not just greasy fried things

it's sad really that i haven't posted in so long. i do have a semi good reason...i forgot my password. as you can see....i figured it out. now the reason i'm posting is of very serious nature. i just opened a package my wonderful mom sent me in the mail. actually i've had the package about a week and today my mom asked if i had opened it. i hadn't because i was actually exerting self control and NOT peeking at the christmas presents she's sent me....so as we were video skyping i opened the package...you're asking yourself....I wonder what was underneath that styrofoam ???? well... tucked away in plastic ziplock baggies where.... CHIPS three bags of sour cream and onion Lays potato chips!!!!!!!!!! oh the taste of an american chip is undescribable. so if you're eating chips today enjoy the taste of one of God's greatest creations :)

a different culture

as i was sitting among three hundred of Ghana's finest i felt as if i was in a movie. at 5pm this past saturday night i strolled into the international conference center here in accra to celebrate the 236th birthday of the marines. as you can see from the picture we were all dolled up in our long flowy gowns, but let me assure you we were still aware of reality. how? well right before we entered into this beautifully prepared room my car died. yes the new car i bought so i wouldn't have quite as many car problems as the white car, that's the one. thankfully though, and i mean seriously...thank the Lord, we didn't die out on the major highway and my sweet friends didn't have to push the spacewagon in heavy traffic on Liberation in their high heels!

once we enetered the 236th Marine Ball we sat down at our assigned table #12 and took in the scenes of Colonels, Majors and Atashays (?sp) for the Marines, Navy, Army and Airforce as they chatted it up together talking about planes and using acronyms that i still don't know what they mean. but all in all these conversations were actually quite fun, they joked about being dressed in uniforms that basically cause you to have good posture and the dinner conversation kept going back to the fact that our friend stacey had brought three dates. or shall we just say .... 'the harem.'

now last year when tates, amy, sherri, jane, lindsey, stacey and I were hanging out we laughingly reffered to ourselves as stacey's harem. never really actually did i feel like a harem as it is defined. oh but saturday night when one of stacey's bosses said, 'introduce us to 'them'" it rang in my ear that yes, we really could be percieved as 'the harem' poor stacey is often ridiculed by his coworkers for hanging out with all of us girls, but apparently he must not hate it too bad!

the music choice of saturday night was interesting. there are six marines that gaurd the US embassy here in Accra and they chose the music selection from what i've been told. let me add they are all around 20 years old, so i got caught up on the newest rap songs from america. i realized that i am in fact out of touch in two areas, the music to which college aged students are now shaking their rear area to and the words to these songs. both of which the 20 year old marine knew all too well. i will say as i looked around the room full of an eclectic mix match of people i wondered what some of the 60 year olds were thinking, but then i noticed a couplde dancing either the mambo or east coast swing in the corner and they in fact were having a splendid time. or so it seemed.

one of the couples at our table were from california and looked asian. they have three kids the youngest 4 months, but that didn't stop either of them from breaking it down on the dance floor. they were definetly my favorite dancers of the night!

my favorite dance was to thriller. we did have a couple of songs interjected into 20 year old marines' favorite rap song choices. two of the 'other' songs that stood out to me were Madonna's Holiday and the electric slide... to which i found myself amazed at how many Ghanaians were doing this timeless dance classic we American southerners play as a 'must have' at our weddings.

i didn't take my camera saturday night because i knew mariah and suzanne would take enough pictures to fill my bedroom wall. but i didn't get any good pictures from suzanne's camera of people dancing so those will have to wait until we see what mariah took, however i am posting some of the four girls i went with ....and well....stacey the harem date. too bad i don't have any pictures from the creepy guy who was going around pointing to areas that shouldn't be focused on and snapping shots. this guy made me really mad, but for some reason i didn't approach him to ask why he was being so creepy. ?

i do have to add that my dress was made by amanda. she has made several ghanaian dresses/clothes for me and does an outstanding job. for the most part my 236th marine ball dress was ok, minus the bulges on the hip area. but thankfully my friend gifty saved the day and came to my house where she re stitched up until the last minute so the dress would fit 'well enough' my lesson i've learned this weekend...if you expect perfection...you will always be disappointed. we had fun, we had laughs, and we got to see just how diverse the people are here in ghana. hob knobbing with the military and the ambassadors seemed to be the theme for me this weekend. it was nice to get a look into that world of fellowship.

sunday at 5pm i went with others to support our friend jane. she sings with a group called accragio and they teamed up with the tema youth choir a group from about an hour away comprised of youth who have a heart for music and are using their amazing voices to glorify God. sitting at the French Ambassadors residence watching and listening to these mixture of ghanaian and expat voices i truly loved the moment. one of my favorite parts of living internationally is the culture eveeryone brings. you never lack for something artistic here. it's nice.

new videos

i have posted two new videos over there on the right. the russells and the upper east flooding video. the russells live in north western ghana and God's doing amazing things up there. The upper east region is where I went with SIM missionaries to check out the flooding. also if you want to read the news about the flooding, occasionally there's links on www.ghanaweb.com

margaret

catch up

i always enjoy going to the north because it's country land. i am from mississippi. you can take me out of mississippi but i still like a little country backwoods every now and then. being able to see wide open land greener than i've ever seen was a blessing. however it was also compassion awakening visiting families who had lost most everything. Ruby, the SIM director wrote a wonderful sinopsis about our time walking around the Chiana/Sandama area talking to those who have been affected by the flooding. so i'm posting that at the bottom of my post. it's quite amazing to hear people praising the Lord after they've lost everything but praising Him because no one was hurt, or they were able to remove most of their items out before rooms collapsed.

We traveled around the Navrongo/Sandema/Chiana area for those who know Ghana and most of the people we saw were in areas where the Bible Church of Africa is active. BCA was started by SIM, serving in mission, missionaries way back when and now BCA is independent but partners with SIM in various ways. Since the devestation is broad SIM is working with their partner church to distribute aid. We were taken around by several leaders within the BCA. Some not directly affected by the flooding, their home intact, took three days off to walk with us village after village interviewing families. When I asked Frances Kupoe, the Vice President of BCA why he wanted to help raise awareness he said, "because these are my people. i love these people and they shouldn't have to suffer like this." As I watched Ruby interacting with the BCA leaders she's known for years and reveres professionally and loves like family I realized her heart is still among these people. She lived in Chiana for over 25 years and understands the law of harvest and what the flooding means short and long term.

Living through Katrina and watching how a country comes together in a time of crisis can make you almost numb. I personally have seen the Lord grow compassion in my heart. Unfortunately it takes me a while to react to devestation. I have tons of anxiety about helping but then somewhere between almost overflowing with a desire to help and actually doing something to help...my anxiety gets lost and I tend not to do anything. Sometimes from a lack of understanding where to begin. As I interviewed people with Ruby and walked around house to house I got more and more overwhlemed with how these people are going to recieve the help they need. I'm working on editing together the video to tell stories about those who were affected and it too is overwhelming because of the amounts of footage. So I think our part, as tiny as it might seem is to really be in prayer for the people who have to organize these relief efforts so that people who are needy actually get the aid. It's a complex problem because it's not just flooding and lost of food, it's housing, crops, cash crops, food, and cost to rebuild...please read Ruby's letter as she succently makes some great points! And be on the look out for the video of the north, it's coming, God willing :)

I do want to say one other tid bit- After gathering footage for the flooding video Ruby and Sherri dropped me off in Wa where I stayed with John and Bess Russell. They have been in ghana a little over two years and live in an area where most Methodist Pastors with the Methodist Church Ghana don't even want to go. The pastors who serve up north have a hard time because the schools aren't good, the pay isn't consistent because people don't make much money and the climate is tougher. Spending a week watching them do what is on their heart was interesting and I learned a good deal. They have really payed attention during misisonary training and are truly trying to live with people and understand them. Both John and Bess have huge hearts for people in their area ...take a look at their video on the youtube link! Oh and if you ever want to rag John through email he's an Auburn fan and while i was staying with them State beat Auburn...yes!

RUBY"S LETTER after our visit to the North

Disaster strikes suddenly and often without warning. Who would have predicted the flooding in northern Ghana, a land that over the last few years has barely received enough rains to maintain a good harvest? When disaster strikes the most common question is why did God allow this to happen to us?

This was the question I expected to hear on my recent trip to the north to see first hand the devastation and destruction brought on by the recent flooding. Instead I was asked a totally different question. What did we do to God? The different questions shows the different perspective people have of God. One says the problem is God’s fault and the other says no it is our own fault. I wonder what your perspective is.

It is hard to write about all we saw and heard. People’s stories are sad with many losing almost everything they own. Yet of all of the people I talked to, not one of them questioned God or what he was doing. Many of them in telling their story of the loss of rooms, possessions, animals and crops said, "we thank God no one was hurt". I talked to one family who said they were sitting in their own rooms next to their son’s room and all of a sudden, they heard a big whoosh and thud. They went to see what had happened and saw that their son’s two rooms that he had just finished a few months ago had fallen down. The zinc roof was intact but it was completely flat on the ground. But their response was, “we thank God because none of their possessions were spoiled, only the rooms”.

Another story was of a young farmer weeding his crops in the bush next to a small stream. While he was bending over to weed, he heard a rushing sound. He stopped, weeding, looked up to investigate but could not see anything and so he bent to continue his farming. This time the noise was even louder and when he raised his head again he saw a rushing wall of water coming towards him. He dropped everything and ran to a nearby tree, climbed it and remained there several hours before the water subsided and he was safe again.

I talked to a pastor’s family who had lost all their rooms and were living in the church close to their house. Another pastor had lost all of his rooms except for one small room where they have put their things and where they sleep at night. If it rains they have to all sit up in order for them to fit into the small room. As we saw building after building that was completely destroyed or made dangerous because they could fall at any time, my thoughts were, how will these people make it? How can they rebuild everything again?

We made this trip to evaluate the situation and to sympathize with people over their tragedy. The disaster is so immense that it is hard to put figures to the number of people affected and the number of houses that have fallen. God worked in a wonderful and marvelous way for this trip to include an experienced video/photographer to accompany us. She is making a video that will show the devastation and the terrible plight of many people in the three northern regions.

The need is great and the extent of the need includes many people, estimates range from 10,000 - 40,000 people, but I suspect that the number is much higher. SIM Ghana had about $4000 left over from the last food relief of 2005. This money was given to buy 130 bags of corn, 70 blankets and 20 plastic covering to cover the few possessions that people have been able to save. As in all societies, the widows and orphans are most affected so the rest of the money was used to buy packets of zinc for widows who have lost everything. It really is only one small drop in the bucket but it does show love and concern for people in their suffering.

In the village of Kologo in the Kasena-Nankana area, about 15 km from the district capital of Navrongo, we were received with surprise and warmth. As of the time of our visit, no one had visited them. When we talked to the chief’s representative and his elders they said, “We have been sitting here not knowing where to pass and not knowing how to explain our plight. You have come to us and we are so grateful for your coming.” The little help we gave and our concern in visiting seemed to encourage and lift their spirits.

Even before the present flooding, people were suffering. The rains started as usual in May. People planted their early millet but for about 6 weeks during June and July there was a drought. Normally around the middle of August they harvest their early millet that gives them food until the main harvest is finished. The drought means that at present people only have little food left over from last year’s harvest. People are homeless and destitute, their homes, and their possessions and in some case even their animals are all gone; to add to that, many of their late crops are still under water. Those who have no rooms go to schools and churches at night to sleep. The future is bleak and as someone said so plainly, “hunger is staring us in the face”. Without food, which is the payment for workers to rebuild their houses, it will be difficult to replace the fallen rooms. And how will they be able to buy any building materials like cement and zinc to make strong houses so that they will not fall when the rain comes again?

We have heard estimates of 75-80% of houses being destroyed in individual communities. One community has 136 houses, 70 of which have lost rooms or are completely destroyed. There have been estimates made that over 4000 houses have collapsed. We will try and work on statistics for the communities that have BCA churches. The leaders of the churches will do an estimate of their area to help us with determining the number of rooms that will need to be built. In addition to private rooms that have fallen, there have been at least 3 churches that have collapsed and probably will be more as people report about their situation. The logistics of trying to help so many people covering a large area will be difficult. Where we do have people and churches we can help and trust that other organizations can assist with the other needy areas.

The food aid alone will come to millions of dollars and there will have to be a united effort of government, religious bodies and NGO’s to help meet the need of so many people. Some aid is coming in; the government has promised 50 billion cedis about $5.4 million. The German government has given to the Catholic Church over 62,350 GH cedis (about $62,000) for food aid in the 3 northern regions I am suggesting that SIM raise money for food aid in addition to a specific amount for rebuilding houses.

The immediate future looks bleak indeed. Is it possible for teams from inside and outside Ghana to come and help build houses? The logistics of this would need planning but it is something to think about. When I asked the BCA leaders about whether people could come and carry water and mold bricks they thought that might work. Sometimes when strangers come into the situation and help out it encourages the rest of the community to pitch in as well.

A tour of government and UN officials are presently visiting the country to assess the damage. Slowly it appears that help is on the way but there is still a lot more that will need to be done. Probably the biggest problem will be the coordination the relief effort coming in so everyone that needs help will get it.

prayers

Just wanted to summon your prayers...

1. There is major flooding in the upper east and northern regions in Ghana. I'm not sure how bad, but through various sources who have contacts up there the rains have damaged the incoming crop, as it is harvest season right now, so there is a food shortage. Also the flooding has caused people to loose everything in their houses and the houses themselves. It is a praise that we have rain because the damn is rising now and our electricity crisis is getting slightly better. However these people are struggling.

2. I have to share an intereting God story with you all to give Him some cool glory! I was supposed to travel yesterday, Friday Sept.7 up north to Wa in the upper west region to work on a video with the Russells' a mission society missionary family. On my way to the airport I stopped to drop off a video I just completed for The Marriage Course in Ghana (that's another story). The office I dropped the video off at is the SIM, Serving in Mission, mission agency office. I'm friends with a couple of the missionares there including Ruby, the director of SIM. We were talking and she's the one who informed me about the severe flooding in the upper west. She has lived in Ghana over 25 years 20 of those in the North, so she has friends who are like family up there. In our conversation she realized I was going to Wa via Tamale. Picture this in your head...Tamale is north east...Wa is north west.

I was going to take the plane to Tamale and then catch a six hour bus ride over to Wa and I was headed to the airport to buy my ticket to leave Friday morning. (this was thursday morning when I saw ruby). So as we talked she wanted to know if it would work out if we flew together up to Tamale, in the east, and i rode with her and another missionary to collect footage of the damage that's been done by the flooding. They would take the footage and use that to help get out information out about what the needs are. Of course the Russells were expecting me this Saturday, today, and I couldn't get through to them to see if coming next weekend would be ok with their schedules. So my plan was to wait until mid afternoon Thursday and see if Bess Russell was able to get through. She didn't so i headed to the airport to go ahead and buy the ticket for Friday, I got there and all the seats were sold out, the earliest I could leave is Sunday the 9th, tomorrow. So I called Ruby, not having talked to the Russells yet, and told her I was flying tomorrow. Then Bess texted me and their whole family has strep and wanted to know if I could wait and come the following weekend. So I called Ruby and told her and she said, ok, we'll fly together Sunday morning and I'll ride with them across the north to get footage and they'll drop me in Wa. I don't know if this story comes across amazing as it was to experience it, but getting logistics to work that quick here could only be done supernaturally! So all this to say, please pray for Ruby, Sherri and myself this next week as we go around to see about ways in which people can help those who have lost everything. Ruby and Sherri both work for SIM and some of their pastors they work with have lost houses, fortunately right now we don't know about the loss of life...

3. After I travel with Ruby and Sherri to get information about the flooding I will work with the Russells to tell God's stories of what's going on in WA. Please pray for this video as they will be going back in December to use this to show people what Wa looks like and the people God has put in their pathway in the past two years as they've served here in Ghana. Bess is a nurse by proffession and is homeschooling their 8 year old son, Isaac. God has put her in situations where He's used the nursing skills such as helping a little girl who is an amuptee. John, the husband, is a pastor and works with Ghanaian pastors in the Wa circuit. They helped start a church in an area that has never heard the Gospel. That's hard for me to wrap my mind around living in the globalized information superhighway life . But they have tried to work with indeginous people in the city who have a heart for rural ministry. Their team of locals and themselves set out to find areas where no one has shared about a personal relationship with Jesus and all that it means. Join me in praying that what needs to be communicated would. That God would be glorified through what the Russells allow Him to do through them.

4. I don't know how long I'll be gone. Probably at least two-three weeks and then I will take the bus back down to Accra. It's a 15 hour ride so please pray for safety and for traveling mercies as things break down frequently here. I'm excited though riding public transport is fun and exciting!

Ok- that's it. Thanks so much for your continued support through prayer. I wanted to share recently I've been praying Philipians 1:9 over individual people...it's pretty cool :)

love to all of you and yes i'm in my new house and it's great! my roomate's name is suzanne and it's been great getting to know her and a blessing to have another single girl to hang out with!

Margaret

there is no typical day in my life.

hum. what to blog. a fresh white blank page. i have so much to say sometimes i can't get my thoughts worked out enough to make a paragraph that stays on topic. so i'll try.

it's getting late and i'm moving tomorrow. i'm excited to see what lies ahead, but sad too because i know people in my neighborhood. just the other day some of the small kids yelled out to me 'auntie margaret' and i thought to myself, oh i'll miss this moving to yet another new place. i have stayed at the sims for a year and two months. for my track record in the past 11 years that's a LONG time to live in one place. is that sad that i move so much? counting this move i think i've moved 18 times in 11 years. am i running from something? suzanne, if you're reading this don't be too scared!

but then i think this is part of how i'm created. i never stay still. i love to go and i think as long as i'm not trying to run away from something it's part of living a single, always changing life. hum. maybe i'll chew on my moving a little more and see if i come up with any deep thoughts :)

today i took a three hour nap, not on purpose. i took some sudafed and usually that stuff wires me so i can't sleep but apparently taken during the day it makes me very sleepy, so i'll never go to sleep tongiht which means tomorrow i might be a little cranky :)

this past week i attended a workshop called sharpening your interpersonal skills and it was great. there were about 25 of us. the main difference from this workshop and others i've been too is that it was multi-cultural. i loved it. what we as americans value as showing love is different than that of the dutch or nigerian or ghanaian. and we talked about how we are to build a biblical kingdom using skills like confrontation, conflict management, relationship builders and killers and problem solving without letting our culture creep in in ways that aren't biblical ...this is very hard to do and i've realized how God's grace allows people from other cultures to build meaningful relationships when there's so many things to learn about each other.

it was a great time of meeting new people and making some great connections with others in ministry. i met one couple who have a documentary production house and i'm going to visit them next week to share ideas! how fabulous is our networking God!

speaking of God it's sunday and i've let busyness get in my way of having some intimate quiet time with my Lord. so i think i'll cut this blog short. i'm moving tomorrow and we don't have internet, so if i can't respond quickly to you....at least you know why :)

oh and keep praying for the marriage video i'm working on right now. we meet tomorrow night to look at footage and continue scripting out the video.

m

quick update on the week to come

this past week was great. i'm recommending Breaking Free by beth moore to anyone who wants to continue a deeper growth in understanding how things hold us captive. i think she's very gifted in using historical scriptural refrences to get your mind thinking and talking to God about the issues she's raised. so that's that.

this next upcoming week i'll be at a confrence entitled, "sharpening your interpersonal skills." i've been to alot of leadership training seminars, conflict management seminars and done a few personality profiling tests. i've always enjoyed those classes as usually something comes up out of discussion/teaching that i definetly could use brushing up on or even tackling for the first time. our field has challenged us with taking at least one ceu course like this a year, so here i go. therefore, i probably won't be online much this next week.

also a huge prayer request. i'm continuing to work on a video for a marriage seminar. this seminar is in september and we've shoot footage several times over the past couple months to get this video's material together. i've got all the shots i need minuse one of a ghanaian wedding but i'm in the editing process. so pray for God's hands to be my hands and what ever is to be communicated to be done. i know marriage in ghana isn't on the top priority for taking time out to work on as we have seen in the interviews we've conducted. this video is going to be played during a confrence hoping to encourage people to take the Marriage Course and then in turn teach it at their church. we wanted to make a video that is purely from a ghanaian perspective, so that's our attempt. i'm working with a ghanaian man named senyo, and we are trying to be culturally relevant to reach people who are in marriage or about to get married.

also you'll notice on the right hand side of the page there is a new element hosting video on my blog. i'm trying to upload as many videos that have been created so you can catch a glimpse into all the different ways God is moving through different people here in ghana.

until next time-
margaret

not much. just settling back in.

i'm home in ghana. going back to america was fun. that's a really boring adjective, but really it was full of seeing old friends and catching up either over food or spending the night. it was full of seeing and being with family, including a week long camping trip to tombigbee national park. i say camping (having air conditioning, tv and a microwave in a movable box shaped thing called a camper) so --- let me clear up any confusion I WAS NOT ROUGHING IT! :) although i did sleep on an air mattress several nights! it was worth it to get to wake up with my five year old nephew crawling into my 'air matress' bed at 6am on july 27th to sing me happy birthday. he did this all by himself because NO ONE else was awake at that time. i really can't believe he remembered. that definetly makes it into the memories folder.

so what does life look like in ghana right now? at this very moment i'm working on a video for a marriage confrence. actually i could spend my entire life on itunes.you know when you open the home page and it has the 'just for you' section. based on past purchases it lists musicians you might be interested in. one of my favorite genres for the past couple of years is folk. so tonight i found colbie caillat. the thing is how cool is it that someone has written software that keeps up to date with what you like. i mean wow. i don't even know all the names of bands i like, but itunes 'just for you' does. i know this sounds a tetch lame, but if itunes can figure out what we like and would be the best musical choice for us, why is it so hard to believe there's Someone who can help us choose the best in every area. and if we believe that this Being knows everything and has our best interest at heart, why is it hard to put full trust and/or hear his leading? maybe it's because we just want to listen to a 30 second trial before committing to purchase? just a random thought. anyway.

i'm getting ready to move into a new place. i'm moving in with suzanne a missionary with SIM. not sure when the move will take place, hopefully this thursday! we shall see!

my camera broke before i went to the states and i got my new one the last week, so i've only got a few pics from america. Ry- if you read this i'm adding pics of my fam playing canasta!!! For those who aren't in the know about Canasta it's pretty much an old persons card game that i learned at the ripe age of five. I had to have a chair beside me because my hands weren't big enough to hold the wod of cards you accumulate unitl you can "lay down." If you desire more info about canasta... you'll have to google it, or ask me and i'll play with ya!

that's it for my first blog back in Ghana.
m

happies

i just learned last week that the term 'happies' is a southern thing. i have a friend who said she had never heard a little present given to someone called a 'happy.' I'm sad that my camera is broken because I would take a picture of how many happies I'm packing! I'm leaving TONIGHT for America and I have two suitcases full of happies!!!!

Seriously....I might have to pay customs because I look like a container of african goods!

I would like to share my proudest gifts though that I'm bringing for my family to enjoy!

I am taking some maggie cubes (ghana's version of bullion) for my mother since she's a FABULOUS cook, some Shito (no that's not a bad word here...it's hot sauce), Milo (like hot chocolate...made in Ghana of course) and some Laughing Cow cheese (our version of cream cheese....that's right no refrigeration required :)

I am very excited to see family and friends tomorrow in Memphis!!!!!!!! Sad news...I'm leaving Ghana in the COOLEST month of the whole year to go to Mississippi where it's in the upper 90's and humid! Ugh.

Alright so hopefully next blog will be posted state side!!!!! wooooohoooooo

love to all
m

girl talk. men i think you'll agree.

Ok I have a friend named Sherri from Chicago (you have to accent Chic aaaaa go) because she's midwestern. Her brother has coined what might be the 'best' termi have ever heard explaining the way women communicate.

Now folks this 'way of life' is bred into Southern girls from the time they are born. Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about.

Let's say you're married. You're husband comes in the kitchen where you're feverishly cooking dinner. You're sweating because your spagehtti noodles are boiling over and the garlic cheese bread is burning in the oven. So as you put your dirty pan in the sink, with your back to your husband, you say "wow the garbage sure is full."

Now this my friends is what we call 'girl talk.' Sherri's brother has coined this phrase so I can't claim it as orginal, but I sure do agree with everything it implies. We as girls, master manipulators that we are trained to be, say one thing while implying a whole structured sentence. For example, "wow the garbage is full" isn't just an expression of the realization that you turned around and low and behold there is some trash overflowing. That is a full on hidden meaning saying, "Hello! husband don't you see that the garbage is overflowing and I need some help here in the kitchen since I'm busy. So you should really take that out right now..... please :)" We just know how to put things .... nicely.... or should we say manipulate our way into getting what we want, thinking we're doing it nicely!

Here is another example of how young we learn our 'girl talk' technique. Sherri's 6 year old niece was in the kitchen with her mom as mommie was baking cookies. Six year old niece goes over to the cookies and says to her mother, "these sure do smell nice." Mom replys, "well thank you honey, that sure was nice." Then six year old girl says again, "mom- these sure do smell nice, you're a GREAT cook." Mom turns around to see the look on her daughters face and realizes, she's girl talking for, i sure do want one of these cookies and i'm going to flatter you until you give me one!

So, know if you come to Accra, you will be busted for using girl talk as we now know what to term it!

what-june is gone?

Is it really eight days until I am physically hugging my mother and father’s neck at Memphis international airport gate while jumping up and down in a frenzy of emotional bliss? Not to mention my sweet friends who are driving up to memph town…however I think that’s just strictly for them to have fun in the car…on the way up singing into drum stick!

I new June was going to go by fast. After Joel, Jackie and Jackson left on June 11 I had six days in Accra and then Amy Rambo, Ryan Kennedy, Davis Webb, Chip Jackson and our driver Stephen headed back up north to return June 26!

So now I’m in the process of making a five minute dvd to play at The Orchard when I’m home in Mississippi, while packing and buying some good ole African artifacts for family and friends…I’ve only got seven days! YIKES

Saturday Amy, Ryan and I are going to lead youth group and then Sunday we’re going to prampram orphanage to teach and hang out with kids…so this weekend is busy!!!!

Our trip was WONDERFUL. Only one minor bump…I lost my cell phone with every number for people in Ghana. Stink. But- we got to receive blessings and hopefully be blessings by going around to love on our coworkers! Check out the Jernigan’s blog, Ry’s blog and www.daviswebb.blogspot.com.

Ryan and Davis had brought several goodies for each family…and I have to say Ryan’s mom did an OUTSTANDING job picking out princess dresses for two of the little girls on our team Rachel and Louisa.

Now I’m going to get a little serious with what God’s doing up in my disgustingly selfish heart! Read on if you want to analyze my thoughts and really see how messed up my brain is! You’ve been warned.

Each morning someone led devotion. One thing I love about the ‘trip bubble’ during the ‘trip length of time’ is the amount of intentional Word time when traveling with others who LOVE the Lord.

God has impressed a couple things on my heart that I’ve been chewing on this week. One-being how we are to love others especially fellow Christians. I keep going back to 1 Corinthians 13:4. I know we hear about this verse during weddings a lot, but I totally am trying to figure out the balance of speaking truth in love to our fellow believers and how much we pray and forgive without bringing differences up. Is there an easy answer here??? Please give me a how to do it and I will follow.

Second- Davis read 1 Peter 4:11. “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.” This is where I meditated for a couple of days and Saturday I’m leading a discussion at our local international youth group.

When we do what we do - do we do it for God or for ourselves? The scripture was written by Peter to Jewish Christians persecuted and ridiculed for believing in Jesus. He tells them speak as if you were speaking the words of God…speak to those who make fun of you with love…to those who persecute you. Serve with the strength of the Lord so that they may know God through Jesus. So many times I think about me how I’m feeling about doing ministry, but my gosh if I could just get outside of myself and my feelings there is a world who doesn’t know the love, joy, peace that comes from knowing Jesus.

Why do I do what I do?
Oh how my heart yearns for ME to be ‘great’ at something. I have this unquenchable desire for when people think Margaret they think ________ insert being the best at ‘something.’ Lately, I have felt so beaten up (my mind conjuring up insults against myself) by the fact that I’m not creative enough, or not smart enough or wise biblically enough or … I mean the list could seriously go on and on. Besides the fact that thinking I’m not good at anything is completely being self focused… I have been reflecting on the words I speak when I get so consumed in me. Are these words as if one speaking the very words of God? And if I’m doing “it” for God should I get so sidetracked in what others think?

Agh the growing pains of this journey with our Lord. I know we are refined by trials so I’m trying to walk through and stay committed to what the Lord has shown me he’s called me to, even when I don’t ‘feel’ like I am enough. Is He trying to teach me that it’s ALL about him? I thought I had that one learned...

One week from today I’ll be fellowshipping with family and friends at my mother’s house in Starkville. It's going to be lots of fun...I'm starting to get excited to see everyone....more posting later :)
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The Orchard Vision Trip

As I write this the Hawkins are sitting in Germany enduring a four hour layover from 5:45am- 9:45am. It’s not fun, I’ve done that one before. So continue your prayers for their safe journey to America.

The past 13 days have been exciting, challenging, exhausting, stressful but full of joy! Overall I think Jackie, Joel, Jackson and I would agree the first vision trip for The Orchard was wonderful.

I want to first thank everyone who has prayerfully and financially supported the Hawkins coming to Ghana. Their time here I believe was fruitful for their hearts as well as those they started a relationship with. If you ask them about the trip they will probably tell you the first couple of days were very stressful! You face emotional stress. You arrive in a new culture after traveling for over 20 hours and you are exhausted when you get off the plane in the host culture, in this case Ghana. Then you ride in a car where you are bombarded by all your senses as you hear, smell and see everything new for the first time. You ride in a car, not knowing at all where you’re going but trusting that the person leading you is taking good care of you. You have thoughts that you didn’t even know existed and wonder where those thoughts came from. Sometimes these aren’t nice thoughts so the stress that you could possibly conjure those up is a little scary, after all you are Christian J You remove all of your comforts of how you know culturally to do things and then become worried that what you might say or do could possibly offend the very people you want to learn about. You virtually start as a baby in this new culture dealing with the stress of wanting to know everything, know the cultural ques and how they differ from your home culture, know the language and be able to speak proficiently, know how to ‘be’ exactly as those you’ve come to learn about. All of this creates an uncomfortable amount of stress. I believe it’s how you deal with these stresses that determines what you learn from the experience. This past week Jackie, Joel and Jackson dealt with uncomfortable situations and from my perspective God has and will use every moment of their trip here to glorify Himself.

Missions short term and long term can easily be about people coming from outside to bring in what you know to be ‘right’ and the ‘best’ way to do something whatever area that person is working. I believe it’s much harder to be a learner and be ok with the fact you don’t know everything. I love the saying, “people don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care.” As Jesus loving and believing people, and I like how Rob Bell puts it, we help people see God and how he’s already working here. We don’t save people. That is what Jesus does. And I am going to add we ‘strategically’ help people see how God is working. Here in Ghana that strategy looks different than a strategy in America. So we have to learn this culture before we are strategic.

This past week and a half Jackie, Joel and Jackson learned an incredible amount about Ghanaian culture. They asked great questions, (some I didn’t know which encourages me to continue to be a learner!) they tried a little food outside their comfort zone without eating things that would make them too sick, but most of all I saw them really trying to build relationships with people. I saw them desiring to know about family life of those we met, know how they work in the jobs they do, know how they worship God in this culture and how they show love to each other. We visited and greeted, the Ghanaian cultural way, many people. As the week continued, I saw them praying about beginning this partnership here and what would God have it look like for years to come. We were blessed to have Bishop Atto Brown of the northern diocese of the Methodist church with us…what does that mean for those who don’t know Ghana Methodist church lingo? That means there was an older respected Ghanaian man in the leadership of the church who spoke truth to places we went, encouraging them to reach out and think outside of themselves. He was able to relate the vision of the twining program, the relationship building partnership The Orchard is doing here with Bole, the area we went. He was able to speak to us Americans in a way we were able to understand Ghanaian thought processes and culture according to different situations. He was able to cast a vision that this partnership isn’t about coming and check marking a project list off and leaving so white people can feel good about themselves and the churches here get ‘stuff.’ The vision is to grow deeper together in a relationship, sharing the love of Christ with each other and to those in the surrounding communities.

I feel like I can say this living here a year, watching and learning the culture, talking with Ghanaians in church leadership and attending church here. We all have to be intentional about loving those outside our walls of the church. We are called to love those who are lonely, hurt and marginalized in society no matter if that’s MS- Tupelo, Benton, Ackerman or in Ghana like Bole, Guniyiri, Tinga… wherever. In some places here, as it is in America, we become focused on the people inside our church instead of remembering those who aren’t.

One of the blessings this week was watching Joel and Jackie talk about why they are here. And how they are branching out to show Christ’s love just building relationships with people. After I interviewed the Bishop for the video I’m making for The Orchard, I realized that them sharing that reason of coming all this way just to love on people really encourages others’ here to do that. I know I’ve thought many times, oh if I come here for a short time and say
‘love others,’ people could say, well look at all the money you have that’s why you can come here and tell us that. But the reality is, people here consider it a great honor that someone would come all that way. Jackie said this this past week and it’s true. Ghanaians bring their best when they meet you. They wear their finest clothes, the cook the best food they have, and truly want to serve you the best way they can. So do we bring our best to them? Do we bring our best clean pure heart of Jesus love to offer? Or do we bring our own motives whatever those might be? We’re not perfect and no one here on earth is, but do we bring the best we can?

I have to say how much it pleased me to see the Hawkins look at this trip in a relationship building way and not something to just check off the list to say “ check…gone to another country to tell people the way to do ‘it’.” I’m excited to see what’s next for The Orchard in this partnership.

For more about the trip visit Joel and Jackie’s blog at www.tingabolemission.blogspot.com.

long time.

too long. wow since i began the world of blogging i don't think i've gone four weeks without posting. everyday for the past two weeks i have the thought, "i should blog today" and somehow i don't. so it's 11:05pm Ghana time and i should be in the bed becuase i'm tired, but it's just about to get crazier around here and i won't have too much time if i don't just carve it out.

so many things have happened this month, hence the reason i haven't updated my blog. if you are an avid margaret blog reader...which i'm SURE you all are :) you'll remember when i first moved here i didn't have any 'work' persay to do in the video side of ministry. which was good. it was a stretching and breaking time for me realizing what we 'do' doesn't define us. fast forward 8 months and i've had four videos to finish in the past two weeks. however, being i've never been so thankful to be busy and i've never saught the Holy Spirit to fill me as i do now. i've really enjoyed this past year of getting more in depth in the production of videos and it's been such a blessing for me to see missionaries watch a piece of their world come together in five minutes. however, that's just it...it's five minutes of highlighting day in and day out life. i'm finding how difficult it is to capture reality in five minutes and not put too much subjective spin on it that i'm merely making a commercial to buy something instead of seeing a truth that one might want to wrestle with and possibly believe and support. I have had an intern working with me for about two months now, Ari. She's really quick and has a heart for videography and learning. It's funny for me to say i have an intern since i'm pounding away at learning Final Cut Pro, but i'm seeing how God lined up my degree in broadcasting even before i really lived my life for him and how those skills He's now glorifying!

The other really exciting tidbit... there is a short term team coming from my home church, The Orchard, this Wednesday. We are developing a realtionship with a couple villages in the North West part of Ghana called Bole and Tinga. Joel, Jackie and Jackson arrive on Wednesday so pray for their travel and their time here. I firmly believe God does a huge work in people's hearts during short term trips and that is transported and transferred in so many ways back in people's home culture. While Jackie, Joel and Jackson are here we're going to do some fun stuff and they're going to get a glimpse into my life and then we're headed up north but I'm praying this will be a stretching/breaking/filling time for all of them!

I've also posted some new pics. One thing I did this month was head up north to get some footage a video I finished for Mary Kay Jackson, one of our missionaries. During this trip I had we'll say....'a really bad tummy'. I had gotten food posioning the Sunday before we left that Wednesday and by Friday we were pulling over in the bush so i could 'go' J Did i really just share that with the whole world?

end of april.

This past week has been good getting back into daily grinds after our Volta trip. The thing about Ghana is that something always needs to be fixed and this week was no different. There are times when this gets on my last nerve and I get very frustrated to the point, well maybe I shouldn’t express as to what point…But surprisingly this week’s problems didn’t unnerve me. Does that mean I’m making cross-cultural living progress? We ran out of water this week. That’s not uncommon right now for most people. With our crisis of water in Lake Volta Dam they are doing electricity load shedding as well as water load shedding. We ended up buying some water and according to our ‘water guys’ with the lack of water in the dam there’s not enough to go around so unless you buy some from another nearby water source, you could go months without water flowing in your area. Thankfully we are able to purchase water, but most aren’t. However after we got water and filled out tanks the next day mysteriously we had lost over 6,000 gallons? Enter in the fact there’s always something to be fixed here! Sammy, our plumber came over and literally chiseled away the concrete to one of the pipes and replaced a valve that was causing the water to be pumped back out into the water main line out underneath the streets...oh I hope somebody received all that water and it wasn’t lost…!

The rest of the week was good. I finished another video project (thankfully I got one port on my hard drive to work), ordered a new hard drive since the ports on mine have blown out, went to a film festival showing a Ghanaian film entitled “Witches in Exile” (don’t forget I live in Accra…big city with embassy’s and it was The Environmental Film Festival) and then Sunday night came possibly the worst I have ever felt in my whole life. I will now talk about throwing up…so if that grosses you out…stop reading!

Sunday night a friend celebrated her 24th birthday so we went out to eat actually at a very American restuaraunt called Champs. I ordered a chicken burger and thought it was pretty good, it tasted a little ‘different’ but not too bad…Then we got in the car to leave and my friend had to pull over because I felt really sick so I threw up! I did. A lot. Then I felt better and she dropped me off where my car was and I headed home. Once I arrived at my house I got extremely nauseas again and then it started. From 1am to around 7am Monday morning I threw up five times. Then I started getting chills and my fever spiked to 101 so I read my trusty “Where there is No Doctor” book and I had every symptom of … Malaria. There’s something about living in Ghana, maybe even Aftica as a whole, that when you get fever…you automatically think “it’s got to be malaria, I just know it.” Of course I’m reading the book and all the sudden I have every symptom for cholera, meningitis, malaria, typhoid… this is why I could never study medicine I would think I had every thing. Anyway- I went to have my blood tested and thankfully … NO malaria, however this wasn’t without a call to my dad 6am his time to simply ‘let them know’ I was sick! I’m such a baby!! But now I’m back to the land of living. Yesterday I slept more than I think should be humanly possible and today I feel good! I’m very thankful.

Wednesday we’re leaving to go North. I’m going to work on the water video project with Mary Kay, but the trip is for Jim Ramsay, our Director of Field Ministries from home office, to see the Ghana field and all the missionaries’ locations/lives and ministries! I’ll update more when we return.

volta trip.

The Volta Region is gorgeous and our time traveling was interesting, exhausting and exhilarating! Leigh and I made really good travel partners as we had a skeleton plan and were both not taken a back when the plans changed due to waiting for trotro’s or anything that would make the trip’s timeline go out of whack…it was nice.

Probably my favorite part of the whole trip was riding public transport the entire time. You just meet so many interesting people. Well and some who like to drool on you…that’s actually not so much fun! You’re asking, “so did that really happen?” oh yes.

On our leg coming home Leigh was sitting by an incredibly drunk man who wouldn’t stop asking her to marry him. She’s very polite and kept saying “you don’t know me,” but he wasn’t getting the picture. At that time there were three people sitting on the back row of the trotro including drunk guy, Leigh and another small boy. There really wasn’t a lot of room, but then we picked up five more passengers to make an 11-passenger van actually seat 20 however, that’s normal here. So I scooted on back and plopped myself between Leigh and said guy. I wasn’t very nice because he was being so crude to my friend and then he started spitting out the window and I was just praying God please don’t let him throw up on me. I actually prayed that when he missed the window and spat on his arm. So I’m riding along and about 10 minutes later with guys’ head bobbling up and down at every bump because he’s apparently passed out I have a wad of saliva hit my arm. I’m talking about enough to fill a cup. Sorry I know that’s gross, but imagine it on your arm! As I’m wiping it off I made a very Ghanaian grunt, it sounds like this (eeeeeeeeeeyyyyyy) short and loud. When all 20 people in our 11 seater van turned around to see the obroni freaking out over some spit I decided maybe I should laugh, but not without telling the young man he needed to stop drinking so much because he didn’t even know what he was doing. And then honestly God softened my heart towards this guy. For some really sad reason he was drunk that early in the day. I don’t know why but even having him spit on my made me more compassionate for him somehow. Don’t ask it’s just one of those God things… Anyway all this to say it was an interesting ride.

I would say throughout this trip God strategically put people in our paths to help guide us around, give us great information of what trotro to take where and most of all interesting people hiking and budget traveling like us. We met several people doing great work in Ghana either via ngo’s or volunteer programs. We met several people that asked us what we ‘are doing’ in Ghana as from the west that’s usually our first question to each other. Once we explained we were here trying to live out a life with Christ in the center and said that stereotype bringing word ‘missionary’ we had responses such as “oh I didn’t know those still existed,” or “yeah I don’t believe in God.” So it was exciting to get to know them better and hear more about their thoughts of this ‘Godless world.’

But I would say above all else seeing the Ghana countryside was amazing. It’s so beautiful in the Volta Region. Green luscious plants everywhere and rolling hills with waterfalls. You just can’t beat being in the majestic mountains seeing so many different shades and echoes of the Most Creative.

week of easter!

This past week leading up to Easter was so much fun. Besides working during the day on the Short Term Team video from a group of people who served up in Lake Bosomtwi with the Jernigans I hung out with some great friends I've made in Ghana! There is a group of us who have started getting together hanging out, playing games and experiencing culture together. This past week we went to this Gospel singing together, played dominos one night and went and watched a movie another night...it was great fun this week to fellowship together!!!

this is a guy named tim. cool God story he's from philadelphia and can sing ghanaian songs in twi and ga...i've been here 9 months and don't know all the words...he's studied the songs for two months and sings them amazingly.

this is a group of friends who all went to see tim lead worship. it was a great time.

rain rain rain! this week we had two days of rain!!! it's been so long since i've played in the rain...so i had to make sure i was still young :)

easter.

Why did Jesus have to come to Earth, be crucified and be raised from the dead? I love Jesus and I am still a question asker to the most central belief as a Christian. I don’t believe this is an easy answer. If so everyone in the world would believe in Jesus.

This past Sunday, Easter Sunday, I was asked to speak at a Children’s Home called Kinder Paradise. It’s an orphanage about an hour from my house. It probably would have been a little closer if I hadn’t had to turn around three times, but that’s a different story.

So Gifty, Francesca and her mother Gabriella (Francesca works with the UN and is an Italian friend I have met through another expat friend here) ventured off never having gone to this orphanage before and honestly I didn’t have any expectations whatsoever.

I spent a great deal of time with the Lord this past week in preparation, which always happens when I’m asked to speak. See I get so nervous to say what God wants me to say and challenged for why I believe what I do, that it makes me spend so much time in prayer and studying. It’s wonderful to teach you learn so much! That’s when God revealed to me that we were going to talk about why He sent his son. Very fitting for this weekend.

Call me a cynical but, in the Christian faith there are a few phrases that repeated several times with no real expression can become ‘insignificant’ particularly during Easter Sunday. Try “He has Risen Praise God He has Risen," “He’s Alive,” or “Jesus’ blood paid the price for our Sins.” I have grown up in church my whole life and sometimes when people would say this, probably me too, I would think yeah yeah yeah I’ve heard that before…But since I’ve given my life back to God to do what He leads me to do, I have prayed that these words would sink down into the depths of my heart. That they wouldn’t be something that I just say but words that are alive and exciting in their truth.

Studying this week helped me remember you can’t talk about Jesus’ death without talking about his resurrection. He is Alive. We have hope in more than just this life there is more to come, but what about living our walk out while we're here...what does that look like? I am now a new person. Five years ago, on the floor of my apartment in Florida, crying uncontrollably after having my heart broken by a human I cried to God if he was real to please let me know Him. My whole life spent ‘saying’ the right things, growing up in church, surrounded by Christianity and I never got It or really wanted It until that night November 27, 2002. So when I say HE IS ALIVE I mean to say, as I look at who I was and the things I did before I knew Jesus I am in awe how God changes self consumed hearts and how what we have done was nailed to the cross with Jesus so that we are new creations. When I say Jesus’ BLOOD PAID THE PRICE I mean for you to hear that yes I believe that Jesus was sent to go through an excruciating and bloody beating and died for reasons I don’t fully understand but can see fruits of the Spirit being produced in my life and lives of others. I want you to hear there’s so much more to being a Christian than growing up in the Bible Belt learning what you should and shouldn’t do to be a ‘good Christian.’ I mean for you to hear that through Jesus’ death and resurrection we have purpose in our lives to live for this ‘invisible Father’ and we can break free from things we don’t want to do anymore. When I say HE HAS RISEN PRAISE GOD HE HAS RISEN I want you to hear WOW there is more in this world than just me. There are other people suffering too and Something…Someone… cares about this and HE is making it right even when it doesn’t look like it. There’s more hope than in what we see and read in the media. There’s beauty that surrounds us everyday if we just open our eyes to see. Science, engineering, humanitarian relief, struggles, addictions, success, death, disease, promotions, relationships………….. He knows EVERYTHING.

Why did Jesus come, die and live? How about... relationship... this is what we talked about at the orphanage yesterday.

There were kids probably from around 2/3 years old up to I think 15/16. I had borrowed a demonstration asking three people questions wherein if they failed one question the forfeited and had to pay a price. But we didn’t tell them what the ‘price’ was until after the questions. The point hopefully got across about someone having to pay a penalty for those who didn’t answer every question right, who didn’t do everything perfect. But in the end the one who took the whip cream to the face gave the three question answers their prizes without taking any prize for himself.

It was a great time hanging out with those beautiful children. Words really can’t explain.

western world. london.

I'm pretty sure all those people you see behind me are doing the exact same thing as me...such good little tourists we are! Oh and yes...i asked some random to take my picture...I don't have shame standing alone :).

I wrote a great blog the day after I returned from London, but mistake number one, I wrote it directly in the stinkin’ blog window instead of Word…. and welcome home to Ghana…the internet went out and erased the post. You know once you’ve had thoughts and penned them, or shall we say, typed them you can’t duplicate it … it just doesn’t ever come out the same!

So instead I will tell you that my trip to London was fantastic. Full of surprises. Just the way God works with me. You never know what’s coming next I LOVE it. I made a friend in the Accra airport heading to London so we chatted and she gave me her number and said if I wanted to go to church, ‘drop me a line.’ (say that in a British accent!)

I don’t know if she thought I would really call, but I did. I arrived in London on Saturday morning the 17th around 7am. Was picked up by a taxi. And this was no Ghanaian taxi…this was setup by a friend and was a Mercedes…yes spoiled I am! I do have to say as he was opening the back right hand side door I said, “oh no…I’ll sit up front with you,” to which he gave me a funny look as I opened the right side front door.

Anyway so I took a nap, woke up and walked around the neighborhood. It was a beautiful day around 70 degrees and sunny. Perfect. After shopping at some second hand stores and scoring a great pair of new blue jeans for 5 pounds…I went to the movie theatre. Oh yes, stadium seating, loud surround sound feature film. It was a taste of heaven. Becoming Jane was my pick; I was in London after all! Then I had dinner with Ama’s boyfriend Daniel. Going to London he was the only person I knew, by the time I left God had put several people in my path that I’m sure I will see again someday!

So then I called Grace, the one I met at the airport. I think she was shocked, but seemed excited so I gave her really terrible directions to where I was staying since I didn’t know it well at all, and she picked me up around 11am Sunday morning. We went to her church, not sure what denomination, but when the preacher said after offering, “you won’t be blessed if you coins in the offering plate, only dollar bills.” It made me want to cry. Some of these people don’t have much, we were in South London, a poorer area, and really are trusting the leadership of this ‘preacher.’ I wondered if he had ever heard of the poor widow who gave out of poverty? Then we went over to Grace’s friends house where I had some great conversations with Ghanaians. I walked up and they were a little confused since Grace said she had met me in the Accra airport so they were expecting a Ghanaian. However when I busted out a little Twi…we were laughing and joking and instant friends. It’s amazing how people warm up to you when you try to speak their language…We talked all day till about 7pm about their struggle of leaving Ghana and living in London trying to make ends meet. It was wonderful. I also met and spent the night the next weekend with John and Dorothy. Friends of a friend in Ghana, she gave me their number. I called them; they invited me to dinner and spend the night as they lived in East London. Sunday morning after stopping off at the local flower market and bread store…we worshiped in a small rec building…it was wonderful! John and Dorothy are in their late 70’s I think, so it was fun being spoiled like a granddaughter!

The whole week was full of God stories and my class was fantastic. I learned TONS of information; I’m hoping I will actually have retained some! I just started on a new documentary of a short-term team that came to Lake Bosomtwi for a short-term trip, so we’ll see how it goes!

On a whole it was marvelous to enjoy 10 full days of uninterrupted power, warm almost boiling hot showers, carpet and fast food. Oh yes, I went to London and ate at every fast food restaurant I came too. Well not actually, but almost. I did intake two different meals of MacDonald’s. Now I haven’t eaten Mky D’s in years in the States? I also enjoyed KFC, Pizza Hut and Burger King! I don’t know why, all I can say is that we always want what we don’t have…right.

more london pics on flckr

wednesday night procrastination.

I should be packing or working, but I'm not. I would just like to say I smell myself. If that doesn't make you want to read more... I don't know what will! I've been to language class today, worked in my hot room and went to the market. I need a shower! Actually we have what we call 'the contest' in our household. Originally it was designed because we were having EXTREME water problems and were being very frugal. So the one who went the longest without showering "won." I'm not telling when I "won" last.

This week has flown by. I am leaving for London Friday to take a course for editing software. I hope it's a good course, because it's expensive and London itself isn't cheap.

As i completed the Mozley's ministry documentary I wanted imovie (the current software program I'm using) to do things it wouldn't do and I know final cut pro can do it, I just don't know how to make it do what I want it to do.. So we'll see. I didn't know about going at first because it's before I've lived in my host country a year, and from others' experience living cross culturally it's not good to leave within the first year. However the doors kept opening and I think this is where I'm supposed to go.

Sometimes in conversation with Daddy I don't hear his voice clearly. Maybe it's because I don't want to, maybe I'm talking too much or maybe He's letting me make a decision to let me walk it out and learn. I do know that He woke me up Sunday night and put some stuff on my heart to be praying about.

I'm studying Daniel right now from a Beth Moore bible study. We're talking about Babylon as a mentality. What are our idols that we spend too much time and energy worshiping? TV, magazines, movies, pampering ourselves, books, thinking good or bad of ourselves and focusinig too much on 'me"...the list goes on and on. It's easy in our culture, and even though I don't live in America right now I'm still American at the core and battle that desire of self indulgence. I think it's taught to us from birth and the older we get the more our school and career say, "it's about me getting to the top." But Daniel stood apart. He didn't even give in when the head hauncho of the day was pressuring him. How do we stand apart, yet love others in a non condescending way? I'm really praying about this as I am going to visit an area of London full of "me" babylon mentalities. I have to admit I'm guilty of self indulging gratification just as much as the next human...that's when I say thank you God for continuining to change my heart. beautiful grace.

Ghana @ 50

Last week was Ghana's 50 year independence celebration...aka...Ghana @50 Golden Jubilee. You have to check out Tatum's blog, the Buchele's and Loreli and John Marks blog for their pictures. It's true... the atmosphere was crazier than an SEC football game. There's just no way to caputre the sounds of people yelling GHANA out of cars, on bicycles, on foot, out of trees, on top of cars, out of buses and trotros. There's no way to describe the amazement you stand in when you realize, as you look down at your clothes, the amount of sweat you've prespired and those who have prespired on to you.

The day was wonderful. Ghana is generally known for its hospitality. When I think about the fact that not one single person was rude to any of us 'white' people it reiterates the kindness of the most the people in this country. I actually had the thought someone might say to me, "Hey you're celebrating an independence of colonization, you're white...you're a cause for the need for independence." Nope, not one person said that. Just another reason why this country's people are so great and forgiving.

So here's some of my pics. I highly recommend going to Tatum's and JM and Loreli's blog for more details...why rewrite when they've done such and excellent job of capturing the story!

Also- if you want to take a look at Ghanas' 50 year celebration plans check out http://www.ghana50.gov.gh

lake pics. more on flickr.

the lake lessons

well i'm back from the Lake and two days later i still don't know what to write about. you know how you go on a trip and people ask, "how was it?" and then you say, "oh it was GREAT" so much happened and you don't know where to begin??? anbody feeling me? my trip was great, why? several reasons including: i got to get to know the jernigan's better. they have lucas, 5, and luisa, almost 2. it was fun playing with them especially when louisa started calling me marmar, which is what my nephew says. it was bonding to spend to time with ju and andrew and start to really unpack their hearts for ministry. check out their blog (linked to the right under jernigans) let me get side tracked for a moment... thanks for all the prayers driving. we made it safe, only after being pulled over three times? i think that's right. and having to 'negotiate' with the crooked police officer. this is a bone of contention for me. they literally have you in a tough spot. i know better than to give them my real license when they pull you over because then they will demand more money, at least that's what i've been told, so i made a copy. but then they want your insurance or something so that you will have to pay them in order to get your paper work back. since i was in claire's car i really didn't want her insurance card to be taken. anyway- 15 minutes later and more money given to her than what someone who does an honest day of labor would make in a month, we're on our way. ok next topic. back to the reasons why this past week were amazing. not only getting to fellowship with the jernigans and steve buchele ( he rode up with gifty and me....checkout his blog through andrews blog...i don't have him linked yet) but we also got to fellowship with the short term team in from alabama. it's such a blessing to have people come visit. i now it's expensive and that money would go a long way not spent on plane tickets, but you just never know what God does in and through people coming and the ones who live here. i worked all week capturing footage to tell two stories. one about the jernigans' call to Lake Bosomtwi and the way God was working in and through the group from Sylacauga, ALABAMA. so fellowship was amazing listening to steve sing and play acoustic guitar and prepare questions for our minds to start thinking. as i am retrospecting i learned something amazing this week. for me getting to film is a blessing, and this week God revealed through several different people that caputring people's hope and their souls is It. in this season that is what i want to try and do. i think i knew this, surely, but it hit me hard this past week. i do want to take aethestically pleasing shots whether still or video, but capturing the true identitiy of people is hard and i think that's where God comes in. this is His media, His camera, His stories so it's interesting to see how He glorifies it. there was a specific moment when my paradigm shifted this week from just getting 'the shot' to capturing truth. i'm so thankful because it takes something i'm already passionate about and intensifies it. this past week i enjoyed talking and just stiiting with ghanians more than i have the past 8 months. tyring to learn twi and speaking it so badly that you just laugh together as they try to understand me and me them i started realizing God is giving me more and more a heart for Ghanaians. isn't that true of wherever our Jeruselam is? where God has us day in and day out, He is the one who gives us the capabliity to love. even crooked police officers! God gave me more of a desire this week than ever before to just love. when you take one person's picture here, they inevitably want more more more. so it's a great opportunity to smile and love on children, as long as they don't start beeting each other trying to be the one in front of the camera. i just think God is opening my eyes to this media more than i've ever imagined. in undergrad broadcasting courses i took a communication law class and ethics to understand the importance of telling the true story, but the truth becomes so much more powerful when you continue a journey with The Truth.

leaving for the lake

it's 6:02am and i seriously could call home and somebody would probably be up on friday night, yet i just woke up on saturday morning isn't that neat. anyway. i'm leaving this am to go to lake bosumtwe near kumasi in the asante region. when God reminds you and you think about it please pray from feb. 10-19th for the jernigan's, our time together as we film for their overview ministry documentary and their short term team coming in that i'll be doing videography with. that was a confusing sentence, but it's too early to go back and retype. i'm not generally a wake up at 5:30am kind of girl! i won't have internet access until i'm home so i'll update you then!

love to all-margaret

new look and camping

i decided to give my blog a new look. to me it seemed the black background was hard to look at...started making me see lines! and I just added my friends Jimmy and Stefanie (the nances) to the links section. visit their page. they have great sayings listed people say here in Ghana.

now for the camping title. last night was our lights out night and it is so hot inside our house. gifty came up with a great idea. the breeze was blowing and it was pretty cool outside, so we decided to 'camp' in our driveway. you remember moldy bed? well he's still hanging around outside leaned up against the wall with no where to go and with dry season here...it's not so moldy. so we got him down and dusted him off. we put a mattress on top and moved it out to where the breeze was blowing and slept outside. it was GREAT. lyle if you read this, you will be proud. no tent, no netting. just a hard mattress and the cool night air. we lit a mosquito coil and only once was i awoken by the annoying buzz of two mosquitos having a fight around my head. i didn't get one bite, and i had a pretty nice amount of sleep. i think we'll probably do that again! although i'm wondering for people who pass by if they were thinking..."is that a white ... girl ... sleeping outside?" YES!

games

watching the ghana vs. nigeria football game and it's exciting. it's been 15 years since ghana beat them....we'll see how it turns out!!!

121

i think this is interesting. on my flickr page most of the photos have been viewed maybe 20, 30 or so times. but the picture with me holding a chicken has been viewed 121 times. i wonder why? that's crazy to me. :) i'm going to see what other animal i can find to hold next!

random thoughts

Why is it as humans we are always looking forward to the next “something?” I am living out a passion of doing videography in another country for God and yet there’s a part of me that wants more. Why? I think it’s the un-content human heart.

God blesses us over and over and yet we still want more. I used to read about the Israelites complaining in the desert after God provided over and over and think, “How could you not see He was taking care of you.” Yet part of my heart has israelitis.

When in a state of question asking to Daddy, I wonder is it really to glorify God or are we really saying God “make me feel validated.”

I desire a heart that is truly content. I desire a Paul heart where no matter the circumstance I can sing.

I know my God is amazing. Tonight is a great night, even though my heart is a little heavy with burdens in which I should let go. I want to know that I’m known by God, which I think would help to me to know that not to be known fully by humans is ok. Confused?

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low down.

i'm so glad gifty is back home! she traveled to see her family last week and i was all by myself :). well me and tiger (that's our dog...who's not too smart......bless his heart...i'm southern i can say that!)

monday gifty found out she is typhoid free! hallelujah!!! and the really cool part is that the doctors were amazed because there was no trace of typhoid at all! she just told them, "well the whole world was praying," so the doctor agreed it was a miracle!

monday night i took gifty out to dinner to celebrate. we had chicken and rice :) the usual around here it was a nice treat since our lights were out. we didn't know if our generator would work because...(kirk and nicole if you're reading this don't freak out because we got it fixed :) when i cranked it the other day it fell off the blocks it was sitting on. sure happened to me. oh well. i called our electrician and now they're pouring a slab and bolting that thing to the ground. ... no more slipping now! haha.

tuesday morning i was invited by the jacksons to the inagural meeting of the Maringa Tree Organization at our Methodist Headquarters. It was interesting this tree packs more nutrients than one could imagine. so the MCG, methodist church ghana, is promoting it because it will help nutrition hopefully, especially in rural areas. tuesday night we had the bible club leaders over and it was fun. lots of laughing and joking some good fellowship last night. but here's what's been going on at my house today...

Batik and Tye and Dye. that's what gifty was trained in as a profession. so felix and leford, two of the bible club leaders, came over today to help out. they have been working non stop and have come up with some pretty creative designs. if you want to purchase some of gifty's stuff...give me a shout! check out flickr for pics!

margaret

i have started about five blogs since last week and published none. i have millions of thoughts going through my head yet i can't seem to sit down long enough to thoroughly work them out onto paper or blogger that is. the sims left this past tuesday for america so it's been gifty and me except now she's in kumasi until monday. so even with being quite i still can't seem to find time to get these out :)

on thursday the 11th i talked to my friends joel and robbyn about a short term team coming in june. my home church wants to start a partnership in ghana so i'm helping assist in some avenues to start forming a relationship that will sustain even after i'm gone. it was such a great conversation. i love knowing the hearts of people who have a similar passion and vision for ministry.

i have started to realize most of my culture shock right now is dealing with the fact that the way i see ministry, creative and outside of the box, causes a sort of anxiousness inside me when i'm working with community bible club. coming from the states i've realized i expect ciricculum to meet a standard so we are charting a path for these children to be working towards. i realize and have been trained to realize the way american ministry and ghanaian ministry is done isn't going to be the same, and i know the heart of a learner and try to exhibit it. but i think we've set a less than high expectation in america for children's ministry by 'gaming' them to death instead of using games to reinforce an overall truth that needs to be communicated and taught. i see that here too and that's where i start to get frustrated. i think that when there's downtime it should be constructive and is a great way to teach the children something either by drama, game, story or a lesson. is that american? i just don't like wasting time. i know that's an american culturalism and i'm starting to unpack those feelings of culture shock. for me it's not food, smells or people urinating constantly and anywhere. it's not the live chickens, goats and cows that you meet in the road constantly. it's not driving a standard in traffic that takes an hour anywhere you want to go. it's not buying things in the market or wearing ghanaian clothes. none of these really send me into culture shock. it's the realization that the leaders here don't neccesarily need my thoughts and opinions right now. so my prayer is continuing to be 'stay in'. no one said this will be an easy road to travel down. i don't know the language fluently so i've got a lot to be working on in that arena if i'm going to want my thoughts to be heard. not that the leaders aren't great friendly people. don't hear me wrong. but i've got to gain Jesus's strength to want to continue to learn how to minister to people here because at this point i just want to do it my way.

we went to the retreat thursday thru satruday (last week) and then sunday morning 7am i flew to kumasi. this was such a blessing. i am doing a documentary for Joe Otsin. he's an evangelist in Methodist Church Ghana and also works with Cecil Williamson ministries (yes cecil from starkville, ms if you know him!...small wolrd) so i'm doing this video to help communicate his vision/passion and how God's been working through him. i stayed with his family one night and another ghanaian family the next night. i went with him to a training he leads and during that time i startd to see ghanaian men interacting in a way that was familiar to friends in the states. the training has three leaders and one of them is from accra, where i live, about six hours away. Emmanuel and Joe are friends and it was neat to see them working together in ministry yet the live hours away. it's just like home when you get to work with someone that you haven't seen in so long, but your hearts are beating with the same passion. it was so encouarging to see them working as a team. i just have to say that time was sweet and a blessing.

one more side note. the women's retreat in the mountains...first off the place was such a gift from God. it was georgous and none of us could believe where we were staying. the house faced south with a pool overlooking the landscape for miles however with harmatan we could only see about 100 yards in front of us, but we all got the picture of how majestic it could have been if the sky was clear. so that just set the tone for the weekend. for me it was full of introspective thoughts and God bringing to light many things. one part about Daddy i love is He never stops redeeming his children. he never stops coming after us to make us more pure. He and i are dealing with issues that i've never dealt with and really never knew i needed to deal with until He made them known. it's great. i've realized what great friends i have in tupelo too. (there's a point to that seemingly random interjecting among a women's retreat in ghana...) God strategically put me there after florida so i could learn and be thankful for the people he put in my life. i have met some great people here too, but there are girls in tupelo that in their presence i'm plain and simple.... comfortable. i've realized what a great comfort it is to be known by people and not have to show people and teach them who you are. that happens when you move somewhere new. you start over and you get to know people. i've done that my whole life since my dad is a preacher and i was relocated with cellular south three times. moving isn't something that scares me for the most part i enjoy it. but i am realizing i think part of why God brought those tupelo girls in my life was to show me how authentic He wants me to be with HIm because in the exhuastiveness of making new friends He is our one true personality and struggles Understander. i've got great friends here, but we're just scratching the surface of who each other really is. i'm learning how to really be in His presence constantly. it's harder to do when you're doing 'good.'

i do have to give a kudos to tonya and deirdra. they're the two ladies who led the retreat. tonya speaker/drumming artista! and deirdra on vocals and acoustic!!! they were great and encouraging. it's neat to see how God uses all of our gifts to lift each other up and that's totally what they did while they were here!

there's some of my million thoughts. not totally unpacked but there's the gist! love to all

just an update

let's see. it's thursday afternoon and i'm blogging because i won't be here monday. (like i've been really consistent posting every monday for the last month anyway! ha!...maybe that will be my new year's resolution...wait...i hate new year's resolutions...so ....well anyway...)

i'm leaving around six tonight and traveling to the mountains with some other singles and we are having our first annual women's retreat. kind of sounds like a john eldridge man thing now that i write it!

but there's two really neat girls here from virginia. one's the student minister on campus at richmond va and the other is the worship leader. so they've agreed to lead us in some spiritual renewal talks and just some great fellowship time. i'm really excited about the trip. i was actually going to be our driver but the mozley's decided we needed a ghanaian driver. which is probably better considering we have to climb a nice size mountain in the dark!

this week has been great. i've started listening to a new podcast from the Village church out of texas. matt chandler is the preacher and he's really great. i started reading ecclesiastes and told my friend pat. he is listening to this matt guy and said that the church just did a 16 week study on ecc. so here i am listening to it cause pat told me about it! i have learned lots these past six months about different seasons of life and how without God as our motivator and reason we 'do' things then it really everything is worthless under the sun. matt, like i'm on first name basis with him!, really walks through each verse and compares what Solomon is allowing himself to experience and relates it to things we do as humans now. it's amazing how cliche this will sound...but it's undescribably amazing being in a study. i'm really praying about some sort of weekly small group bible study time as i've noticed that i am not vigorous and deeping as much as i would like to be therefore i tend to get more self focused easier...does that make sense?

as for this week and this season of my life i'm starting to get busy with projects. it's nice honestly. i have several documentaries i'm working on and i get home saturday from the women's retreat to leave sunday for kumasi to work with a methodist ghanaian pastor up there.

did i mention i've gotten to webcam with pat, sarah and lyle...also with my mom and sister this week...it's been fun! my parents just upgraded their camper and they took me on a tour of it...as well as sarah and pat showed me their whole house with wireless...technology is an amazing gift!

the sims are leaving for furlough next tuesday so i'll get home just in time to see them off around 6:30pm. they have lots of logisitics to work out and will be VERY busy the first 1 and 1/2 when they return back to the states...so lift them up to Daddy to care of them please :)

i guess that sums up this weeks thoughts thus far!

Christmas and New Years. Ghana style.

Well I have to say Christmas was great. We killed a chicken Christmas morning. Actually Gifty killed it. I simply held it for 5 minutes thinking about how it was about to die. Is that kind of sick sounding? First time for me to hold a live chicken and to watch one get killed.

So we woke up and gave bruni, presents to Ghanaians basically, to our next-door neighbor Mathew. He has chickens so we bought one from him to cook for Christmas dinner that afternoon.

So we did. Gifty is really good. You can tell she’s grown up in Northern Ghana where that’s a regular occurrence. Not one sound did that chicken make as it was being slaughtered. Aidan and Eli were engrossed to watch how it was going to unfold. Then Aidan got really sad after it was dead. Me too. I could barely eat any of it. I’m a weenie.

So then the SWEET Mozley’s had brought presents to us that morning and I went over to their house and got on line to skype with my family. It was good to see them via webcam. I got to watch them open presents. Thankful.

That week I spent going around and giving out banana bread muffins I had made. It was fun and next year I think maybe I’ll get more into the giving out before Christmas is so close. You give all the Ghanaians you’re close to bruni and even those that you don’t know will ask “where’s my bruni” so you always have something ready or in your car. Amazing.

Then on December 30 I went to Dansoman. A densely populated area west of central Accra. That’s where Ama, my language teacher lives. I went and spent Saturday night with her at her two-bedroom apartment building she shares with her two cousins. There’s one bed and they always let her have it when she’s home from school. So we “perched” together as she calls it. It made our rooms in the states look like 7 star hotel suites. But we had a BLAST. I met her childhood friends, mostly boys, who look at her like a little sister to protect. We went uninvited to a baby’s birthing party. The parents had seven huge speakers and a dj hosting an outdoor party to celebrate the baby’s birth. Everyone’s invited, even if you don’t know the people. So I show up. The only obruni of course. But it was great. She let me into her life and people she loves it was great. I met her boyfriend that is in from the UK and we went to a bar that was so loud I could barely hear. He was asking me all kinds of questions about being a ‘missionary’ and said, “I’ve never really met one face to face…live before.” It made me laugh. For many reasons. Mostly because I think how far God has brought me and the fact that He redeems people with ‘pasts’ all the time. So I’m definitely nothing to think too special off… so it made me laugh the way he put it. I think he’s kind of been burned by the organized British influenced ‘Christianity’ that still has many remnants so our conversation was interesting. Then Ama and I went to church Sunday morning and it was a non denominational church….I’m glad she goes there… the Spirit among the people there was alive! And not once did we sing a boring British hymn from the 1800’s that no one really understands. (Sorry can you tell it annoys me that the Methodist church I go to does this?)

New Years was great. I didn’t go to watch night, which is where most ALL Ghanaians spend time in prayer welcoming the New Year in with Jesus at church. (then at 12:30am lots of the the young people head straight out to party until wee hours!) interesting.

I decided to stay at the Mozley’s house and celebrate it semi-American. That means we had a ping pong tournament at 80+ degrees in December and shot fireworks at midnight. It was fun with the whole Down’s family there and Ryan! Man was it great to get to know them. It was a blessing because they are southern people that remind me a lot of my fam. They let you just fit right in with them. Ms. Pam, Tates’ mom, reminds me of my sweet momma who feels like a mom to everyone. Then her two sisters Annie and Sally were a blast to hang out with. Annie and I jumped right into a heart to heart and I just felt like I had known her for years. After new years’ they invited me to go to the beach with their family and the Mozley’s, which was a BLAST. It wasn’t sunny at all, but we hung out, watched movies and played an awesome new game (for me) called Mafia! It was great obruni time J Sal, Ryan, Anna and I looked out into the ocean and sang songs for about an hour one night just praising Jesus. It was awesome. And it was a blessing.

The next two months are going to be really busy and I’m thankful. I went through a really tough season when I first got here of not having a structured job and waking up early early because I felt like I wasn’t “doing” enough. So as things start to pick up I’m thankful but at the same time want to make sure and remain in a place that I’m fully aware what I do doesn’t define me. And to always seek praise and validation from God first.

I think right now I’m learning how to listen. I sat in my car about a week ago and for the first time in a long time I said You talk. I’ll listen. That honestly usually doesn’t happen because I’m the first to start talking.


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