Abundant Blessings

It’s kinda strange. When someone in the US greets me and I respond, I respond totally different than when I lived in Ghana. The same goes with holiday greetings. When I wished a friend in Ghana a merry Christmas and a happy new year, I added, “May God abundantly bless you in the coming year.”

Then, I got to thinking., these days when I think of blessings, my thoughts go to the small, seemingly insignificant stuff. My Ghanaian friends look at God’s abundant blessings as monetary or material things. And, I can’t really find too much fault in that. These people had nothing. It was a blessing that they had food to eat. Many didn’t have clean water to drink. The women worked from dawn to dusk and later. Most chores were on their shoulders. So, to ask for God’s blessing might mean food for the day or medicine for a sick child. 

What I always had trouble with was when an “evangelist” came to preach, preaching a gospel of “If you give this much to the ministry, then I will pray for God to bless you abundantly so that you’ll never have a need again.” I know people who gave their hard earned money to such ministers only to realize later it was a sham. Abundant blessings…where were they?  In their situation, it was hard to see the blessings.

Sometimes it is hard for me to see the blessings, especially when life gets tough. Abundant blessings…there’s so many of them…life, breath, sight, hearing, hot and cold running water, heat on a cold day, food in the refrigerator and cupboards, Bibles in my heart language, coffee, a comfortable bed to sleep on, Christian music, a variety of gospel-preaching churches close to home, plenty of clothes in my closet, electricity, the ability to come and go as I please, family, friends, the saving grace of Jesus Christ. And the list goes on, and I thank God for these abundant blessings.

May God bless you abundantly this year.

 

Home, Sweet Home

Home, sweet home. It's so nice to be home again. There is something very comforting about being home. It's at home when I am most content. It's at home I can be myself and feel/express whatever emotion I am feeling without having someone wonder about it. Everything at home is familiar-clothes, food, rooms, books, storage, and the veranda...my place where I have my time with the Lord. I can study at home. I can work at home...sometimes. The children come to play at my house. I love to hear them call to me, "Maakum! Maakum!" and see their smiling and expectant faces.I provide an island of familiarity to expats from Europe and the United States. When a respite is needed for these volunteers, I can provide it. But, most of all, being at home means being with "my people." God has given me family and friends for this chapter of my life. They are the people with whom I work and "play," those with whom I live among-the Dagaaba of the Upper West Region of Ghana, in the Lawra area. 

Life can be very challenging at times. I had three different plumbers here for a total of five times before my toilet was fixed! The ATM machine was broken. When it was fixed, it wouldn't take my US bank card. The next closest ATM machine is a two hour one way trip away. I can arrive at church on a Sunday morning, and no one is there, not even at the time the service is supposed to start. Being sick can present it's own set of challenges, too.

Praise God! He has a plan for all of these challenges. I am happy to say that the toilet was fixed before I got sick. And, when I was sick, I had the luxury of soft toilet paper that I bought in Accra, 15 hours away! When I traveled to Wa to use the ATM machine, I was able to buy "soft chicken" and potatoes for Christmas dinner that was shared with Ghanaians and expats alike. The Physician's Assistant is a good friend, and makes house calls! And, even thought it was VERY cold on Christmas Day (80 degrees F)  and no one was in church at 9:30 am, there were 20 people who came to worship Emmanuel, God with us! Even now, there are children's voices coming from my veranda. What a sweet sound. 

Home, sweet home. It's so good to be "home." Yet, I am a stranger here in Lawra because I am not Ghanaian. And, I am a stranger in this world because I am a follower of Jesus. I look forward to someday being in my Heavenly home...just not yet!

Life in Lawra

Life here in Lawra is very exhausting! I try to get up early to do what needs to be done before Raymond Dery comes at 9 for my Dagaare lesson. I am amazed how much I have been able to pick up in a few days. I am far from fluent-that will take years, but I know the greetings & how to ask about home, family & work. I am learning the alphabet & if I hear the word correctly, I can spell it! I went into town this afternoon to buy bread and a few other items & people were so gracious in helping me learn the words that I didn’t know. I end up going into town or to the Lawra Integrated Health Centre (LIHC) most days to practice Dagaare before trying it on the town people. The problem with that is that it usually occurs in the heat of the day. Today it only reached 99 degrees. My ceiling fans are in, praise God & I have been able to sleep with my CPAP machine. I’m still not sure about A/C, although it would be great to have.

By the time I come home in the late afternoon, I am so hot & tired. I think today I have just lost my focus. I had a 2 ½ hr. lesson, did laundry, went to the Centre, went to town…and when I was fixing my lunch, I grabbed the knife, which I thought was in its protective sheath, but had easily come out of it. I cut the palm of my left hand, but not badly. I also stepped on something with my right foot. Marjorie checked it and there was nothing in my foot, so she cut off the hanging skin & cleaned it. When I got home, I used peroxide on it & antibiotic cream & a band aid. I don’t think I’ll be wearing sandals for a few days.

“Zu ne Lawra daa” (Tomorrow is Lawra market) and I am considering buying my first live chicken. Razak said he would show me how to slaughter it & get it ready for cooking. You can get legs & thighs from the cold store, but no white meat.

Prayer requests:
~ the healing of my hand & foot
~ the healing of my sinuses…it feels like I might be getting a sinus infection, but, maybe not. I’ll trust God!
~ finding “down time” that will "refresh” me without feeling guilty because I should be studying, etc.
~ the ability to recall and say Dagaare words & sentences appropriately.
~ the children and staff of the LIHC

On the Road to Lawra

On Wednesday, February 16, the truck was loaded with refrigerator, stove, all the household stuff I bought and my cases that I brought with me.
Then, I left Accra with Mary Kay and our driver and started my journey north towards my final destination of Lawra in the Upper West Region of Ghana.

The roads, at times, were bumpy and dusty.
We stopped along the way in Ankaase, to spend the night. In the morning, after visiting Osofo Anderson and his wife, we visited another good friend, Maggie. Maggie formerly worked as house help for colleagues who worked in Ankaase. When I last saw Maggie two years ago, I asked her, “What will you do when they leave?” and she answered, “God will provide.” And, indeed He has! Maggie is now the headmistress of a nursery/preschool, Royal Christian Academy that meets in the house she and her husband, Richie had built. It has more than 200 students in attendance! When we were there, the children were still arriving and class had not yet started.
On the road again…although sometimes it was very narrow. We were trying to find the shortcut to a village where one of Mary Kay’s churches is building a girl’s dormitory. It was the correct road and we finally made it!

 Next, off to Wenchi to check on some bore hles that Mary Kay had drilled. That’s were we spent the night, due to the generosity of Wenchi Methodist Hospital who put us up in a guest house for the night.

In the morning, we left for Wa and eventually for Lawra. In Wa, we greeted the pastor and introduced ourselves. It turned out that there was a meeting at the church of the pastors in the circuit (32 “societies” or churches) and we gave greetings there, too. I saw my friend Rev. Salia there. What a blessing! Then, I bought a gas cylinder to connect to the stove. Propane is used. When we arrived at the gas site, there were more than 50 cylinders ahead of us! When we picked it up later in the evening, ours was filled and there were more than 100 people in line. There had been no cooking gas for months!

We arrived in Lawra, late afternoon. We greeted the people at the Lawra Integrated Health Centre. After that, we went to my house and unpacked the truck, met my neighbors and I received the keys to my new house.

I now have a HOME in GHANA! Praise God!

Achey Breaky Heart

A year ago today, I left for Ghana. I returned in the middle of March. It was my last trip there. I was hoping to move there this spring. I hate to admit it, but it looks like that won't happen. My heart aches to be there. My heart aches to be with the children of the Lawra orphanage. But, even more than that, my heart breaks for the Dagaba people of the Upper West Region of Ghana. My heart breaks because there are so many people who do not have a saving knowledge and day to day relationship with Jesus Christ. I want to be the Father's hand and feet in that area of the world. I pray that one day, the Dagaba people will throw away their idols, their juju and be unashamedly in love with Jesus bringing other with them.

I Finished It!

I just finished an online course in grantwritng. I took it in hopes to someday write a grant that would be awarded to Lawra Methodist Orphanage in Lawra, Ghana. It breaks my heart that these kids don't even have fresh meat, fresh fruit or fresh vegetables to eat. They live a VERY modest lifestyle because there is no money for extra clothes, shoes, toys, etc. At times there isn't even money for the necessities like dried fish or rice or school supplies. So, my prayer is that someday, they will have more than enough, that their cups will be overflowing!

To learn more about the orphanage, check out my web site at www.suekolljeski.com