Crocs in Paga (Not the shoes!)

While we have been away from Nalerigu, we got the chance to travel to a village up on the border of Ghana and Burkina Faso.  They are famous for their crocodiles and we got the chance to get up close and personal with some.  Yes, they were real.  No, there were no cages or chains.  We had to purchase a live chicken to use to lure them out of the water.  What you can't tell from the picture is that there were at least 3 other crocodiles in the water just behind us that were trying to come up on the bank.  The guide that was not taking the picture was throwing rocks into the water to keep them away.  They said there were more than 200 crocs in the pond.  I don't know if that is true, but the 3 or 4 we saw were enough.

Here's a video of when we were leaving the pond headed back to the truck.  Sorry for the poor quality, but when you realize I was not using the zoom at all you will see how close the croc was.  A little TOO close for my comfort!

Back Online

We are back online -- briefly.  We have found an internet cafe that's pretty fast.  We will try to upload some pictures and videos while we can take advantage of the internet speed.  We have been away from Nalerigu for a few days seeing a few sights and stocking up on supplies.   We hope when we get back to Nalerigu tomorrow that our internet will have been restored.

Please pray that it will be back online and at a good speed.  We really feel like this blog is meeting a need to communicate with our friends and family back home and around the world. Sharing prayer needs and praises is part of the body of Christ working together to make disciples of all nations.


Thanks again for faithfully reading this blog.  We have a lot to share, just stay tuned.

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No Internet

Hey all.  We have been without internet at BMC for over a week so we have been unable to upload any posts.  We have several to upload soon.  We are at our halfway point.  We have been here 11 weeks and after this week, we have 11 more weeks to go. There is a team of volunteer doctors at BMC now that allowed for us to leave for a few day mid-term break.  The kids have worked ahead in their classes and we are so proud of them for their hard work.  We have travelled to see a few sights, stock up on supplies and seek out an ATM for cash.  Stay tuned.  We will post again soon.

Thank you for your interest the work we are doing here in Ghana!

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Talking With the Youth

This picture was taken a while back, but just wanted to share it with you.  Evan and Allie tried to Skype with the youth, but it didn't work out.  So here they are on speaker cell phone talking with Mac and the youth in the church office between Sunday School and "Big Church."  They were so excited to have that brief phone call with their friends.  

Thanks, Mac and Ginny for working that out!!

Accused, Yet Redeemed

We have blogged before about the "Witches' Camp" in the nearby village of Gambaga.  Cindy and Allie have been before and ministered to the ladies and children there.  These ladies have been accused of witchcraft and cast out of their own villages.  The chief in Gambaga has offered them asylum in his village.  Here is a picture of a 12 year old girl accused of witchcraft.  A person died in her village and the villagers claimed she had "collected the soul" of the dead person.  When accused of witchcraft, a chicken is sacrificed.  Depending on how the chicken falls, the person is said to be innocent or guilty.  In her case, the chicken fell in such a way that would call her innocent.  However, the people didn't believe it so they cast her out anyway.

Cindy with the ladies who accepted Christ

The ladies make jewelry and sell it to make money to provide food for those that have been cast out.  God is redeeming these women whether their neighbors and families want to think so or not.  In fact, when Cindy was there recently, she was asked at the last minute to give a short devotion.  She talked about Romans 3 and how we are made righteous through Jesus Christ and "justified freely by His grace."  At the end, she said if anyone wanted to know more about Jesus, they could talk to her afterwards or to the lady, Laraba, that leads the ladies there at the camp.  Instantly, two ladies came forth and accepted Christ!!  Praise the Lord that His Word alone is enough to convict a person of their need for a savior AND that we who are accused by Satan, can be redeemed and made righteous through Jesus!

"This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe . . . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."  

Romans 3:  22-24


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Natalie's Sleep-Over

 Here is Natalie with one of her new friends, Sukanya Nyhus.  Sukanya is one of the missionary kids here.  She is originally from India and was adopted by Greg and Wendy Nyhus.  They also have 2 sons, Carter and Aiden.  They are volunteers here and have been the guest house coordinators.  They will be leaving here in about 2 weeks headed back to their home in Kansas City.  


Natalie and Sukanya have really had fun playing with each other.  I'm not sure how many movies they watched on the night of their sleep-over.  They also played Wii and ate some local food, tizet with groundnut stew.  Natalied loved it!  

When they woke the next morning, they played hard outside climbing some trees in our yard.

Please be in prayer for Sukanya and her family.  They are moving back home because they feel God is calling them back there.  Wendy really does not want to leave Ghana, and Greg doesn't have a job to go back to.  They trust God completely and know that He will reveal answers in His time.  Pray that God will give them just a glimpse of what is to come over the next few weeks.


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Blood Sister

No, we have not adopted an African child.  This miracle child belongs to the lady who was snakebitten and almost bled to death.  We blogged about it recently.  Please read that so you will have more details about this little girl's miraculous entry into the world.

Her mother, who now has some of Keenan's blood flowing through her veins, had to be readmitted to the hospital for anemia, but is still doing miraculously well, herself.  We went to visit with her -- Adwoa is her name.  We gave her a Bible in her language.  Although she can't read, we talked with her and found out that she has an older brother who is a Christian and lives in her village.  She said she would go to church with him and let him disciple her as she is now a new "soul sister" of ours, so to speak, since she accepted Christ as her savior when she was in the hospital recently.  

As for the baby, they offered for Keenan to marry her.  Weird, I know, but part of their culture. They were also willing for us to give the child a name as she doesn't have a name yet.  Typically, people don't give their children real names during their first year of life because there is so much infant death.  They call them by a Mampruli word that means "stranger."  I guess it's easier to bury a "stranger" if it were to die.  Eventually, though, she will have an official naming ceremony in her honor.

Keenan with his "soul sister", Adwoa, and her miracle daughter.  If you look closely to Adwoa's right, you can see the corner of the New Testament she just received.  

Please continue to pray for this mother and child.  I believe God has sent them into our lives for a special reason.  When she left the hospital before, I realized I had not gotten her name and didn't know where she lived so we could follow up with her.  Then, one day on rounds, I looked and there she was again.  Thank you God for bringing her back into our lives.

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Kids on Campus

Today is Thursday which means "Kids on Campus."  Some of the MK's have gone to Burkina Faso for a home school conference, so we had fewer kids today.  But that didn't slow us down.  Natalie helped share the Bible story today which was about Cain and Abel.  The local children were asked questions about last week's story of sin entering the Garden of Eden.  We were excited to hear how much they comprehended and remembered from the story.  We really hope and pray that the chronological stories from the Bible will lead to an understanding of who Jesus is and will lead the children to choose a life following Christ.

After the story, we had fun singing and doing hand motions to the songs!

Then we had prayer followed by an exciting game of kickball!

Please continue to be in prayer for the ministries the MK's are involved in and leading.  Their leadership has been inspirational.  I truly believe God is working in and through these ministries for His glory.


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Lazarus Discharged

After over 9 months in the hospital, Lazarus was finally discharged.  His stump has healed well enough that he can go back to his village.  His village is a ways out and can only be reached by foot or motorcycle.  He has been told that his job now is to strengthen his leg and his stump in preparation for a prosthesis.  Money has been donated to buy the prosthesis, he's just not ready for it yet.  It was bitter sweet when we said goodbye to him.  He turned away when we were leaving and would not look at us.  He had gotten in the habit of coming to our house in the afternoons sometimes and watching movies or playing UNO with the kids.  We don't know if we will get to see Lazarus again, but we hope that he will come visit sometime before we leave.  OR maybe we can make it out to his village.  


Please be in prayer for Lazarus and his grandmother.  His uncle was the one that took them home and he seems to be someone who will look after them.  


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Baby Goat

Such cute kids!

Goats are a very common occurrence here.  We happened up on this one as we were walking to church Sunday.  Evan couldn't resist!

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Ganiw Update

We wrote earlier about Ganiw in the blog by the same name.  We wanted to give a brief update about what's going on with him.  If you remember, he's one of the little muslim boys who hangs out at our house a lot, and he has been coming to the "Kids on Campus".  Recently he was with me when I was talking to a man who was wearing a hat that said "I Love (picture of a heart) Jesus.  Ghaniw read it out loud, "I love Jesus."  Later that day, he told Cindy, "I want you to tell me about Jesus when I come back this afternoon."  Then Sunday, he went with us to church.  He had ridden to church with us before, but THIS time he actually went in and stayed there the entire service.  One of his friends (Cowboy -- there is a blog post about him too!)  helped him find the scriptures in the Bible and he seemed very attentive throughout the entire service.

Please be in prayer as Ganiw is obviously being touched by the Holy Spirit.  

Pray that He will soon trust in Jesus as his Savior and Lord.

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Update on Blood Donation

Just wanted to give an update on the lady with the snakebite that was bleeding to death until Keenan gave her his blood: 


She is alive and well -- and a NEW CREATION.  Keenan asked one of the chaplains to go by and share the gospel with her in her language, explaining the significance of the free offering of JESUS' blood that cleanses us from our sin.  As a result, she renounced her muslim faith and accepted CHRIST!


Her premature baby is still alive and doing well.


They were both discharged from the hospital today.


What a great ending to this chapter of this lady's life story.  Our chaplaincy does a good job of following up with new converts so we look forward to hearing more about her.

1. We pray that God will reveal Himself clearly to her through His Word, His Spirit and His people.  
2. We also pray that she will become a bold witness for Christ among her muslim friends and family.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;  the old has gone, the new has come!"

2 Corinthians 5:17


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Unexpected Find

The kids got excited when they found Mountain Dew in a store in Tamale when we went to the immigration office.  

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Lazarus

Before I came to Ghana, I don't think I had ever known someone named Lazarus.  We have met a young boy here by that name.  He has an interesting story that we want to share with you.


Over 9 months ago, Lazarus was at his school in Tamale playing soccer.  I can't seem to get all the details, but somehow he sustained some sort of injury to his left leg while playing soccer.  As I am told, he didn't tell his parents about it right away and the injury got worse.  He initially went to the local hospital in Tamale, but his leg just kept getting worse.  He was brought here for further treatment and he's been here since then -- about 9 months.

At some point during his hospital stay here, both his parents were killed in a car wreck while traveling here to visit him.  When we arrived here,  that was where his story ended.

Since we arrived here, Lazarus lost something else dear to him -- his left leg below the knee.  Yes, his injury could not be fixed so he had to have a below the knee amputation of his left leg.  He now walks with either a borrowed walker from the hospital or some homemade crutches (just called "sticks" here).

He is a very bright child, speaks very good English is very frequently reading his Bible when I visit him.  He has begun to be a bit more mobile lately and leaves the hospital sometimes and visits the different missionary homes.  On Sunday, he wanted to go to church so we picked him up out in front of the hospital and he went to church with us.  At one point during the service, we noticed he was bent over in his own lap just sobbing.  He has lost so much in his short life that it just breaks your heart.

We took him (and a few other boys that were with us) home with us and we all enjoyed some "joliff rice" that we get from one of the local "fast food" stands in the village.  Then he watched a movie with Natalie while the other boys played soccer outside.

He doesn't always let his handicap get him down, though.  As you see here, he even manages to ride a bicycle sometimes.  Amazing!!

Lazarus is a Christian, but he still needs our prayers.  He does have an uncle here in town and his grandmother.  He will go to live with his grandmother when he is finally healed enough to leave the hospital.  That will not be a very good situation as his grandmother really doesn't have enough money for food for herself, not to mention Lazarus.

A prosthesis is in the works for him.  Some money has been provided to make that happen when his leg is ready for it.

Please pray for Lazarus and his grandmother.  He is a super-sharp kid that just hasn't been given a break.

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Kids' Ministry

From the beginning of our Ghana journey, we all wanted to make sure it was not all about Dad working at the hospital and Mom and the kids keeping house and homeschooling.  We really wanted each member of the family to be personally involved in at least one ministry.


On the "School Has Started" blog we mentioned that the kids had ministry worked into their weekly schedule so we want to give you a little more insight into what that entails.  We already blogged about Evan and Allie singing at Koko Duu and all the missionary kids (MK's) have chosen to get involved with that. So, every Wednesday, they go and sing praise songs and share the gospel with the ladies there through chronological Bible storytelling.

They use the same chronological Bible storytelling in their Thursday afternoon ministry -- "Kids on Campus."  There tends to be so many random African children on our "campus" on any given day, the MK's wanted to take the opportunity to tell them about Jesus.  They had their first "Kids on Campus" a couple of weeks ago and it was a hit!  They played games, sang songs and told the Bible stories.

Notice the boy at Evan's left shoulder.  That is Ganiw.  Be watching for the "Ganiw Update."

Be in prayer for:

•  all the MK's here that they will know the joy of serving our Lord through this ministry.
• all the African kids who come into our lives through this outreach that they too will know the joy of following Christ.

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New Clothes

As promised, here are the girls' new duds!! 

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Blood

***  Warning -- Medical Topic -- But worth it! ***


I was on call last night which usually involves at least ONE maternity case.  This night was no exception, but there was definitely a new and complicated twist.  


This lady, who said she was 7 months pregnant, had been bitten by a snake.  The most common snakebites here are from carpet vipers and the venom causes the victim's blood not to clot.  So if there are any sores, etc. there is a risk that they will bleed until the anti-snake venom (ASV) kicks in.  About 10:30 last night, I got a call that she was bleeding a lot so I ordered an additional dose of ASV and went on with my night-time rounds.


About 2:30 am, I got a call that she had delivered her baby and was bleeding a lot so I went in to see her.  Interestingly, the pre-term baby was doing well in the maternity ward.  The mother, however, was NOT doing well.  She was literally laying in a pool of her own blood.  They had put some plastic on the bed underneath her to collect the blood and it was all the way up under her shoulders.  She had already been given some anti-bleeding medicine by the mid-wife, but it wasn't helping.  We gave her some more medicine to attempt to slow down the bleeding but I was afraid it would not have time to work before she died right before my eyes.  


The only "family" she had with here was a man that said she was his friend's mother.  I overheard him talking to the nurse and could only understand the words "B-positive" and "A-positive" so I assumed he was asking about a blood transfusion.  Hoping he was compatible, I began to quiz him about it.  Unfortunately, he was not compatible so I asked him to check with any of her family members he knew to see if they were compatible with her blood since the hospital has no blood bank and it's usually up to the family to provide the blood when a transfusion is required.


We continued to work with the patient as she became unresponsive and began shaking until the friend returned  -- empty handed.  I asked him what blood type we were looking for and he said "A-positive"  .   .   .   same as ME.  I told the nurses to keep working with her and I would go check on the blood.


The lab had nothing so I told them I would give her my blood.  He quickly went through the screening process to make sure my blood was "clean", then I called the ward to make sure she was still alive before they took my blood.  She was!  I laid down on the table and he stuck in the needle (Lord, I pray it was clean!).  In no time, I was leaving the lab with a bag of my own blood -- still warm.  I looked at where I had been stuck and it wasn't bleeding so I put the cotton ball in my pocket.


As I walked onto the ward, I felt something warm on my arm.  I was bleeding.  (Wow, what a dramatic entrance.)  The nurses got the blood infusing STAT and I went to clean up.  When I returned to the bedside, I realized the family friend was not there.  Oh no!  I have to find him!


It so happens that I noticed in the chart that she was Muslim, and I assumed her friend was too.  Thankfully, I found him not far away in the hospital AND, thankfully, he spoke english.  He expressed his deep gratitude for my freewill offering of blood (since usually they would have had to pay somebody for it).  I assured him, it was not ME but Jesus IN me.  I proceeded to share the news of Jesus Christ with him.  I told him that JESUS willingly gave HIS blood to cover our sins -- mine AND his.  And that through Jesus' blood he could have assurance of eternal life with God.  I also shared with him that many people respect Jesus as a "good prophet" or "good teacher", but that Jesus taught that He was the Son of God.  So if we respect his teachings, we must believe that He is who He says He is.  


He thanked me for sharing with him and gratefully dismissed himself to return to the ward.  When I returned to the ward, I found him standing over his friend smiling because she had turned the corner and was resting.  About the same time, I began to hear outside the muslim call-to-prayer broadcast over speakers all over town.  We have grown accustomed to hearing it all through the night because they recently finished the month of Ramadan.  Ironically, about the same time (4 am) the chaplains began one of their daily devotions broadcast over the loudspeakers in the hospital.  It was the story of Jesus healing the blind man who had been blind since birth.  


I thought about the muslim man I had just shared with and how HE has been SPIRITUALLY BLIND since birth.  Although, I so wanted him to receive the free gift of Christ at that very moment, the Holy Spirit reminded me that I had done what I could do.  That is, merely share Christ.  I could faithfully leave God's Word in the hands of God's Spirit to continue its work in his heart.


As of this morning, the lady is still alive, although very weak.  She still needs more blood.  Her premature baby is miraculously alive and well on no life support!


Please pray that:

1. This muslim man will surrender his will and his life to God.
2. That the lady will recover and be able to hear the truth about Jesus Christ.
3. That God will reveal to us how we can most effectively be strong witnesses to the muslim community here.  We claim Acts 1:8 that says you WILL be witnesses to . . . the ends of the earth.
4. That the infant will grow to know of the miracle of her life and that she will give glory to Yahweh God (not Allah) and the blood of Jesus Christ for her survival.

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Natalie's Limeade

We may not have Sonic, but we do occasionally get to have fresh limeade.  The limes, like most of the fruits and vegetables here, are pretty small so it takes a lot of squeezin'.  But Natalie had fun squeezing a LOT of limes for us to have a pitcher of refreshing limeade. 


Thanks Natalie!!


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Immigration Update

Road to Tamale

We made it to the immigration office in Tamale.  We filled out a renewal form for each of us,  gave them yet another passport photo (had to send 4 with the initial visa application) then we had to meet with the main officer.  It turns out, Lawrence was the "number 2 man" and the "number 1 man" was out of the country for a few weeks.  We had hoped to get an extension for the full 4 more months we will be here, but Lawrence didn't have the authority to do that.  Interestingly, though, he also didn't have the authority to grant us the customary 2 months either.  So now we have his personal cell phone number that we must call in 2 weeks to find out the verdict.  Then we will have to take our passports back to Tamale to get our stamps.  


We are somewhat suspicious that they are trying to hassle us into paying more money.  I tried to "innocently" ask one of the clerks what the cost per month of extension, but he said "Let me go ask, the cost has gone up recently."  (Yeah, right about the time the American walked through the door.)  We didn't realize why the number 2 man in charge did not have the authority to grant to us what their immigration law allows.  


There has been an immigration officer who has been "nosing" around here at BMC over the last few weeks.  They seem to want all the volunteers to begin applying for WORK visas instead of VISITOR visas.  Not only is that a more complicated process, but more COSTLY too.  I think we all can read between the lines . . . .

Meanwhile, in 2 days our passports will reflect that we are technically illegal aliens since we don't have an updated stamp.  Lawrence assures us that if we have ANY trouble, call his personal number and he will take care of it since he has authority over ALL the northern region of Ghana.   (So why didn't he just give us a stamp?  Go figure.)

This makes me think of how we are "aliens" in this world as Christians.  Aren't we glad this world is NOT our home?  Every day that goes by makes me long for our heavenly home even more.  


Please pray that all will go smoothly with the passports.  We aren't really worried about it, but if they choose to make our lives difficult, they can do so and we don't want the distraction.


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