Is the Sermon Over Yet?
Last Sunday, my prayer was, "Lord, come and revive this dry and thirsty land." The temperature had reached 100 degrees by 9:00 AM. The ground was so dry, hard and dusty. Dry weeds and plants were everywhere. The animals that roam around, looking for food were having a hard time finding any. The thermometer reached 106 in the afternoon. Then, it came! A storm! The temperature dropped 31 degrees. The winds were high. The rain pelted the earth, buildings, people. Hail came. The sound on the metal roof was deafening. Afterwards, the earth looked refreshed, people felt refreshed, renewed. Even since then, some small grasses and weeds have sprouted up for the goats and sheep to munch on. Everything looks a bit greener..jpg)
A typical type of public transportation here in Ghana is the "tro tro." A tro tro is a van that has enough seats to accommodate about 20 people. So, early this morning, a friend and I got on a tro tro headed fo Wa. It was a pleasant 2 hour trip. It wasn't too crowded, only about 18 people. But, on the way back, it was another story. The tro tro had seats for 20. Theoretically, by law, everyone must have a seat. There were at least 25 people, plus their purchases. The windows were held together with tape and you could feel every bump and stone in the road. Even though it was a bit crowded, it wasn't too bad. About 4 kilometers from Lawra, the tro tro pulls over. The driver talks to a bunch of people on the road, then, tells everyone to get out of the tro tro. He then loads up with all these other people. They paid him well to take them & their stuff to the river. They were planning to enter the bordering country illegally. And, there we were, sitting under a mango tree. We ended up getting a ride to Lawra from a friend of my friend. My friend reported the driver to the police. When the tro tro finally made it to Lawra, with it's original passengers, the police went after the driver. The driver knew he was at fault and took off, leaving a trail of dust...just another typical Ghanaian day!
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.
Sunday morning, the last of the furniture I bought was picked up. Then, we started on our final trip from Wa to Lawra. All was going well until, "bumpity-bump." We had a flat tire! I was grateful that it didn't happen on Saturday when our truck was fully loaded loaded with furniture!
While Anokye changed the tire, Mary Kay and I sat on some of the bush furniture that was in the truck. She was receiving and sending emails from the middle of nowhere while I read. We arrived in Lawra late for church, but safely! Praise God! 
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!
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!
One of the veggies that is plentiful and easy to find in the Upper West Region is okra. This was never part of our diet in Western Pennsylvania, so I don't have much experience eating it or cooking it. But, it is a vegatable that I will have to learn to like. 
A few days ago, I was reading the devotional for the day in the book, My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. What I read had really challenged me. The topic for the day was the cost of sanctification. Am I willing to pay the price that is needed to be sanctified? I needed a definition for sanctification to fully understand the question, for in my mind I know what sanctification is, but could I explain it to someone else? Chambers defines sanctification as, "being one with Jesus so that the nature that controlled Him will control us." He continues, "The resounding evidence of the Holy Spirit in a person's life is the unmistakable family likeness to Jesus Christ and the freedom from everything which is not like Him." What a goal! I know that Christ was living with the nature of the Father controlling Him. He did everything so that the Father would be glorified. Do I want that for my life? Really? I have to answer with a resounding, "YES!" but so many times I do not allow myself to be controlled by or led by the nature of Abba Father. My life does not always reflect the family likeness of Christ's life. He spent time with the Father...Christ's mind was like the Father's mind. Scripture says, "The Father and I are One." Am I One with the Father? I know there are brief moments of life that I know I am. Those moments increase and become longer as I become more mature in my faith. And, then, there are other times when the family resemblance isn't so strong. I need to be wiling to be set aside for the Holy Spirit to work in me and through me so the Father may be glorified. And, I pray, that this desire is much deeper than mere words. "Holy Spirit, work in me."
Yesterday was the day I left cold western Pennsylvania to fly to the tropical climate of Ghana. I had been waiting for this moment for so long, dreaming about it. My sister, brother, sister in law, niece and close friends were at the airport to spend time with me and to see me off. It was kind of strange looking back at them and waving, not knowing for sure when I would see them again. I got settled in on my flight to JFK and then on my flight to Accra. It seemed almost anti climatic. I don't know what I was expecting to feel, I was just thankful that there was not anything else I could do, and if there was, too bad, so sad...I'll get over it. What I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt is that God is faithful and He has been with me every step of the way!
