Catching Up

On October 28th, twenty two energetic missionaries arrived in Accra to begin 12 days of intense evangelism and ministry, hailing from Pennsylvania, Iowa, Indiana, and Michigan. Although we had the obligatory missing bag and some excitement with immigration, we stuffed the truck and van with bags and the group jumped into the trotro we had rented for this special occasion. By then the group was quite weary and just wanted to return to the house for some rest.

 Isabel assists in eye exams and handing out reading glasses.

 Jaxon and his buddy Willard

 Drake, Jaxon, and Richmond at the Cape Coast Slave Castle

The rest of the days went by quickly, with much activity, late nights, and memorable experiences, including wading streams in the jungle to hand out tracts, providing glasses to people to help them read the Word, and worshiping God multi-culturally and joyously. Our ministry tasks included handing out 4000 tracts in Central Accra, 4 clinics, 6 crusades, and evangelism/tract distribution in the villages of Asamankese, Ayaa, and Kotoku. Many times the bus would arrive back to the house in the early morning hours, followed by supper and wrap-up.

This team did extremely well. The counselors were well prepared, honest, and sincere as they shared and prayed with the patients after the clinics. The testimonies that the team shared before the crusades and during group devotions were so good, and it opened hearts to hear the Gospel that followed. We had a couple of the men preach during the crusades, as well as the local pastor from each village. You can read more here: http://cfcint.com/newsandevents.html

Another highlight was Sara's sister Mary, and three of her children Drake, Isabel, and Jaxon, were able to come and join us for this trip. Due to a visa application problem we were expecting them to come a few days later, but the Lord heard our prayers and the passports arrived the day before they left! They were able to stay a few days after the team, and we enjoyed touring Ghana a bit including a visit to the beach.  Although very sad to see them go, we also hope that we will be seeing them again in a  few months.

School at the Institute wrapped up on Thanksgiving day. Exams were over by 11 AM and the party was on, although the fufu was an hour late. We washed it down with cold minerals and some fresh chocolate cake, and after some words by the faculty and administration we sent the students out for the last time. Graduation commenced this past Saturday, and we sent them out to begin the ministries that God has called them to.

November 29 found me racing towards Accra at 6:15 AM, as my friend and mentor David Brubaker and his family were arriving to spend a few days in Ghana. It had been a while since I had travelled to Accra early in the morning, and found the traffic snarled most of the way. The normal 30 minute trip to the airport turned into a sweaty, almost two hour trek. When I finally ran into the arriving lounge it was after 8 AM. All was well though, since they were delayed in Nigeria and were scheduled to land at 8:45 instead of their original 7:20 arrival time.

I was excited because they were bringing, among other things, 6 desktop computers for our computer lab. Dutch Valley had donated them after hearing of our need for computers for our lab. And when I say he brought other things, I mean things like STEAKS, HAMBURGERS, CHEESE, and TURKEY HILL ICE CREAM! Ice cream here is made with plant fats. Seriously. So when we knew real, dairy goodness was on it's way, we couldn't even tell the kids. But all this was in jeopardy as immigration decided to take their pleasant time with filling out the paperwork for the computers. Since it was for the school and not personal items, we had to pay duty on the used office equipment. This process took quite some time and really was difficult for the little girls who had been up for 24 hours at that point. Thankfully we finally worked it all out and we were on our way by 11 AM.

Lunch with Pastor Joseph, enjoying Lydia's famous fufu Sunday morning after church

We had a busy trip planned with the Brubaker's, with the main event going to Mole National Park. I had always resisted the idea of cramming my family in the van for 13 hours and bouncing over the notoriously rough roads to see the elephants. But as the trip got closer I began to get very excited about going. We also asked if Richmond could go along, and after writing a note to his school headmaster explaining what we were doing and how it would be very educational, it was approved. We left at 5 AM Monday morning and after a slight detour we arrived at the park at 6 PM. We were very pleased to realize that the roads were vastly improved since the last time my coworkers had traveled them. As we drove in the driveway, with the sun setting, we saw several deer which made my day. After we checked into the "no-frills" motel room, we realized the pool was still open. We all hastily plunged into the cool water which washed all the accumulated dust off of our weary bodies.

Tuesday morning found us waiting to board our jeep at 7AM for the morning safari. We all climbed up on top, including our guide, for a total of 14 people. He carried an well-used rifle that appeared to have an old nail as the trigger. He said it was a .375 and was very powerful on elephants. He declined my offer to hold the gun, even after I explained I had a license. Oh well, I was also holding Leila so that may have contributed to his answer too. However, I wasn't too certain of his capabilities in stopping a charging elephant.

The closest we got; elephant tracts.

 

A beautiful brush buck

We drove around the park for a little over 2 hours. Our driver was new, and it appeared he couldn't hear very well, especially when the guide told him to stop. We saw lots of deer, including brush buck and kob, wart hogs, birds, and monkeys. We did not see any elephants, which was a bummer but in reality it is a toss up to seeing them. It helps to go over dry season, which forces the elephants to the pond in front of the motel. But dry season and Thanksgiving vacation do not line up, so we went when we could. The drivers of the various jeeps that were out communicated by phone if any elephant was spotted, so they must have been deeper in the forest. It was incredible to see the many varieties of animals, and we totally enjoyed the trip.  Unfortunately the motel did not have a room for us the second night, so we left around noon and traveled back to Accra, arriving Wednesday morning at 1 AM. It was an uneventful trip, except for passing a truck which had no tail lights and the passenger in the front seat was shining a flashlight out the window for the headlights! Throughout the trip we traveled through 5 different regions of Ghana, and it was 601.4 km from the Mole parking lot to the Bible Institute.

The motley crew

We also visited Cape Coast and spent a few memorable days with fellow missionaries. We had a blast with the Brubaker's and we hope they got a taste of African life. It was great for Elle to have 2 girls to play with again, and all the children enjoyed each other very much. We had a good time catching up, laughing, and making memories.

Since David works for Pure Test Lab, he took back several samples of water to test it's quality. After he tested our water we have discovered that we might as well be drinking from the gutter, as our filter is not cleaning the water sufficiently to safe drinking levels. It is really, really bad water. Although we haven't gotten blatantly sick off the water, we have switched to drinking bagged filtered water to eliminate all the extra bacteria we were consuming.

My niece Stephanie is coming in January to work with a children's home nearby and to travel home with us. Please pray for her as she prepares to come, and especially as she travels here. Thanks for your continued prayers for our safety, health, and spiritual well being. We couldn't do this without each one of you. God bless you!