Monday, October 31, 2011

Harvest Celebration (4 of 4)


Well, in the last chapter of Manassah's story, we left him with his friends and family shucking 3 truck loads of corn.  They worked until about 1:00 am before finishing.  Manassah was exhausted and slept VERY well.  

Now all this corn is spread out on the floor of their "house" to dry.   The house consists of several mud huts around the perimeter with an open "courtyard" in the center.  Interestingly, just underneath all this corn is where Manassah's father is buried.  Also, in the background behind his mother, Fati, you can see the pagan sacrificial pot that has caused Manassah so much pain.  Even today as we walked by it, he said, "That is the pot."  I told him, "Manassah, that pot has no power over you."  

I can't help but think about the fact that today is Halloween.  In our home, we don't really "DO" Halloween since it is a pagan holiday, but we've been to our fair share of "Harvest Festivals."  Usually these festivals are done by churches in lieu of celebrating Halloween.  I look now at this family having their own "Harvest Celebration" -- celebrating God's goodness, faithfulness, love and the fact that they have food on their table.  The pagan sacrificial pot (like Halloween) sinks way into the background when we truly focus on the LORD of the harvest.  

"Let us not become weary in doing good, 
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."  
Galations 6 : 9

Thank you, LORD, for your provision for Manassah and his family.  Protect them from those who would want to take advantage of their new "wealth".  I  know that they will not grow weary in telling others of Your faithfulness.  

Go to the post "Evan's Chicken Farm Video" to see more of Manassah.

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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Manassah's Bountiful Harvest (3 of 4)


"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen."  Ephesians 3:20-21


Once Manassah's corn was harvested, the plan was to take it to his home in Nalerigu for the next step in the process -- shucking.  Manassah had arranged for a tractor to make ONE trip to his farm to collect the corn.  At the end of the harvest day, Manassah came riding up to our house on his bicycle.  He wanted to tell us that he ended up with not one truckload of corn, but THREE!  He was beaming -- a toothy grin from ear to ear (no corn pun intended).  It was more than he could "ask or imagine."

Manassah is completely in awe of God's provision for his family.  He was planning to shuck the corn in a few days.  But he said that people just offered to come and help him shuck the corn that very night.  It is customary here that the farm owner prepare a meal for those helping him with the shucking.  Manassah knew he did not have the food to do that, so he told them "No."  They said, "Don't worry about feeding us, we will do it for you for free!"  Manassah is in disbelief.   He says that most people in Nalerigu never thought he could do it -- have a successful farm, that is.  "They would always look at us suffering and laugh at us" he says.   But Manassah knows and trusts the God of bountiful blessing, and he gives Him all the glory for the harvest.

LORD, thank you, thank you, thank you for displaying your glory through Manassah's harvest.  He has trusted you and persevered through hunger, exhaustion and humiliation -- just like You.  He has been faithful to press on knowing that You would never leave him.  Now those around him can see that the God Manassah worships is faithful to His children.  Give him a peaceful rest now as he prepares for the next phase of his harvest.


We love you, LORD!!


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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Manassah's Harvest Day (2 of 4)


As the story continues with Manassah, he finds himself with 2 farms.  The Nyhuses helped him acquire one 2-acre farm to grow food for his family.  They he was offered 2 more acres to farm by someone who only wanted 2 bags of corn in return.  His first crop was groundnuts (we call them peanuts but they DO come from the ground).  Due to lack of rain, they did not produce well.

He then planted corn and millet.  He did have someone plow the land up for him with a tractor, but everything else has been Manassah and God.  He tells of being out in the field weeding -- all alone with a hoe.  He said he would get so tired that he would just cry.  But he kept going.   But God was faithful.  You can stand at the line that divides Manassah's land with the farm next to it.  Manassah's corn is taller than him.  The other farmer's corn is not even recognizable.  It looks like a field that was not even planted.  Can God's hand of blessed provision be any more evident?  To see a line drawn in the sand and on one side is God's blessing -- the other, NOT God's blessing.  The evidence of God's favor is staggering.


Evan and I went to help him on harvest day.  He had other workers who were much more experienced but we helped nonetheless.   For those of you who may have raised corn before, you may notice that this corn looks dead.  Well, it pretty much is.  Since most people don't have refrigerators and freezers, they wait until the corn has finished producing then harvest all the ears at once.  Then they allow it to dry before taking some to the grinding mill to have it ground into flour and bagging the rest to last until next year's harvest.  


It was a hot day, but he got all his 4 acres harvested.  And once again, God showed his handiwork AND his faithfulness.  Stay tuned to the next chapter!!

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Friday, October 28, 2011

Manassah's Story (1 of 4)

Photo by Evan Wilson
Look how happy he is.  Manassah is his name.  You've met him in earlier blogs, but I only recently got the privilege of hearing more of his amazing story.  In this picture,he's standing on the future site of his new house and new chicken farm. For Manassah, it seems like life is treating him well.  But things haven't always been good.  He turns 20 this year and, in his short life, he has experienced and endured many trials.

The land where he will soon build his new house is on a few acres of land just outside Nalerigu.  The few acres sit amidst many acres that were once owned by his father.  His father was, at one time, a successful Christian farmer with his wife, Fati and his two children.  Apparently, his father had something like asthma and in 2000, he had a bad breathing attack.  Manassah's cousin was working and did not take the man to the hospital so he died at home.  Manassah was just 9 years old.

As in Bible days, when a man dies, his possessions -- and family -- go to the man's brother.  Manassah's uncle and cousin took all of Manassah's father's land and sold it.  Then they essentially abandoned Manassah and his family leaving them in severe poverty.  Manassah recalls going to his cousin and saying, "We have no food.  Can you give us some food."  His cousin replied, "I don't have any food to give you!"

From that point Manassah had to work to provide food for his family.  He recounts going to work with various farmers when they would have work to do.  At the end of the day, whatever the farmer cooked for his family, they would give some to Manassah for his family.  He says that life became so hard for him that he would ask himself, "Are you Manassah?"  His life had taken such an unexpected turn that he didn't even think it could be real.

He always did well in school though.  That is, until he dropped out in the 6th grade because he couldn't manage school and work at the same time.  While he was in school, others recognized something special about Manassah.  They called him a "prophet" and gave him a white uniform to wear.  Apparently, he was recognized as naturally smart and a natural leader.  They treated him with honor and even waived the usual school fees.  But it wasn't enough to keep him in school.  His burden for his family was too great and the hours in a day too short.

Manassah's mother, Fati, beside Manassah's door
His uncle and cousin have allowed Manassah and his family to continue living in the house that was his father's, but it has not been easy.  Although Manassah's immediate family is Christian, his uncle and cousins are not.  They "worship the pot" as Manassah says.  They adhere to some of the local traditional religious practices that involve animal sacrifice.  I think I have mentioned in an earlier blog that they will sacrifice the animal right beside Manassah's door and often even poor the blood on his door or house in ridicule of his Christianity.  The "pot" that they use stands on a crude tripod stand just outside Manassah's door as you can see in the picture at the right.

Sueba cooking
As if life was not already hard enough for him, several years ago Manassah's sister and her husband were shot and killed leaving 2 orphans for him to raise.  Now Manassah is responsible for his mother, Fati, his niece, Sueba and his nephew, Haadi.  He loves them dearly and the children call him their father.

Inside one of their mud huts.
Through all his hard years, Manassah has stayed faithful to his LORD.  He has persevered through hunger, exhaustion, humiliation -- like Jesus.  The door to his house has a testimony to where Manassah's trust lies.


He trusts that God will fight his battles for him and God is proving faithful.  Over the last 2 years, Manassah met Greg and Wendy Nyhus whom I have spoken about fondly in several blogs.  They befriended Manassah and got him started with the chicken farm.  They also gave him love and encouragement that he so desperately needed.  They have also, in conjunction with their church in Missouri, raised money to build Manassah's new house that will be big enough for his mother and "children".  There will also be a new chicken house built that will be the new home for the chicken farm that will continue to support the orphanage as well as Manassah's family.  Ground has been broken and construction will hopefully begin very soon.

He meets regularly with some young guys for prayer.  They have even started a prayer ministry in some of the schools in Nalerigu.  I wish you all could meet him.  He is an inspiration. We are blessed by him and are so thankful that Greg and Wendy introduced us to him.  He still "struggles" (as he calls it) with being able to provide food for his family and he often goes without to make sure they are fed.  We don't always know when he is in need.  He is a close friend of Evan,  and one day they were doing some work in our yard.  Evan said he saw Manassah go to our trash pit and eat some stale bread from it.  When Evan told us, we almost could not bear it.  Have you ever thought about someone actually eating your trash?  It's a most humbling experience.

The story does not end here with this exceptional man of God.  Stay tuned to more exciting and inspirational stories about Manassah as we tell about how he came to be a farmer himself (not just working for a farmer) and how God is continuing to show himself faithful to "fight for" Manassah and his family through this weeks harvest.

You don't want to miss the next chapter!



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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Orphans Get Some Needed Items

Since the egg production has been low and not making a profit, we have stepped in to help out with some of the needs at the orphanage. Through God's blessing and through your financial support, we are able to provide help when there are needs like this.  

Allie and Natalie got to pass out some of the items that the orphans needed like toothpaste, toothbrush, soap and lotion.  We are also being able to provide food for them as their supply is running low, as well as school notebooks.  

Another need they have is for school uniforms.  We assume they all just have one uniform each since they are so worn and in great need of repair.  It's been such a blessing to see their faces as Cindy pulls out her needle and  thread and mends the rips and tears on the spot.  She even did some of them at their school when they went to pass out the school books.



Lord, thank you for providing for our needs abundantly so we can help those in need.  Thank you for those who are financially supporting us here so we can be the hands and feet of Christ in the orphanage.

We ask that You will let the children see Your glory through our efforts.  

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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Bicycle Woes


Natalie's bike has been giving her some grief lately.  This is an ouchie that she got when it  threw her on the ground on the way to the school one day.  THEN, not long after that we discovered that the bicycle had been stolen from the bike rack in our front yard.  We assumed that it was taken by one of the children that hangs out on the campus, but we couldn't be sure.  We thought that even if it was not one of them, they probably could find out who took it.  So, we instructed the watchmen to not allow the kids back on the compound anymore until the bike was found.  It was a hard decision to make, because we did have opportunities to minister to them while they were at our house.  But the workers on campus say that with the children here, if things get stolen (and it has happened in the past), the workers are potentially suspect, too.  It also caused us all to consider our safety, as well since someone could come onto the compound and take things.  If it were NOT one of the children, it means we have adults coming here and "thieving" (as the Ghanaians say) which is even a bit more concerning. 

The bike has not yet been returned.  Not a great loss, but it was Natalie's transportation that we would have given away to someone when we left.  We would have preferred NOT to have it stolen.

This means that, at least temporarily, "Kids on Campus" is cancelled.  Our kids are in the process of deciding how they will adapt their ministry time to meet needs.  I know our girls want to just do more at the orphanage.  The LOVE it there!

Pray that we will still have opportunities to minister to the children, even if they are not at our house.


Pray that the thief will be convicted in his heart and experience spiritual rebirth.


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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Baby Chicks


The chicken farm will hopefully be back in business soon.  The egg production has dropped drastically, but there are over 300 new chicks that will be moving there soon.  They are in Nalerigu at Manassah's house.  He brought them many hours on a bus from Kumasi in some cardboard boxes.  We have only lost a few so far, so we are hopeful that in 5-6 months our egg production will be back on track.

Please pray for these new chicks that they will be healthy and begin producing eggs quickly.  


Pray for Manassah as he tends to them along with many other responsibilities.

Pray that the chicken farm will be profitable as it supports the orphanage.


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Sunday, October 23, 2011

Evan is Legal












Well, it's official.  Evan is now 18!  It's hard to believe that our first-born is that old.  We celebrated Saturday with the rest of our missionary team.  We had one of Evan's favorite foods -- hamburgers!  We also had french fries, baked beans, potato salad and fresh pineapple and bananas.  Then we had chocolate cake, cupcakes iced with Mississippi College colors (that's where Evan is going to college) and HOMEMADE BANANA ICE CREAM (thanks Hewitts)!  




He got some nice gifts from his family and extended mission team family.  He was also surprised with some letters from some Godly men in his life offering words of wisdom as he enters manhood.  

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Internet Tower

These are some pictures of our internet tower (that's still not working to full capacity. ) At the top of the tower is Greg Nyhus.  He is currently headed back to the States with his family.  But before they left, Greg worked many long hard hours trying to get our satellite back online.  This included taking a wireless router to the top of the tower 00 and he's afraid of heights.  Apparently our internet service was coming from Italy and bounced off a satellite somewhere in the heavens and somehow ended up here in Nalerigu.  Right now I don't know where it's coming from.  The tower is to broadcast our internet signal wirelessly to each of our homes.  Right now, we are back online at the school building, but not wirelessly to our homes.

The other picture is Greg with his sons, Aiden and Carter.  No, they are not getting their fire-building Boy Scouts badge.   They are building a fire to soften a piece of conduit enough to bend it.  That's what the internet cable will go through on its way to the top of the tower. It's just kind of comical to think that we have to BUILD a FIRE to get our SATELLITE internet working.  Welcome to Ghana, folks!!


Be in prayer for the Nyhuses as they will be traveling back to Missouri soon.  Please pray for their transition back into the American culture.  Pray that they will be able to quickly get answers to questions regarding schooling for the kids and work for Greg.


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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

OVER 10,000 HITS


We interrupt this regular blog sequence to make a very important announcement:

As of today, we have had OVER 10,000 HITS to our blog!  

That is amazing.  I can't believe people actually take the time to sit down and read about what we are doing here.

"Mpusia pom pom" (thank you plenty plenty) for your support and encouragement.  Seeing how many people come to the blog site on a daily basis helps to spur us on to more blogs.

LORD, thank you for a work to do and the means with which to do it.  We pray that all glory and honor will go to YOU as we continue to take your message to the ends of the earth.

Timely Tooth Care Products


I thought that these products were especially timely given that the US has an election year approaching.  These are REAL products for sale right here in our small village.  We can't get Diet Coke or bacon, but we can get Obama Smokers' Toothbrushes!

Pray for America as we will soon be electing our next group of leaders.  Our nation must return to its Christian ideals, and Americans must gain a sense of urgency for making disciples of all nations.  Pray for the lost that they will experience the "unique cleaning action" of the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from ALL sin.  Praise you Father!!

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Monday, October 17, 2011

Outside Looking In


I know we've shared many times before about how privacy at the Wilson house is very hard to come by.  This was a scene we captured recently while Natalie was watching a DVD.  These boys are on our front porch peering through the windows.  It can get a bit annoying at times as you can imagine.  We constantly struggle with finding a balance between ministering to these children while, at the same time, trying to maintain a bit of "normalcy" and privacy around the house.  

As I ponder on this picture, it makes me think of a prison with the screen looking like bars.  The children are trying so desperately to get a glimpse of what's going on inside our house. It just makes me think how desperate the lost will be on the last day when they are left "on the outside looking in" as Christ takes His bride home to live with Him forever.  Oh, how we as Christians should feel such a sense of urgency to share Christ with all who will hear.  

Please continue to pray that we will be discerning in how we should minister to these children who are ever-present at our house.  Pray that we will know how to convey the message to them that what they need and what we have to share with them is Jesus, not any "stuff" they may be asking for.  Pray for each of their little hearts to soften to the message of the Gospel.  Oh, that they would not be caught OUTSIDE the kingdom of Heaven.

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Sunday, October 16, 2011

New Face at the Chicken Farm


There was a new face at the chicken farm recently.  Natalie got her hands dirty (literally) by helping Manassah gather eggs.  It was her first trip there AND her first time to gather eggs.  She had a great time, as you can see.  Notice Manassah in the background.  There will be more about him to come in future blogs.

Natalie loves going to the orphanage, and knowing that the proceeds from egg sales go to help support the orphanage makes egg gathering that much more fun.

Please be in prayer for the chicken farm.  The egg production has dropped off drastically.  There is a solution on the horizon that I will tell you about soon.   Just pray that it will be profitable.  

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Saturday, October 15, 2011

As you are going . . . .


God commands us to make disciples as we are going.   That is, in our day-to-day activities,  whatever we are doing, wherever we are.  Here are a few pictures of several opportunities taken to share about Jesus with some of the Ghanaian kids.

Cindy giving an impromptu Bible lesson on our front porch.
Allie passing out some fish-shaped "Jesus" necklaces.
Philemon and Luke reading the Bible on our porch.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Allie, the Sulaminga


Just a glimpse of how excited the little kids get when we are around.  See how they are running and smiling.  If you were here, you would hear them yelling "Sulaminga, hello!!"

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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Mango Tree Bread Lady

The lady in the center with the scarf on her head is our "bread lady."  She sells her bread under the mango tree out in front of her house so we call her the "mango tree bread lady."  We learned about her from some friends who said she had the best bread in town.  We tried it and agree with their accolades, so we buy bread from her exclusively.  She bakes bread daily in this large clay oven you see behind them.  


We were there to buy bread one day and we asked if that was the oven, so they quickly invited us inside their home to show us the oven and explain the bread baking process.  She doesn't speak much english and we speak even less (much less) mampruli so we basically talked with a little english and a lot of charades.  But we really enjoyed our visit and they seemed to be thrilled that we were interested.  


We've developed a really good customer-baker relationship with her and she gets so excited when we stop by -- she just waves and smiles and greets us profusely in mampruli.  Today, Cindy stopped by to get bread and they were rolling out the bread on a large table and preparing the fire.  They told Cindy that about 3 a.m, the fire inside the oven is taken out and the dozens of bread pans are placed inside on the oven's concrete floor to bake.  Then a large round metal pan is placed in the opening of the oven to help keep the heat in.  (If you look in the picture, you can see the pan near the ground just behind the bread lady.)


The bread lady (we really need to find out what her name is) told Cindy that she considers us friends and that she SO appreciates our business as it really gives her credibility.  We think that she and her family are muslim, but she asked Cindy to pray today for her and for her business.  Don't you just love it when God just lays an opportunity in your lap and says "Here, I want you to do this one."  It's almost like when you are a teenager and your Dad says, "You want to drive?"


Please pray for our bread lady.  Pray that our relationship will continue to develop and blossom.  Pray that we will get more opportunities to share the gospel even with our limited  language .  We know that the Holy Spirit is able to communicate in any language to us AND through us.  We pray that the bread lady will come to know our Savior personally.


"For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
Johns 6:33

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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

African Dancers



Here is a short video clip of an African dance troupe in Tamale.

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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

New Posts

Hey y'all,


There are several new posts below that have been scheduled but are just now publishing due to (still) internet issues.  Just scroll down to make sure you don't miss anything.


Thanks, again for your faithfulness to keep up with us and pray for us here in Ghana.  I know that there a lot of you because we keep up with the Feedjit feed on the right and see that you are watching us from all over the world.  Also, we have had over 9,000 hits since we put up the blog!  WOW!!  If you keep reading, we'll keep writing.


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Snakes

Right before we came, Cindy started really worrying about scorpions.  I mean, she was REALLY worried about scorpions.  When we were visiting with some of our missionary friends in Bulgaria (who spent many years in West Africa), John said, "It's not the scorpions you need to worry about, it's the snakes!"

He is proving to be very right.  Although we did see one scorpion outside our front porch early on, we haven't seen any others.  We HAVE, however, had some snake incidents.

Not long after we moved into Nalerigu, we were sitting at our dining table one morning when Evan looked out the front door and noticed a snake moving across our front yard.  We ran out, started yelling "wafu" (snake in Mampruli) and the watchmen came running with their sticks and killed it. They said it was a carpet viper.  They are the ones that cause your blood to thin out and not clot.

Then, one night Cindy and I were at a meeting at another house and the kids wanted to go to the school house to get on the internet.  Just like they have been taught, they put on their mosquito spray (to protect from malaria) and grabbed their flashlights (to watch for wafu).  Just down the driveway they nearly stepped right on top of another carpet viper.  They remained amazingly calm, held the light on it to keep in sight, and went for help.  Watchmen to the rescue again!!

Lately, all the grass on the compound has gotten much taller.  There has been lots of rain and the only way the grass gets cut is with a sling blade.  The grass cutters work hard, it just takes  a while.  A little over a week ago, they called me over to see what they had just killed -- a small COBRA -- in our yard.



Thankfully, we moved away from that house hoping to leave the snakes behind.

WRONG!!

This weekend we were doing some cleaning around the house.  We were doing a little "landscaping" by moving rocks from one place to another.  The young boys helping us found a baby snake but it was killed before we could even come over and see. 

The next day, Cindy walked out to the trash pit to throw away some trash and almost stepped on another COBRA!  She said she doesn't know how, but she remained amazingly calm.  Needless to say, the very next day we  hired our own grass cutters to clear away our tall grass.  We've got a pretty big yard, so it will take a while.  We're just being very careful now.  

We have heard several other snake stories:

  1. A volunteer doctor walked into the doctors office near the operating room one day and reached up onto the shelf for something.  Thankfully, he had his surgical goggles on, because there was a hissing cobra up on the shelf that spit right into his eyes!!
  2. About 10 years ago, right next to our old House 8, a large PYTHON was killed that was over 6 feet long and as big around as a persons thigh!!
We DO have some snake antivenom -- just in case.  But it is a bit unnerving.

Pray for our safety as well as for those we have hired to cut our grass.  

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Monday, October 10, 2011

New House

We recently got to move into a new house.  We have been living in House 8, but now our address is House 9.  One of the missionary families, the Nyhuses, who had been managing the guest houses for over 18 months, moved back home to Kansas City.  We will miss them dearly.  We will most certainly be looking them up when we return to the states.

Since their house was going to be vacant and it had one extra bedroom, we decided to move into it for the rest of our time here.  Now all the kids have a room of their own.  Still no air conditioner, but we're kinda used to that by now.

See if you can find Natalie and Allie.
Here is a picture of the "Kids on Campus" bunch in front of our house.  You can also notice in the picture that our white truck has been replaced as well.  The Nigerian surgeon moved away from BMC so his vehicle became available, too.  It DOES have an air conditioner.



Again, Lord, we thank you for your shower of blessings.  We are so undeserving.  Help us to use our blessings to bless others.


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Sunday, October 9, 2011

Packages From Home




We recently got some packages from home.  One from Cindy's parents (Granny and Deda) and THREE from Richard and Lynn Love in Eupora.  Cindy worked with Lynn at Dr. Kalli's office in Eupora.  They all had lots of yummy American food as well as some items we can use in ministry.  It was a very exciting time as you can tell by the photo.  Thanks guys!!

Lord, we thank you for friends and family.  We thank you that even though you are great and mighty, you still know the little things that brighten our day like Hot Tamales and Twizzlers.  We thank you for the activity books, Jesus necklaces, stickers, games, toys, and BIBLES to give out.  We rejoice now for what work your Word will do as it goes out, because you tell us that it will not return void.

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Saturday, October 8, 2011

Happy Birthday Dear Allie


We celebrated Allie's 15th birthday on October 7th.  She had a very exciting few days.  We started the night before with a "Mexican Fiesta!"  We had chicken enchiladas, soft tacos (with homemade tortillas), refried beans, Ro-Tel dip and homemade SALSA!  We've been saving up our Ro-Tel and Velveeta for such a time as this.   It was SOOO good.

















Then, on her birthday, she had a sleepover with the older MK girls here.  They began with making homemade pizza pockets then all the missionary families came over for cake and ice cream.  We had delicious chocolate cake, a "gi-normous" chocolate chip cookie cake and ice cream.  Yummm!  

The girls watched a few movies later that night but I think they actually slept most of the night.

Allie got some really cool gifts -- mat for her bedroom floor, Ghana hat, pillow case with African design dyed onto it, African fabric for a dress, some lotion, bath gel and cologne, jewelry and cash!  

Evan made her a one-of-a-kind-balloon-animal-baloon-sculpture.  It's truly a work of art. 

It's hard to believe she's already 15!!  We've got 2 more birthdays to celebrate before we head back to the states. We'll send pictures!!

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Friday, October 7, 2011

Nerd Day



Every Friday, the girls come up with a theme for school.  Since Friday was Allie's birthday, they let her pick the theme.  So, here it is -- "Nerd Day."  Looks like the "homeschoolers" are having a lot of fun!

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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Evan's "Chicken Farm" Video

We have blogged about the chicken farm before.  Here is a video Evan made that features our friend, Manasseh.  Please go into the archives and read the blog about the Chicken Farm.


Continue to pray for Manasseh and the chicken farm that supports the local orphanage.


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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

The Kids at Koko Duu

I have mentioned before that the kids have a ministry at the nutrition center every Wednesday.  Here is Natalie telling a Bible storey and a video of Evan and Allie singing a song Evan wrote, "Glorious Wonder."





LORD, we thank you for children who are willing to use the gifts and talents YOU gave them to glorify YOU alone.  We pray that the praises they sing will fall onto ears and hearts that have been prepared to receive the message of Your gospel.

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Monday, October 3, 2011

The Rainy Season

As we have mentioned several times, we are here in Ghana during the rainy season.  Here a few photos to prove it.




I've heard many times before that we are each either about to ENTER a storm in our lives,  or  in the MIDST of a storm right now,  or just LEAVING a storm.  Wherever you are today, remember that God is sovereign over all things.  We can trust in Him to either draw us out of the storm, or calm us in the midst of the storm.  

Right now, think about where you are in relation to life's storms.  Breathe a prayer to God regarding this, allowing His Holy Spirit to lead you as you pray for God's will to be done in and through your life.  

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Sunday, October 2, 2011

Some Cool Pictures Taken on a Recent Hike Near Home




God is so evident in nature as we gaze upon the beauty of His creation.  Don't take for granted anything that God has given to us to enjoy.

LORD, thank you for your creation.  Thank you for giving it to us to enjoy.  Thank you for creating US to live on this earth.  May we use every opportunity to display YOUR glory through our lives.  

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Saturday, October 1, 2011

Mama Laadi's

 Those of you who know Ben McNeer and Ben Stanton have heard them talk about being with Mama Laadi in Bolgatanga, Ghana.  Bolga is in the Upper East region of Ghana and is the hub of where they were involved in building desks for The Desk Project.  While we were away from Nalerigu, we made it a point to drop in and visit with Mama Laadi and her children at the foster home.  It was such a blessing!!  She invited us back the next night and cooked supper for us.  While we were there, we got to hang out with the kids and were treated to them singing a praise song for us.


Natalie with Alecia, the youngest child at the foster home.

She shared with us the stories of many of the orphans there.  The stories are heartbreaking.  A common theme we noticed in the stories of many of the children AND in the life story of Mama Laadi herself, was that of being accused of being a witch.  Many of the Ghanaian people believe in evil spirits and witchcraft and often use that to explain things that they do not understand.  One child was brought to her home at 2 years old accused of being a witch.  It's almost too painful to hear all the horror stories she told of these children being ostracized, beaten, starved, humiliated . . .  all because they were labeled "witches."  It was so upsetting to Natalie.  She cried and asked Cindy, "How could anyone think these babies are witches?"

To see them now, you can see how God can redeem a bad situation for good.  They are all healthy and happy despite carrying physical and emotional wounds from their dark past.  They have begun receiving sponsorship from an organization called Afrikids.  You can read more about that organization by clicking on the link.

Please pray for Mama Laadi and her "children."   God is using her to truly change and redeem lives for Christ.  


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