Getaway!

Life has been crazy lately. I have been working on a report for the Manageress of Lawra Integrated Health Project for three days. Evidently, there are people who know less about the computer than me! So, I was "elected" to type it, format the charts, etc. Then, there's the monthly reports for the Christian Health Assoiciation of Ghana. I'm in charge of making sure the children's statistics are gathered, reported and accurate. So, I devised this little book (not a little black book) to record all the info. My mistake was working on it last week, Saturday & even at 5:30 Sunday morning. I didn't even want to cook yesterday & I had plenty of good food in the house. If Rose didn't come, I would have never cooked. (She was worried about me working so much, so she came to mop my floors!) I have been doing too much. It has been hot, in the low 100's, and I am no longer young. Plus, my baby toe still hurts. (Whine.) I think I broke it about ten days ago. So, today I decided to call my team leader to tell her I was running away to Wa for the day & possibly the night. She said to spend the night, too. The above picture is the outside of my room. By American standards, it is ok. By Upper West Standards, it is the best...a/c, hot water. a towel AND soap! I think I will go and relax now, maybe even have some time with God while I drink a cold Coke! Tomorrow afternoon - back to reality, but refreshed with a renewed spirit within me. 

Worlds Apart, but Still One Body

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love's pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth .

Yesterday I went to church in my jammies. Well, I didn't actually GO to church in my jammies, but I attended nonetheless. I attended a service held back in Corry, PA on Christmas Eve. And my heart was overflowing...with gratitude for the DVD of the service, for familiar Christmas carols, for a sermon that I could understand (by the way, "all is well"), and especially grateful for God the Father sending His Son to earth, to show us how to live, how to love, how to deal with every day situations and how to deal with the crisis that come our way. Most importantly, Jesus, the Father's Son, showed us the way to the Father, the way to spend eternity with Him He gave life purpose and meaning. The service ended just like it does at my home church, with the lighting of the candles from the Christ Candle - Jesus, the Light of the World. And, I sat on my couch on March 11, 2012, watching people light candles, singing along with them with tears in my eyes, missing them and so many others and knowing that In Christ we are all one. And, if we are in Him, we are never far away.

Thank you, Pat and Sally!

A Healing Touch

Last week, while working at the clinic, I went into the dispensary to ask the Manageress a question. I greeted the client sitting in there, and shook her hand. Immediately I was told, "Don't touch her hand, she has leporsy on it." I was surprised, not at the leporsy because it is common here, but what seemed to be a lack of compassion. Maybe in my case "ignorance is bliss." I couldn't help but think of the numerous times Jesus reached out to the untouchables of His day. He didn't carry hand sanitizer in His pocket, He didn't run to wash His hands - at least we are not told He did. What we do know is that much to the dislike of His disciples, Jesus touched many, many people who must have longed for a human touch, a healing touch. The human touch is comforting, it lets us know someone is with us and that they care. When babies are exposed to the human touch they grow up to be more confident and less "clingy," it is easier for them to become their own person. If that can happen to a child, imagine what a positive touch can do to an adult, especially one whom people are afraid to touch! It gives them dignaty, it communicates care and, in a small way, passes on the love of Christ.

Preparing for Battle

    I put my body through it's paces like a war horse; I keep it clean, sturdy, prepared. I harden it and I pity it. I have no other steed.

    I keep my brain wide awake, lucid, unmerciful. I unleash it to battle relentlessly so that, all light, it may devour the darkness of the flesh. I have no other workshop where I may transform darkness into light.

    I keep my heart flaming, courageous, restless. I feel in my heart all commotions and all contradictions, the joys and sorrows of life. But I struggle to subdue them to a rhythm superior to that of the mind, harsher than that of my heart - to the ascending rhythm of the Universe.

    The cry within me is a call to arms. It shouts: "I, the Cry, am the Lord your God! I am not an asylum. I am not hope and a home. I am not the Father nor the Son not the Holy Ghost. I am your General!

    "You are not my slave, nor a plaything in my hands. You are not my friend, you are not my child. You are my comrade-in-arms!

    "Hold courageously the passes which I entrusted to you; do not betray them. You are in duty bound, and you may act heroically by remaining at your own battle station.

    "Love danger. What is most difficult? That is what I want! Which road should you take? The most craggy ascent! It is the one I also take: follow me!

    "Learn to obey. Only he who obeys a rhythm superior to his own is free.

    "Learn to command. Only he who can give commands may represent me here on earth.

    "Love responsibility. Say: 'It is my duty, and mine alone, to save the earth. If it is not saved then I alone am to blame.'"

                                                ~ From The Saviours of God: Spiritual Exercises by Nikos Kazantzakis

A Dental "Emergency"

Last Wednesday evening, I was munching on some cocoa almonds...mmm, good! All of a sudden, I realized there was a gaping hole where my top front tooth should have been. So, I spit everything out and found the culprit. It was an old filing, rather large, that had come out. I looked in the mirror. I don't even want to think about how I looked. What to do? I tried putting the filling back in. After several attempts, it worked, much like a jig saw puzzle. Thank You, Jesus! I finally fell asleep.

The next morning (Thursday), I called my dentist, in Accra. I was able to schedule an appointment with her for Saturday morning. So, I called friends in Wa, and asked them to purchase a bus ticket to Accra for me. (I wanted to leave Thursday just in case there would be any trouble as we traveled. I didn't want to take the chance of missing my appointment.) I went home (I was at the workplace) and quickly packed. Then, headed off to the lorrie station. After an hour wait, we started the two hour trip to Wa. While in Wa, I visited with my friends until it was time to catch the bus, which left at 5:30 PM. I arrived in Accra around 6:20 Friday morning. Then, off to a colleague's house. I "hung out," went grocery shopping, read & napped. It was a wonderful break from the stress of the past few weeks. Then, Saturday morning, I went to see Dr. Nadia. She fixed my tooth. Praise God! I paid about $50 to get a huge filling replaced. Then, off to the bus station to buy a ticket for home. I left Accra around 8:30 PM Saturday and arrived in Wa 8:15 AM Sunday. I finally made it home at 11:30 Sunday morning. So, my dental "emergency" took about 72 hours from departing from home to arriving back again.

There was a lot to be thankful for in this situation: my tooth did not hurt, I was able to put the filling back in until it was replaced, I was able to schedule a dentist appointment, there was a seat available on the bus, someone was able to pick me up from the bus station, I had a relaxing day in Accra, I was able to buy meat in a store and not "off the hoof," the dentist is really nice, the filling was replaced painlessly, the cost of the dental visit was much less than I would pay in the US, the traveling was uneventful...God is so Good!



Kindergarten

When was the last time you were in a Kindergarten room? Or a preschool room? Or any classroom? The Kindergarten rooms that I am familiar with have tables and chairs or desks, lots of colorful charts, alphabets, calendars, books to read, supplies for science and nature study, art supplies, play things...all kinds of stuff.

This picture is of the Methodist Kindergarten in Lawra. Those are all broken desks piled up. The primary school will bring their broken desks & pile them here, then take ones that aren't broken. (Ed, he is trying to fix some of the desks.) The children sit on the cement floor. The chalkboard is just black paint on a cement wall. There are no posters, no crayons or paint, no paper, no books, no flash cards, nothing. Yet, class meets Monday through Friday every week....over 30 children!

What would we do in America in these circumstances? We couldn't function. But, here, the teachers work with what they have, if they have anything at all! I pray that despite the circumstances and lack of "things" that these children learn, that they would enjoy school and that they would become the men and women God wants them to be.

Dometiere

This tiny baby is Dometiere. When the picture was taken in the beginning of September 2011, she was five weeks old.She has such a big name for such a little girl! Her name is a Dagaaba name, one given to a female child whose mother has died. Dometiere's mother died a week before Dometiere came to live at the Lawra Methodist Orphan and Vulnerable Child Center.  When Dometiere came, she was malnourished, sickly with flies all over her! She came with her "Maakum," her grandmother, her mother's mother.

It is Dagaaba tradition that when a baby's mother dies, the mother of the woman takes care of the child. If not, the spirit of the deceased will come and torment the grandmother. So, in her old age, Maakum, is taking care of Dometiere. The child loves her Maakum and wants no one else! But, tradition seems to rule in Maakum's life. She is used to sleeping on a mat on the floor. There are beds at the Centre.So, Maakum still sleeps on a mat on the floor, but is afraid to have Dometiere sleep on a bed. She does not want the spirit of Dometiere's mother to torture her.

This is a recent picture of Dometiere. Ghanaians would say, "She is looking fine. She is fat." They mean that she is looking healthy and she has gained weight, she has had enough to eat. Maakum wants to take Dometiere to the village to live. But, what she doesn't understand is that Dometiere is still a high risk child. She may look healthy. She just recovered from a bout of malaria. She has been diagnosed with asthma. If she goes to the village, chances are that she will not get enough to eat nor will she receive her medicine. Sickness and even death comes quickly to all children her, especially high risk ones. Please pray for Maakum and Dometiere. Pray that the best decisions for the child would be made. I know that God has big plans for this child. I pray she lives long enough for the to come to fruition.