A Mission Trip about...

As Mark has said, we are all home and recovering!  I thought I would add some "final thoughts" to add to what has already been said, and to perhaps wrap up some of the feelings I have had.  And to be honest, this blog has served and will serve as a vital part of my journaling for this trip, as will the hundreds of photos and hours of video that we have taken.  You can all look forward to a LONG presentation!  Ok, kidding....

A Mission Trip about...

I believe that Tom Drinnen would say that the book of Daniel is not a book about Daniel, but a book about God, and how He used Daniel.  And the book of Esther is not about Esther, but a book about God, and how He used Esther.  And the book of Noah is not a book about Noah.  In fact, it is not a book in the Bible... (did I get you?!)

While we could list a number of things that "we" did, our mission trip was not a mission trip about us, but a trip about how God could use us to accomplish a number of things.  Many of the team, as well as Tommy, have mentioned so many "God stories" in this trip, and with regard to the VOH.  Tommy has made many contacts with people who have the means to make a substantial difference in the financial future of the VOH.  We have seen many things being worked out, with the only real answer being divine intervention.

There are several ways just in the construction of the baptistry that I could elaborate on, but suffice it to say that God made sure it was positioned exactly parallel to the bath house, which was essential to conform to the future plans of the new church building, and that the drain was perfectly centered in the floor of the bathroom.  And each of these happened in spite of three significant changes in the construction method and thus the dimensions of the baptistry.  Especially with the placement of the drain, we could not have measured and gotten it any closer to center.  The moral of the story for me, anyway, was that when we try to center our lives on our own, we will never be able to do it.  However, when we allow God to take control, He will perfectly center it, just like our drain!

I believe that the focus of the trip was to honestly look for ways that God was working in what "we" were doing.  And by finding Him so involved in every little aspect of what was being done, it was much easier to just sit back, do what we saw needed to be done, and let God go to work.

The VOH certainly planted seeds in us, and we hope to use the experience to change our personal lives and our family expectations as a result.  And hopefully, we can be a better example of what a Christian family looks like.

And so... we thank God for allowing us to be a part of His plan, both at the VOH and at home.  And I echo Mark's "thank you" to all of you who have supported us both financially and prayerfully.  What "we" accomplished was not just accomplished by those of us blessed to be there, but also by all of you who were at home on your knees praying to our awesome God!

May God bless you all, and see fit to allow us all to return to the VOH someday, and to take some of you with us to share what we have experienced!

In Him,
Jeff

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Home

Thanks to the Lord for his goodness. By God's grace we arrived back to Knoxville around 9:30 p.m. last night. Everyone is well and filled to overflowing with love and experiences God gave us. We look forward to sharing many of those with our Arlington family tomorrow. Thank you, thank you, thank you for going before our Father on our behalf. I could not be more pleased with our team and what God was able to accomplish through these willing servants.

One final experience I wanted to share which made us all laugh at how God works. We shared with you all an experience at the beginning of our trip with a man from Ghana who was working at a store we stopped at right before getting to the airport in Atlanta. Well, on our way out of the airport yesterday after we collected our luggage, we made our way to the shuttle pick up to take us to our van. We parked at a place called Walley Park. As we made our way onto the shuttle, the man driving the van saw my T-shirt. He asked where we just came from. I told him Ghana, West Africa. He broke out into a smile and said that is where he was from. He was so happy to hear of our trip and even visited Fetteh this past December when he returned home as he does each year to see family in Ghana.

This was a wonderful experience to complete our mission trip - yet truly our mission will not be complete until we our home in heaven. God will continue to give us opportunities to serve and will show himself to us if we will but look and listen.

Love, grace, and peace to all -
Mark and the Team

Heading home soon...

Soon we will all be headed home.  The men spent the day trying to help finish up the Baptistry while the women divided up bags of clothes and shoes that were left here to be given to the children and house parents.  About the time we finished, the rains came.  Good ole rainy season!  The temp is quite bareable today.  There is a scheduled power outage in about 5 mins, so this has to be brief.  We have so many experiences to share with you when we return.  Tomorrow we leave here early for a little shopping in Accra, lunch, then to the airport.  Please pray that we will all return to you safely.  I have heard many people say they are eager to see their families at home.  Bud (and the family dog) have been missed, and I have heard Mark, Michelle, and Jeff say many times they are ready to hold their children.  A small tidbit of good news that is circulating:  Fred has been given 50 acres of land by a local village chief to expand the VOH in years to come. Praise God!  This makes his dream of someday building Hope University that much closer!  For now, he is hoping to maintain things the way they are and get "good" at it before expanding. 

Well, we have our mixes feelings about leaving this place, but we miss you all and can't wait to see your smiling faces!  Much love and see you soon.  :)

April

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Home Soon

Dear Family and Friends,
First, let me thank you all for your continual prayers. Our time at the VOH could not have gone any smoother. God has been so gracious to us and kept us feeling well and allowing us to get much done for his glory.

We finished the structural work on the baptistery today as we finished the steps going up into the baptistery and the steps going down into it. It is so rewarding knowing we got this done. Tomorrow we will watch as the mason puts plaster on the inside and another man puts on the tile for the exterior. It looks great. We decided to go down to the ocean late afternoon and rinse off the sweat. It was so wonderful jumping in the waves and finding shells. The whole team went down to celebrate God's beauty and faithfulness together.

We were reminded again this past Sunday about the need for the baptistery. Two people responded Sunday and we headed to the Atlantic Ocean to God's baptistery. Unfortunately only about thirty children could go do the limited space in vehicles. A boy at the VOH named David was baptized and another individual you know very well. After Bible class before I preached, Zack Pratt, one of our teammates, told me of his desire to be baptized into Christ. Zack was baptized as a young child at the church he grew up in, but as he has been studying he has grown in his understanding of baptism and desired to be baptized again. It was such a thrill as Jeff and myself lowered Zack down as the waves of the Atlantic washed over him as he was buried with Christ. We all praised God. Danny, as we were making our way down the winding path to the ocean, Zack commented on how much he would have liked for you to be there. I reassured him that he was in spirit.

As Danny reported to us, those who preach here have around a one hour sermon. I think I made it to 47 minutes according to Jeff Cutler so Danny your 50 minutes beat me. The team has told me they want me to start preaching for an hour now so everyone at Arlington needs to start preparing themselves for this change. (Just kidding). Although I must admit the lack of concern for time as we worship our Lord is very refreshing.

Yesterday we were able to have a down day as we traveled to the rainforest and the El Mina Castle. We witnessed God's majesty of the rainforest as we walked in the canopy of tress in the only suspension foot bridge over a rain forest in the world. We then witnessed at the castle a place where terrible atrocities were committed as men and women were tortured, killed, or sold as slaves all over the world by first the Portuguese and then the Dutch. By the time the British owned the castle slavery had been abolished. The country of Ghana is now in control of the world's largest and oldest slave trading castle in the world. Thank God that slavery has been abolished and may the castle serve as a memorial to those who died and keep us from ever participating in such an act of injustice against humanity. Thank you Lord for freeing us from a life of slavery to sin. We want you to be our Master.

The team is doing very well. We have so much to share with you. This coming Sunday morning, the Lord willing, the mission team will be sharing in a combined class. I have asked all the team members to share for a few minutes what God has taught them on this journey. I will then preach a sermon on some things the Lord has shown me and Sunday night we will show slides and videos of our journey with more sharing. We will also have a finger food fellowship.

We miss you all but know we will be home soon. Truly we will all be to our heavenly home soon. While we are on our way, let's enjoy the journey and take as many others with us as possible. Please continue to pray that God will be glorified through us. We love you all.

Mark for the Team

Ghana June 4

Tom Drinnen!

 

I will try to be brief.  Having a great time.

 

DT

Greeting from BJ

Hello Everyone!

Today was another wonderful day at the Village. The men worked hard on the baptistery and it is well under way to the completion. The women took care of the men by bringing them water and snacks.The women also worked on the resource center organizing materials. It has rained all afternoon and into this evening heavily. We are very thankful, this area was in great need of a good rain.Please pray for more rain.

Since it rained all afternoon many of us rested and caught up. Others of us went to play with the children in their homes. I am very excited that I had a chance to come here to the Village and see all of the work that is going on. Thank you for your prayers and we look forward to seeing you all soon.

P.S. Tonight we had a taste of home with hot dogs and french fries and cookies man it was good but I really like the food that has been prepared for us.

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Rewarding feelings

As many of you know, we just spent 3 days in a nearby village called Kweikrum.  Highly impoverished, yet the people eager to know about Christ.  On the first day, it did not take long for many of us to notice a silent, timid girl in the crowd of children with a very swollen right eyelid.  It was so large, she could not get it open and was tilting her head backward to see out of it.  On day 2, the eye was about the same, maybe slightly smaller.  I connected with the interpereter, who asked some questions for me.  The girl, Lucy (age 7), said that her said her eye had not been in this condition very long and told us it was a boil.  We noticed each day that Lucy was sweating profusely. Now, it is very hot here, but she was was the only child we observed sweating like this.  She constantly used the hem of her skirt to wipe the sweat from her face.  She did not talk much and appeared to use every ounce of enerty she had just to attend the VBS, which required standing patiently with the other children for about a 30 minute Bible lesson, songs, and prayers. 

 

On the third day the interpereter helped us connect with her father.  He confirmed that the eye had not been in that condition long, and stated he had been putting cream on it.  It appeared to me that possibly it had been lanced and drained recently, as there was evidence of a healing wound.   After discussion about the girl with Mark and the rest of the mission team, we thought it would be a good idea to see if we could purchase some medicine for her, as it was obvious her body was trying to fight infection and we feared the worst for her eye without treatment.  Mark talked to Tommy, who also thought the idea to be favorable, and made arrangements for us to bring the girl to the clinic. 

 

Thursday morning, Mark told me the driver was ready for us to go and get the girl and her father and bring them to the VOH medical clinic.  I was elated, both in happiness for Lucy and excited to be able to help.  Tommy offered us his pickup and supplied the gas money for the trip.  Justice was the driver/translater and we set off to pick up Lucy and her father.  They were waiting for us when we arrived.  Justice talked to the man a bit, but I was unable due to the language barrier.  Lucy appeared very tired.  She could barely hold herself up and was always leaning on things, always sweating.  I went in to see the nurse and the doctor with them, adding the observations of our group to give the doc additional information.  She told me Lucy would be treated for the eye problem, and for Malaria.  Despite the prevelence of malaria in this region, I was still a bit shocked.  I had no idea how badly Lucy needed this medical attention, and I was relieved that we could be there for her.  It was no wonder she was so weak... 

While the pharmacy filled the prescription (also located inside the clinic), I ran back to our team's house to get money.  Most of the ladies were at home by that time tidying up.  They gave from their own pockets to see that this child received the care she needed.  The bill was 87,000 Cedi.  For those who don't know, that translates to less than $9 in America. 

 

Lucy's father thanked me several times and wanted my address.  I felt like he was possibly wanting to repay the debt.  On the way to take them back to Kweikrum, I asked Alex (another driver - very nice man) to explain that the debt had been paid by our entire group because we saw that Lucy had a need.  I asked Alex to tell him that sometimes God works in mysterious ways, and that he sent our group to his village for many reasons, one being to help Lucy.  We gave freely from our hearts and we hope that he will also help those in need in the future.  I could tell he was moved by what we had done for his daughter, as he had shown obvious concern for her when we approached him before.  It was such a wonderful thing to watch this unfold and a great opportunity to offer an example of our faith that God will provide for our needs - something that had actually been discussed with the adults of Kweikrum on our last day there. 

 

We later reimbursed Tommy for the gas.  He was very generous to offer his vehicle and help this happen.  Words can not explain the giving nature that Tommy has.  The Arlington Team is truly full of selfless people who have done spectacular work here in Ghana, both physically and spiritually.  I feel blessed to be a part of this team, and completely enriched by this experience.  When we first got here, were were overwelmed by the sad stories of the children at the VOH, who are so sweet and loving, God-centered, thankful and talented... yet motherless and fatherless.  However, upon returning to the VOH from a place like Kweikrum, we all realized how very lucky these orphans are.  Anyone who is able to give to this cause, please do.  If you only have $10 and think its not enough - -  you couldn't be more wrong.  $10 may pay for an uninsured child to visit a clinic and receive life-sustaining medication.  If you do not already have a favorite charity, or if you do.. I encourage you to consider what you can do for the children at the VOH.  I hope you have been as moved by this as we were.  Thanks, and God Bless.

Love,

April  

 

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Our Return... and other things...

OUR RETURN HOME...

 

I have been asked to let you know when we are returning.  Our flight into Atlanta is scheduled to land at 2:40PM on Friday.  Depending on how long it will take to get our luggage, get the van, and get out, we anticipate arriving at Arlington around 7:00PM, give or take an hour!  We will all be calling as soon as we can!

 

AND OTHER THINGS...

 

Today was another very hot day.  They seem to be getting hotter, and the sun seems to be getting brighter each day.  But we are not complaining!  I have been wearing sunscreen with an SPF of 50, which is "waterproof" and "sweatproof", but I have found out it is not Ghanaproof!  I have been using it twice a day - once first thing in the morning, and then again after lunch.  Fortunately, I am not burned YET, but am working on it.  Billie Jean found some SPF 60, so I tried it today, so we will see!

 

I say all of that to praise the Ghanaian workers who have been helping us with the baptistry.  Peter and his brother Christmas have been helping and working very hard.  Peter worked alone, but tomorrow we will have Christmas (... in June... sorry, had to say it...).  There have been many times when we have had to retreat to shade and drink water, but they refuse to stop.  I suppose they are a bit more acclimated to their environment than we are!

 

Today we completed the walls of the baptistry, and thought we would stop there.  However, Peter insisted that we pour the footer for the concrete pad for the stairs going up to the baptistry.  That saved a day of construction, as it will cure enough tonight for us to pour the pad and then hopefully tomorrow build the stairs on the inside and outside.  Daniel, the director in charge of construction, is very pleased, and asked me if we would be able to plaster it tomorrow.  That is the last step before painting, which means that if he gets done what he wants, we will actually get to see it completed before we leave.  Of course, it will not have water, but it will be finished!

 

While not all of the team has been working on the baptistry with shovels and trowels, ALL of the team has been supportive and encouraging.  They have been bringing us snacks and water regularly, and have been very positive about what we are doing.  Pete was apologizing for not being able to help, as he and Bill sat and watched this morning.  But we reminded him that when they come to watch and talk, they are like the "great cloud of witnesses" we read about in Hebrews 12.  And I think that really sums up what we have all been for each other on this trip as we encourage each other.

 

While the importance of the baptistry is obvious, it is rather special in this case.  We have built it outside of the building in which they worship now.  However, they are going to tear that building down and construct a new building AROUND the baptistry.  The baptistry will literally be the cornerstone of the new building.  For the Rider's, you may recall the bath house outside the building, and behind the playground.  We built the baptistry in front of the bath house, and the new building will have the front toward the clinic, and the baptistry will be in the back.

 

Sunday we plan to go to the ocean and take a break.  Monday we will go sightseeing.  I wish I could tell you where, but I don't recall!  Regardless, we are looking forward to a couple days of nothing but rest!  Today David and I were talking about the fact that we still cannot believe we are in Africa, so perhaps that day will bring it home for us!  Tuesday we hope to paint the baptistry and have it FINISHED!

 

Most of the team was able to rest today.  Michelle and Billie Jean worked with the preschool today and taught them some new songs.  They say that the kids can now do "Toe-knee chest-nut" faster than they can...

 

We were able to spend some quality time with Tommy tonight to talk about how things are going here, and some future plans for the VOH and the Hope Christian Academy.  Tommy is very well settled here and is "at home" with God in control.  We are very happy to be here to help him even for a little while.  But for family back home, I think we would all like to stay a bit longer.

 

Thank you for the update on Francis Maples' sister.  Please keep us posted as to how she is doing, and let her know that we are praying for her and her family.  While we obviously cannot be there to lend a shoulder, we are there in spirit.

 

It is hard to believe that we are nearing the end of our stay, but are looking forward to seeing our families and friends when we return.  Thank you for your continuted prayers.  Please know that they are being heard and answered.  We love you all!

 

In His service,
Jeff

Ghana Funnies

"Perfectionist Pete"

Did anyone know what a perfectionist Pete Sasser is?  One evening, we all sat down to journal in the common room. Many of us had been so busy that we had catching up to do on journaling.  After hearing several rips of paper in about 30 minutes time, we all began wondering what was going on over there!  Looking over at Pete, he had lots of peices of paper ripped out of his journal.  It turns out he just couldn't get things perfect -- wrong date, misspelled words, etc...  He had to have it just right, so he was ripping the pages out and starting over and over and over!!!  This was quite fun to tease him about! 

 

"Tall Man"

Inside the Traverse City children's dorm, we have been doing quite a bit of painting with heavy oil based sticky blue paint that quickly brought memories of the Smufrs cartoon.  Mark was talking to Godfrey, our "boss" about our work when a small 4 year old child came up to Mark and began tapping him. Mark was covered in paint and was holding his wet paintbrush.  After several seconds of being unnoticed, the child yelled "AYE -- TALL MAHN!!  GIVE ME YOH BRUSS!!" Grabbing the brush from Mark, the child ran off to paint window sills like the rest of us.  Mark is now known as "Tall Man."  When Michelle pointed out to our boss that the 4 year old had the brust, he went running after him...

 

"Fan Lady"

Its pretty hot here, after all this is Africa.  Cathy Norris was smart and brought a misting fan with her.. you mist yourself while fanning.  Its quite cool.  On the walk to the baptism at the beach, we passed many locals.  They seem to have adjusted to the temperature in a way we "oboroni's" (this is what African's call white people) will never know.  I think they must think it is entertaining to see us with our fans and wet rags, and hugamungous waterbottles.  One man passing Cathy along the way laughingly called out to her.... "Aaaaaaaaaay!!!  Faaaaahn  Lady!!"  (hey, fan lady!).  We call out to her this way also, it was just too funny!

 

"21"

What's the first thing adults do when they meet a child?  They ask the child's name and say,  how old are you, right?  On our first day here, many conversations went like this:  "Hi what's your name.  (Steven.)  Oh its so nice to meet you Steven... how old are you?"  Well you should have seen the looks on the faces of some of these children when they heard Lori and Cathy give their age!!!  The children cover their mouths, their eyes widen and they exclaim "OOoohh!!"  They think this is hilarious!  Cathy told one child she was just kidding, she's really only 21.  Now when he sees her from afar, he doesn't even greet her normally, he just shouts, "twenty-one! twenty-one!!!"  I think he actually understands why this is funny. 

 

This is all the funnies for now... will send more later.  I also have a neat message to share with you about an experience we had today that was very gratifying.  Talk to you soon! Love to all.

 

April

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Greetings from VOH

From Dorothy---This week has been just great. I think the highlight was the VBS at the Village Kweikrom. Even Bill said he missed not going today.
We cleaned the house this morning.After that I went to the Nursery and helped with the two year olds. What a joy. We sang songs and then I read them the story Go Dog Go. I plan to help in the morning from 9- 11.
We have been blessed with electricity today . Praise God.
The children are a delight.
Keep us in your prayers.

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Faye here

Faye here 
          Did Bobbie Lynn think to tell you when she was here writting blogs that it is hot here - well in case she forgot to --- it is.  But we have all started to figure out how to keep on keeping on any way. Dee left for hom today and she (and most of us - especially me and her DeDa) cried. She said that it has been a life changing experience and I know that we all agree with her. 

          Just a few of the things that have made an impression on me:

The joy that you see in the faces of the children

The sound of their singing as they do their chores early in the morning - (washing, spreading wash out on the grass to dry and cleaning up the grounds are some of them)

The fact that the children start their day every day with personal alone time for 15 minutes each day

The concern and care they show for us - trying to be helpful (ie any time they see you carrying something they take it away from you and carry it for you.)

How excited they get every time they see you and how many of them bring things that they have written or drawn during the day to give us.

The list goes on and on and when we get home everyone on the team will be glad to share with you their stories and the experiences that we share at night before we go to bed.

This morning Tommy let his bird BoBo out of the cage to fly around for awhile. We thought that he had gotten loose so some kept trying to catch him. Tommy told us later that BoBo flies around and then comes home early in the evening, but we had scared him so he just went back and got in his cage instead of enjoying his free time. (I think that David Tiller was the one with the glove that kept trying to get BoBo to stay on his hand long enough to get him to Tommy's house - once again an elder spoils the fun)

Today we declared it clean-up day and you will be pleased to know that Pete and Bill Langley were kind enough to sweep and scrub the floor. Of course Pete couldn't keep from making a "joke" sign that told everyone to take off their shoes before entering and a PS that said to not put water bottles on the wooden table. The joke worked but not on others but on Pete because everyone took it seriously and you have never seen so many shoes between you and the door when you come home.

Roger Weimers, Randolph and Kennedy came by and spent several hours with us and we really enjoyed visiting with them and finding out about the work that they will be doing for the next three weeks.
Please keep them and the whole team in your prayers. We are all doing good and know that you have us in your hearts and prayers.

Keep reading the blogs - there is no way to cover it all and we are all trying to just put in a bit when we have power at the end of the day. By the way don't forget to keep praying for rain - we have only had one fairly good one and a light one another day.

In Him,
Faye

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The below blog was wriiten by Billie Jean

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Hello from Ghana

Hello Everyone. I hope everyone is doing well. We are so thankful for your prayers and concerns while we are away. Everything is going well here. The men have the baptistery well under way and hope to complete it before our departure. Michelle. Meredith and Cathy spent the day in the library organizing. Myself, Faye and Lori under the direction and supervison of Pete Sasser and Bill Langley cleaned our home. This trip has been a huge success.

 

 

 

 

I had a chance to go alone to one of the homes for a short devotional. It went well the children lead singing and when they sing the do it from the bottom of their hearts. Some songs I may never sing again without shedding a tear.

 

 

Our last VBS was yesterday.It went extremely well. But after traveling outside of the Village of Hope it made my view point on the Village here much more meaningful. The children here are happy for a reason. That reason is that they are taught the love of Jesus Christ.

 

 

Thank you again for all of your support and prayers. Please keep us in your prayers as we complete our last days and prepare to travel home in one week.

Thank you

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Quick Update

The power has been off and just came back on so I wanted to send a quick update before we begin work this morning.

Everyone is doing well. We had several feel a bit sick yesterday due to the heat but Tommy is very pleased with how much we have accomplished already by God's grace. The VBS finished up in a powerful way yesterday. We had well over 300 in attendance. The children loved their crayons, Bible story and candy. The preacher in the village was very happy and believes many will come this Sunday for worship. Emmanuel, the preacher, taught a class for the teens and adults and there was standing room only and many questions. Please pray for the people in the Village of Kweikrom and that many souls will be added to the kingdom. The poverty is extreme but the love for God is immense.

We will finish moving the teacher's lounge this morning before school begins then we will grab breakfast and head off to our duties. The Traverse City house is looking good. There is still more painting and scraping but should be done soon. We hope to pour the footing for the baptistery this morning. The digging for the footing and the trench for the drainage line is done. All the supplies were purchased yesterday so we should be rolling today. We hope to have this done before we leave.

We love you all very much and miss you. Thank you again for your prayers for us and the people of Ghana. Our lives will never be the same and we hope as we return to help share what God has taught each of us.

Because of the mighty cross,
Mark and the team