Is Laughter the Best Medicine?

Veering off from the thought provoking entries of late, I want to fill you in on some of the more humorous happenings!

You know you’re in Africa when…

… A lizard crawls up your leg, across your body, and jumps off your neck while you’re in church.

… Your most boyish boys wear pink velvet shorts, a pink Winnie the Pooh t-shirt, and watch Barbie’s 12 Dancing Princesses.

… You hear a Celine Dion song as a ringtone on a grown man’s phone and nobody laughs but you.

… You get proposed to on a daily basis, even if you haven’t shaved your legs in weeks.

… A simple trip to the market is also a muddy danger zone. But don’t worry, the heavy rains will clean you off on your walk home!

… A tractor is the equivalent of a roller coaster.

… A 14 year old boy’s favorite song is “Kiss the Girl” from the Little Mermaid.

… Kids don’t wait for fruit to ripen and fall off. Instead, they scale 20 foot paw paw trees and pick it off themselves.

… Laundry day turns into a fashion show.

… A child’s idea of a pet is a beetle that they caught and tied to a string.

… Your class time is disrupted when the students spot a crab and a bird chasing each other outside your room (see video blelow).



… You are hardly recognizable in your visa photos due to the layer of dirt, beads of sweat, and lack of makeup that adorn your face.

… Instead of “Sweet Home Alabama”, kids think that Lynyrd Skynyrd once sang about “Sweet Home Obama”.

… You lose in a foot race to 10 year old boys who are half your size.

… Friday night entertainment consists of coloring a cardboard refrigerator box! (Ok, so maybe that one isn’t just for Africa. Can you blame me?)

In addition to praying for my sanity in dealing with all of these ridiculous events, please pray for Richmond! He is one of the little honeys in my class (and I do mean little). He is only 8 years old and in P3 which means he is ahead of the game! He is an absolute joy to have in class because not only is he bright, but also more than willing to volunteer and participate (which is always much appreciated). Pray that his sweet personality will flourish in this place and that the older boys surrounding him will lift him up!

Love,
Lindsay

Two Sides of the Same Coin

This past week at the street ministry, I simultaneously experienced firsthand the joy and the despair that an unexpected or unwanted child can produce. What an overwhelming rush of emotions that can be for just one day!

Under the advice of the street ministry director Felicia, we have begun taking a handful of children from our home each week to Accra to see their mothers. Some of the mothers are able to visit the children once a year at the home, but most of them have not seen their kids since they were brought here nearly 7 years ago. This week, we took 6 kids with us, one of which was Stephen. He is a kid, who as I have explained before, is wild and stubborn and has absolutely stolen my heart. Naturally, I was eager to see the relationship between him and his mother. Almost immediately after exiting the van, he spotted her and they literally ran to each other and embraced. All of that hardness and resistance that he uses to guard himself, simply melted away in his mothers arms. Their smiles were beautiful and there was a visible joy shared between them. This child who at one time was nothing but a burden was now an incredible gift!

Now on the other hand, I also had an encounter with some of the most distraught women I have ever met. In an attempt to find the mother of a young girl who was new in the area, Felicia and I wandered from the common area where the service is held to some outlying places near the railroad station where people make their permanent homes in makeshift tents and abandoned marketplaces. In our meanderings, we came to a public shower room. Felicia quickly explained to me that this is where she spends a good deal of her time, and I would soon understand why. Inside this shower room were several very pregnant women sprawled out on the floor. One woman was completely naked but lacked the dignity or self-respect to be fazed by these strangers seeing her and her enormous belly entirely bare. Their few belongings were in scattered piles and smiles were nowhere to be seen. These are the women who already cannot take care of themselves and are stuck in the deep depression of wondering how they will ever take care of a child. Felicia explained that she spends much time here in order to discourage them from aborting their own babies. While clinical abortions are illegal here in Ghana, the grief that can lead to one is still very real.

In his book The Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne says “If I am going to discourage abortion, I had better be ready to adopt some babies and take care of some mothers.” I saw the need for both of those things very clearly that day and will never be able to forget it. May we all have the courage to back up our beliefs with unwavering action!

Our girl today is Afua. She is 10 years old, fun-loving and very energetic. She enjoys getting together with girls to learn dances, and teaming up with boys to play basketball. I told her that I was going to be writing about her this week and she told me to let you all know that she needs prayer for her homework right now, as she is in P5 and struggling with the concept of area in math. Please pray that she continues to thrive in her studies, but that she also continues to be a good influence on the younger girls (like the ones in my class!).

Love,
Lindsay

Poverty

Sometimes poverty is difficult to grasp when it’s such a far cry from the comfort and ease of the places we call home. Sometimes the idea of 22 percent unemployment leaves you speechless. This whole concept and what we can do about it is something that I have thought much about and struggled with for a long time, but even more so being here. Strangely enough I keep being brought back to a handful of lyrics from a couple different songs that coincide with scripture. Just something to think about…

Solution – Hillsong United
“It is not a human right to stare not fight, while broken nations dream. Open up our eyes so blind that we might find the Mercy for the need! It is not too far a cry, too much to try to help the least of these. Politics will not decide if we should rise and be Your hands and feet!

Singing, hey now fill our hearts with your compassion. Hey now as we hold to our confession. God be the solution, we will be your hands and be your feet…

Only You can mend the broken heart, and cause the blind to see, erase complete the sinners past and set the captives free. Only You can take the widow's cry and cause her heart to sing, Be a Father to the fatherless, our Savior and our King. We will be Your hands, we will be Your feet, we will run this race for the least of these. In the darkest place, we will be Your light, we will be Your light!”


And believe it or not:

Man In the Mirror – Michael Jackson
I’m gonna make a change for once in my life.
It’s gonna feel real good, gonna make a difference, gonna make it right.

As I turn up the collar on my favorite winter coat this wind is blowing my mind
I see the kids in the street without enough to eat.
Who am I to be blind, pretending not to see their need?

A summer’s disregard, a broken bottle top, and one man’s soul,
They follow each other on the wind you know, cause they got nowhere to go.
That’s why I want you to know…

I’m starting with the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways.
And no message could have been any clearer: If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change!

I’ve been a victim of a selfish kind of love, it’s time that I realize.
There are some with no home, not a nickel to loan
Could it be really me, pretending that they’re not alone?
A widow deeply scarred, somebody’s broken heart, and a washed out dream.
They follow the pattern of the wind you see, cause they’ve got no place to be.
That’s why I’m starting with ME!


Please pray this week for Christian, who is an incredibly handsome 14-year old boy from the Volta Region of Ghana. From his positive attitude and huge smile, you would find it hard to believe that he was formerly enslaved in the Trokosi traditions, his father being a Trokosi priest. He has come so far and exudes such a joy that you are simply drawn to him! Lift him up this week, praising God for the young boy that he is and for the young man that he will soon become.

Love,
Lindsay

Tricks and Treats!

Well friends, on Monday of this week I experienced a setback as far as the progress of my students. As usual, we have been getting a lot of rain, but this day we could see the clouds very dark and low in the sky for the majority of the morning. Reminding you of the fact that I teach in an open activity center with a tin roof and no walls, you can only imagine the kind of work that is (or is not) completed during times of rain. However, this particular day not only did we lose valuable class time, but a lot of our supplies as well. Sure enough at about 1:30, the rain came pouring down. Combined with the wind, the rain more or less flew in sideways through the activity center, showering my class, all of our textbooks, and many of the notebooks we use for exam notes. I was so frustrated! It wasn’t like we had much to begin with, and now what we did have was either damaged or ruined! I stood there soaked and defeated.

The next morning, I was able to gain some perspective on my situation as my devotional referred to the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with just a few loaves and fish. At first glance I thought little of it since it was a story that I had heard a “million” times and I “obviously” knew everything about it. But after a little thought I realized the stupidity of my assumption and discovered much more. I so often limit God by not truly believing that He can do all He promises to do. If He was able to feed 5,000 hungry people with very little food, who am I to say that He can’t simply help educate 15 eager students with very little supplies? The rest of the week went well and much was accomplished with very little. Praise Him!

Other highlights of the week included teaching some of the boys how to play baseball, having a candlelit dinner club with our older kids due to power outages, trick or treating as ghosts at the other missionary’s homes, and enjoying our second of many dance parties in the dining hall (it would have made my roommates so proud)!

To finish, Bernice is our woman of the week! She is a beautiful 15 year old girl who is very gifted academically and has read nearly every book that I brought with me! Additionally, she displays a sincerity in her faith and a passion for her Savior that is unmatched by any girl her age that I have ever met, and even more so than most adults. Please lift her up this week, praising God for her life and asking him to utilize those gifts that she has been blessed with.

Love,
Lindsay

Facing the Waves

It is true that God chooses to speak to his children through a variety of avenues. He may choose to reveal Himself through a piece of art, literature, or music, through His creation, or even in silence. I have never in my life experienced His majesty so great though, as I have here through the lives of these kids. I am constantly being taught more and more about the character of God through tiny moments with the children.

This week at the beach was just as amazing as I had hoped. The kids were well behaved and we all had a blast. Besides sparing the Obrunis from our sunburns, we couldn’t have asked for anything more! There was one peculiar behavior that I noticed was common among all the children though. They all stayed in only inches of water and flopped around enjoying themselves wildly, remaining where they were comfortable, fearing the unknown. However, I decided to take one child at a time further out into larger waves. I have never felt such an unyielding grip on my arms as I did when they saw a wave, bigger than they were used to, heading towards us. There were seconds of terror followed by shouts of laughter and glee! All the while, the grip on my arms never loosened. After those first couple waves, they had full trust in me that I would not let them go. That is real faith! Clinging to the only one who can keep you from harm and trusting that they know what is best for you. More eloquently put, Oswald Chambers said, “Faith never knows where it is being led, but it knows and loves the one who is leading.”

Hebrews chapter 11 tells countless stories of regular people who, by faith, “conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions , quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength” (33-34). However, it also tells stories of numerous others who “were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection” (35). I pray that, while we may be clueless as to what our futures have in store, we will press on with full faith in our Creator, facing the waves and clinging tight to His arm!

This week, the child I want to share with you about is one that I have been particularly drawn to. His name is Stephen and he is 11 years old. He is an extremely lively and passionate boy with great artistic ability, leadership, and an unbelievable stubborn streak! Somehow I have been able to fight stubbornness with stubbornness and connect with him in a rewarding little friendship. He is very dear to me because I see that if his energy is directed at something positive, he has incredible potential! Please pray that God will continue to bless our friendship and guide him as he develops his various talents!

Thanks!

Love,
Lindsay