Wow! Where to begin??! The first day we spent here taking in the sights and smells of this place and meeting all the children. I am sure you have heard from many of us how the children here are always smiling. This entire time thus far, we have pondered over how children with so little can be so rich in the Spirit. God does miraculous things here.
The electricity has been on and off quite a bit since we got here. At the church service on Sunday Fred Asare - director of the VOH teased that since the Americans from Tennessee have come here, there has been no electricity! During the church service a girl named Mavis went to be baptized at the ocean. We all walked down to the ocean, about 2 miles one way. Some of the children were driven in Tommy's truck and in the bus, but most of theArlington group walked. Anyway, as we were walking home, the bottom totally fell out! I mean it! It rained an poured! Ghana cooled off to about mid 70's I guess, and it was so comfortable. About the time we changed clothes, a bunch of us decided we should use God's gift of rain to its full potential and play volleyball in it! Mark decided to join in and we teased him about being too much of a lightning rod.. haha! We later had a church service with the children Sunday evening. It was pretty much led by the children. You should hear them sing.. Jeff Cutler videoed it and I can't wait for you all to hear it during the presentation when we are home. They have a version of Kumbaya that will bring goosebumps to your skin. Their voices are so precious and full of hope.
The electricity was on most of the night last night but off all day today. We have felt moved by the children at the VOH more each day - at how little they have and yet how willing they are to share. We had a movie night the other day and gave them all one marshmallow and one sucker. The children broke off peices of their marshmallows to share, and bit off peices of their different colored suckers to exchange among one another. Amazing. Can you imagine sharing something that small? To them it is just a normal part of their culture. Today, we went to another small village -about the size of my neighborhood at home (which is less than 1/4 mile). It was about 30 minutes up the road and much more destitute. The children there stay outside all day and roam around or play whie their parents are normally farming (sometimes a mile or more away) or working somplace. Some children wore only underwear, or a sheet, only a pair of shorts for the boys... some had shoes, others did not. The homes were made of canes and mud, others were made of concrete blocks. Clothes littered the yards being dried in the sun. Chickens and goats roamed around. I have no idea how anyone knows what animal belongs to whom. But the Ghanians are very peaceful and honest people. We all got off the bus and walked along the dirt roads in this town, while an interpereter played a recording over the bull horn in their native language (called "Tree"). The message was telling the children that we were there from the Church of Christ to give Vacation Bible School. Zack took some pictures of the children and they all flocked to him and followed him! It beats me how these children know that digital cameras are, but somehow they know to pose, smile, and come rushing to you to see themselves on the camera screen! They laugh hysterically and point at one another. It is the funniest thing you have ever ever seen!
Mark (through the interpereter) gave a good lesson about Jesus feeding the 5,000 in a way that the children could understand. Their eyeballs were so focused on him and every facial expression he made... then they would look over at the interpereter (Emmanuel) for the translation. As we prayed, they shouted "Amen" after nearly each phrase with mad enthusiasm! We split them into about 4 groups to do a craft and give a treat. Mark, Faye, Pete, Meridith and I were all in the room with the 6-9 year olds. They sat in the desks of the makeshift school house as we passed out crayons and paper plates to draw pictures of fish and bread on - keeping with the lesson. They did as we did and were very well behaved and respectful. They knew only a few words of English: "Give me one, thank you, and bye bye!" We explained that we would bring the crayons back "Ochena" (tomorrow) and that we would give them back to keep on the last day. Once we passed out the candy - tootsie rolls in a baggie - they just sat there and stared at them. I had sat down to color with a boy seated in the back of the room by himself and helped him open one. He ate it and smiled. I looked around and none of the children were eating theirs! I asked Emmanuel on the ride home why this was and he told me that the children were going to take them back home to share with their parents. I wrote my name on my paper plate and before I knew it the children wanted me to write on all of theirs too!! Not knowing what to write, I just wrote my name.... and if I had a quarter for each time I wrote my name, I could buy another round trip plane ticket over here!! The children came from the other rooms for my name on their plate!! Talk about feeling like a rock star! Now I know how Cammille was feeling while she was here! haha!! Anyway, we love it here, and are having a fabulous time, learning so much and growing as a group.
I'd like to take just a moment to thank everyone who helped me get here... All the people who came to the Arlington dinners, My grandparents Jack, Evelyn, and "Nanny", my parents and my Uncle Jeff, who all donated generously as well, all extended family members, friends at work, Roger, Linda, my love Jody. Thank you all!! This experience has been truly precious. My little cousin Rowan, I hope you are able to read up on this! Miss you and hope you are well!! Talk to you all again soon - be praying for us, that we do God's work here, are safe, healthy and return home safely. Love to you all!!! Especially to the Arlington Church which I miss, even though some of you are with me. :)
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1 comment:
April, I am so proud of you! I remember the talks we had last year about how you wanted to grow spiritually. Your news shows abundance of that already. Thank you for all the wonderful details of how the children are reacting and how it is affecting you and the team. Be safe and know you are in my thoughts and prayers. Becky Johnson
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