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.