I am typing this blog from a Computer Cafe, please if you hear Cafe and get a picture in your mind of a Starbucks type place with coffee and jazz music, and all the people looking like they walked out of a Gap Catalog, than you will be a little disappointed with our cafe here. Here they are just a room with a bunce of old computer that you pay to use. I know that most of you are used to Patty's way of writing, but please bear with me. I am writing this log from an internet cafe, across town because our computer has decided to take a furlough for about a month. On Sunday after returning home from church we tried to turn on our computer, and found out that the main board of the computer had been ruined. Which has started a long chain of events that should hopefully end in a few weeks. As you know we do not have any Best Buys, Wal-Marts, or Circuit City stores here. So to get help fixing computers is costly and time consuming. But, thank the Lord for my brother-in-law that knows everything about computers. Please just pray that we can get back online soon. I will found out today if I need to buy a new part and hopefully it can be mailed to Bridgeport in one to two weeks. Then from there it will move to the post-office. And if the great boys in blue do their job, we should get the parts in another two weeks. Please pray that when it arrives that I can fix everything.
So to make the story short, we will not be posting for a few weeks. But I am sure that my wife will have plenty of interesting story to post when she returns.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Real Need
When an American first arrives in Ghana (or most third world countries, for that matter), he is immediately overwhelmed by the "needs" he sees. If he watches television for any amount of time at all, he will hear news stories, documentaries, or even celebrities talking about all the "needs" of Africa....AIDS, starvation, poverty, unsanitary living conditions, unsafe drinking water, modern-day slavery, orphans, corrupt politicians, wars.
When a new missionary arrives in Ghana, it is no different. Besides the different customs, everywhere a new missionary looks all he can see is "need". One of three things can happen to this new missionary: he can quickly become calloused to the needs because he sees them every day, he can become obsessed with the needs and spend all his time trying to fix everything "wrong" in his world, or he can choose to see the real need - Christ.
As this new church is being planted, God has given us some striking reminders of the true need of our people here in Ghana. Inusah is one such example. He is a young Muslim man who was very devout, but then started to have some questions. John met him through his half-sister, Miriam. John started a salvation Bible study with him a few months ago. He has listened well, but he also has had lots of questions. He became a regular member of our Thursday night Bible studies, and when we had our first Sunday meeting, he came. After he attended the Sunday meeting, his family members called him for a family meeting. (Now if you know anything about Africa, this is not something small - African family is something much bigger than an American can understand.) They told him that only Christians go to church on Sunday mornings, and if he didn't change his ways, he would be ostracized from the family. Dead to them. Forever shunned by not only his stepfather, mother, sisters and brothers, but also all aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends. No one to attend his wedding some day and no one to bury him when he dies. After the family meeting, Inusah called John and wanted to talk. When John went to see him, they talked about his family for a few minutes and then John led their discussion back to where they had left off in the salvation story. But this time, the Holy Spirit was convicting Inusah of his real need and opening his eyes to the glorious truth of the gospel. Understanding had come! He told John that he now knew that converting was a much bigger thing than he had realized. He now understood that if he converted he would have to leave his old life behind to follow Christ. No more mosque. No more Muslim friends. No more family. Everything would change. He said that he knew what he needed to do, but he wanted some time to think about it. And so now, we wait, and we pray, and we hope that Inusah sees that his real need isn't family or friends or everything he has ever known, but Christ.
When a new missionary arrives in Ghana, it is no different. Besides the different customs, everywhere a new missionary looks all he can see is "need". One of three things can happen to this new missionary: he can quickly become calloused to the needs because he sees them every day, he can become obsessed with the needs and spend all his time trying to fix everything "wrong" in his world, or he can choose to see the real need - Christ.
As this new church is being planted, God has given us some striking reminders of the true need of our people here in Ghana. Inusah is one such example. He is a young Muslim man who was very devout, but then started to have some questions. John met him through his half-sister, Miriam. John started a salvation Bible study with him a few months ago. He has listened well, but he also has had lots of questions. He became a regular member of our Thursday night Bible studies, and when we had our first Sunday meeting, he came. After he attended the Sunday meeting, his family members called him for a family meeting. (Now if you know anything about Africa, this is not something small - African family is something much bigger than an American can understand.) They told him that only Christians go to church on Sunday mornings, and if he didn't change his ways, he would be ostracized from the family. Dead to them. Forever shunned by not only his stepfather, mother, sisters and brothers, but also all aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends. No one to attend his wedding some day and no one to bury him when he dies. After the family meeting, Inusah called John and wanted to talk. When John went to see him, they talked about his family for a few minutes and then John led their discussion back to where they had left off in the salvation story. But this time, the Holy Spirit was convicting Inusah of his real need and opening his eyes to the glorious truth of the gospel. Understanding had come! He told John that he now knew that converting was a much bigger thing than he had realized. He now understood that if he converted he would have to leave his old life behind to follow Christ. No more mosque. No more Muslim friends. No more family. Everything would change. He said that he knew what he needed to do, but he wanted some time to think about it. And so now, we wait, and we pray, and we hope that Inusah sees that his real need isn't family or friends or everything he has ever known, but Christ.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
All In All
So many possible posts, so little time! That's how I feel right now! I've had a million ideas running through my head this last week, but I've had no time to post (and even if I did, I wouldn't have known what to post!). I finally decided to write everything all at once! I'll try not to make it too long, though! I'll even try to include some pictures if I can locate any!
A few weeks ago (it feels like months), we asked you all to please pray for some pressing unspoken prayer requests. Well, although we don't know the entire outcome of everything, God has helped us through every step of the way and has protected our family through this time of adversity. We've learned so much about God's mercy,
forgiveness, and care as well!
In the middle of the month we had a missions team come from our home church in Michigan. My parents led the group, and we had a great time together! I got to cook for 14 people plus my family every day! I guess it's good practice for if we ever have that many kids! Yeah, right! The group held public school Bible clubs, did a lot of canvassing, a tract blitz, and painted the school building the new church is meeting in. We kept them very busy from morning 'til night. In turn, they've left us lots of follow up to do! We have lists and lists of people who are interested in salvation Bible studies and visiting the church!
We are now starting our third week of services and are excited to imagine what God has in store for this place. It is quite a learning experience - everything must be taught: how we sing, the songs, how we take offering, how we pray, how we behave in church, and the list could go on and on.
And now, the 4th of July has come and gone. Independence Day is one of my personal favorites, but a holiday that I don't necessarily have a "right" to have as a missionary in a foreign country. Oh, we still celebrate, but not the same way we would in the States! You see, it's just not acceptable to celebrate America's independence when you live in Ghana. It's not looked on too kindly. And, as I don't want to offend needlessly (and therefore hinder efforts to reach them for Christ), I simply enjoy my family, wear my red, white, and blue inside my home, and imagine flags waving and fireworks exploding. It's not that missionaries aren't patriots; many times I think missionaries are more patriotic than your average American. We've been put in a place where we can see what a blessing it really is to be born in America!
All in all, its been a wonderful month! I think I'm about the luckiest lady alive!
I've included the few pictures I could find, but I'll add more later!
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