Greetings, everyone, from
Ghana. So sorry the internet situation is not enabling us to send
pictures, but we will do it at the first opportunity. We are incredibly
grateful for all of your prayers! I cannot tell you the number of times we
have seen God protect us and take care of us. He has gone before us every
step of the way, and we are so thankful for His constant care of us.
So here is the Reader’s Digest
Condensed version of the past week, then, if I still have internet connection,
I will begin to fill in the details. Today is Friday, and we are in
Tamale, Ghana. Last Friday, July 8, we left the other team members from
S.A.V.E. at work in the Kenema Village and we returned to Freetown with our new
friends Nelson and Michaella. We got to see the poultry division of the
Njala University, I had my first “market” experience, and we stopped in the
village where we had broken down on our way “up country”. We have had
many philosophical discussions about how to help people take more
responsibility for their own growth and development, particularly when they
have been in a receiving mode for so long due to war and Ebola. I did many
“loads” of wash back in our Freetown accommodations. The first set dried
overnight since we had A/C; after that no A/C all weekend until Monday, so took
forever. You simply have to laugh about stuff – I would have my things in
the bucket and come out to the room & tell Dick, “My things are in the
rinse cycle”. It truly gives one an appreciation for these women who have
to do this all the time, outside, then deal with torrential rains coming at odd
times and soaking their laundry drying on the line. Dick spent the entire
evening Friday working with the internet without much success – oh, how much we
appreciate what we have at home!!
Saturday we spent time seeing
(hiking uphill & down) the land that Nelson and Michaella have purchased
for a school to teach business practices and technical skills according to
God’s foundational truths. They kept saying we were going to “Shallot”,
with emphasis on 2nd syllable. We were sure surprised
when we got there and saw a sign for the village there – it is called
“Charlotte”! I think ‘Shallot’ must be the British pronunciation.
In the afternoon they took us to a chimpanzee preserve. Pictures will
have to wait, but it was a good time. It was pretty late, but Michaella had
cooked that morning, so we had our dinner with them. No electricity of
any sort when we returned, not even generator for the fans. Later we
learned that Auntie somebody-or-other had not paid the electric bill
[everyone here is Auntie or Uncle – even Dick and I are called Auntie Cathy and
Uncle Dick], but also, sadly, our landlady’s very close cousin had died and she
was away for the funeral, so she was not at home to even deal with it.
Nelson’s daughter loaned Dick a hotspot modem, which helped him get
email. Things were seemingly bleak Saturday night, but they were all
“creature comfort” issues, nothing substantial, so we went to sleep reminding
ourselves to “trust in the Lord with all of your heart, lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths
straight”. [Proverbs 3:5-6]
Sunday, July 10th,
Nelson picked us up for church at 9:30. Surprising, since much of the
time people here run on what we are learning is “Africa time”, which is to say
… well, you can imagine. We Americans often value time, time is money; it
seems to us that Africans primarily value relationships. Awesome church
service! Wish it would have been appropriate to video some of the people
– dancing and singing – they truly know how to worship God with their entire
bodies! This used to be our friend pastor Edgar’s church (he is now in
Zville at ZF), so the people were so excited to hear how he and his family were
all doing. The pastor of the church had Nelson bring us to the front to
introduce us, as people from their beloved former pastor’s church. They
were so happy to hear our greetings from him and his family. Also, Nelson
arrived to pick us up bearing a large plastic bag – a rope hammock as a gift
for Dick! When we were at the chimpanzee park, I admired one in the gift
shop. Dick has always liked the idea and I have often thought of getting
him one. Nelson, grinning, says they had two and this one they were not
using. J Good thing we are getting
rid of about 80 # worth of school supplies, backpacks, and soccer balls!
Monday we visited the Freetown
school that S.A.V.E. has built. Headmistress Rhoda is beautiful lady,
inside and out. Such dedication to these kids! Their biggest
problem is not enough benches and desks. The road to get there is horrendous
– you cannot even imagine how bad – worse that going to Kenema. We meet a
few of the incredibly dedicated teachers, both men, and two students – one
former, a girl who is now doing exceptionally well in secondary school, and a
slight young man, age 10, I believe, had finished L4 and will be in L5 in the
fall (~grade 4 and grade 5), who they said is “near genius”. Rhoda said
they gave him 100 spelling words and he learned them perfectly in no time at
all. Nelson and Michaella take us to see the ocean, we eat at a
restaurant where we can see a little of the waves, and go from there to meet
the rest of our team. They have returned from Kenema, and have eaten
dinner with Bishop Julius from Bethel World Outreach, the church affiliated
with the Freetown Bethel School. Our delightful evening ends in the home
of the bishop and his lovely wife.
Tuesday – torrential rains.
Our team, now re-united, meets with EFSL staff at their headquarters in
Freetown. Quite a few of the people had been at our training the previous
week, greeted us warmly, and one lady Joyet ( sp?) came to us to tell how much
she appreciated it, she was for sure going to both teach and use the training,
and that she really enjoyed the time. That was encouraging. We go
with another “student” from our class, Rev. Thomas Elba, who leads a
votechnical training institute. Computer lab, metal shop, carpentry –
that makes me remember Rhoda’s great need for benches and desks. Could
the wood shop somehow partner with the school to make what they need? We
head to DISCET, a counseling, evangelism, and training institute begun by
Modupe, a godly man we had met at ZF. The goal today is simply to get
acquainted with these partner agencies. The rain is overing so we cannot
meet with Scripture Union or SLEFS. We pack our bags for the trip
tomorrow morning – a trip to one of the orphanages and the “long way around”
drive to the airport, 3 ¼ hours.
Wednesday we leave our
home-away-from-home Guest House, say goodbye to the staff who have become
special to us, and head for the airport. We stop at the orphanage; many
of these children are survivors from the war or from Ebola. They sing us
a greeting song, are filled with smiles, are obviously loved and well-cared
for, and we want to hug each and every one of them! Matthew has sent many
dresses for the girls and school supplies, we have some school supplies left to
share, and the children are delightful. Our visit is too quick, as we
must head for the airport. We have many hugs and goodbyes with our team
and drivers. Chris, David, Dick and I go to the airport with
Matthew. Hard to believe he will be in school in Boston in less than 2
months! Our flight to Accra is uneventful but half an hour early; some
kind Ghana policemen help us find David’s friend T.B. who has come to “collect
us”, as they say in Britain. He and his friends have come from a funeral,
so we get to visit with them on the way back to T.B.’s home. So we
are in the home of a retired pastor and his wife, Virginia, whom we have never
met, but who are friends of David Musa. Where else but in the family of
God could this happen – we are completely at home with them, they welcome us
and share their home with us, on another continent, yet we all belong to
Jesus. It is a special time. We have so many bags, but our trip to
northern Ghana the next day is not international so we are not allowed 2 bags
each. T.B. tells us that we will have to pay much money for the extra
bags. He offers to keep extra bags and bring them to us at the airport
when we return. Wow! Such kindness that goes beyond simple
hospitality. We pray for each other. He and Virginia will celebrate
their 45th anniversary on Sunday with their family. Dick
and I just had that milestone on June 19th, so we rejoice with
them.
Thursday T.B. takes us to our
flight to Tamale, we arrive without incident (except that Dick somewhere lost
his water bottle – if that has been our worst loss thus far, we are in great
shape, praise God!!) The driver from the “African Dream Hotel” meets our
flight and we are able to have our 2nd hot shower since in West
Africa – wonderful!
Friday we are wakened at 5:15 by
the local rooster – not just once, but about every 15 seconds. I remind
myself to put in my earplugs tonight! We visit the deaf girls at Savelegu
School for the Deaf and are so encouraged by their progress. We are
members of the board of Sung-Taaba, which supports Ghanaian students who are
deaf or blind. Hawa and Mozaifa have excelled in their work while at the
deaf school, so our support is confirmed to be headed in a good
direction. We are excited to send home the videos and pictures for the
website. Richard Nuanah, originally from Ghana, began this organization
with his wife Joy, daughter of our friend Ka. That is how we have become
involved. Sung-Taaba means helping in sign language, and we want to help
blind and deaf students in Ghana receive an education. Later, Richard’s
brother Christopher brings Matthew to us. Matthew is blind, the original
student who Richard began helping when Richard was still in Ghana.
Matthew is exceptionally polite, bright, personable and a young man with great
expectations. He says he would have dropped out of school at L6 (~ 6th grade)
had it not been for Richard. We spend the afternoon with him and
Christopher, eat dinner together, and are amazed at Matthew’s resilience and
courage. His trip to Tamale included a 5-hour bus ride from his home
town. Tomorrow the 4 of us will spend some time at the market in
Tamale. And there you are, a whirlwind tour through the past week.
Pictures will follow just as soon as we get better Internet.
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