Glimpses of our Life in Ghana

 It is said missionaries burn out because there are more needs around them than they will ever meet. But there is another side to that. I think the main reason is because the needs are so complex. They don't need a handout, they need mentoring and teaching. When someone wants money for a medical need, to be effective, you need to take them to the hospital, help them through the process, and follow up with them.   There are many examples of this. There are three specific young men (14 to 17 years old) that I am thinking of. None of them have fathers being fathers. All of them live with their mothers who struggle to make ends meet and pay school fees. Some of them, the church helps with that. The youngest one doesn't attend school even though his great uncle pays his way. All three of them need food and clothing (to one extent or another) which we could give easily enough. And to be fair, if any of them was actually starving or sick, we would help. But at their age they also sta...

We had some good rains in October. Austin likes to go to the shop with Kenny occasionally before school which works fine since school is just down the road. We took our mower over and mowed at church one evening. Since it is on Living Hope property they normally mow it but their mower was broken. The clouds were beautiful that evening! Austin likes to help cook. His favorite job is peeling things. One of our family members sent the boys some Tractor House magazines. They spend a lot of time looking at them. I can tell Brent hasn't been around farm equipment. He is learning the names of things though, with Daddy's help! I remember Kenny and I talking about what he will do if he runs out of cars to work on. They hadn't done a lot of outside work before we came and not that many people knew about the shop. We should never have worried! Word spread. Unfortunately he often gets cars with problems no one else could figure out. And that every one else has already modified once or ...

We knew September was going to be busy with graduation in the middle of it. Thankfully the beginning of the month was quieter and I had several projects that I got crossed off my list. One of those projects was adding some fun to the children's bed rooms. I don't like a lot of extra things around to collect spiderwebs and dust, but paint on a wall does neither so I went that route.  Kelsey was invited to a birthday party at the Wonders. Heidi and I took her and Rachel and helped out. It was a tea party and they decorated mugs. One Saturday we rode along to Takoradi with Kenny to get car parts. He buys most of his filters from this man. I think they both enjoy haggling about prices! And of course this was the children's real motivation for going along! I think spending time as a family had something to do with it too, but the burgers were the highlight of the day! And of course I was happy to do some grocery shopping and get some items that aren't available in our area. ...

September 23rd was the long planned for day of graduation! These six young men were students last year and then did their attachment (apprenticeship) for 6 months.  Teachers and the graduating class. Albert was a big part of teaching these boys and they thought of it that he was missing from their special day. We were so thankful for Richard. He was master of ceremonies and did a fantastic job! Richmond does the accounting for the shop and had the devotions for graduation. Each of the teachers took a turn speaking. This is Anthony. Richard translated as well. If the person spoke English he translated to Fante. If the spoke Fante he translated to English. It is good for the shop to get so cleaned up! We had planned for 100 people and had just over that. It was a good turn out! On Friday Kenny took the grads and his current students to Takoradi on an excursion. They toured two large shops there. This ship generates electricity.  This man is explaining something to them. Gideon, ...

August was busy with spending time with Burneils, recouperating from our company, and getting ready for Heidi to move in with us. But we had normal days as well! And of course time for boys to haul big loads! We also had many puppy days! The children enjoyed them. They have all found new homes now.  We attended Albert's funeral. We viewed in the tent above. He was laid out on a bed. When it was time for the actual service, they moved his body to a coffin. Prayer with his family members. His first wife and children were not there at all because of the feuding between the two wives. Only after his death did we learn more about his family. The pain and heartache that people cause by straying from God's way and the bitter reaping is hard to watch. One of the highlights of August for me was cooking a turkey! My brother surprised me and sent me a whole turkey from the farm. We enjoyed the thought of who might have touched and butchered that turkey. I enjoyed the smell that took me ba...