First Week Back...

I'm back in Ghana and work has begun again. It has been fun seeing the kids again, but I'm a little saddened about the kids that aren't returning to AIS this semester. We are adding new students as the international community is always moving and changing so that has been interesting. There's always something new (or someone new)!

Now that I'm back, I have made my decision about next year. I've decided that I will be returning for at least another year. I love working with the kids here. I love that I can have relationships with the students outside the classroom where we have opportunities to talk about more than just classwork. I keep praying that God would give me wisdom and discernment as I help shepherd these young people. It was kind of funny because before I signed my letter of intent to return the other day a teacher asked if I was coming back to Ghana next year and I replied "Yes, I'm coming back...probably." She looked at me curiously and I had to confess that I was second guessing myself because I had no power in my room the night before! No fan = No fun!

The power has been out several times since I got here Tuesday evening. I am just thankful we have a generator at the school so we can actually get some work done instead of all of us simply putting out heads on our desks and complaining! I keep asking God to help me stay focused on the positives instead of dwell on the inconveniences. No matter if you are in America or Ghana, you can find either one if you are looking for them!

Today my friend Christy and I went to the market to pick up some snacks for the senior class Snack Shack (to raise money for the senior class mission trip). It's always a fun time for the two of us. We always wonder and joke about what crazy thing will happen this week! Each time we go, we walk through the crowds of people and selling stands to find "our vendor." They greet us warmly and I proceed to try to remember what items the kids at school actually like! Then they box everything up and we find a girl who will carry all our goodies on her head to the "tro-tro station" a few minutes walk down the road. It's always hard to see the girls carrying our heavy boxes. It's their way to make a living, but I somehow feel like I am taking advantage of them. Almost like they are servants. Christy and I know we can't carry the boxes far ourselves so we try to be friendly with the girls and we like to give them a little extra money or food.

Each time we go to the market (after we have collected all our snacks) we stop at our favorite pineapple stand. We each get a whole cut pineapple and we eat it on the way home. This is often our favorite part of the morning! The people we meet at the stand are fabulous! Each person has a unique way of cutting pineapple and it is always entertaining. One time a woman who wasn't really the stand owner was trying to cut pineapples for us and we could see that she didn't really know how to go about doing it. A man who was trying to sell us maps decided to help her out. So then the two of them struggled for quite some time before we got our pineapples. Christy and I just stood there and laughed at the whole situation. Each day I am reminded of how generous and caring the people are here. They are always willing and wanting to help.
Our Favorite Pineapple Lady

Today we left the market in a tro-tro (old 15 passenger vans reorganized to seat about 20) with our snack shack items ready to eat our pineapple. We have a 2 minute walk from the tro-tro stop to my house and it's always another adventure trying to get the snack shack items to the house. I do not know how the girls at the market carry all of our stuff! It's so heavy! Today we were smart and asked the vendor to put our goods in two boxes so we could each carry one. The mate (the one who collects the money on the tro-tro) helped us get the boxes out of the back of the van and he actually put the boxes on our heads! It was so funny. Everyone knows it's the best way of carrying something here, but us white people NEVER do it! Christy was laughing so hard we only made it a meters before we had to adjust! So now I can say I have actually carried something on my head. Maybe one of these days I will be able to do it without holding on to whatever is on my head with my hands! (Probably not.) Tro-Tro Station

Well, that's the first week. More random stories from Ghana to come!

Answered Prayer

Meghann, Me, and Christy with our elephant tattoos after seeing our elephant!

Why is it that we are so amazed when God answers prayer? I went to Mole National Park over the Thanksgiving holiday and I was just in awe of God's faithfulness. Mole National Park is in the Northern Region of Ghana and it is about a 12 to 13 hour drive from Accra. It was so fun seeing the change in the landscape going from city to tropical rain forest to a more savanna-like environment.

We left SUPER early Thursday morning at 4AM. William, our school's driver, picked up me and three other teachers in the school van. We drove the whole way only making one bathroom stop! Impressive with three girls in the car! :) 9 hours of driving on fairly smooth road and then 3 hours on a very bumpy dirt road.

God answers prayer...

1. I wasn't feeling great on Wednesday and I was really worried about a long drive on Thursday. I was definitely praying about it. God gave me a peace that He would answer my prayer and I was able to make the trip without any problem. God is so good!

2. Safety on the road. Ghana roads are not the safest roads to be traveling and God definitely protected us in our travels.

3. I totally thought we were going to run out of gas because it had been about 8 hours since we got gas and we were in the middle of nowhere! We even turned off the van's AC to conserve! :) But God answered our prayers again and we made it to a small gas station near the national park.

4. WE SAW AN ELEPHANT!!!!! It is currently the end of the rainy season so there is plenty of water all over Mole National Park which means the elephants don't need to travel to the southern edge to get water (where we were staying). During the dry season the elephants really only have one place to get water. The Mole Motel looks over this watering hole. The rangers said they hadn't seen any elephants in 5 days. We were very sad when we didn't see an elephant on our walking tour of the park. We were very happy to see other wildlife, but sad about the elephants. But then as a reminder to us that God works in His own time, we saw an elephant later in the day! A guide took us out again to see it and it was amazing! We watched it bathe, eat from a tree, and throw dust on itself to keep insects away. The elephant was not one of the elephants that the rangers knew and Christy, Meghann, and I looked at each other and said, "That's because God sent this one for us!"



We arrived around 4PM Thursday evening and we enjoyed the sunset overlooking the watering hole from our hotel. We had dinner and enjoyed meeting other travelers, mostly volunteers from Europe. Friday morning, we set out early with a guide on a walking tour of the park. God's creation is amazing! We saw antelope type animals (Kobs and Bush Bucks), Baboons, other monkeys, and warthogs. After the two hour hike, we went to a nearby village to see the oldest mosque in Ghana. It was heartbreaking seeing the people of village, knowing not one knew Jesus. They were very kind to us and enjoyed talking with us as we walked around the village. It was kind of funny because the community was working on repairs to the mosque and the guide that was showing us the mosque got yelled at because he wasn't helping! Our driver William tried to intercede and bring peace to the tense situation! After visiting the village, we headed back to the park where we were met by a ranger saying that an elephant had been spotted! He told us that a group had already left to go see it and it would be faster for us to take the van part way. So after a very bumpy ride and a short hike, we finally got to see an elephant! I love that God enjoys making us happy. Someone read me something the other day that mentioned God answering little prayers (like seeing elephants). It went on to say that nothing is big to God! After an hour of following the elephant around we went back to the hotel to relax and play cards. After another fabulous dinner, we called it a night. We woke up early Saturday and started our trip back to Accra. 13 and a half hours later, we were finally home!

The oldest mosque in Ghana in the village of Larabanga. The village is 100% Muslim.

Me and the elephant God sent our way!

Warthogs were EVERYWHERE!!!


The view from the Mole Motel Beautiful sunsets!


God's Beautiful Creation!


Kobs (from the antelope family)


A baboon in a tree! We were able to get really close to them!

Jimmy, Me, Meghann, Christy, and William

Movie Nite and Soccer

We've had a busy weekend at the school so far! Last night we had our first senior class sponsored movie night. We showed The Emperor's New Groove first for the little ones and then the older kids watched The Patriot. I would say the evening was a success! We had a lot of kids come and they all seemed to have a great time. Popcorn, snacks, Tampico, and kebabs were enjoyed by all as kids, families, and staff watched movies, played soccer, and played on the playground.

The senior class is raising money to go on a senior class mission trip next semester. I am the senior class sponsor this year so I have been keeping busy helping them plan events to raise support. We have had dress down days at school where the kids get to wear other clothing than their uniforms. Each day we sell cookies, candy, juice, and FanIce (ice cream) after school. Once a month we host a bake sale where the students can purchase homemade treats at lunch. Now we can add "movie nite" to the list of fundraisers!

It's been fun getting to know the seniors this year. I don't teach any of their classes so it's fun to be able to learn more about them outside of the classroom. Our plan is to take the six seniors to Italy. We are still looking into where we will stay and what mission group we will work with. If anyone has an ideas, I'm all ears!

Today was another busy day as our school soccer teams played matches against the kids from Pram Pram. These kids are GREAT athletes and they dominated both the guys game and the girls game. Our girls did actually score once though! The kids from Pram Pram are kids that have been taken from living situations that have not been good. There is a school and boarding houses for them near the ocean about 45 minutes away from East Legon. A few teachers and I help with their Sunday school program once a month. The kids there are so sweet and I am always encouraged when I see them worship the Lord. So it was fun to see the kids interact with our students at the soccer game today. Christy (our coach and second grade teacher) planned lunch for everyone and everyone seemed to really enjoy the fellowship!



Now I must write my finals...

Thankfulness...

So you know those moments when it just hits you? What have you been doing? Why have you been doing it? Who is all this work for? I had such a moment the other day. I feel like I have been doing, doing, doing and not taking the time with God to make sure I'm following His will. So with all this "doing" there has been little peace. I was just reminded that God gives peace to thankful hearts. So here is a little list of things I'm thankful for...

- Christmas break is almost here
- Friends to share pineapple with
- Roommates that make you laugh
- Prayer with the school staff even when I don't feel like taking the time
- My Sharpeners girls
- Friends and family back home as excited as I am about the fact that I'm coming home
- Frozen Tampicos when the power goes out
- Generators
- Beth Moore Bible studies
- My students who teach me about childlike faith
- Packages
- Maya (even though she bites everyone!)
- Alias Nights
- Worship at the Wright's
- Seeing kids worship at chapel each week
- Seeing the kids excited faces at the "snack shack" each day

That's a pretty good list for now...

Carving Watermelons?

So there aren't any pumpkins in Ghana, but they have plenty of watermelons! So here's a taste of some fun we had this weekend...

This is Shari and I attempting to draw a Ghanaian symbol on our watermelon. Shari did an awesome job!

Here I am carving! Watermelons are actually really good to carve because you can see the red inside against the green outside. So pretty!

Finished product! The symbol means "except God" meaning that nothing is possible without God. You can find this symbol everywhere. On fabric, on tro-tros, painted on signs, on clothing...

If you saw the Amazing Race episodes in Ghana you might recognize the symbol from the GIANT word search!

Puppets and Sharpeners

It's been a good week! Now I am trying to get all my grading done on a Sunday afternoon because I have been having fun all weekend!

The puppet group has started and I am so excited! I can't believe how much fun it is to have some girls excited about putting on puppet shows for kids. We have only been meeting for a couple weeks, but I am looking forward to what's in store for the future. We are planning a puppet skit and some songs do perform after Thanksgiving. We hope to perform for the two little kid chapels at school and also for children part of other ministries in the area. Now we just need to make sure we get a stage constructed within the month.

Not only is the puppet ministry going well, but the mentoring program that was started at our school by a couple teachers is also thriving. Each teacher involved is mentoring two or three high school students. Friday night we had an outing with all the girls involved in the Sharpeners program. It was so fun hanging out with the high school students and seeing them outside of the classroom. I think they enjoyed seeing their teachers outside of the classroom too! One student in particular really has a hard time seeing us a real people! It was very entertaining talking to her! We enjoyed going out for pizza even though we were probably the loudest people there! I think one of the teachers with us might have been a bit embarrassed! Oh well, kids will be kids I guess. Even high schoolers! My prayer is that the connections we make with the students would really impact them and how they live their lives. My hope is that they would feel comfortable talking with us and opening up and sharing what's really on their hearts. May God use me well...

God is in Control

God is in Control

Why is it so hard to remember that we can do nothing without God? I feel like I should have this down after 20+ years of walking with Jesus. Day after day, minute after minute I try to take hold of the reins and tell God I got this one. I can plan and take care of this math class. I can organize the next Senior meeting. I can even take charge of a Bible class without asking for Your help! I was reminded at church this past Sunday to "be holy." I was also reminded that the only way this is possible is to rely on God, the Holy One, living in me. Even here in Ghana I am trying to live my life according to my own plans. When will I truly put all my trust in the Lord?