Yes, I know this is the end of January, but I've just now had time to sit down and write. Just after the first of the year we started preparing for a new missionary family to come. They arrived the middle of this month, and we've been busy trying to help them get settled and adjusted since then! As you think about it, please pray for the Aaron family.
As we've been around these brand-new missionaries, I've started thinking about what it was like when we first came to Ghana. A lot has happened in five and a half years....John and I moved to Ghana with all our possessions packed into ten U-Haul boxes...we lived in the middle of a "local" community called Anloga where the noise never stopped for the entire six months we lived there...God miraculously provided a place for us to stay in the capital city to wait for Carey's birth at the Women's Hospital in Tema...we found a duplex to live in and moved to the community of Bomso (the noise didn't stop there either :) )...we started to learn about ministering to Ghanaians at Calvary Independent Baptist Church where we helped with the church visitation, the University Bible Study, the teens, and the children's Sunday school and junior church...my family came to Ghana for the first time...after much deliberation we began language studies (it's a long story)...the Lord provided a new place to live - a flat (apartment) in the community of Amangoase, where I've just gotten used to the noise :)....we had a group come from Crown College, Knoxville, Tennessee and stay with us for 8 weeks....we headed back to the States for our first furlough...Ella was born....we came back to Ghana in August, 2007....we began preparing for our first church plant....we started a Thursday night Bible study in the Ahinsan Estates area....we had a group led by my parents come from our home church, First Baptist Church of Bridgeport, Michigan, come help us for two weeks...we held our first services for the new church plant at Atonsu Junior Secondy School....Andrew Aaron came to visit us and discuss coming to work with us for a while....Carey accepted Christ as her personal Savior.....the Aaron family arrived....and now we are preparing for our first baptismal service! John and I have personally seen Esther, Moses, Mercy, Enoch, Baba, Rosemond, Wendy, Araba, Gabriel, Robert, Alberta, Lawrence, Omudhohwo, Mabel, Robert Vidzah, Kofi, Eunice, Juliet, Joe, Mama Becky, Christiana, Inusah, and Mabel accept Christ, and Ata, Linda, and Dennis receive assurance of their salvation. Mercy, Enoch, Baba, and Gabriel were all baptized at Calvary. On February 8th, Mabel, Christiana, Joe, and Inusah are planning on getting baptized at the new church plant!
What amazing things we've seen and experienced since our arrival here!
I hope you've enjoyed a quick look back! Sorry that I didn't put up pictures, but I've got a long list of things to get done today! I'll try to see what I can find this week and hopefully I'll be back to updating every Saturday!
