28 hours so I was pretty tired. I stopped by a neighbors orange stand and bought an orange. As I walked down the road, tired, sweaty with orange in hand looking back at the night and morning I felt great. It was a moment I think I will remember forever. The feeling that I’m right where God wants me to be. Hard as it is especially with holidays coming up. And I walked a thankful thankful walk home. It was nice to be able to get around a place by yourself; feel needed and like you understood a little bit about the culture. I cherish that moment.
I slept from about 11am-4pm and got ready for our bible club meeting Tuesday night. There are five/six Ghanaian leaders, Nicole and me that meet once a week. We’re working on developing the club and last week Claire Mozley came and talked about ways to engage the kids and gave us tips from the collection of information she has from Ghanaians and having lived here 7 years. It was great…there’s some pics of the team doing activities!!!! We were trying them out for the kids’ sake J
Wednesday was language training and running errands. Thursday night Nicole’s family arrived for their three-week visit. So we went to the airport and picked them up around 7:30pm! It was so much fun to see grandchildren running to their grandparents! They have been so much fun since they’ve been here. Nicole’s mom has fibromyalgia the same thing my mom has. So be in prayer that this intense heat doesn’t get her down. It’s been EXTREMELY hot lately…we’re definitely in the dry hot season.
Saturday morning I went to my first Ghanaian funeral. It’s a very sad story. Foxy was 24 and died about a week ago after a tragic accident very close to his home. He was on a motorbike when someone clipped the back of him and slung him and his friend into a parked 18wheeler full of logs. He hit the logs with his head…head on. He worked with Sammy our electrician and has done a lot to our house. Pray for the guy who was on the back of the bike and Foxy’s family. It’s so hard to loose someone so young and to have seen the whole thing.
So then Saturday afternoon we celebrated Jimmy’s birthday with a game of bowling. Yes…I didn’t even know they had a bowling place here…seems non-African doesn’t it?
It was great fellowship and we were the only ones in the place so the Ghanaian guys were yelling with us and cheering us on!
Saturday was a day about life and death. Kind of surreal.
Sunday was another amazing day. We went to the Ga rural mission. That is an area where the people speak Ga. I am learning Twi, but there are I think like 50 something languages just in Ghana? I just asked Gifty and she couldn’t remember…but she said it’s probably more than that. Anyway- these are churches out in the bush. Jacob, who works with the Methodist church, took us to about five churches in the area. So we went to encourage them. It was a great experience to see the joy on these people’s faces, since there are not a whole lot of visitors. Quite inspiring. We left the house around 7:30am and got back around 4pm. It was a long day, but awesome…we only got to talk with really one church. After driving all the way out there, there was a funeral in the village so everyone was at the burial. But the fellowship was still great. I ate some sugar cane off the side of the road, like I used to behind my grandmothers house. Good memories.
That kind of brings things up to speed.
I still need y’all to pray for Gifty and her family. Lots of things going on there. Pray for Nicole’s parents…this heat is really bad right now. Pray for guidance I have a meeting with the Director of Communication for the Methodist Church this Wednesday to talk about videography. Pray for the holidays and my heart being away from family…selfish prayer, but I know I’ll need them cause It’s going to be hard…although…praise the Lord, my video camera is serving as a web cam and I can see my family!!!! So I’ll be able to see Brogan open presents on Christmas morn!!!!!
Love to all-
Margaret
11.07.2006
november 7- presence.
If I had to say in one word what God is teaching me right now I would say presence. Opening my senses to see His omnipotent presence. (big word…you like that J)
Ok- this week was great. Monday we got back from Cape Coast. I went with Tatum, Stephanie and Jimmy to the beach for the weekend. It was a nice getaway after spending three weeks traveling. We did nothing but lay on the beach, sit by the swimming pool and read books. Well we did eat and watch two movies on my computer too! It’s funny because as you read this I wonder if the thought, wow spending time on the beach…hard missionary life? I think that’s a natural question, but in reality it was great Sabbath time. All four of us talked about how God’s moving in our lives, what He’s teaching us and Sunday morning Jimmy had a message that he shared! It was one of those moments where you’re thankful for authentic friends who are on This journey.
We left and visited the Kakum Rainforest. It has elephants there, however you don’t usually see them during the day. But we went for the canopy walk. It says in their little guidebook there are five in the whole world, Ghana being one of them. It’s a swinging rope bridge about 120ft. in the air attached to trees. It’s beautiful. I honestly wish I could stop in the middle of the bridge and take in the scenery, however I was focused on making it to the next tree, then once on the tree landing I would soak it in. And the funny part is I did it the week before when we took the North Georgia team, so I should have been a little more relaxed.
We left there and then had the African experience. We were headed home on what was supposed to be a three-hour drive and came to a place where because of the rains the night before a truck had gotten stuck. It was blocking the road, the main road, and no one could pass. After waiting in the line for an hour we found a man who had found someone that we could follow, on back roads (remember back roads have a different meaning in Africa) to Accra. So we set off. I was driving and they pretty much went about 120 km an hour the whole time. That’s oh about 80 mph or so maybe a little less. Factor in lots of potholes and people and it makes for an interestingly fast driving experience. It was then I realized why God put a passion inside me for driving and when I was young some of my favorite Nintendo games were the racecar ones!
So we made it home in a total of 6 hours! We were exhausted from the drive, but the vacation was nice!
Tuesday I had a call from AIS to lead devotional Wednesday morning faithfulness, which was a lot of fun. (read the blog about this one)
Wednesday I ran around town all day and finally got back into language. I wish my keyboard had Twi letters so I could spell some stuff for you guys…but I guess you’ll just have to come over and learn it J
Thursday we had our field team meeting for the Mission Society missionaries. It was great and we talked about our SMART goals. It always helps me to have set goals others can keep you accountable to!
Friday and Saturday were spent getting my house clean, catching up on e-mails, cooking…not too adventuresome. Except Saturday night Ama, my language teacher, called and there was a play going on at Legon, the University.
So Ama, Gifty and I went to the play about a famous figure in Kumasi. I don’t know whether it was sitting in the open air theatre watching Ghanaians play Ghanaians, listening to the AMAZING live African drumming or watching a play which I’m always a fan of, but I felt right at home. I was sitting between my two good Ghanaian friends enjoying something together. We were laughing, they were talking lots of Twi together and I was trying to pick up on at least one word, they were laughing at me trying to speak Twi. It was great. I felt like God was saying this is My presence. This is life. Doing what you love to do together. Now spread it. I felt like He was smiling down on us that night. Three young adults, from extremely different backgrounds, loving on each other. Man God is big.
Sunday we went to an international church and the Spirit was all up in the guy who was preaching. He was talking about being humbled, crying out for God’s presence and through our weaknesses God deals with us. It was great.
I have felt like I’ve been in a dark place for the past four months and I’m starting to come out of that by God’s grace. My friend Anna P. sent an e-mail the other day from My Utmost for My Highest. You know Oswald’s book. And he said in that daily devotional, that sometimes we suffer not for personal reasons but so that we can have more compassion for someone else as they walk through something. I’ve tucked that away in my heart. It’s funny because I know God uses our experiences to walk beside others in love. It’s just neat how He tells you that and reminds you through a friend who e-mails you.
Please continue to pray for Ama and Gifty. And actually all of us as the holiday seasons approach. The Lord revealed to me lately this holiday season is about being family to others. (which is really probably how it should be all the time) But in a very selfish human brokenness way…I wanted to go home for Christmas. I miss my family and before praying about it thought I needed to go home. But thankfully with the prayers of the prayer team back home interceding for me I finally prayed about the situation and know I’m supposed to be here for the Holidays. Neither Gifty or Ama have a whole lot of family support right now, so just be praying that however God’s plan is designed we would see it.
Love to all
m
Ok- this week was great. Monday we got back from Cape Coast. I went with Tatum, Stephanie and Jimmy to the beach for the weekend. It was a nice getaway after spending three weeks traveling. We did nothing but lay on the beach, sit by the swimming pool and read books. Well we did eat and watch two movies on my computer too! It’s funny because as you read this I wonder if the thought, wow spending time on the beach…hard missionary life? I think that’s a natural question, but in reality it was great Sabbath time. All four of us talked about how God’s moving in our lives, what He’s teaching us and Sunday morning Jimmy had a message that he shared! It was one of those moments where you’re thankful for authentic friends who are on This journey.
We left and visited the Kakum Rainforest. It has elephants there, however you don’t usually see them during the day. But we went for the canopy walk. It says in their little guidebook there are five in the whole world, Ghana being one of them. It’s a swinging rope bridge about 120ft. in the air attached to trees. It’s beautiful. I honestly wish I could stop in the middle of the bridge and take in the scenery, however I was focused on making it to the next tree, then once on the tree landing I would soak it in. And the funny part is I did it the week before when we took the North Georgia team, so I should have been a little more relaxed.
We left there and then had the African experience. We were headed home on what was supposed to be a three-hour drive and came to a place where because of the rains the night before a truck had gotten stuck. It was blocking the road, the main road, and no one could pass. After waiting in the line for an hour we found a man who had found someone that we could follow, on back roads (remember back roads have a different meaning in Africa) to Accra. So we set off. I was driving and they pretty much went about 120 km an hour the whole time. That’s oh about 80 mph or so maybe a little less. Factor in lots of potholes and people and it makes for an interestingly fast driving experience. It was then I realized why God put a passion inside me for driving and when I was young some of my favorite Nintendo games were the racecar ones!
So we made it home in a total of 6 hours! We were exhausted from the drive, but the vacation was nice!
Tuesday I had a call from AIS to lead devotional Wednesday morning faithfulness, which was a lot of fun. (read the blog about this one)
Wednesday I ran around town all day and finally got back into language. I wish my keyboard had Twi letters so I could spell some stuff for you guys…but I guess you’ll just have to come over and learn it J
Thursday we had our field team meeting for the Mission Society missionaries. It was great and we talked about our SMART goals. It always helps me to have set goals others can keep you accountable to!
Friday and Saturday were spent getting my house clean, catching up on e-mails, cooking…not too adventuresome. Except Saturday night Ama, my language teacher, called and there was a play going on at Legon, the University.
So Ama, Gifty and I went to the play about a famous figure in Kumasi. I don’t know whether it was sitting in the open air theatre watching Ghanaians play Ghanaians, listening to the AMAZING live African drumming or watching a play which I’m always a fan of, but I felt right at home. I was sitting between my two good Ghanaian friends enjoying something together. We were laughing, they were talking lots of Twi together and I was trying to pick up on at least one word, they were laughing at me trying to speak Twi. It was great. I felt like God was saying this is My presence. This is life. Doing what you love to do together. Now spread it. I felt like He was smiling down on us that night. Three young adults, from extremely different backgrounds, loving on each other. Man God is big.
Sunday we went to an international church and the Spirit was all up in the guy who was preaching. He was talking about being humbled, crying out for God’s presence and through our weaknesses God deals with us. It was great.
I have felt like I’ve been in a dark place for the past four months and I’m starting to come out of that by God’s grace. My friend Anna P. sent an e-mail the other day from My Utmost for My Highest. You know Oswald’s book. And he said in that daily devotional, that sometimes we suffer not for personal reasons but so that we can have more compassion for someone else as they walk through something. I’ve tucked that away in my heart. It’s funny because I know God uses our experiences to walk beside others in love. It’s just neat how He tells you that and reminds you through a friend who e-mails you.
Please continue to pray for Ama and Gifty. And actually all of us as the holiday seasons approach. The Lord revealed to me lately this holiday season is about being family to others. (which is really probably how it should be all the time) But in a very selfish human brokenness way…I wanted to go home for Christmas. I miss my family and before praying about it thought I needed to go home. But thankfully with the prayers of the prayer team back home interceding for me I finally prayed about the situation and know I’m supposed to be here for the Holidays. Neither Gifty or Ama have a whole lot of family support right now, so just be praying that however God’s plan is designed we would see it.
Love to all
m
11.02.2006
nov. 2- mid week
ok- you know you live in another country when you realize a "traditional" holiday has passed and you didn't even realize it. Halloween was two days ago and I totally forgot until I talked to my nephew tonight and realized he was Noah's ghost. Yes, he had a Noah costume and then apparently decided he wanted to be a ghost. So, therefore the only reasonable thing to do....become Noah's ghost.
So- this week has been good. I love God's unfailing love and faithfulness. Actually for the past week and a half I was not in the Word and kind of in a funk. Then Tuesday morning I got a call from AIS, the new school that Tatum and Steph and Jimmy teach at, and they wanted me to lead devotional. Now I knew I needed to get some God time in even before that phone call, but it's neat how God gave me something to help get me back on track. There's nothing better for me than to have to speak somewhere to be totally immersed in the Word. I spend time in prayer, comb through the Word over and over and try to realize and hear God's leading. And I was doing that all day Tuesday, then I can't remember what I read and boy it convicited me even more. It talked about giving God the glory. Why do you want to do good. For you or for Him. Yikes!!!! So then I take another step back and cry and realize I'm yet again thankful for His unfailing love and faithfulness. The topic for devotion was about the fruit of the Spirit Faithfulness. There were two groups. The older students 6-11 grade and then the younger ones k-5. I love the Spirit's gift of faithfulness. How He gives us what we need to believe in Him more and the trust it allows us to have that He is in total control and we don't have to lean on our own understanding. I know that's one of the major lesson's God is teaching me in this season of my life. I'm goal oriented, which i think with balance is biblical, but I'm learning it's not healthy to get so upset and anxious about wanting to do something good and useful. I have to lean on God to know that I'm wanting to do everything I can and it's at His pace, not mine. I know we talk about this all the time and I've talked about it...but seriously I feel sometimes like I'm not doing enough, scared that i will look back and think "did I do everything I was supposed to in Ghana." And this is where it's hard not to rely in my own understanding.
I thank God today because more and more do I understand how His mercies are new each day. And that He cares so much for little ole me to do it again and again and again.
I love you family and friends. What a great adventure we are on as Christians.
So- this week has been good. I love God's unfailing love and faithfulness. Actually for the past week and a half I was not in the Word and kind of in a funk. Then Tuesday morning I got a call from AIS, the new school that Tatum and Steph and Jimmy teach at, and they wanted me to lead devotional. Now I knew I needed to get some God time in even before that phone call, but it's neat how God gave me something to help get me back on track. There's nothing better for me than to have to speak somewhere to be totally immersed in the Word. I spend time in prayer, comb through the Word over and over and try to realize and hear God's leading. And I was doing that all day Tuesday, then I can't remember what I read and boy it convicited me even more. It talked about giving God the glory. Why do you want to do good. For you or for Him. Yikes!!!! So then I take another step back and cry and realize I'm yet again thankful for His unfailing love and faithfulness. The topic for devotion was about the fruit of the Spirit Faithfulness. There were two groups. The older students 6-11 grade and then the younger ones k-5. I love the Spirit's gift of faithfulness. How He gives us what we need to believe in Him more and the trust it allows us to have that He is in total control and we don't have to lean on our own understanding. I know that's one of the major lesson's God is teaching me in this season of my life. I'm goal oriented, which i think with balance is biblical, but I'm learning it's not healthy to get so upset and anxious about wanting to do something good and useful. I have to lean on God to know that I'm wanting to do everything I can and it's at His pace, not mine. I know we talk about this all the time and I've talked about it...but seriously I feel sometimes like I'm not doing enough, scared that i will look back and think "did I do everything I was supposed to in Ghana." And this is where it's hard not to rely in my own understanding.
I thank God today because more and more do I understand how His mercies are new each day. And that He cares so much for little ole me to do it again and again and again.
I love you family and friends. What a great adventure we are on as Christians.
10.27.2006
October27-home from the North
We’re back from the North!
Oh I’m in one of those moods where I have tons of thoughts and questions racing through my head. Right now I’m at the Mozley’s playing mom. Claire is at a retreat and Michael is in America so I’m tag teaming with Tatum as we get kids ready for school, cook dinner, make sure homework is done and hang out to watch Gilmore Girls. Did I mention I’m addicted? To Gilmore Girls that is. Yes, today I have watched the last episode of season two before watching the chronological episodes, just so I could find out what happens. Does anyone else do that? I mean I think there’s some kind of code of ethics that I broke. You know how people always say, “You can’t read the ending of a book first. You have to read the whole thing.” Isn’t watching the last episode of a series the exact same?
Then I reflected a little bit. This is what I do in my life cycle. I want to know the ending. There is a part of me that wants to know if I’ll ever get married, have a family, do something that changes the world, make an impact on some young person’s life, figure out “what” I’m great at and have a profession in it…the list is a MILE long. But I bet if I knew the ending it still wouldn’t be good enough, I would still want something else. A “behind the scenes” a “bloopers reel” a “get to know the cast bit” something just a little something more.
But enter in faith. This is where the Spirit comes in and says, “peace my child.” Not about Gilmore Girls, but about life. He doesn’t tell us the end for a reason…I just forget that sometimes. Oh and I can tell when I’m running fast away from the stillness in my heart of being content where I am. I search, I try, and I do whatever to ‘feel’ validated. I do all of this on my on accord without seeking really seeking my Best Friends plan. I don’t want people to get the wrong impression and think I’m off my rocker. Well, for those who already are in on the secret…don’t tell anyone else. But seriously, why is it I want to know the ending or what’s coming next?
You know the past three weeks have been busy for me. We went up North with the team from Georgia and visited some great Ghanaian people who I’ve never got to meet. The trip had its great moments and of course it had its challenging moments. I was doing exactly what I have dreamt of doing for five years. Using a camera, capturing stories and putting those together to tell other people about the events that took place. But then during editing the fatigue sets in and I get frustrated and think….ughh…if only this was finished. I mean this is so annoying. The feeling of not being content and thankful that is. God has given me an opportunity to love on people over here and use skills that he’s equipped me with and I’m still a moron. Moron in the sense that I’m not content. I just reread this whole entry and it sounds like I’ve had 20 red bulls and no sleep. I have to admit I’m writing this totally on my own account. I haven’t prayed about this entry and I really haven’t spent very much God time this week…been “busy.”
But just to fill everyone in on the short-term trip…the team was here for two weeks and we traveled around the country. They worked on two houses, led a bible club meeting, worshiped and taught in some places, but by far the most amazing thing as an outsider to watch was the team dynamic. The team consisted of 10 people from two different churches and a racial mix. Now I’m not the most “pc” person so there were black Americans and white Americans. As a southerner it was great to see God’s love transcending a “mission” team. To see black and white Americans working together loving on each other was great. We talked a lot with the team while they were here during nightly debriefing. They definitely have an Acts 1:8 mentality that there is so much work to be done in our Jerusalem’s as well as End of the Earth.
You know as Christians our hearts are often in the right place but our mouths seem to get us into trouble. Thank God for his grace. It’s hard to extend grace to others especially when you want to be right. But the team really did try to work together and my prayer is that they continue to work together stateside. I finished the team’s video so I’m trying to put it on line so my partners back home can see some of the things that I’m “doing.” But Internet has been in and out this week…so who knows.
I will say after the team left I felt odd. I realized I wasn’t getting on the plane to go back, and having just a taste of American culture sent me into a funk. There are aspects to American culture I can’t stand, but also aspects that I miss. So this past week, while being at the Mozley’s, I’ve been dealing with some homesickness. I also think it’s healthy homesickness. I miss my family and friends and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. Y’all, since most the people who read this blog are friends and family, are the crucial backbone to this ministry. I’m learning more about intercessory prayer as y’all step in for me during hard times and pray for this ministry and me.
Oh and we had our first leaders meeting for the Bible Club this past Saturday. Gifty is a good question asker. She lead off with the question, “Name something that a child does that makes you mad and how you would respond.” This is so the other leaders can get to know each other better and you will know something has happened when you see that person reacting…very good question. Keep praying for this ministry.
I’m starting language again on Tuesday. As for right now I’m going to keep taking it. It gives Ama a job and me some routine during the week as well as a great friend and I’m continuing to learn Twi!
By the way as usual something needed to be fixed this week…my clutch went out in my car. So if anyone needs to know the sound a car makes when the fuel injector and the clutch go bad…let me know. Actually I performed the noise for my mom yesterday when I talked to her on the phone and she said my sisters’ car was making strange noises …I was in heavy traffic, window down…and gave some Ghanaians a good laugh!!!!
I’ve posted some pictures from the trip to the North on Flickr.
Love to all
margaret
Oh I’m in one of those moods where I have tons of thoughts and questions racing through my head. Right now I’m at the Mozley’s playing mom. Claire is at a retreat and Michael is in America so I’m tag teaming with Tatum as we get kids ready for school, cook dinner, make sure homework is done and hang out to watch Gilmore Girls. Did I mention I’m addicted? To Gilmore Girls that is. Yes, today I have watched the last episode of season two before watching the chronological episodes, just so I could find out what happens. Does anyone else do that? I mean I think there’s some kind of code of ethics that I broke. You know how people always say, “You can’t read the ending of a book first. You have to read the whole thing.” Isn’t watching the last episode of a series the exact same?
Then I reflected a little bit. This is what I do in my life cycle. I want to know the ending. There is a part of me that wants to know if I’ll ever get married, have a family, do something that changes the world, make an impact on some young person’s life, figure out “what” I’m great at and have a profession in it…the list is a MILE long. But I bet if I knew the ending it still wouldn’t be good enough, I would still want something else. A “behind the scenes” a “bloopers reel” a “get to know the cast bit” something just a little something more.
But enter in faith. This is where the Spirit comes in and says, “peace my child.” Not about Gilmore Girls, but about life. He doesn’t tell us the end for a reason…I just forget that sometimes. Oh and I can tell when I’m running fast away from the stillness in my heart of being content where I am. I search, I try, and I do whatever to ‘feel’ validated. I do all of this on my on accord without seeking really seeking my Best Friends plan. I don’t want people to get the wrong impression and think I’m off my rocker. Well, for those who already are in on the secret…don’t tell anyone else. But seriously, why is it I want to know the ending or what’s coming next?
You know the past three weeks have been busy for me. We went up North with the team from Georgia and visited some great Ghanaian people who I’ve never got to meet. The trip had its great moments and of course it had its challenging moments. I was doing exactly what I have dreamt of doing for five years. Using a camera, capturing stories and putting those together to tell other people about the events that took place. But then during editing the fatigue sets in and I get frustrated and think….ughh…if only this was finished. I mean this is so annoying. The feeling of not being content and thankful that is. God has given me an opportunity to love on people over here and use skills that he’s equipped me with and I’m still a moron. Moron in the sense that I’m not content. I just reread this whole entry and it sounds like I’ve had 20 red bulls and no sleep. I have to admit I’m writing this totally on my own account. I haven’t prayed about this entry and I really haven’t spent very much God time this week…been “busy.”
But just to fill everyone in on the short-term trip…the team was here for two weeks and we traveled around the country. They worked on two houses, led a bible club meeting, worshiped and taught in some places, but by far the most amazing thing as an outsider to watch was the team dynamic. The team consisted of 10 people from two different churches and a racial mix. Now I’m not the most “pc” person so there were black Americans and white Americans. As a southerner it was great to see God’s love transcending a “mission” team. To see black and white Americans working together loving on each other was great. We talked a lot with the team while they were here during nightly debriefing. They definitely have an Acts 1:8 mentality that there is so much work to be done in our Jerusalem’s as well as End of the Earth.
You know as Christians our hearts are often in the right place but our mouths seem to get us into trouble. Thank God for his grace. It’s hard to extend grace to others especially when you want to be right. But the team really did try to work together and my prayer is that they continue to work together stateside. I finished the team’s video so I’m trying to put it on line so my partners back home can see some of the things that I’m “doing.” But Internet has been in and out this week…so who knows.
I will say after the team left I felt odd. I realized I wasn’t getting on the plane to go back, and having just a taste of American culture sent me into a funk. There are aspects to American culture I can’t stand, but also aspects that I miss. So this past week, while being at the Mozley’s, I’ve been dealing with some homesickness. I also think it’s healthy homesickness. I miss my family and friends and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. Y’all, since most the people who read this blog are friends and family, are the crucial backbone to this ministry. I’m learning more about intercessory prayer as y’all step in for me during hard times and pray for this ministry and me.
Oh and we had our first leaders meeting for the Bible Club this past Saturday. Gifty is a good question asker. She lead off with the question, “Name something that a child does that makes you mad and how you would respond.” This is so the other leaders can get to know each other better and you will know something has happened when you see that person reacting…very good question. Keep praying for this ministry.
I’m starting language again on Tuesday. As for right now I’m going to keep taking it. It gives Ama a job and me some routine during the week as well as a great friend and I’m continuing to learn Twi!
By the way as usual something needed to be fixed this week…my clutch went out in my car. So if anyone needs to know the sound a car makes when the fuel injector and the clutch go bad…let me know. Actually I performed the noise for my mom yesterday when I talked to her on the phone and she said my sisters’ car was making strange noises …I was in heavy traffic, window down…and gave some Ghanaians a good laugh!!!!
I’ve posted some pictures from the trip to the North on Flickr.
Love to all
margaret
10.07.2006
saturday october 7
Here I am sitting underneath a ceiling fan enjoying the nice breeze that it gives off. You will now know through my blog postings, that DRY season is here! The pros....my headaches are so much better since it's not raining ALL the time. I love warm weather, I love clear sunny days or sunny days with clouds interspersed and love seeing the AWESOME sunsets here!
Now the cons, I love warm weather, but when it's hot enough that you sweat in places you didn't know could sweat..well. you get my point. Also, with rolling blackouts, remember it's every three days no power for 12 hours, the nightime is a tetch hot. Although so far it hasn't been too bad, but mosquitos seem to multiply in the heat, at least in my bedroom they do. Back to pros....it's not so bad to take cold showers when it's HOT outside...anyway. I guess that's another reason God got me here in June, I got to enjoy some really awesome days of cool breezes before the oven dry season.
Cool thing happened today. We went to Keta which is in the Eastern Region, two and a half hours away. We were going to play on the beach and swim. Keta seems to be off the beaten path, but still nice roads to where we went. We drove up to a hotel on the beach, that was pretty empty and asked the guy who was walking around if it was safe to swim and he said no, the tide was too high. So we just walked on the beach taking in the BEAUTIFUL scenery and we came up to a group of Ghanaians hanging out on their canoe like boat. It was Gifty, Kirk, Nicole, Aidan, Eli and me. The Ghanaians we met were very nice and let the boys play inside the boat. It totally reminded me of what I picture Peter and the fishermen going out in. Wooden, canoe shaped. They go out from Monday-Friday with about 16 people. They come back each night but stay near the boat to leave early the next day. They usually catch about 30-40 lbs. in one day, that's if they catch, and it takes 30-40 men on shore pulling the net in. The don't work on Saturday as that's the maintence day when the fix holes in the net and also go into town for "socializing." It's their Sabbath. They rest and recoup for going out the next five days. Interesting huh.
So this past week was great well besides my camera breaking. But I got to do something I love to do. Videography. I interviewed Michael and Claire for their video that Michael will take back to the States when he goes in two weeks. It's a brief 5 minute video overviewing their hearts for God's ministry and what that looks like through them to Ghanaians. They stopped by yesterday for a preview before I burned the DVD and they said they really liked it, so of course that made me feel good! The really awesome part was how much God inspired shots, sequence and wording. I know that kind of sounds corny, but it's true. I prayed over the video, especially since my camera had just broken...didn't want anything to go too bad wrong with this :), no seriously I prayed over and about how to edit it together. It made it even more fun, being in conversation in my room with God. I know if people saw me they would think I was CRAZY. Does anybody else talk outloud when they are talking with God?
I also took language Wednesday and Thursday. My language teacher, Ama, had a malaria flare up so we only got two lessons in this week. I'm still praying for language acquistion, but that seems to be going pretty good. I like the teaching style I have. Ama and I go to different places for class and sometimes we drive and do errands while learning...but I've got TONS to learn. Tatum's teaching now so it's just me and Ama...I miss having the accountablilty with Tatum but am also going totally at my pace which I think Tatum was a lot faster at picking it up than me....
All this to say...hopefully I'll be able to use some Twi the next two weeks. I'm actually updating my blog early because Tatum and I are leaving early Monday morning to lead a team from Georgia. We will be going up north for two weeks and I'll be videoing and taking pictures for the team. Then I'll edit the video so they can share with people back home what was going on over here....so be praying for those images to be exactly what God wants to communicate. Also pray for their travel and also for the travel while we're gone. In Ghana the roads are often bad because of potholes and people fly on the gravel broken road...we have a driver, but we still need all the prayer we can get. Also pray for the team's heart and each individual as well as the Ghanaians they will interact with. They are doing a lot of construction and visiting the Kumasi Bible Club along with various other projects.
So I probably won't update my blog until we get back home which will be October 22ish. By the way- I live with a Georgia Bulldog fan and the Mozley's and Tatum are Georgia fans. MSU plays on October 21, Tatum's birthday, so I'm sure I will be hounded after the anilation of our team, not that I don't have faith that we can win, but ...well Georgia's what 9th ranked?
Anyway- I am skipping church tomorrow to wash clothes. I've been holding off all week because we haven't had water run at our house in over three weeks. We have tanks, but we've only got half of the small one left, so I was holding of on laundry.
(I only went five days without showering....just kidding really two :)
But I'm going over to the Mozley's to wash clothes and Tatum and I are having church together to pray for the team coming and worship while we both do laundry as she hasn't packed either. Ps- she's working on two weeks of school lesson plans for Garrett, her substitute, for the next two weeks. Please pray forher, her students and for Garrett as he fills in!
I guess that's it for now. Don't forget to pray for the next two weeks in the North. I hope all is well as you read this....don't forget comments are welcomed!
love to all
margaret :0
Now the cons, I love warm weather, but when it's hot enough that you sweat in places you didn't know could sweat..well. you get my point. Also, with rolling blackouts, remember it's every three days no power for 12 hours, the nightime is a tetch hot. Although so far it hasn't been too bad, but mosquitos seem to multiply in the heat, at least in my bedroom they do. Back to pros....it's not so bad to take cold showers when it's HOT outside...anyway. I guess that's another reason God got me here in June, I got to enjoy some really awesome days of cool breezes before the oven dry season.
Cool thing happened today. We went to Keta which is in the Eastern Region, two and a half hours away. We were going to play on the beach and swim. Keta seems to be off the beaten path, but still nice roads to where we went. We drove up to a hotel on the beach, that was pretty empty and asked the guy who was walking around if it was safe to swim and he said no, the tide was too high. So we just walked on the beach taking in the BEAUTIFUL scenery and we came up to a group of Ghanaians hanging out on their canoe like boat. It was Gifty, Kirk, Nicole, Aidan, Eli and me. The Ghanaians we met were very nice and let the boys play inside the boat. It totally reminded me of what I picture Peter and the fishermen going out in. Wooden, canoe shaped. They go out from Monday-Friday with about 16 people. They come back each night but stay near the boat to leave early the next day. They usually catch about 30-40 lbs. in one day, that's if they catch, and it takes 30-40 men on shore pulling the net in. The don't work on Saturday as that's the maintence day when the fix holes in the net and also go into town for "socializing." It's their Sabbath. They rest and recoup for going out the next five days. Interesting huh.
So this past week was great well besides my camera breaking. But I got to do something I love to do. Videography. I interviewed Michael and Claire for their video that Michael will take back to the States when he goes in two weeks. It's a brief 5 minute video overviewing their hearts for God's ministry and what that looks like through them to Ghanaians. They stopped by yesterday for a preview before I burned the DVD and they said they really liked it, so of course that made me feel good! The really awesome part was how much God inspired shots, sequence and wording. I know that kind of sounds corny, but it's true. I prayed over the video, especially since my camera had just broken...didn't want anything to go too bad wrong with this :), no seriously I prayed over and about how to edit it together. It made it even more fun, being in conversation in my room with God. I know if people saw me they would think I was CRAZY. Does anybody else talk outloud when they are talking with God?
I also took language Wednesday and Thursday. My language teacher, Ama, had a malaria flare up so we only got two lessons in this week. I'm still praying for language acquistion, but that seems to be going pretty good. I like the teaching style I have. Ama and I go to different places for class and sometimes we drive and do errands while learning...but I've got TONS to learn. Tatum's teaching now so it's just me and Ama...I miss having the accountablilty with Tatum but am also going totally at my pace which I think Tatum was a lot faster at picking it up than me....
All this to say...hopefully I'll be able to use some Twi the next two weeks. I'm actually updating my blog early because Tatum and I are leaving early Monday morning to lead a team from Georgia. We will be going up north for two weeks and I'll be videoing and taking pictures for the team. Then I'll edit the video so they can share with people back home what was going on over here....so be praying for those images to be exactly what God wants to communicate. Also pray for their travel and also for the travel while we're gone. In Ghana the roads are often bad because of potholes and people fly on the gravel broken road...we have a driver, but we still need all the prayer we can get. Also pray for the team's heart and each individual as well as the Ghanaians they will interact with. They are doing a lot of construction and visiting the Kumasi Bible Club along with various other projects.
So I probably won't update my blog until we get back home which will be October 22ish. By the way- I live with a Georgia Bulldog fan and the Mozley's and Tatum are Georgia fans. MSU plays on October 21, Tatum's birthday, so I'm sure I will be hounded after the anilation of our team, not that I don't have faith that we can win, but ...well Georgia's what 9th ranked?
Anyway- I am skipping church tomorrow to wash clothes. I've been holding off all week because we haven't had water run at our house in over three weeks. We have tanks, but we've only got half of the small one left, so I was holding of on laundry.
(I only went five days without showering....just kidding really two :)
But I'm going over to the Mozley's to wash clothes and Tatum and I are having church together to pray for the team coming and worship while we both do laundry as she hasn't packed either. Ps- she's working on two weeks of school lesson plans for Garrett, her substitute, for the next two weeks. Please pray forher, her students and for Garrett as he fills in!
I guess that's it for now. Don't forget to pray for the next two weeks in the North. I hope all is well as you read this....don't forget comments are welcomed!
love to all
margaret :0
10.01.2006
October 1st
Faithfulness. Yep if I had to describe in one word what the Lord is teaching me right now that would be it. The past two weeks have been busy and I have realized I love to be busy. I think of course we have to realize that what we “do” doesn’t define us, but also I know I’m created in a way that thrives on having places to go, people to see and things to do with a healthy amount of alone time mixed in there! I say this because the past two weeks I have had the opportunity to do some things that God hard wired me to love to do. Ama, my language teacher, and I went to the Medina Market Wednesday to get the “fixins” for Ghanaian stew. She cooks it and eats it for the week, so my language class that day was in the market. My favorite part was the meat section! We went into an enclosed area and there was the cow. I took in the smells and thought to myself how cool is it that I’m witnessing an area where meat isn’t kept in a cool refrigerator. Now my family I live with doesn’t get meat at this place, we actually buy it at a local grocery store. Yes, can you believe it…there are a couple of grocery stores, very comparable to the kind you would see in the States.
Anyway- after getting all the ingredients for stew we came back to my apartment and christened my kitchen. I haven’t used it yet so I was happy to be able to allow my new friend a place to cook her stew. Ama’s got a great story and I’m so thankful God has put her in my pathway. She’s a believer but I think we’re good at discipling each other. We share about cultural differences and ways we see things through our cultural lens and I’m learning a lot from her. This is the same Ama that went with us to Akropong to see her great uncle…that story was in a previous blog.
So it’s nice to have her and Gifty as friends, they’re teaching me a lot about Ghanaian culture. When they get together it’s great to see because Gifty seems to help mentor Ama in cooking and then they both gang up on me and try to teach me more about language than my pea brain can soak in…but it makes them laugh to hear me try!
Gifty is doing well. Keep her in your prayers with family issues. She is a great friend the other day she stopped me before I left the house, after I had a bad bad day the day before, and before I left she prayed for me and the day ahead.
Let’s see also this past week I took pictures at AIS. They are trying to do a yearbook so I took individual and class photos. I hope they turn out ok and they can use them!
Here’s the sad part. My GL2 camera is messed up and it’s dishearting because I’m working on a project for the Mozley’s and I’m supposed to shoot for a short term team coming in Sunday the 8th. I sent it back to America via Barry, the interim director for AIS. Hopefully B&H photo/Canon will honor the 1-year warranty. We shall see. But the cool part is God revealed the words unfailing faithfulness to me on Wednesday before the camera broke Saturday. I was playing catch up on reading the Psalms and read Psalm 89 which has the words unfailing faithfulness four times right in the beginning. I cried yesterday when I realized cleaning the heads of the camera wasn’t working and the camera was indeed broken. I just sat there begging God to fix it because that’s one of the main reasons I’m here to use the camera and do documentary videos. Then today at church Michael Mozley was preaching and he spoke about giving everything up. Even as a foreign missionary I hang on to “things.” I think we, as humans tend to do that when we don’t even realize we’re doing it. And the Holy Spirit convicted me right there in my seat about my camera and equipment. It’s not mine and God’s going to be faithful in whatever the situation. In my mind He would have just fixed it and I wouldn’t have to spend all day tomorrow on the phone to Canon trying to figure out what I need to do … but that's why I'm not God!
My friend Lyle sent me a cd with some songs on it of course I don’t know who wrote it. Part of the song basically talks about if we make a move we have to trust the timing was right because if we knew the whole vision then we wouldn’t have to use our faith. So I trust right now that the camera breaking is part of the plan. The Mozley’s and Sims have handheld cameras they have graciously said I can borrow. So in the technical difficulties there are mercies.
So emotionally I’m doing ok. Again. The word faithfulness swims in my head.
I miss my family and friends. But again God’s faithfulness. Brogan, my nephew, played his first soccer game (aka football in Ghana) last Saturday and won. This past week they lost, but I heard he thought tackling was part of the game and this week he didn’t plow anyone down, so it’s a start!
I also got my car fixed this week with the help of a driver from the Methodist Church Ghana named Simpson. The fuel injector, breaks and windows all needed to be fixed. Spent this past Friday at an orphanage for the first time. I didn’t do anything but sit there and watch the kids play and sing. I’ll keep you posted on it.
Here’s the prayer list…Keep praying for Ama my language teacher, Gifty my Ghanaian friend that lives with us, Richard the guy who hit me in my wreck, Simpson who drives for the Methodist Church, Sawaaba a new Muslim Christian, William from AIS who helped me during my wreck and all the Muslims during Ramadan. This is a time in Ghana that statistically more robberies have taken place. Muslims are very spiritual people here and mostly nice so don’t think I’m stereotyping and generalizing that’s not my goal. But with fasting here there seems to be some rather brutal ways to break the fast, which actually goes against the purpose of Ramadan. Anyway- I just pray for all people to know the amazing love of a personal relationship with God through Jesus, not just Muslims but everyone.
I love you all.
Margaret
Anyway- after getting all the ingredients for stew we came back to my apartment and christened my kitchen. I haven’t used it yet so I was happy to be able to allow my new friend a place to cook her stew. Ama’s got a great story and I’m so thankful God has put her in my pathway. She’s a believer but I think we’re good at discipling each other. We share about cultural differences and ways we see things through our cultural lens and I’m learning a lot from her. This is the same Ama that went with us to Akropong to see her great uncle…that story was in a previous blog.
So it’s nice to have her and Gifty as friends, they’re teaching me a lot about Ghanaian culture. When they get together it’s great to see because Gifty seems to help mentor Ama in cooking and then they both gang up on me and try to teach me more about language than my pea brain can soak in…but it makes them laugh to hear me try!
Gifty is doing well. Keep her in your prayers with family issues. She is a great friend the other day she stopped me before I left the house, after I had a bad bad day the day before, and before I left she prayed for me and the day ahead.
Let’s see also this past week I took pictures at AIS. They are trying to do a yearbook so I took individual and class photos. I hope they turn out ok and they can use them!
Here’s the sad part. My GL2 camera is messed up and it’s dishearting because I’m working on a project for the Mozley’s and I’m supposed to shoot for a short term team coming in Sunday the 8th. I sent it back to America via Barry, the interim director for AIS. Hopefully B&H photo/Canon will honor the 1-year warranty. We shall see. But the cool part is God revealed the words unfailing faithfulness to me on Wednesday before the camera broke Saturday. I was playing catch up on reading the Psalms and read Psalm 89 which has the words unfailing faithfulness four times right in the beginning. I cried yesterday when I realized cleaning the heads of the camera wasn’t working and the camera was indeed broken. I just sat there begging God to fix it because that’s one of the main reasons I’m here to use the camera and do documentary videos. Then today at church Michael Mozley was preaching and he spoke about giving everything up. Even as a foreign missionary I hang on to “things.” I think we, as humans tend to do that when we don’t even realize we’re doing it. And the Holy Spirit convicted me right there in my seat about my camera and equipment. It’s not mine and God’s going to be faithful in whatever the situation. In my mind He would have just fixed it and I wouldn’t have to spend all day tomorrow on the phone to Canon trying to figure out what I need to do … but that's why I'm not God!
My friend Lyle sent me a cd with some songs on it of course I don’t know who wrote it. Part of the song basically talks about if we make a move we have to trust the timing was right because if we knew the whole vision then we wouldn’t have to use our faith. So I trust right now that the camera breaking is part of the plan. The Mozley’s and Sims have handheld cameras they have graciously said I can borrow. So in the technical difficulties there are mercies.
So emotionally I’m doing ok. Again. The word faithfulness swims in my head.
I miss my family and friends. But again God’s faithfulness. Brogan, my nephew, played his first soccer game (aka football in Ghana) last Saturday and won. This past week they lost, but I heard he thought tackling was part of the game and this week he didn’t plow anyone down, so it’s a start!
I also got my car fixed this week with the help of a driver from the Methodist Church Ghana named Simpson. The fuel injector, breaks and windows all needed to be fixed. Spent this past Friday at an orphanage for the first time. I didn’t do anything but sit there and watch the kids play and sing. I’ll keep you posted on it.
Here’s the prayer list…Keep praying for Ama my language teacher, Gifty my Ghanaian friend that lives with us, Richard the guy who hit me in my wreck, Simpson who drives for the Methodist Church, Sawaaba a new Muslim Christian, William from AIS who helped me during my wreck and all the Muslims during Ramadan. This is a time in Ghana that statistically more robberies have taken place. Muslims are very spiritual people here and mostly nice so don’t think I’m stereotyping and generalizing that’s not my goal. But with fasting here there seems to be some rather brutal ways to break the fast, which actually goes against the purpose of Ramadan. Anyway- I just pray for all people to know the amazing love of a personal relationship with God through Jesus, not just Muslims but everyone.
I love you all.
Margaret
9.19.2006
september 19
It's Tuesday! September 19. Our lights are out today, but we're running the generator ...
This week was good. I did lots of driving around this week but it was fun! You know me...gotta be driving. I think living in Oxford and commuting to Tupelo really made me love driving :) Anyway- last Sunday we went to a FraFrae church...was great they danced lots and lots. It was about an hour away. Then Monday? Gosh, I can't remember. I know Tuesday was our "lights out" day. (Remember there's a three day rotation where we are without electricity for 12 hours). Gifty and I had so much fun we sat on our porch and she started teaching me Twi songs everyone sings here. Here's the funny part...our neighbor Mathew (not sure if he's a believer) heard us and said he wanted to come the next time. Then this Sunday at church a couple of the guys that are helping with the Bible Club said they want to come so next Tuesday during lights out, we'll be jammin on the porch in the dark! Come on over if you want :)
Language is going good. Ama is a fun teacher and so flexible with Tatum and I. It's hard because SO many people speak English in Accra that you're not forced to use Twi....so I think I'm learning ....SLOWLY! Oh now that makes me remember ... last Tuesday I went to the doctor to get some tests run for my work visa. (It only took 3 hours...it took me 2 hours to get there in traffic. I left my house at 7am and didn't get there until 9am.) I say this because Tuesday we had to rearrange schedule for what we intially were going to do which was go to Akropong. Language is Monday, Wedsday and Thursday (well we change so much it's kind of week to week;) We were headed to Akropong, where Micheal's taking courses for his Doctorate. We were supposed to go on Tuesday, but because of doctors appt. we went on Thursday...which meant we were supposed to have language! Ama visited Akroprong when she was little so she road with us and we had language on the move!
I went to tape Andrew Walls, a professor of Micheals. I videoed for Micheal so he could have a little documentation of what Andrew's passion is. Dr. Walls is from Scotland and comes to Ghana to teach twice a year. He's very interesting and a nice man. He's a scholar christian who applies his gifts in acedemia to further the kingdom. And he was in one of CS Lewis' classes!
Anyway- After we taped we visited Ama's great Uncle and she got to visit with him. She hasn't been there in four years, it's expensive to travel there, so this was definetly a treat for her! It was so neat to visit with him in the compound house. (It wasn't a hut compound house) By God's handywork we got to see him because when we arrived we knocked on the door and went in and didn't think anyone was there. Then a lady walking down the road kindly helped us find someone who knew him and he ended up being there. So we stayed about thirty minutes and they caught up on the family. Where everyone was and what they were doing. This is a cool story...the last time Ama saw her uncle she didn't have as good of grades as she could have. Sidenote he was in Education for over 30 years teaching all over Ghana. So she told him, "uncle next time you see me I will be in University," and she is, teaching us! It was one of those moments that you soak it in and think...if the only reason I am here was to give Ama a ride up North, then it was worth the smile on her face! Their picture will be on flickr...so check it out.
Friday Tatum and I ran around with Claire doing some errands. And then Saturday Tatum and I took Stephanie around to get some things for her new house...then it was Sunday! Richard, the guy who was on the motorbike when I had "the accident' had called earlier in the week and was going to go to church with us, but called Sunday morning and said his mother was sick. I need to call and check on her....plus Aidan got sick this week :( He has a high fever for about three days, no malaria, but we don't know what was wrong. So it was just Gifty and me at church Sunday morning, but it was GREAT. The message was on James 3, how powerful our tongue can be. It's SO true. Afterwards we talked to some of the people there and I met a nice guy who works at the airport! He said if I ever had people coming in that needed anything to call him...so if you come and visit....we've got a contact at the airport for help!
This week I would say God's really teaching me how to feel His love. To really rely on validation from Him first and foremost. It's awesome living here, but not without it's ups and downs!
love you all
margaret
This week was good. I did lots of driving around this week but it was fun! You know me...gotta be driving. I think living in Oxford and commuting to Tupelo really made me love driving :) Anyway- last Sunday we went to a FraFrae church...was great they danced lots and lots. It was about an hour away. Then Monday? Gosh, I can't remember. I know Tuesday was our "lights out" day. (Remember there's a three day rotation where we are without electricity for 12 hours). Gifty and I had so much fun we sat on our porch and she started teaching me Twi songs everyone sings here. Here's the funny part...our neighbor Mathew (not sure if he's a believer) heard us and said he wanted to come the next time. Then this Sunday at church a couple of the guys that are helping with the Bible Club said they want to come so next Tuesday during lights out, we'll be jammin on the porch in the dark! Come on over if you want :)
Language is going good. Ama is a fun teacher and so flexible with Tatum and I. It's hard because SO many people speak English in Accra that you're not forced to use Twi....so I think I'm learning ....SLOWLY! Oh now that makes me remember ... last Tuesday I went to the doctor to get some tests run for my work visa. (It only took 3 hours...it took me 2 hours to get there in traffic. I left my house at 7am and didn't get there until 9am.) I say this because Tuesday we had to rearrange schedule for what we intially were going to do which was go to Akropong. Language is Monday, Wedsday and Thursday (well we change so much it's kind of week to week;) We were headed to Akropong, where Micheal's taking courses for his Doctorate. We were supposed to go on Tuesday, but because of doctors appt. we went on Thursday...which meant we were supposed to have language! Ama visited Akroprong when she was little so she road with us and we had language on the move!
I went to tape Andrew Walls, a professor of Micheals. I videoed for Micheal so he could have a little documentation of what Andrew's passion is. Dr. Walls is from Scotland and comes to Ghana to teach twice a year. He's very interesting and a nice man. He's a scholar christian who applies his gifts in acedemia to further the kingdom. And he was in one of CS Lewis' classes!
Anyway- After we taped we visited Ama's great Uncle and she got to visit with him. She hasn't been there in four years, it's expensive to travel there, so this was definetly a treat for her! It was so neat to visit with him in the compound house. (It wasn't a hut compound house) By God's handywork we got to see him because when we arrived we knocked on the door and went in and didn't think anyone was there. Then a lady walking down the road kindly helped us find someone who knew him and he ended up being there. So we stayed about thirty minutes and they caught up on the family. Where everyone was and what they were doing. This is a cool story...the last time Ama saw her uncle she didn't have as good of grades as she could have. Sidenote he was in Education for over 30 years teaching all over Ghana. So she told him, "uncle next time you see me I will be in University," and she is, teaching us! It was one of those moments that you soak it in and think...if the only reason I am here was to give Ama a ride up North, then it was worth the smile on her face! Their picture will be on flickr...so check it out.
Friday Tatum and I ran around with Claire doing some errands. And then Saturday Tatum and I took Stephanie around to get some things for her new house...then it was Sunday! Richard, the guy who was on the motorbike when I had "the accident' had called earlier in the week and was going to go to church with us, but called Sunday morning and said his mother was sick. I need to call and check on her....plus Aidan got sick this week :( He has a high fever for about three days, no malaria, but we don't know what was wrong. So it was just Gifty and me at church Sunday morning, but it was GREAT. The message was on James 3, how powerful our tongue can be. It's SO true. Afterwards we talked to some of the people there and I met a nice guy who works at the airport! He said if I ever had people coming in that needed anything to call him...so if you come and visit....we've got a contact at the airport for help!
This week I would say God's really teaching me how to feel His love. To really rely on validation from Him first and foremost. It's awesome living here, but not without it's ups and downs!
love you all
margaret
9.11.2006
September 10- fun things/pics
saturday day...before we watched emmanuel's gift we went on a tour of the mercyship anastasis. now tatum's a ywam'er and she has heard about this ship for YEARS so it was really exciting for her. i knew nothing of this until i moved to ghana. i have never heard of the vision of mercyship, but it is really neat. they travel around the world doing medical mission. checkout the website www.mercyships.org. so in the picture is barry, he works for the new school that started this september AIS, me, tatum and deseree (she's from new zealand...trying to figure out where God's leading her next)! it was amazing. and even more than that....we drove right up to the boat at the harbor. not something that would be allowed in the states i'm sure.
September 10- fun things/pics
ok so these are the girls in mine and tatum's life! left is ama our twi teacher. i would spell teacher in twi, except my american keyboard doesn't have the letters needed to make the word! ha. then it's me! ok next is afrea, she lives in kumasi, where the mozley's used to live and where tates lived three years ago for four months (i think that's right...she's told me a hundred times and i still can't remember....sorry) then it's tates and then gifty sebogah...she lives with us at the sims' household. she's nuts i love it :). so we are taking a quick photo after all watching emmanuel's gift this past saturday night. we projected the picture up on the wall at the mozley's house and about 30 of us gathered around to watch it! if you are reading this stop, go to a video store and rent this NOW! it's a great depection of ghana...and continue to pray for emmanuel....
September 10-thoughts from this week
This week’s update is split into two sections. Thoughts from the week and fun things from the week equipped with some pics. The “thoughts from the week” is this one…it’s long, but pretty in depth of what’s going on in my heart. For pics of some of the things we did this week…skip down to the next blog entry…September 10 fun things/pics. (I know the title uses quite the vocab!)
I’ve been listening to many 9/11-radio memoirs on BBC news in my car this week. It seems almost odd to me that five years have passed since the attacks. It seems fresh because I can recount that whole morning perfectly clear. You know how people always say during an event like that you will remember exactly where you were. It’s true for me. But at the same time it seems far away when I think about other things that happened five years ago like when I lived with Abby Crane, a roommate I never talk to anymore.
So the meaning of attack has literally been in my face this week. This week’s blog will be hard to be open about at some points but that’s the good news…we’re all ugly inside and that’s why we need Jesus.
Attack- to take aggressive action against (a place or enemy forces with weapons or armed force, typically in a battle or war. (of person or animal) to act against aggressively in an attempt to injure or kill.
This week the enemy has attacked me in my thoughts over and over, the battle over my mind. That’s what he does. He wants to kill our relationship with the Lord and cause hurt to those we’re closest to. He wants us to be unsure and led astray from the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives. He wants us to think for one moment that he can lead us to something better. That’s what he did to Jesus. So why wouldn’t he want to with us?
So what has this looked like in my life this past week? Ugly and hurtful thoughts about those who I’m in close relationship including the family I live with especially against Kirk and Nicole. I started picking apart their faults and not extending grace to them at all. Focusing on our differences and what they “should’ be doing. Thoughts that I’m no good at videography. Thoughts that I’m not doing enough here and worries that I might be lazy. Thoughts running through my head of other missionaries and wanting what they have. Thoughts that I’ve handled situations beautifully, therefore being prideful that I might have had more to do in that situation than God.
Here’s the be careful not to have too much pride one…..Tuesday was a day where I felt God’s presence and had to relinquish control over to Him. I had a wreck. I was making a quick turn left when a motorcycle ran into the driver’s side of my car when he was trying to “overtake” or pass me on the left. He came out of nowhere. He flew off the motorbike before it hit a parked 18-wheeler and thankfully he had been stopped an hour earlier by a policeman and told to “put on his helmet” having no idea later he would be in an accident. I’m so thankful of the many provisions God gave to all those involved that day. After the collision I got out of my car to check and see if he was ok. I could feel the adrenaline pumping and I know he had to be scared. Then it hit me. I had no idea what to do next.
Enter angels.
Stephanie, my friend who is here to teach at AIS, a new school, was in the car with me. Her husband and the project manager were walking back to the school and were on the scene about 1 minute after it happened. I moved my car out of the street, as it was getting honks being in the way.
Then the mob of about 30 Ghanaians formed around Stephanie, Jimmy (her husband) and me. None of us speak Twi fluently so we had no idea what was being said or shall I say screamed.
This was a day I will never forget because of the many cultural lessons I learned. So there stood Jimmy, Stephanie and me. I started dialing numbers on my cell phone trying to see what I needed to do next. Thankfully there were times that Areeba would work, it’s been really bad cell phone service lately, and I got through to Claire who was thirty minutes away and headed my way as quick as she could.
Here you have to go and get the police to report and accident. I had been told by veteran missionaries to wait there for the police. In the meantime the mob that had formed was getting louder and louder and had convinced the guy on the motorbike he probably had internal injuries and was going to die. Let me just say, it’s amazing the influence a mob can have. So he left and then the mob started saying many things including the fact that I didn’t care if the guy lived or died and I was too worried about the police coming. I started praying the moment it happened and I know Jesus was there because I never got scared in a sense that I thought something bad might happen. But it wasn’t like how we would handle this type of situation in the States at all.
Here if you don’t scream and yell for what you think is right, then it’s perceived that you are either lying or don’t really care about the stance you’re taking. So it made me want to learn Twi even faster so next time maybe I can understand and defend myself a little better. Thankfully the Lord provided William. I had been to the school that morning and met William.
What he didn’t know that was thirty minutes later he would spend the better part of Tuesday helping me relate to “the mob.”
It took William about an hour to get the police to the scene. During that time I left to go and check on Richard, the guy on the motorbike. He had gone a couple blocks to a local clinic. I was headed down the road when I saw him walking, so I picked him up. It was the first time we had one on one and I asked him how he was doing and he responded in a very nice fashion. He told me he just wanted to settle without having the police involved because he had to be somewhere shortly. It was around 12:30 pm Tuesday. I told him we had to wait for the police and he said that was ok since they were in route. But when we got back to the “scene” the mob persuaded him that I should just pay for everything and we should call it a day. However in my heart I knew we should wait. I started praying the police officer would be fair and not just assume it was my fault simply because I’m white and perceived to have money. So we stayed. When the police officer arrived he constantly spoke Twi and we asked for him to speak English so I could understand. I hated not knowing the language; thankfully William and Claire were there so we could pick up on what was going on. Sweet Stephanie stood by my side the whole time in case I needed someone to back me up and to just be there for moral support. The funniest thing was when the investigator pulled out a can of paint and started spreading it on the ground. Remember I had moved my car out of the road, so I had no proof of where it was when the accident happened. Some of the “mob” started pointing out specs of paint that could have been thrown about after the crash…anyway…after about 30 minutes of the police officer doing whatever it was he was doing? We got in the car to go to the station. I didn’t think it would be fair for one of us to ride with the investigator (by the way that’s what they call officers here…and the blinker is called the travigator) so when Richard hopped in the car with the officer, I hopped right in too. Not going to get a word in without me there…right. They spoke Twi the whole time, so then I pulled out the charm card. I’ll just try and charm the officer with the fact that I’m taking Twi classes, which I missed because of the wreck. I also spoke what little I knew…and you know what Jesus glorified it all….we all started laughing and I had more conversation with Richard in the car. When we got to the station, about three hours after the whole thing started, I realized Richard was a very nice young man. (he’s 26) At the station is when things turned around. He told me that if he didn’t get anything from the obruni that he would be considered a fool and that’s why he couldn’t back down when we were surrounded by all those people. And these words just came out of my mouth and I know it was the Holy Spirit. I said, “Richard you have to search your heart whether or not it’s more important to you to do what’s right or do what will make other’s like you.” Then we talked about him paying for the taillight on the 18-wheeler that was busted and I offered to pay for his medical expenses. But when we went to tell the officer that everything would be settled between us, he told the officer that he was responsible and would pay for everything. I know it was only one person, but it was huge for him and a blessing for me to get to see. Since then Richard and I took the new taillight to the truck’s owner and we’ve had some really cool conversations. But the thing I think you have to be careful about after a great experience like that is thinking, hey I’m good at being Christian I handled that pretty well….all the glory goes to G. But sometimes you just want to relish in “having handled that really well.” J
Now Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were the days I just really started being attacked more in my mind and thoughts. It’s almost easier coming out of an experience like a wreck and asking for Jesus than it is when your by yourself and having terrible thoughts about those you love. It’s not as glorious and you don’t receive near the kudos of “handling that situation well” when you learn how to love those you’re close too as compared to having not “lost it” during a wreck. Probably because we don’t REALLY want to share those disgusting thoughts with others therefore nobody really knows how to congratulate you since they didn’t really know you were struggling in the first place.
Does this make sense?
All of this to say….the Lord led me to read James 4 yesterday and it spoke right to my heart. Everything I thought about last week was right there in those verses. I have learned this week that living in community with others is hard. But it’s not something God can’t use to reshape and continue to transform our hearts…this morning Nicole and I had a walk and during it we had a great conversation learning even more about each other’s struggles and how we are doing at living in community with each other. I know that conversation came because of prayer. I am so thankful of the prayer team back home and especially how God uses others to pour His love on us. Friday morning in the middle of a breakdown God put it on Marley’s heart to call me. And also on Tiff’s heart to send an e-mail that made me sit in my chair and beg for God’s mercy. It’s such a blessing to see how God uses the friends he puts in our lives.
I am learning more and more about warfare and attacks. I think we rationalize things first like am I tired, am I getting enough exercise, is there a certain time in the month I need to be aware of. But I also want the thought is this spiritual warfare to be in that list of first questions I ask myself when things are crazy. In James 4 he talks about drawing close to God and the enemy will flee. I know it’s true.
I’ve been listening to many 9/11-radio memoirs on BBC news in my car this week. It seems almost odd to me that five years have passed since the attacks. It seems fresh because I can recount that whole morning perfectly clear. You know how people always say during an event like that you will remember exactly where you were. It’s true for me. But at the same time it seems far away when I think about other things that happened five years ago like when I lived with Abby Crane, a roommate I never talk to anymore.
So the meaning of attack has literally been in my face this week. This week’s blog will be hard to be open about at some points but that’s the good news…we’re all ugly inside and that’s why we need Jesus.
Attack- to take aggressive action against (a place or enemy forces with weapons or armed force, typically in a battle or war. (of person or animal) to act against aggressively in an attempt to injure or kill.
This week the enemy has attacked me in my thoughts over and over, the battle over my mind. That’s what he does. He wants to kill our relationship with the Lord and cause hurt to those we’re closest to. He wants us to be unsure and led astray from the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives. He wants us to think for one moment that he can lead us to something better. That’s what he did to Jesus. So why wouldn’t he want to with us?
So what has this looked like in my life this past week? Ugly and hurtful thoughts about those who I’m in close relationship including the family I live with especially against Kirk and Nicole. I started picking apart their faults and not extending grace to them at all. Focusing on our differences and what they “should’ be doing. Thoughts that I’m no good at videography. Thoughts that I’m not doing enough here and worries that I might be lazy. Thoughts running through my head of other missionaries and wanting what they have. Thoughts that I’ve handled situations beautifully, therefore being prideful that I might have had more to do in that situation than God.
Here’s the be careful not to have too much pride one…..Tuesday was a day where I felt God’s presence and had to relinquish control over to Him. I had a wreck. I was making a quick turn left when a motorcycle ran into the driver’s side of my car when he was trying to “overtake” or pass me on the left. He came out of nowhere. He flew off the motorbike before it hit a parked 18-wheeler and thankfully he had been stopped an hour earlier by a policeman and told to “put on his helmet” having no idea later he would be in an accident. I’m so thankful of the many provisions God gave to all those involved that day. After the collision I got out of my car to check and see if he was ok. I could feel the adrenaline pumping and I know he had to be scared. Then it hit me. I had no idea what to do next.
Enter angels.
Stephanie, my friend who is here to teach at AIS, a new school, was in the car with me. Her husband and the project manager were walking back to the school and were on the scene about 1 minute after it happened. I moved my car out of the street, as it was getting honks being in the way.
Then the mob of about 30 Ghanaians formed around Stephanie, Jimmy (her husband) and me. None of us speak Twi fluently so we had no idea what was being said or shall I say screamed.
This was a day I will never forget because of the many cultural lessons I learned. So there stood Jimmy, Stephanie and me. I started dialing numbers on my cell phone trying to see what I needed to do next. Thankfully there were times that Areeba would work, it’s been really bad cell phone service lately, and I got through to Claire who was thirty minutes away and headed my way as quick as she could.
Here you have to go and get the police to report and accident. I had been told by veteran missionaries to wait there for the police. In the meantime the mob that had formed was getting louder and louder and had convinced the guy on the motorbike he probably had internal injuries and was going to die. Let me just say, it’s amazing the influence a mob can have. So he left and then the mob started saying many things including the fact that I didn’t care if the guy lived or died and I was too worried about the police coming. I started praying the moment it happened and I know Jesus was there because I never got scared in a sense that I thought something bad might happen. But it wasn’t like how we would handle this type of situation in the States at all.
Here if you don’t scream and yell for what you think is right, then it’s perceived that you are either lying or don’t really care about the stance you’re taking. So it made me want to learn Twi even faster so next time maybe I can understand and defend myself a little better. Thankfully the Lord provided William. I had been to the school that morning and met William.
What he didn’t know that was thirty minutes later he would spend the better part of Tuesday helping me relate to “the mob.”
It took William about an hour to get the police to the scene. During that time I left to go and check on Richard, the guy on the motorbike. He had gone a couple blocks to a local clinic. I was headed down the road when I saw him walking, so I picked him up. It was the first time we had one on one and I asked him how he was doing and he responded in a very nice fashion. He told me he just wanted to settle without having the police involved because he had to be somewhere shortly. It was around 12:30 pm Tuesday. I told him we had to wait for the police and he said that was ok since they were in route. But when we got back to the “scene” the mob persuaded him that I should just pay for everything and we should call it a day. However in my heart I knew we should wait. I started praying the police officer would be fair and not just assume it was my fault simply because I’m white and perceived to have money. So we stayed. When the police officer arrived he constantly spoke Twi and we asked for him to speak English so I could understand. I hated not knowing the language; thankfully William and Claire were there so we could pick up on what was going on. Sweet Stephanie stood by my side the whole time in case I needed someone to back me up and to just be there for moral support. The funniest thing was when the investigator pulled out a can of paint and started spreading it on the ground. Remember I had moved my car out of the road, so I had no proof of where it was when the accident happened. Some of the “mob” started pointing out specs of paint that could have been thrown about after the crash…anyway…after about 30 minutes of the police officer doing whatever it was he was doing? We got in the car to go to the station. I didn’t think it would be fair for one of us to ride with the investigator (by the way that’s what they call officers here…and the blinker is called the travigator) so when Richard hopped in the car with the officer, I hopped right in too. Not going to get a word in without me there…right. They spoke Twi the whole time, so then I pulled out the charm card. I’ll just try and charm the officer with the fact that I’m taking Twi classes, which I missed because of the wreck. I also spoke what little I knew…and you know what Jesus glorified it all….we all started laughing and I had more conversation with Richard in the car. When we got to the station, about three hours after the whole thing started, I realized Richard was a very nice young man. (he’s 26) At the station is when things turned around. He told me that if he didn’t get anything from the obruni that he would be considered a fool and that’s why he couldn’t back down when we were surrounded by all those people. And these words just came out of my mouth and I know it was the Holy Spirit. I said, “Richard you have to search your heart whether or not it’s more important to you to do what’s right or do what will make other’s like you.” Then we talked about him paying for the taillight on the 18-wheeler that was busted and I offered to pay for his medical expenses. But when we went to tell the officer that everything would be settled between us, he told the officer that he was responsible and would pay for everything. I know it was only one person, but it was huge for him and a blessing for me to get to see. Since then Richard and I took the new taillight to the truck’s owner and we’ve had some really cool conversations. But the thing I think you have to be careful about after a great experience like that is thinking, hey I’m good at being Christian I handled that pretty well….all the glory goes to G. But sometimes you just want to relish in “having handled that really well.” J
Now Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were the days I just really started being attacked more in my mind and thoughts. It’s almost easier coming out of an experience like a wreck and asking for Jesus than it is when your by yourself and having terrible thoughts about those you love. It’s not as glorious and you don’t receive near the kudos of “handling that situation well” when you learn how to love those you’re close too as compared to having not “lost it” during a wreck. Probably because we don’t REALLY want to share those disgusting thoughts with others therefore nobody really knows how to congratulate you since they didn’t really know you were struggling in the first place.
Does this make sense?
All of this to say….the Lord led me to read James 4 yesterday and it spoke right to my heart. Everything I thought about last week was right there in those verses. I have learned this week that living in community with others is hard. But it’s not something God can’t use to reshape and continue to transform our hearts…this morning Nicole and I had a walk and during it we had a great conversation learning even more about each other’s struggles and how we are doing at living in community with each other. I know that conversation came because of prayer. I am so thankful of the prayer team back home and especially how God uses others to pour His love on us. Friday morning in the middle of a breakdown God put it on Marley’s heart to call me. And also on Tiff’s heart to send an e-mail that made me sit in my chair and beg for God’s mercy. It’s such a blessing to see how God uses the friends he puts in our lives.
I am learning more and more about warfare and attacks. I think we rationalize things first like am I tired, am I getting enough exercise, is there a certain time in the month I need to be aware of. But I also want the thought is this spiritual warfare to be in that list of first questions I ask myself when things are crazy. In James 4 he talks about drawing close to God and the enemy will flee. I know it’s true.
September 10- fun things/pics
Picture of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah with us gals. I ran into him at this bank. I was trying to get money out of the atm and it wasn't working. So I asked the guy in front of me "do you know if this is working or not?" He replied no which stank because I really need to get some money out! But he asked how long I had been in Ghana, I'm sure it's because of my impecable Twi!!! ha And I told him two months, as a missionary and will be here for two years. He asked from what state, Mississippi, and he told me where all he had been (lots of states) Then I asked, "on business" which he replied, "i'm a movie star." After that I wasn't too sure about it so of course I asked what movie....and lo and behold... it's Emmanuel. I didn't really know who he was but had heard of this documentary. Then I got in the car and told Claire who I had just met and she jumped out of the car, shook his hand and got his telephone number! The Mozley's show his documentary all the time...actually we watched is Saturday night! So Emmanuel's a nice guy...and he get's his money out of the same atm as the rest of us :)
8.30.2006
attitude & language
Well it's a good thing I didn't blog Tuesday. Why you ask? Well let's just say it was one of those days where you realize how incredibly ugly you are on the inside...and then you beg for Jesus to come in and take over, becuase you are being rotten...ever have those moments, days, years? Ok here's the scoop.
Now Monday was supposed to be the first day of language, but Ama, the teacher, had to reschedule for Tuesday. I called Tuesday and we had to reschedule for 3pm instead of 2:30, that was fine, except Tatum wasn't going to be able to come to the first day of training....well I got to the University at 3pm and waited at the designated spot and waited and waited and waited some more. All this time I was trying Ama's phone that kept saying "this handset has been shutoff and is not receiving calls...this handset has been .." I seriously dialed it 45 times and no that's not a Margaret exageration comment! So then the more I dialed the more mad I got. Then I started thinking of all the other things I could have been doing for the past two months not to mention the past hour, I was mad that I have been here that long and not started language training, then the anxiety ball inside my stomach increased until I left the "meeting place" an hour later absolutely frustrated and for lack of better words "pissed." I got in my car and drove to the gas station across the road. They have two for Tuesday pizza and I was picking it up for our family. Not exactly like Pizza Hut, but hey it's pretty darn good :) Since it's two for Tuesday, you can imagine....EXTREMELY busy. I was waiting in line and someone butted in front of me. I was already mad, it was like he was throwing gasoline on the fire inside....of course the cashier lady's shift was over right as I got to the counter, so then I had to wait for the new person to come on and count her money. By this time I had prayed a little in the car but not given it over... so I ordered and went outside to wait. That was when i really started begging for Jesus's mercy and strength. And of course He provided. As I drove home I kept thinking, man it's good to know that I'm broken and need Him. I can get so anxious, upset, mad then curse yell and scream in my car and He still loves me. I then was convicted of truly surrending earlier in the process so that it doesn't get to the point that I"m so mad I could spit nails....so of course The Spirits still got lots of shaping to do...
Then on Wednesday afternoon we met with some other missionaries and had lunch to send off part of the Ghana team, the Jernigans, to London. They're going for medical training and will be back in three months. After that Tatum, Mary Kay and Charlie and I all went to meet Ama, for the third try. I didn't have my hopes up by any means. Now here's the conviction part, I had gotten so mad Tuesday that Ama's phone was dead and i couldn't reach her, then Wednesday my phone went dead. Yeah, kind of helped me realize I shouldn't have let that make me quite as mad as it did. :) Thank God for grace :) Then we met with Ama and she was GREAT. She's very nice and really wants to help us learn. Today was another great meeting, unfortunately the Jacksons (Mary Kay and Charlie) won't be able to come because it's too far (sidenote, please pray for their language training....something to emerge) but Tatum and I met with Ama and we went over the alphabet and tones today...as well as some pronouns. Tatum picks it up great...and is one of those really organized note takers....so I have to look onto her sheet :) I do have a hard time learning ...I just don't pick it up well....but I'm really not worried about it..i know the Lord's going to lead me...hey He knows every language on earth...which by the way is absolutely amazing in itself!
Also, something that has started in preparation for dry season is twelve hour shifts of power outages. That's right my friends, we are out of power from either 6a-6p or 6p-6a. The 6p-6a shift isn't that bad right now because it's really been cool here. The hotter it gets though....the less fun that will me. It's so interesting to have been getting e-mails about how hot it is in Mississippi and here it's been so nice. Well...the table is turning....around Christmas time here wax candles start melting :) Anybody want to come for a holiday? :)
Here's the big request I have. Gifty Sebugah, she's in the picutres on the left, is going through some hard times right now. PLEASE be in prayer for her and her family and for reconilation among some of them. There are people here who are called "traditionalists" they believe in a type of vodoo and animistic beliefs. There are spells, curses, etc. Please be in prayer that people would see God's truth in these instances and have great discernment against the devils attacks whatever they might be. it's a good feeling when you know you are where God has designed you to be, even with the toughest days, He knows right when to show you how much He loves you and what that looks like through others. Nicole, Kirk and I sat with Gifty last night for hours just being family. What precious time.
We leave for a little get away tomorrow. I haven't really been here long enough to deserve this type of treatment...but I do love the beach. We're going about five hours west of here to relax a bit. Kirk, Nicole, the boys and Gifty haven't taken anytime in the past year to go off for a long weekend, so looks like I got here just in the nick of time :) We're going to spend time within our community growing it deeper, which will be good. Pray for safe travel and for those people we come in contact with on the way!!!!
love you all
margaret
Now Monday was supposed to be the first day of language, but Ama, the teacher, had to reschedule for Tuesday. I called Tuesday and we had to reschedule for 3pm instead of 2:30, that was fine, except Tatum wasn't going to be able to come to the first day of training....well I got to the University at 3pm and waited at the designated spot and waited and waited and waited some more. All this time I was trying Ama's phone that kept saying "this handset has been shutoff and is not receiving calls...this handset has been .." I seriously dialed it 45 times and no that's not a Margaret exageration comment! So then the more I dialed the more mad I got. Then I started thinking of all the other things I could have been doing for the past two months not to mention the past hour, I was mad that I have been here that long and not started language training, then the anxiety ball inside my stomach increased until I left the "meeting place" an hour later absolutely frustrated and for lack of better words "pissed." I got in my car and drove to the gas station across the road. They have two for Tuesday pizza and I was picking it up for our family. Not exactly like Pizza Hut, but hey it's pretty darn good :) Since it's two for Tuesday, you can imagine....EXTREMELY busy. I was waiting in line and someone butted in front of me. I was already mad, it was like he was throwing gasoline on the fire inside....of course the cashier lady's shift was over right as I got to the counter, so then I had to wait for the new person to come on and count her money. By this time I had prayed a little in the car but not given it over... so I ordered and went outside to wait. That was when i really started begging for Jesus's mercy and strength. And of course He provided. As I drove home I kept thinking, man it's good to know that I'm broken and need Him. I can get so anxious, upset, mad then curse yell and scream in my car and He still loves me. I then was convicted of truly surrending earlier in the process so that it doesn't get to the point that I"m so mad I could spit nails....so of course The Spirits still got lots of shaping to do...
Then on Wednesday afternoon we met with some other missionaries and had lunch to send off part of the Ghana team, the Jernigans, to London. They're going for medical training and will be back in three months. After that Tatum, Mary Kay and Charlie and I all went to meet Ama, for the third try. I didn't have my hopes up by any means. Now here's the conviction part, I had gotten so mad Tuesday that Ama's phone was dead and i couldn't reach her, then Wednesday my phone went dead. Yeah, kind of helped me realize I shouldn't have let that make me quite as mad as it did. :) Thank God for grace :) Then we met with Ama and she was GREAT. She's very nice and really wants to help us learn. Today was another great meeting, unfortunately the Jacksons (Mary Kay and Charlie) won't be able to come because it's too far (sidenote, please pray for their language training....something to emerge) but Tatum and I met with Ama and we went over the alphabet and tones today...as well as some pronouns. Tatum picks it up great...and is one of those really organized note takers....so I have to look onto her sheet :) I do have a hard time learning ...I just don't pick it up well....but I'm really not worried about it..i know the Lord's going to lead me...hey He knows every language on earth...which by the way is absolutely amazing in itself!
Also, something that has started in preparation for dry season is twelve hour shifts of power outages. That's right my friends, we are out of power from either 6a-6p or 6p-6a. The 6p-6a shift isn't that bad right now because it's really been cool here. The hotter it gets though....the less fun that will me. It's so interesting to have been getting e-mails about how hot it is in Mississippi and here it's been so nice. Well...the table is turning....around Christmas time here wax candles start melting :) Anybody want to come for a holiday? :)
Here's the big request I have. Gifty Sebugah, she's in the picutres on the left, is going through some hard times right now. PLEASE be in prayer for her and her family and for reconilation among some of them. There are people here who are called "traditionalists" they believe in a type of vodoo and animistic beliefs. There are spells, curses, etc. Please be in prayer that people would see God's truth in these instances and have great discernment against the devils attacks whatever they might be. it's a good feeling when you know you are where God has designed you to be, even with the toughest days, He knows right when to show you how much He loves you and what that looks like through others. Nicole, Kirk and I sat with Gifty last night for hours just being family. What precious time.
We leave for a little get away tomorrow. I haven't really been here long enough to deserve this type of treatment...but I do love the beach. We're going about five hours west of here to relax a bit. Kirk, Nicole, the boys and Gifty haven't taken anytime in the past year to go off for a long weekend, so looks like I got here just in the nick of time :) We're going to spend time within our community growing it deeper, which will be good. Pray for safe travel and for those people we come in contact with on the way!!!!
love you all
margaret
8.28.2006
august 28th update
It’s Monday! The past week has been good. Last Monday night I went with Gifty to youth. Youth is a lot different here it consists of people from age 18-30 and is really a time for young adults to hang out and worship together. It was good and I think Gifty had fun having a white girl there, trying to speak Twi! Everyone there laughed as I tried to speak their language. As the custom is here, if you’re a guest then they ask you to stand up and speak a little bit about yourself. With the British influence here, they have a President of the youth group and she asked for me to stand up and I thought she said, “sing” for us! I said, “Um…did you say sing? Because you really don’t want me to do that?” But she laughed and said no. She just wanted me to share about who I was and why I was there. It was a GREAT cultural experience. The night was beautiful. It’s the end of the rainy season and the breeze is cool at night and the stars were out, so we enjoyed the outside before we went into the church. You know how much I LOVE looking at stars!
The other reason I went with Gifty was to meet with Felix about a community Bible club. Nicole, Gifty and I have been praying about whether or not to start a Bible club for this community. There are a large number of Muslims here from the North and there are some churches in the area, but as far as we know, not a community club for kids. Gifty and Felix, both Ghanaian, are HIGHLY excited about teaching these youngsters more about a life with Jesus and what that looks like. Nicole and I don’t want this to be “An American” Bible Club, but we both feel like we can challenge and encourage the Ghanaian leadership. So we’re praying for three more leaders and I’m hoping when we have short term teams come over this will be one of the areas of outreach people can pour into. Please be in prayer about this, for leaders and for Felix and Gifty….. I NEVER thought God would be calling me to help start a Bible Club for Kids. But I’m thinking that’s precisely one of the reasons He had me in Ri-Zoo the past two years….and why I have great children ministry contacts back in the states that I can pick their brains J.
Also, I’m going to be traveling with a short term team that comes in October and videoing their trip. I’m very excited about this!!!
Yesterday was Ghana’s Annual Conference and I got some good footage. The Mozley’s and the Sims’ families were there so we got some good shots of the people they are pouring into and have been developing relationships with in the Methodist Church. It was a five hour long service, but I’m still praying that God continues to teach me how to love ALL of His creation and worship Him at ALL times. There are some ministers and lay people here that Love the Lord and want to do great things. I just have to remember their hearts are in the right place, but I still want to see the process challenged. Just because we do it one way, doesn’t mean we HAVE to do it the same way. I don’t think that’s an American thought…. is it?
Let’s see…also I’m continually thankful for Internet…I got to listen to the “we are gifted” series pod cast! Thanks for putting those on line Darrell/media team J
Friday was also a day where I felt a sense of accomplishment! Stephanie and Jimmy are married and arrived about three weeks ago. They’re here as teachers at a new school so I took them to a couple of places to start getting some things for their classroom. The AWESOME part was that we navigated around Accra, without getting too lost! HAHAHA J I did take one wrong turn that sent us on a motorway and we drove for about 30 kilometers without having a place we could turn around! Oops. But then we went and got carpet, blinds and more and put it all in my Golf! It’s amazing how much stuff that car will hold! Gosh, I just read the bit about carpet and blinds….you would think a foreign missionary does adventurous, dangerous things daily. I guess we all have days were we have to do the mundane ins and outs….but in everything we take refuge in Him.
I’m doing well emotionally. Still days with ups and downs, you will notice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were left out of the highlights in this update! That’s because it was full of things like cleaning, washing clothes, trying to get the girl who’s helping me, Lady, to understand if you don’t come to work in a week and a half and don’t call it’s not a good way to gain trust. I’m writing this Monday morning and she’s still not here…as of right now she’s an hour late. I’m trying to determine if I’m supposed to continue hiring her because she needs some people to speak Truth into her life, or if I should not rehire her. Be in prayer about this because it’s really hard because I know she needs the work and pay, but she’s also around all my personal information and things…so I’m still praying about what to do…
Oh and what a GREAT blessing…I got to see my mom, dad, sister and NEPHEW Saturday night. The Sims have a web cam and it was slow and distorted, but man was I happy to see their faces J I continue to miss everyone. It’s really hard right now because I just found out Brogan is starting soccer this year, so I will miss every game in his first year of playing sports. But I just have to hope that when I get back I will appreciate family even more than when I left and want to make the most of every game, even when it’s extremely hot and out of my way to go to….
Love to everyone who takes 20 minutes out of their busy day to read my thoughts and keep praying for this mission. God is my refuge daily and I’m learning more and more about the little ways in which this looks like. If you’re reading this then I probably have a relationship with you, unless you’re bored and perusing the internet looking for new people’s blog to read, and I’m so thankful for all the relationships God’s put in my pathway….
The other reason I went with Gifty was to meet with Felix about a community Bible club. Nicole, Gifty and I have been praying about whether or not to start a Bible club for this community. There are a large number of Muslims here from the North and there are some churches in the area, but as far as we know, not a community club for kids. Gifty and Felix, both Ghanaian, are HIGHLY excited about teaching these youngsters more about a life with Jesus and what that looks like. Nicole and I don’t want this to be “An American” Bible Club, but we both feel like we can challenge and encourage the Ghanaian leadership. So we’re praying for three more leaders and I’m hoping when we have short term teams come over this will be one of the areas of outreach people can pour into. Please be in prayer about this, for leaders and for Felix and Gifty….. I NEVER thought God would be calling me to help start a Bible Club for Kids. But I’m thinking that’s precisely one of the reasons He had me in Ri-Zoo the past two years….and why I have great children ministry contacts back in the states that I can pick their brains J.
Also, I’m going to be traveling with a short term team that comes in October and videoing their trip. I’m very excited about this!!!
Yesterday was Ghana’s Annual Conference and I got some good footage. The Mozley’s and the Sims’ families were there so we got some good shots of the people they are pouring into and have been developing relationships with in the Methodist Church. It was a five hour long service, but I’m still praying that God continues to teach me how to love ALL of His creation and worship Him at ALL times. There are some ministers and lay people here that Love the Lord and want to do great things. I just have to remember their hearts are in the right place, but I still want to see the process challenged. Just because we do it one way, doesn’t mean we HAVE to do it the same way. I don’t think that’s an American thought…. is it?
Let’s see…also I’m continually thankful for Internet…I got to listen to the “we are gifted” series pod cast! Thanks for putting those on line Darrell/media team J
Friday was also a day where I felt a sense of accomplishment! Stephanie and Jimmy are married and arrived about three weeks ago. They’re here as teachers at a new school so I took them to a couple of places to start getting some things for their classroom. The AWESOME part was that we navigated around Accra, without getting too lost! HAHAHA J I did take one wrong turn that sent us on a motorway and we drove for about 30 kilometers without having a place we could turn around! Oops. But then we went and got carpet, blinds and more and put it all in my Golf! It’s amazing how much stuff that car will hold! Gosh, I just read the bit about carpet and blinds….you would think a foreign missionary does adventurous, dangerous things daily. I guess we all have days were we have to do the mundane ins and outs….but in everything we take refuge in Him.
I’m doing well emotionally. Still days with ups and downs, you will notice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were left out of the highlights in this update! That’s because it was full of things like cleaning, washing clothes, trying to get the girl who’s helping me, Lady, to understand if you don’t come to work in a week and a half and don’t call it’s not a good way to gain trust. I’m writing this Monday morning and she’s still not here…as of right now she’s an hour late. I’m trying to determine if I’m supposed to continue hiring her because she needs some people to speak Truth into her life, or if I should not rehire her. Be in prayer about this because it’s really hard because I know she needs the work and pay, but she’s also around all my personal information and things…so I’m still praying about what to do…
Oh and what a GREAT blessing…I got to see my mom, dad, sister and NEPHEW Saturday night. The Sims have a web cam and it was slow and distorted, but man was I happy to see their faces J I continue to miss everyone. It’s really hard right now because I just found out Brogan is starting soccer this year, so I will miss every game in his first year of playing sports. But I just have to hope that when I get back I will appreciate family even more than when I left and want to make the most of every game, even when it’s extremely hot and out of my way to go to….
Love to everyone who takes 20 minutes out of their busy day to read my thoughts and keep praying for this mission. God is my refuge daily and I’m learning more and more about the little ways in which this looks like. If you’re reading this then I probably have a relationship with you, unless you’re bored and perusing the internet looking for new people’s blog to read, and I’m so thankful for all the relationships God’s put in my pathway….
8.20.2006
IM IN
I have officially moved into my apartment! Yeah! The Sims are letting me use their bed I was using in the guest bedroom until dry season. Then I'll buy a bed on the side of the road...when the mold isn't as prevelant!!!! This is my bedroom...more pics to follow on the rest of the house...
some pics
So this is the hill of rocks we went up in a 15 seat passenger van. I was holding a two year old in my lap...it was great fun. The man kept saying, "Use force...or you won't make it...use force...use force..."
August 20th update
What a great week. It's exciting to write that as much as it is for those to read it who have been praying for this mission! You ask...ok Margaret, "What was so GREAT about this past week?" For starters, I finished reading a great book that the friends who sent the birthday package included. God is Closer than You Think. Throughout this week God spoke to me through that book, the Pslams and through a new movie I watched, Shadowlands about CS Lewis' life during the time he met, married and fell in love with his wife. During the time his wife is terminally sick someone asks, "Have you been praying to God?" Lewis says, "yes I pray all the time, I can't stop it it flows out....it's not changing God, He's changing me." And through his wife's sickness and death (sorry I just spoiled the movie for those who haven't seen it) he starts to realize how much suffering causes us to love deeper and to grow in faith. So along with that movie and reading Ortberg's book, which quotes Lewis frequently, God really is working on my heart to have a heart of worship no matter the situation. And that is GREAT news.
Also, we went to Madina West. (the church that I've been struggling going to) There was a sweet spirit in that church this morning. It could have had to do a little bit with the fact that I got to experience a Ghanian tradition of marriage. The formal wedding was yesterday, but today was the vows before the church. Everyone was clapping and dancing as they said their vows and when it came time for the kiss, the groom politely kissed the bride on the cheek to which the preacher responded, "You didn't do it right." That sent the congregation into hoops and hollers. I still didn't understand but a couple words the preachers said, but God helped my heart be in the right shape this morning. One of the things Ortberg talks about in his book is how human creation is over all other creation. Including mountains, waters, sky the Grand Canyon...those HUGE creations that we marvel at, but yet we don't fall down in awe over each human. So I tried to remember that this morning and realized how thankful I am today that God is transforming my heart to look at these people with love. Wanting to know more and understand this culture more.
Another reason has to be that Nicole and I walked throughout the week. We had one day were we ventured off into an area that is very "typical" Africa. That meaning, run down shack housing with many people living out of one. No indoor plumbing, a bore head to get water. However I couldn't really tell you anything about the people because I don't know them. They were very polite and smiled at two white girls, who weren't really lost, just taken the off beaten path. You know it also makes you feel good when you pass by the stand you've been going to frequently and they wave real big and smile.
Another great part of this week was the fellowship. Tuesday night a group of five girls, including me, went out to dinner and started getting to know each other. You're thinking...out to dinner...hard life! Yes, there are restaurants here in Accra. Remember I live in a very busy, industrialized part of Ghana. It's not how a lot of people "picture" Africa. But we went to dinner and it's neat to see how God has put us in community to support and challenge each other...maybe even some accountablity partners immerging :)
To top it off yesterday was an adventure. I looked in the Bradt guide to find somewhere for an outing so we could see the countryside of Ghana. Well it worked. I'm going to upload a picture that we took as we were going up the mountain and were stopped when a bulldozer was shoveling rocks on the side of the mountain. The rocks were actually the road. And if we wanted to continue where we were heading then the 15 seat van was going to have to go over the rock hill. Keep in mind on the right side was a drop off....we were on a mountain. So one of the Ghanain guys tells Kirk, "you must use FORCE or you won't make it.." that being said Kirk revved the engine, put it in second and off we went. We dented in the bumper when we hit the slope, threw some rocks but Kirk kept in under control and we didn't roll off the mountain. I was holding a two year old in my lap, so I didn't get very many good pictures...(yeah kids don't have to ride in car seats here...it's kind of nice) So that trip was fun. We went to Aburi and checked out the botanical gardens there. It's about an hour north of where I live.
I know this is getting long, but also I went into the outskirts of the market all by myself Friday! I know, small celebration...but hey I was pumped. I have met a lady named Joyce who sells fabric for 20,000 cedis a yard. That's roughly $2usd. She's really nice so if you ever come visit and need some cloth....I know one place we can go :)
Also, I sat with Gifty and Nicole today and we talked about the possiblity of helping to start a children's bible club. It's in the prayer and talking phase right now. We want it to be Ghanain lead and owned by the people here, so be in prayer that we listen to what God wants us to do. Especially for Nicole and I as we don't want to make it an oboruni, Americanized club, but we also want to challenge the thought processes of the way to strategically help children here understand and apply Jesus' love.
And I called the women who has an orphanage not too far from here. She was out of town and is supposed to call me back...so we'll see!
love to all...thanks so much for the e-mails, the packages, the prayers...everything. I miss family and friends, but I'm SO thankful for internet!
Also, we went to Madina West. (the church that I've been struggling going to) There was a sweet spirit in that church this morning. It could have had to do a little bit with the fact that I got to experience a Ghanian tradition of marriage. The formal wedding was yesterday, but today was the vows before the church. Everyone was clapping and dancing as they said their vows and when it came time for the kiss, the groom politely kissed the bride on the cheek to which the preacher responded, "You didn't do it right." That sent the congregation into hoops and hollers. I still didn't understand but a couple words the preachers said, but God helped my heart be in the right shape this morning. One of the things Ortberg talks about in his book is how human creation is over all other creation. Including mountains, waters, sky the Grand Canyon...those HUGE creations that we marvel at, but yet we don't fall down in awe over each human. So I tried to remember that this morning and realized how thankful I am today that God is transforming my heart to look at these people with love. Wanting to know more and understand this culture more.
Another reason has to be that Nicole and I walked throughout the week. We had one day were we ventured off into an area that is very "typical" Africa. That meaning, run down shack housing with many people living out of one. No indoor plumbing, a bore head to get water. However I couldn't really tell you anything about the people because I don't know them. They were very polite and smiled at two white girls, who weren't really lost, just taken the off beaten path. You know it also makes you feel good when you pass by the stand you've been going to frequently and they wave real big and smile.
Another great part of this week was the fellowship. Tuesday night a group of five girls, including me, went out to dinner and started getting to know each other. You're thinking...out to dinner...hard life! Yes, there are restaurants here in Accra. Remember I live in a very busy, industrialized part of Ghana. It's not how a lot of people "picture" Africa. But we went to dinner and it's neat to see how God has put us in community to support and challenge each other...maybe even some accountablity partners immerging :)
To top it off yesterday was an adventure. I looked in the Bradt guide to find somewhere for an outing so we could see the countryside of Ghana. Well it worked. I'm going to upload a picture that we took as we were going up the mountain and were stopped when a bulldozer was shoveling rocks on the side of the mountain. The rocks were actually the road. And if we wanted to continue where we were heading then the 15 seat van was going to have to go over the rock hill. Keep in mind on the right side was a drop off....we were on a mountain. So one of the Ghanain guys tells Kirk, "you must use FORCE or you won't make it.." that being said Kirk revved the engine, put it in second and off we went. We dented in the bumper when we hit the slope, threw some rocks but Kirk kept in under control and we didn't roll off the mountain. I was holding a two year old in my lap, so I didn't get very many good pictures...(yeah kids don't have to ride in car seats here...it's kind of nice) So that trip was fun. We went to Aburi and checked out the botanical gardens there. It's about an hour north of where I live.
I know this is getting long, but also I went into the outskirts of the market all by myself Friday! I know, small celebration...but hey I was pumped. I have met a lady named Joyce who sells fabric for 20,000 cedis a yard. That's roughly $2usd. She's really nice so if you ever come visit and need some cloth....I know one place we can go :)
Also, I sat with Gifty and Nicole today and we talked about the possiblity of helping to start a children's bible club. It's in the prayer and talking phase right now. We want it to be Ghanain lead and owned by the people here, so be in prayer that we listen to what God wants us to do. Especially for Nicole and I as we don't want to make it an oboruni, Americanized club, but we also want to challenge the thought processes of the way to strategically help children here understand and apply Jesus' love.
And I called the women who has an orphanage not too far from here. She was out of town and is supposed to call me back...so we'll see!
love to all...thanks so much for the e-mails, the packages, the prayers...everything. I miss family and friends, but I'm SO thankful for internet!
8.17.2006
God is Closer Than You Think
I'm reading this book by John Ortberg, God is Closer Than You Think, hence the title of this post, and I just finished chapter seven. Ortberg is talking about how we have different spiritual pathways, or ways in which we connect with God. Some come more naturally than others and it's good to have a mixture of all of these. At the end of the chapter he closes describing that one pathway is no better than the other and as we realize people are all different it helps with judging and learning how to love deeper. The quote from Lewis is made from a reflection on the book of Revelation as John writes we will each receive from God a name that remains a secret between him and us throughout eternity...here's the quote I like.... "What shall we take this secrecy to mean? Surely that each of the redeemed shall forever know and praise some one aspect of the Divine beauty better than any other creature can. Why else were indivduals created, but that God, loving all infinetly, should love each differently? If all experienced God in the same way and returned Him an identical worship, the song of the Church triumphant would have no symphony, it would be like an orchestra in which all the instruments played the same note."
i think i'm an oboe. definetly an odd sound.
i think i'm an oboe. definetly an odd sound.
8.16.2006
august 16th update
branching out- ghana, west africa Let's see where to begin. Last week was full of editing. I blogged Wednesday about struggling with final cut pro and I think I've figured out it's editing using my external hard drive...but anyway. We'll figure that out! I spent Thursday, Friday and this Monday finishing the project, but praises...that one's finished. Yeah! I think Nicole and Kirk sent the dvd's out to their family today...so hopefully their relatives can enjoy seeing their grandbabies! I know i miss my nephew and it's only been a couple months. Their families haven't seen the grandbabies in a year I think. Also, pray for Gifty and Eli, they came down with some kind of sickness Saturday and are still not 100% yet. So needless to say Saturday and Sunday were pretty quite days around here. I can't remember when but Tatum and I also ran around town sometime this week. I think it was Monday? Uh oh..everything's running together. I'm going to have to start journaling better! So as far as ministry goes.... I called about volunteering at an orphanage today and am going to talk to the lady Friday and just keep praying about wether that's where God wants me...I start langauge training hopeufully on the 21st. I talked to my language teacher today and she's calling tomorrow to firm up a schedule. Nicole and I have been walking in the mornings and that's been really neat. We get some stares, I'm not sure if that's just because we're white women walking or what it is :)! We took a foot road today, one that doesn't really have car traffic on it, and there were many Muslims living and walking in that area. It reminds me constantly of the fact that there are many many people here who worship faithfully, but don't know Jesus. So be in prayer for the muslim communities here. I also, as you can see from the picture below have sawed the moldy bed in two and have realized there's A LOT of mold on the inside. So I'm back to square one with finding a bed and somewhere to store my clothes. I've been here since June 26, almost two months, still living out of a suitcase, but then i think of the blessing it was to have kind of bee being prepared for this the past three years. Never really settling long enough to unpack...seems to be a famaliar story in my life :) But all is well here, and HUGE praises I'm feeling a TON better. Thanks for the prayers on the sickness ... I can feel them. Don't have a whole lot to report. Still praying about what to get involved with...I'm excited about language training....de e yea (sleep well) margaret
the moldy bed
this is the bed after i sawed it in two. click on the flicker images to get a close up of the lucious mold on the inside. but hey it's all part of the experience right!
8.11.2006
tiff and me
happy birthday to tiff! I'm experimenting with flicker...and this is the first pic! On the right there is a link where I will be adding more photos. check each month to see the ones that "make the cut."
8.09.2006
august 9th.
It’s mid-week now…so I’m three days behind schedule on updating my blog! Oops J It’s neat as I sit down to type about last week, it’s almost hard to remember what happened. A week ago Sunday we went to Medina West, the church right down from where I live, and it was RAINING so there weren’t many people there that morning. It was the typical three-hour service with hymns from British influence, thoust saist the truth, knowenst that Thy lovest thee…I mean is that understandable? Sorry I need to be incarnational…but I just don’t think they even like it. I could be wrong. But when African style music is played the place comes ALIVE.
The good thing is that I’m constantly aware that worship isn’t about us, and I’ve been really praying God will teach me how to worship Him always. No matter the circumstances. And I know people have been praying with and for me. How do I know that? Well I believe one of the “desires of my heart” was given to me this past Sunday. I went to a service at a place called Asbury Dunwell and it was GREAT. Nice people, engaged in worship, smiling and friendly. It’s amazing how the worship of others is affecting my worship? I’m not sure it’s supposed to be like that? But that’s just being honest. It was a treat though and I was so thankful to be in and around people who truly wanted to be there and we ended up having a good time. I know church can be fun. It helps you through times of suffering to be connected to people who want to grow. But then I start to think, maybe that’s one of the reasons I’m here. Like Joel’s comment said, God will “mold” us and shape us in ways that we don’t necessarily enjoy, but the trial does strengthen us. I have been blessed since I started really living my life for Jesus to be surrounded by people who are looking for a deeper experience than just going somewhere because that’s where there parents went or it’s just what you do. So I think God’s stretching me to be able to understand what it means to worship Him everywhere no matter the circumstance. I am reading the Psalms and boy can I connect to what David is lamenting and rejoicing about! So that was last Sunday and this Sunday.
Now for in between…let’s see it rained and rained and rained and rained pretty much all of last week. So here’s the recap I’m sick again and stayed in bed all day Monday, the mold on the furniture GREW exponentially this week (because of the rain) even after I bleached it twice and I’m still not in my apartment. Tuesday was fun as Tatum and I spent the whole day running around in the car to check out what we needed to do about visas! (we got some good laugh time in…such a blessing she’s here…and no Tatum if you’re reading this I’m not just nice things because you said nice things about me on your blog…well ok…maybe just a little J just kidding) We had a new family, the Jackson’s, get here Thursday night. Can’t remember Wednesday? Eli turned two Saturday and we hosted everyone at our house for chili and a little fufu for Eli. He has lived half his life in Ghana, so he REALLY enjoys Ghanaian food! It’s cute. (By the way it was very cool here Friday/Saturday it felt like football season in the States…I mean it’s not 50 degrees or anything but it’s been pretty cool…nice compared to the 110 heat in Mississippi…hey my heats coming. September starts the dry season!) Then Sunday and Monday I was at the Jackson’s helping them move in and get settled! By the way…the group who sent my birthday box included a “stick the tail on the donkey” game, which I didn’t open my presents until late on my birthday, so everyone was gone. However, we used it for the kids at Eli’s party…it went over GREAT! So thanks again Sarah and the gang. Side note…Sarah has sent a couple packages and they seem to get here pretty fast, so if you have mailing questions…I would ask her about it…J
I taped Eli’s birthday all day Saturday and went to start editing yesterday and realized that my computer needed 16 software updates. The camera wasn’t registering with iMovie and something is messing up with the time code in Final Cut Pro…so if you want to pray for technological stuff (and the user) that would ROCK! Oh this technically goes into next week’s blog, but when the Jackson’s got here they got their dog, Ziker, who was living here until they arrived. SO, we got a puppy yesterday. He’s a cute Ghanaian mutt! I’ve been trying to upload pictures on the blog…but there just not wanting to go through L so I’ll keep trying. I want to show you guys what fufu looks like! Everything is well in Ghana…love to all
margaret
The good thing is that I’m constantly aware that worship isn’t about us, and I’ve been really praying God will teach me how to worship Him always. No matter the circumstances. And I know people have been praying with and for me. How do I know that? Well I believe one of the “desires of my heart” was given to me this past Sunday. I went to a service at a place called Asbury Dunwell and it was GREAT. Nice people, engaged in worship, smiling and friendly. It’s amazing how the worship of others is affecting my worship? I’m not sure it’s supposed to be like that? But that’s just being honest. It was a treat though and I was so thankful to be in and around people who truly wanted to be there and we ended up having a good time. I know church can be fun. It helps you through times of suffering to be connected to people who want to grow. But then I start to think, maybe that’s one of the reasons I’m here. Like Joel’s comment said, God will “mold” us and shape us in ways that we don’t necessarily enjoy, but the trial does strengthen us. I have been blessed since I started really living my life for Jesus to be surrounded by people who are looking for a deeper experience than just going somewhere because that’s where there parents went or it’s just what you do. So I think God’s stretching me to be able to understand what it means to worship Him everywhere no matter the circumstance. I am reading the Psalms and boy can I connect to what David is lamenting and rejoicing about! So that was last Sunday and this Sunday.
Now for in between…let’s see it rained and rained and rained and rained pretty much all of last week. So here’s the recap I’m sick again and stayed in bed all day Monday, the mold on the furniture GREW exponentially this week (because of the rain) even after I bleached it twice and I’m still not in my apartment. Tuesday was fun as Tatum and I spent the whole day running around in the car to check out what we needed to do about visas! (we got some good laugh time in…such a blessing she’s here…and no Tatum if you’re reading this I’m not just nice things because you said nice things about me on your blog…well ok…maybe just a little J just kidding) We had a new family, the Jackson’s, get here Thursday night. Can’t remember Wednesday? Eli turned two Saturday and we hosted everyone at our house for chili and a little fufu for Eli. He has lived half his life in Ghana, so he REALLY enjoys Ghanaian food! It’s cute. (By the way it was very cool here Friday/Saturday it felt like football season in the States…I mean it’s not 50 degrees or anything but it’s been pretty cool…nice compared to the 110 heat in Mississippi…hey my heats coming. September starts the dry season!) Then Sunday and Monday I was at the Jackson’s helping them move in and get settled! By the way…the group who sent my birthday box included a “stick the tail on the donkey” game, which I didn’t open my presents until late on my birthday, so everyone was gone. However, we used it for the kids at Eli’s party…it went over GREAT! So thanks again Sarah and the gang. Side note…Sarah has sent a couple packages and they seem to get here pretty fast, so if you have mailing questions…I would ask her about it…J
I taped Eli’s birthday all day Saturday and went to start editing yesterday and realized that my computer needed 16 software updates. The camera wasn’t registering with iMovie and something is messing up with the time code in Final Cut Pro…so if you want to pray for technological stuff (and the user) that would ROCK! Oh this technically goes into next week’s blog, but when the Jackson’s got here they got their dog, Ziker, who was living here until they arrived. SO, we got a puppy yesterday. He’s a cute Ghanaian mutt! I’ve been trying to upload pictures on the blog…but there just not wanting to go through L so I’ll keep trying. I want to show you guys what fufu looks like! Everything is well in Ghana…love to all
margaret
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