Saturday with the Winona Team

Since the Winona Team only has a short time in Nalerigu, we have to cram a LOT of things into the week.  The only "tourist attraction" around here is the escarpment at Nakpanduri.  Since our ministry schedule will be so full, this is the only day to squeeze this trip in.  I know that the last thing the weary travelers want to do is get back into a vehicle for a 45 min ride, but they were troopers.  We bumped along the bumpy road to Nakpanduri then hiked and climbed around some on the rocks.  Here are "the boys" atop a large rock formation.  

Aside from a few tight squeezes through some narrow rocks and Nancy getting a thorn stuck in her arm, the trip was nice and relaxing.  Allie and Ryan posed for a shot overlooking the countries of Togo and Burkina Faso. 

On the way back we stopped to visit with a Dutch / American couple who have lived in Ghana 50 years planting trees.  We saw and photographed their baboon, monkeys and turkeys, too.  Charlie enjoyed hearing John talk about WW2 and how he remembered when the Germans came onto their farm in the Netherlands and how he saw trains of Jews traveling to concentration camps.

On the way back to Nalerigu, we stopped for a cold Coke to soothe our parched bodies. 

 We had to get geared up the afternoon -- pizza and a movie with the orphans!!

That's right.  The kids from the orphanage had been invited to our house for a special time.  Natalie and Allie had been reading them a book one day about shapes.  The book mentioned a slice of pizza and the children said they did not know what it was.  So, our girls wanted to let them enjoy some homemade pizza.  We had been wanting to do this with them, so while our friends were here from Winona, this was a perfect opportunity.

While the final preparations were being made for the food, all the kids played outside.

Allie rode kids on horseback while Natalie taught the kids a lesson in taking turns riding her bicycle.  The guys got "schooled" playing soccer with the Ghanaian boys.

We had cheese pizza (with the help of our Ghanaian friend, Rebecca) and then they watched "Lion King."  They were so excited.  A while into the movie, they began needing to go to the restroom.  Some just went outside as they are accustomed.  Some wanted to try out the "white man's" toilet.  Nancy went in to assist 3 little girls that had been in there for a while.  When she went in they were just standing and looking around.  One asked Nancy, "Where do we urinate?"  I'm just glad they asked instead of making the wrong guess . . . . !

Right before the orphans left, we were able to give them each a new pair of shoes and a new shirt.  The shoes were bought here with some donated ministry money.  The shirts were donated by various businesses / schools in Winona.  (Thanks to those of you who made all of this possible!!)  The kids were SO excited.  They tried on their new things but put them back in their plastic bag because they didn't want to get them dirty.

After the kids left, all of OUR kids went up to First Baptist Church Nalerigu to do some practicing and sound checking for the youth event scheduled for Sunday night.  You can look forward to hearing about that and other fun things tomorrow.

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