"It was, Ok."

I would sum up my week by saying, "It was, ya know...ok." It was not horrifying. It was not amazing. It was just ok. I think with all the ups and downs it averages out to an OK, and I am OK with that.Pastor Andrew celebrated his birthday and thankfully I had a zucchini cake in the freezer. So we used that to celebrate and it was inhaled by all. YAY! PA and Jemima had a baby boy last week.

I am thankful for my week. Thanks for praying!!!

A Visit to Tumu

Damary and I took a little trip to Tumu. It is in the Upper West Region. It is not a village, but it is not a big city either. We have a team of SIMers who live and serve there. One couple, Steve and Cydie, are from America, Charity is from Canada, and Penny is from UK  and on home assignment.Charity was a short termer from years ago and she has come back as a long termer. It is so nice to have her back. She is one of those amazing people that you think never does anything wrong and smiles thru everything. She does love Jesus with every piece of her heart and I love watching her with people. She and I, once we both finish language learning, will tag-team co-ordinate short termers.Yes, she is also learning language, though not Dagbani. She has to learn Galibagli, or something like that. There are 5 different dialects spoken around Tumu! EI!!! At least, all the people speak Dagbani here :) Something I need to be thankful for.While Charity was a short termer here, another gal came from Germany. Her name is Rebekka. She worked with youth and children for 9 months. She did a great job serving in Tumu...and the reason I went to Tumu this week...was because Rebsi (that's my name for her) came back for a visit with her husband!! I think it has been 7 years since she was here.Damary and I took trotro because we wanted to and it would be less exhausting and cheaper for us.

We left the next morning and thankfully Steve and Cyndie needed to go to Bolga so we got a free ride! But that road wasn't any better in a truck...my step counter on my phone thought I was walking because after 70 miles it said I had walked 9000 steps. That is a lot of bouncing around.Back in Tamale we welcomed back a team member who has been gone since April. Yvonne is from the UK and she is doing different ministries here in Tamale. Great gal, so nice to have her back.I have had a super productive weekend and I hope it will free me up for hard-core-serious-language-learning-no-interruptions-week. Well, we can dream, can't we?Love ya! Pray I would be bold in my speaking Dagbani this week!

Good Language, a Cow and a Team Meeting...Not All Together

Language was a good week. That is saying a lot. I met a young punk, ok, not punk, but a young guy. I usually stay away from young guys because they are irritating or want things or even marriage topics come up but now that I am a big 40 year old, I'm thinkin' I can handle it and I am too old for them. This guy actually is a language student. He is on break for the month. The first time I sat at his little shop about 25 kids came around and just stared. I was like, this is not going to work, and I left. The next time, the guy really helped me speak and gave me examples and told me to do things and then explain what I did. I was learning this week about prepositions and such-- on, under, on top, take, bring etc, etc. Pastor Andrew and Jemima used a pen, paper, book, phone and keys and would put the keys on the book. I would then have to say in Dagbani, "you put the keys on the book". We did all sorts of sentences like that. That really helps me to learn. I learn by doing. So, with this young guy, we did the same thing. He told me to put the sugar in the box and I did it and then had to tell him what I did. Later this week a friend left their bicycle at our house and our watchman was asking about it. He only speaks Dagbani. I was able to tell/ask him, "I should take the bicycle inside the house?" (I didn't know if he thought someone would jump over our wall and steal it or something.) He said, "it's ok." I walked into the house happy because I could say that! WooHoo!! It is still a roller coaster ride of learning. But I am thankful.The other night, a cow was tied to my electric pole which is about 20 feet from my window. It must have been sick because the thing moo-ed like you wouldn't believe. It was so loud! I thought it had a microphone...ok, not really. Every time I would be about sleeping it would moo. Ugh! I didn't sleep until 4:30am. Ridiculous. The next morning I was prepared to go and tie the thing somewhere else. Thankfully, some men came and lifted it into their pickup truck and drove off. I wish I took a video of them putting the cow in their truck bed.We had a Northern Team meeting at our house yesterday. Two families from Gushegu came and then Damary and I. We first had lunch and I know this is a paragraph about the meeting but let me say I cooked lunch and I did not do it very well. The meat was way over done, like a mealy meat. It was disappointing. Of course, they are all to gracious to not say anything. But when someone does asks, "What meat is this?" you know, this did not turn out well. How can I love food so much and not be a good cook??? Ok, back to the meeting... it was my turn to lead and we read through and discussed Colossians 3:1-15. Such beautiful, encouraging words. We each shared one of the qualities we would like to put on. Our team is very transparent and it is wonderful to trust such people and work alongside them. We had a time of prayer and then talked about upcoming events. Both families stayed over night. We sat around and talked. We shared experiences, good and bad. We played with their kids. Actually, everyone in the house, except me. is from NorthEast India. I laughed and said, "I'm surrounded by Indians!"It really was not an exciting/special sort of week but it was a good language consistent week with few interruptions. I am still praying for God to lead me into the ministry He has for me. I am still praying to understand people here and love them and, of course, I am still praying to speak this language!Love you. Thanks for praying!!

Taboos, Rules, and Customs

I have been learning about Dagbon culture, rules and taboos. I have learned a couple of dialogues to say to people about what I have learned. I tell them I have learned that men stay in rectangular houses/rooms and women stay in round ones. I say the jobs women have and the jobs the men have. I tell them a rule that says married men do not cook and women do not slap their husbands. When I say this, I tell them another sentence in Dagbani that says I cannot marry a Dagbon man because if my husband slaps me I will slap him back. They always laugh.As I have sat around with people, I have learned many more rules and taboos. I will not share all because they are many. Some are so interesting!--Children are not allowed to whistle at night. REASON- Thieves were known to whistle to a partner when they were about to attack a person.--You do not sweep your house at night. REASON- Maybe something sharp is in your rubbish pile and you do not see it and when you sweep it outside someone may step on it.--You do not put water on a hot pot so that the steam will rise. REASON- The spirits do not like it.--If children do not play in the dirt when they are small, they will have a short life.--If a child does not mingle with others, they are not a child. REASON- The importance of community.--You do not sing or talk while taking a shower. REASON- It will prevent you from choking if water gets in your mouth.--You do not talk while eating. There was a saying in Accra, “chop time, no friends”, meaning while eating you do not mind anyone, even your friends. REASON- It prevents choking.--When walking in the bush or in the forest-y places you do not call out someone’s name. REASON- You do not want the spirits to hear and call that person away.--Do not run into the house. REASON- There is usually a 2-4 inch wall or lip that you step over to go inside a house. If you are running, you can trip over it and fall.--If there is thunder and lightning, and you are in the bush walk off the path. REASON- The lightning will not follow you in the bush.--If there is thunder and lightning, cover all mirrors, silver cups, or silver items. REASON- The spirits use lightning to pass through things to people. Going back again to the taboo about women not slapping their husbands, I talked with a woman who told me that her husband slaps her when he gets angry. She went on to tell me other hurtful things he does. I did not know what to say, but what she told me is abuse. She shrugged her shoulders and the woman next to her just sat there as if we were talking about the weather. I…I have been rolling this around in my mind. I am so blessed to have been born in America, in a family where I was taught that I am equal to a man, where I am valued not because I can give birth but because I am a human being. Jesus loves this woman and all the women here that I sit with. I pray I can share the love that has been shown to me in Christ.Continue praying! Love you.

When in Rome...

Randomly, a few good language days pop in throughout the week. I always thank God for them! Tuesday was a good day. I met some new ladies. One lady, in Dagbani, asked me, "Who is God?". I repeated it back to her several times because I was unsure of what the real question was. In Dagbani, I was able to say Jesus is God and He died for your sins. She didn't say much back to that. I know in the news and such we hear a lot about the tensions between people of different faiths. In Ghana, it is not like that. People listen and nod and pretty much say, "well, isn't that nice".In my language class I have been learning more culture. For example, people don't sell salt after dark. If you want to buy salt at night you will not be able to find it because they believe the one who sells it at night will die. Children are not allowed to sing while showering. The reason is they don't want them to choke on the water while singing:). I also learned what life in a compound is like for men and women. The way of thinking is soooooo soooooo different here. I wonder if I will be able to speak thru it to share the gospel clearly.As I go round-round I see ladies with the sides of the feet dyed dark orange or red. I have asked about it several times. It is called zabala. It was adopted from the Hausa people over a hundred years ago. Women buy the dried green powder in the market, mix it with water to make a thick paste, and put it on their feet, and even hands. Then they let it dry. I guess, you could sort of, consider it a henna sort of dye. It shows they are getting married, going to a wedding, or are happy.

They think it is so beautiful. I just smile and nod. People ask me if I am getting married. I just say, "I am happy". They usually laugh. I have no idea how long this will stay on! Oh well...When in Rome...Love you. Thanks for praying.

The Program In Yong Village

And there goes another week! Ei!! Time goes sooo fast. I am running but can’t catch up.This week, we helped with a program in Yong village near Savelugu. They had a morning and afternoon session and an evening session starting on Thursday. Damary and I went with Pastor Fatawu and Pastor Andrew to Yong (that is the village where on New Year’s Day we danced and celebrated with the people). So fun. There is a Baptist church there and the pastors were invited to help with the 4 day program. It started on Thursday and went through Sunday morning. They really wanted to focus on Bible teaching because there are many Christians in that area (especially compared to Tamale) but they are not very mature.

This is our great God. There are some days where I do not want to stay in Ghana. This makes me never want to leave.Praise the Lord with meeee!!!

Ohhhh all the "to-dos"

I really thought I would be all deep in language and coming off my holiday in Accra I would be eager to do it! Hmmm…it did not quite go that way. It seems I did almost everything but language. What sorts of things did I do? Well, well, well, let me tell you…--We received our first electricity bill. We have been here for 7 months. You can imagine the big bill. I called our electrician to see if he could go and get it reduced because the rate we have would include the use of air conditioners etc, etc. (We don’t even have a TV.) He said he would come and do it for us. I did not want to do it myself because I was told if I show my foreign face they may even increase our flat rate! I waited for him to come the time he said…and of course, that never works out according to my American time. You know how people complain their refrigerator repair guy or internet repair guy never come when they say they will? Well, that is my life all.the.time. But, on a good note, I had some things that needed fixing so when he did come he was able to fix one of our fans and some electrical thing in my bathroom. Yay!--We have had some sketchy encounters with carpenters. One asked me for money when the landlord told me he already paid him. Another one insulted Damary in Dagbani not realizing her Dagbani language helper was able to translate all that he said. When I first came to Tamale I was introduced to a carpenter who “does a lot of work for white people”. I went to him with my ideas and drawings for shelves and a cabinet in my bathroom. (I have been using my travel bag hanging on my towel rack since last year July!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) This carpenter finished when he said he would, came over with a guy who drills and completed everything within a remarkable time. I was so thankful I had a list ready for him to get more things done like kitchen shelves, night stands for our guest rooms, and a futon.--Something I inherited from Auntie Ruby was a beanbag, except it didn’t have beans in it, it just was stuffed with cotton, but you know what I mean. I brought it to Tamale with me. I have never even used it myself. The cover was old and the cotton was so-not-cottony. Pastor Andrew told me the man who used to be his neighbor sells cotton! We went over to his house and sure enough, the man harvests cotton pods and fills up gunnysacks full of cotton. I tried explaining to them what I needed the beanbag chair thingy for and ended up just showing them pics on google. I know they were talking about me in Dagbani about how crazy Silimingas (foreigners) are. The next day Pastor called me and said the man stuffed my bag and I can come and pick it up. Then I went to an upholstery shop, found some sofa material, and took it to a tailor and he is going to cover it for me. He said it should be done on Tuesday.--Another thing I did was try a new seamstress. It seems seamstresses do a great job the first time but then it goes downhill from there. I was told that once they have your business they could pawn off your dress to their apprentices. Grrr… Yeah, finding a good seamstress is a big deal, especially for me since I am a cloth-aholic. Ghana has beautiful batik, tie and dye, and wax prints that are made with a light cotton. The colors are beautiful and I just cannot help myself sometimes. The problem comes when the seamstress ruins it (sigh). This seamstress did a great job, though it was a simple dress. Her price was a bit more expensive but if she does this well, I don’t mind paying. When I say expensive I mean $7.00 to make a dress for me :)--I had to get my annual car check up at the DVLA, equivalent would be DMV in the USA. I got an all clear.--Our microwave has been slowly dying so I took it to a repair shop along with some other things that needed fixing. The next day they were finished and Pastor was able to pick them up for me.--I had a skype call with a church.--A month ago my neighbor, who I just love, had a baby. I took some photos at their naming ceremony. I decided to print some out for her as a gift. She loved them and told me the photographer she hired did not do well. I am glad I could do this for her.--The light I have in my room is not so nice and the fan is under it so when they are both on it is hard to read or whatever because the rotation of the fan makes shadows. While I was in Burkina in February, I saw a lamp that was tall and the top was a calabash. A calabash is a gourd. They hollow it out and dry it and then they make a hole and paint it. Then they put a light bulb in it. It looked so cool. I finally bought a calabash and there are some iron welder boys down the road. I showed them the pics and they said they would be able to make a stand. Cool!!--The few days I did go out and do language people asked me if I traveled. They also told me I look bigger. It is a compliment to be fat…but of course, I don’t see it that way, not that I am fat, but Accra did add some weight to meeeee!! And I fried donuts when I came back to Tamale. And I wasn’t exercising. And people sent me chocolate that I HAD to eat from my birthday. So, all that to say, I needed to make a menu or list, go, and buy some good foods, healthy foods. I went to the market. Tamale does not have everything but sometimes you can really get lucky! They always have fruits and veggies and I am thankful for that.--When I was looking at upholstery for the big cotton cushion, I knew our 20 + year old dining room chair covers were about to tear from wearing out. I told Damary about the shop and we came back another day to pick out covers. Damary, then, stated she would like to recover them! One afternoon, we sat down and tore off the old ones and she glued and nailed the new ones on. They look great. I am so thankful. I have been wanting to do that for a long time.--The last time I came back from Accra, my friend Martha told me I was supposed to buy bread for her. When buses drive north they make stops and the stops before Tamale sell lots of bread. It is a nice gift people buy for family when they are coming to visit or coming home. When I called her and told her I was back in Tamale she asked if I bought her bread and laughed. I told her I will make some myself. Having a bread machine makes baking bread so easy! She was so surprised to have a hot loaf of bread.In terms of doing things and getting things accomplished, it was a fantastic week. In terms of language learning…it was a disappointment. Will try again next week! Be praying. Love you.

Back in Tamale

Had such an amazing 2 week holiday. I really did not know how much I needed it until I was in the midst of it. It was lovely to sleep in. It was lovely to try new restaurants. It was lovely to have family around. It was lovely to read books. It was lovely not to speak Dagbani :) Sometimes I think God is too good to me. Seriously, He provides, and loves, and goes over and above. I feel so precious in His sight. It really makes me want to give back whatever I am/and can.I returned back to Tamale. Everything seems the same. Gotta get back on track with things.I know some of my Dagbani has flown away but I hope it will come back. I need to get back on track with language. I need to walk to some different areas to find new people and make new friends. I need to get back into exercising. I need to get back into eating right. Speaking of eating, I made my mom's lasagna. I think I only made it once while in Ghana because there is so much cheese needed and cheese is sooo expensive. A few weeks ago a small boy was selling cheese for a very cheap price. He was a Fulani. Many Fulani are nomadic and unreached with the Gospel. They have many cows and milk them and sell the milk and the cheese they make with it. It didn't sound very legit when I first heard about this but I have since tried the milk and it is fine. I saw the cheese being fried and I got so excited because this would be so similar to fried cheese curds! And it is! I also googled it and in the USA I think it would be considered Farmers Cheese. Whatever it is called (here they call it Wagashi or something like that) this Wisconsin farm girl is T.H.R.I.L.L.E.D!!!!I also have had a hankerin' for donuts, so I made a few dozen of them. Damary and I ate so many. To keep us from being gluttons, I took some to church so they enjoyed too. Hopefully, I am getting all my food cravings out so I can go back to preparing healthier foods. I find it is easier in Tamale to cook healthy. Things are fresh and whole. I don't use so much sugar or need to fry things. It is another benefit to being up here!Pray I would jump back into language and love it...or at least find that what I have forgotten comes back fast.Love you all.

Holiday July 2017

A real vacation. Here they call it holiday. A time where I can not practice, speak or learn Dagbani and not feel guilty. (sigh) Beautiful. Though, I did leave my roomie in Tamale.

On Sunday (there's more???), I visited a church with a missionary I met a few years ago. It was different from the Good News Churches that I am used to. It was an Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Very nice, just way more formal than I am used to. After church we met up with a friend of his and went out for lunch. They had Fufu and I had Banku. Again, it is amazing how food keeps finding me :)That night I went Salsa dancing and met up with old friends. It was a great birthday weekend.AND ONE MORE THING!!!-- I know how can it get any better???!!! ( I feel like I sound like an infomercial ha ha ha) For my big birthday, my family has bought me a big present. They have given me a free plane ticket to come home at Christmas!!! Even as I think about it, I tear up! I just am overwhelmed at the idea of coming home to be with family at that time. Of course, I was told I need to pass level 2 language before I come!! Eiii!!! What motivation though!Anyways, such a fun time this weekend and past week! But I am so tired! My stomach is so heavy! My heart is so full!I have a few more days to chill before heading back to Tamale. I am so thankful for this holiday time. I didn't know how much I needed it until I got down here.Praising the Lord for restoring my soul... Love you! Thanks for praying. 

Always Something Going On

I had to kick it into high gear with language this week because I knew I would be traveling down to Accra to meet up with Auntie Ruby and go on HOLIDAY!!!As I walked to visit and talk with people, I think these sheep were checking up on me. It is as if they were making sure I was going to learn or something. With the rains being more consistent, and thus the weather being cooler I found people are staying inside until more the middle of the day. At one compound that I visited, I went inside and said, “Good Moooorning" (in Dagbani, of course) and no one responded. I walked in farther and inside a little hut, I saw 2 older ladies laying down watching television. To me, it was so funny. Traditional and Technological meet. I wished I could have gotten a photo of that.On Sunday, there were 8 white people in the small church of Good News Shalom. Usually there are 2 or 3 depending on where Damary and I fellowship. This was 8 people not including me and Damary! There was a team with an organization from the USA called Adventures In Mission(AIM) and they have a program called The World Race. It is a short-term mission trip that lasts 11 months, serving in 11 countries. They have different routes for different teams to travel. In each country they plug into a ministry that has already been set up and prepared for them. Well, almost. They were in a city called Sunyani, which is about 8 hours from Tamale, for 6 weeks and then were supposed to go to Burkina Faso but because of security reasons it was cancelled and they were asked to go to Tamale. Tamale, they knew no one and had nothing to do. They called it Ask The Lord (ATL). The Lord led them to Pastor Andrew and then they met us and Pastor introduced them to a couple other pastors and let’s just say, their week got filled up fast!Damary and I had them over for dinner on Sunday.  It was so fun having Americans at my table! There are little things, things I can’t even pick out but just know, that Americans do. We have many people stop and stay at our house and we love it, but there was something special about having my own culture with me. It was comfortable and homey. I don’t know how else to explain it. Damary made and Indian dish and I made an American dish. They were so thankful. They haven’t had much home cookin’ lately. We decided to show them where they can buy a cheeseburger and fries or a pizza on Wednesday. That was fun too. They were so excited. We went to Chuck’s, which has a really cool ambiance and good food. It was wonderful to sit around and talk and hear their stories. They have been in the program for 5 months. Some really good times and some really hard times. They will be heading on to Montenegro after Ghana.Monday was a holiday for Muslims. Their fasting finished. I was told it is almost like a Christmas for Muslims. They eat a lot, get new clothes and go around visiting people. They had been fasting for 30 days, called Ramadan. Damary and I stayed inside and did a much needed-to-be-completed job called painting. I have had the paint since November and finally we did it! We finished the spare bedroom.

Then, Thursday afternoon (June29) Pastor Andrew and Damary took me to the little airport and I flew down to Accra. I met Auntie Ruby (AR)!! She is a whole other blog. Love this lady and we know how to holiday together! First off, let me say I haven’t had a holiday since I have been back. It was so nice to read and take a nap on Friday. The key to all of this is I don’t feel guilty about it. I can nap all I want!! Woo-Hoo!On Saturday, with my colleague Vivian, we went to a cultural market where vendors sell their goods, made locally like cloth, soap, lotions, breads, beads, wooden art, jewelry, etc, etc. Such fun! I love Ghana things. They even had food there like bagels and sausages with no preservatives. I met up with my friend Ian, who volunteered in Ghana for many years and speaks Twi fluently. He said I borrowed him 50 Ghana cedis 8 years ago and never paid me back. So, he told me to pick something out. “UM… can you pick out something harder for me to do!??” I think I had something picked out in 5 minutes. It was a cloth make up bag or things to hold your toiletries. Wasn’t that nice?Full, full, full...a very full week. Always something going on in my life! One reason why I love being a missionary! Now for a week of rest, a very full week of rest.

Hair Today

I was lazy...was how it started. I didn't want to wash my hair. I don't know what was in my mind, obviously nothing about cleanliness. I made a new friend named Martha awhile back who owns a hair salon. I love when you go to a hair place and they wash your hair and in Ghana they do it 2 or 3 times. It is pure heaven to me. So, I thought, why not have Martha wash my hair? I went over to her place on Monday and told her. I was always saying she can do my hair but never figuring out a time. This was the time. So, then as she was washing, which was just over a bucket and her apprentices did it, she asked if I wanted to do any style. So, I said, let's go buy hair and you can put it into braids. She was excited and that made me excited.We went to town by yellow-yellow so that the air would dry my hair. Coming back I had that wind blown look to the extreme.

To be honest, I really don't like this style much on white people. I think our scalps are too white and it looks funny. It will only last me 10 days to 2 weeks because my hair is soft and the braids will slip off. But as I have been out and about doing language everyone has loved it. I have also used it to learn new words and get better at my past tense verbs. So, yay on all accounts!Thanks for praying!

Hospital Time

I hate hospitals. The way they smell. The way sickness makes a person not themselves. The unsure-ness, if you have no medical training, about what a doctor is saying.  I found out it is not only hospitals at home that I don't like but in Ghana too.My mom, auntie, and sister are nurses. I say good-for-you-you-are-amazing. As much as I love people I do not have much compassion (I know, and I am a missionary! Gasp!!) and don't want to clean up after people. I feel like growing up on a farm I had my share of poop and I really don't need to deal with any more. I also don't do needles very well. I cry. Even if I see other people get an injection, I cry. Weird.So, my lively, always gregarious, Pastor Andrew (PA), got sick on Friday. He called me and was barely able to tell me he was in the hospital. I tried calling him back but he didn't answer. I knew this couldn't be good. I called his brother Simon, who was with him, and got the information to which hospital they were at. It was a small, private clinic. I arrived around 10 am and saw a nurse giving him and injection and yep, I had to turn away! (Groan.) We sat outside while the nurse attended to him but I saw him curled up in a ball. I felt so bad. (OOO would that be compassion? :))

When the nurse left we went in. There were 2 other guys in the room not feeling well too. He was so not the guy I normally see. He could barely put a sentence together because the pain was so great. We prayed for him and let him rest. They put him on a drip and gave him pain medicine. He was very sleepy.His chart was a little notebook. I read that he had blood tests (he was negative for Malaria), complained of stomach pains, had a fever and was vomiting. They diagnosed him with Gastroenteritis. I was thankful because I had scary thoughts that he had Appendicitis or something wild and would need surgery.I stayed at the hospital until afternoon with Simone and another brother, Augustine. Augustine brought food for him. There are no cafeterias here. If you need food you better hope someone will you bring you some. He ate in the later afternoon. The pain was gone but of course he was still weak. He stayed over night just to be sure the pains wouldn't come back.One way people speak love to me is quality time. In Ghana spending time with people is very important. I don't know if it would be everyone's love language here but I know it shows people that you care. I always see people sitting together in the shade or walking together. Yes, I could have left and went to practice language. He was sleeping, he wouldn't have known. I could have just called. But how hard is it to sit and wait? Or pray? I really felt with all the things PA and Jemima do for me, staying was the best way I could show love to them.PA called me on Saturday and said he was being discharged. He told me that the other 2 guys in the room with him were Muslims and were so impressed that I stayed. They told PA how I prayed for him while he was sleeping. Maybe seeds were planted? Only God knows.One of the first things I learned in Ghana was that everything takes time. 11 (almost 12) years later, though this time is not necessarily about taking time, it is still about TIME.Love you. Thanks for praying!

A Wedding & A Funeral

I haven’t been to Accra since November. I went down with Doug and Heather who are missionaries a few hours north of me. It was so nice to be in a car and not driving by myself. We arrived in Accra on June 1 and was immediately swept up by the busy-busy of life in Accra. I also had mixed feelings. When we were getting into the city, I felt a sense of relief. I think the relief was because I knew Accra and I was comfortable here. I know the short cuts, I know the shops, I know where my friends are (I have friends here!). On the other hand, I knew I would be expected to visit and greet more than I had time for and I knew I would be stuck in traffic a lot.I came down to Accra for my friend Emmanuel’s wedding. He is a whole story in itself but in a nutshell… he and I have been friends for many years. He was a youth leader in the Accra Good News Churches and then became the Youth President. Since I worked with many of the leaders we were often together. I did not like him at first. His way of doing things really grated on me. I started praying that I would love him and God answered that. We became great friends. We still argued and fought a lot but at the end of the day there were no hard feelings.His wedding started only an hour late. I think that is pretty good for Ghana standards. It seemed long, well, because, it was J. One thing I love in Ghana is the revealing of the Bride. The pastor asks the Groom to unveil the Bride to make sure she is the right one. They don’t want to have a situation like Rachel and Leah in the book of Genesis J. So, the Groom sl.ow.ly, very sl.ow.ly. rolls up the veil. Sometimes he will even turn to his best man, who will then wipe the sweat off his palms and then continue to roll it up until he can see her face and drop the veil behind her. Some guys can really play it up and the crowd just hoots and hollers. I love it. After the wedding, they had the reception outside at another church. It was really nice. They served food, danced, took pics, cut the cake and did all the other things that we do in the West at our weddings. (They do have a traditional service but they performed that the weekend before.) It was so nice to see all my friends at this wedding! What a great way to catch up with everyone without having to go and greet them at their various places. Some of the youth I worked with are married and have kids.

All in all, a tiring but good week. I think I was expecting that. Gotta get back into my language brain! Thanks for praying. Love you.

Village Take 2 (& 3)

So, the first time out to Wunlanyili was not a success. But we went back the next week and we went this past week too. Every time it has gotten a little better.Imagine never moving farther than 10 miles away from your home. That is the life of some people in this village. Because they don't go very far their knowledge is very limited, their world view is very small. It must be so hard for them to try and understand Damary and I as we want to learn the language and culture. They hear things like foreigners are weak or they even have a cultural value of extreme hospitality that if a stranger comes let them relax and sit in a chair. They would not want us to go and fetch water because they thought we wouldn't be able to do it.  They don't want us to go out to the fields because we are weak. They would rather us just sit in plastic chairs with people around us. Yes, the people around us part is great but they just sit. They don't understand that we would love to see their daily activities and we would learn from that. So, sometimes it was hard finding someone to learn with. Also, women are so busy and that would be the most culturally appropriate thing for us, but alas, women were hard to find at first.Since no one wanted to take us to fetch water because "it is so far" (I am sure they thought we would collapse) Wil, the 19 year old who's room we are renting, took us with 2 kids. Oh-my-goodness!! It was far!! 30 minutes one way walking. This water is nothing to brag about either. It is so dirty. I saw Wil drink directly from the bucket when we got home. I saw women boiling it and straining it but for the most part...this is it. When I came back to Tamale I asked someone about it and they also are shocked by it but said, "did you see anyone sick?" I said, "no" and he said, "they are very strong people". Yeah, I guess so.

Bits and Pieces

Damary and I were in Wunlanyili last week for a couple of days and it was fine. We are going again this week for a night too. I will post photos after our next stay.So, in the meantime, random things go on here that you might be interested in knowing/seeing. We go to the center of Tamale where there are lots of street vendors and a food market. We park the car at a gas station and then walk around to do our shopping. Some days I really miss organized shops with air conditioning but some days I love my market shopping!Sometimes after we finish our food shopping we dig through the used clothes that people have hanging up or in piles on a sheet on the ground or on a wagon. The ones hanging up are more expensive. You have to bargain so the price could be from $1-$4 (I would never pay $4, just saying). The ones in piles can be from .30 -.75 cents. It is hot though to be digging and one day I tried on a pair of jeans. Ughhhh such a sweaty experience but when it is cheap, well, you deal with it. I know some of these clothes and shoes come from thrift stores in western countries because I can see tags on them :) funny.

Check out how much rain gathers on the ground in minutes. After the rain there is a brief cool period. Since we are technically not in the wet season yet, the cool leaves and it gets hot, a humid-hot. Not so nice but soon it will come where the cool will stay a bit longer and the humidity will be high but without the high temps. When I came in August last year that was almost every day...ahh, it was beautiful.One last bit. Again, I miss convenience. My glasses's nose piece fell off. I went to an Eye clinic to see if it could be fixed. Nope. "We don't have those kind". Ok, so I had an old pair of glasses and I decided to get the lenses of the new-ish frames into the old ones. I went to an eye clinic where they had a big billboard with all this information of all the services they can offer blah blah blah... They tell me they can do this and it will only cost me about $10. My glasses are pretty big and my old frames are small. The next day they call me and say it's finished. I had a friend pick them up for me and when I tried them on...TOTALLY COULD NOT SEE! It was as if someone smudged them really bad. So, I cleaned them and tried again. I couldn't read or anything. I looked closely and saw that there were tiny scratches all over the lenses. They totally ruined my lenses! (sigh) Ghana, ghana, ghana... The next day I called them and said this is really terrible and they were like are you sure? Uh... duh, yeah. When  I went again I just told them since the lenses are now spoiled just put the old lenses back into the old little frames. I know they couldn't find the lenses at first because I heard them call their lab but then they did. When I was there this time they let me come into the exam room. I was shocked to see such few things. They had an eye board with the big letters, you know like E... They had a wooden chair with a cushion ripped. The doctor (was he really a doctor??? I don't know) had a brief case of those little lenses they put in when they say, "do you like it better this way or this? A or B?". I was wondering how they do all the services they claimed to do. I was very thankful for the care I get in my home country. But what about people here? Again, I am assaulted at the poverty here and the plethera at home. I don't know what to do with these thoughts sometimes...Ok, I digress--so, then I come back another day and try my glasses on. Still not right. I didn't know what to do because I was already feeling pain from wearing my contact lenses too much in a day. But then, it must have been from God, I turned my frames upside down and switched eyes (lenses)...and I could see! They did not put the lenses back in correctly and my eye strength is different in each eye. I call them and tell them this is not correct and that I will bring them in for them to change it. They were like, "Are you sure? We cannot mix up lenses. We cannot." Well, buddy, ya did. When I gave it to them they were very like this-is-all-your-fault when really I was like dude-you-are-maybe-27-years-old so back off!  They did fix it and it was perfect and I know the guy was shocked. But, yeah, I don't think I will be going there again. When I told DooShik he said, "Oh, Sherri, I should have told you, in Tamale we don't go to eye doctors or dentists." Now I know. I did go on the internet and order a new pair of glasses. A bit big, but I can see!!! (Thanks again to Mom and Dad to send them out to meeeee!!)Love you! Thanks for praying!

Village Take 1

Damary and I arrived at Wunlanyili Wednesday afternoon to help us hear and speak Dagbani better by being immersed in the language and culture. It was hottt! The only person I know in this village is Pastor Isaac. I met his wife and church people too but I don’t really remember them. The room we are/were renting is a hut with several family huts around it.

Wil is 19 and it was his place we are using. He and his friends helped us unpack our things. We brought a fan with us that we just bought. It was still in the box so they started putting it together. They gave us a bench to sit on. Even with the fan blowing it was still hot. People were coming in a greeting us. At one point I counted 8 people just sort of staring at us. We could make small conversation. These boys just stayed there. It is very culturally inappropriate for boys/men to be in a woman’s room. Damary and I could not figure out what was going on. We knew they wanted to be hospitable and friendly but we were like, “dudes…get out”. We don’t know how to say that in Dagbani. So we just sat there, sweating, and trying to smile and mentally tell them to leave. We did say we wanted to rest. So, Wil pulls out a mat and lays down. Maybe I didn’t use the right pronoun. We asked to take a walk and see the village but they said it was too hot and we should wait. So we waited. I should really be a professional at waiting with all my years in Ghana. Should is the key word.Well, I guess it became cool enough to walk around and the boys took us. Weird. You would never find this happening in Ghanaian culture- single men walking around with single women. But they introduced us to lots of people and we greeted them. It seemed we would walk to a different tree or shelter and greet more people. We got back to our place and Damary told them we would like to unpack. They started moving our bags and she stops them—NO, I WILL DO IT. And then she adds such a sweet “thank you”. But still they stayed in. Like, they just moved around her. Ugh. Finally, she tells them she wants to change her clothes and points to her dress and they get it. They leave and sit outside the hut. We just sat there thinking what in the world do we do so they don’t come in? We sat and chatted for a bit. Damary is a great organizer so she fixed everything up. She is one of those people who can make a hut seem homey…ha ha.Ghanaians are very community orientated. Everything they do is together. They think we are small children and need to be watched over. It wasn’t because the boys wanted to be near us. No, it was more like we are taking care of you and will help you and being together is how we do it.Then we sat outside with the boys and Wil had an English primary school book. It had pictures like a tomato, dog, house, woman carrying a bowl etc, etc. He would point to it and say what it is and then tell us to repeat. Many of the words we know and we are not looking into learning words. We are interested in making words into sentences and having conversations. We are a bit past what he was trying to help us with. I think the problem was because we were using his room he must have thought he was supposed to teach us. His English was not very good so we could not explain this and got frustrated.It got to be night and they let us go into our room—alone! Pastor Isaac and his wife brought food for us.Delicious and way too much. We were trying to go easy on the food because they don’t have a toilet. They have a square wall up to your chest that serves as a place to take your bucket shower and pee but no place to do #2. To do that is called the bush :) and of course the moon was full. That means white people glow in the dark. THANKFULLY, Pastor told us the school down the road has latrines and we could use them to “free ourselves”.After eating and no more people came to greet us we took our bucket baths and went to bed. Since I had my bath first I started putting up the brand new insecticide covered mosquito net. When Damary finished her bath she helped me. Then we went to sleep.Sleep did not come. It was hot, even with the fan full blast. I found though, my arms were itchy. My face also felt hot. Damary commented too that her face felt like she touched chili peppers and touched her face. It was weird. Unfortunately, I didn’t sleep at all. I mean, not a minute. If I tried to sleep either I would be too hot or my arms would keep itching. I tried to not think about it but then it would turn into a stinging sensation. I don’t even know what else to say about it other than it was probably my worst night in Tamale (worst day?)Every hour I waited for it to be light and once it was I said to Damary we are leaving. She did not sleep well either. I walked to Pastor’s place and told him my body was hurting and my head was hurting and that I need to go home. Even though I had no marks or swelling on my arms or face I knew I was not making this up! I did feel like a wimp though as we drove home. But, before we left, I noticed some small red dots on my wrist. A man helping us pack up saw it and asked if we slept with a mosquito net. I said yes and he said that is what that is from. In the car I asked Damary to look at the package of the net. It said to air out the net 24 hours before use because of the chemicals in the insecticide. Ooooooooo!! That explains it. When I got home I googled it and people have had bad reactions to un-aired out mozzy nets. NOW I READ THIS! And there is no cure except to wait (again, I should have nailed this waiting thing a long time ago!! Grrr…) for it to go away. I googled cures or home remedies to help… this is where it gets funny.I came home and took a long shower hoping that would help. Then I tried Mary Kay night cream. Then I tried cooling gel for burns. Nothing. Then I tried milk but unfortunately the milk in our fridge was old and lumpy and I did not even smell it or look at it first and just started wiping it all over me…chunks and all! That was not helping and of course I needed another shower. I tried Aloe and baby powder too. No relief. I guess waiting is the only cure.I was able to sleep for about 45 minutes but woke up. I am at hour 30 of no sleep. I thought it was getting less itchy but it seems to have kicked in again. WHYYYYY!? I will take some antihistamines later and hope for the best.Ridiculous isn’t it?Love you for praying.P.S. We did tell Pastor that we will come back on Tuesday. That will be Village take 2 :)

Spiritual Life Conference 2017

Guess what I did??! UGH...such a computer dork. I saw that my website was getting full    (I am cheap, I only have a free version and the photos take up lots of space) so I deleted many pics not realizing that when I take them off of the photo gallery it takes them off of the blog. Sad, sad! Oh well...This past week our SIM Ghana team traveled from their various cities and ministries and headed to Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana. It is called the Garden City because it gets more rainfall and people can grow more food there.Every year we get together for our Spiritual Life Conference. Sometimes we don't see other team members in the year except for this. There were about 26-30 people who came. Some are on Home Assignment or whatever and were out of the country. We do it at a Catholic Retreat Center called Samaritan Villa. They provide meals, rooms that are adequate, a conference room and green grass!! It is off the road so very quiet. It is very simple and our team has really learned to love it.We all arrive on Monday and we leave Saturday morning. Damary and I got a ride with DooShik and GaeOk. It was soooo nice I didn't have to drive. And, anyways, I cannot remember the last time I drove from Tamale to Kumasi. Usually when I drive from Tamale I go to Accra and I take a short cut around Kumasi because the traffic is so bad. I don't know Kumasi at all but it is the Twi capital of Ghana so I loved being able to speak Twi!!!It took 6 hours from Tamale to Kumasi. I took a little nap in the beginning and when I opened my eyes I couldn't believe how green the scenery was! So Beautiful. We are just getting random rains so Tamale is still dry and brown. Then getting into the city I think I may have forgotten what traffic was like...but I was quickly reminded and again thankful that I didn't have to drive.

And then Saturday morning we all head back after a refreshing week.So, I am supposed to be refreshed for language learning right!!? Damary and I are planning to go to a village for a couple nights this week. Let's see how that goes (insert freak out face). Language Immersion Here I Come!Love you.  

Funeral

A pastor in a village called Gushegu died last month. He was an older man but people said you would never know it because he had so much energy and was always laughing. He was an honorable man who lived his life according to Jesus' teachings. I know I have seen him at different conferences but I don't remember talking to him. I wish I had. He sounds like he was a wonderful man.He died last month. Gushegu is 2 hours from Tamale. I was told the news and I asked if I could/should come along to the burial. Because Tamale is so hot bodies are buried on the day they die. I hopped in a truck with 3 pastors and off we went.There, of course, is always something to see on these roads.When we arrived they had already buried the man. So, we went to the site and then to the family house. When you come you go and "greet" the family members. You shake hands in a line. Many people had gathered to grieve with the family. One of the local pastors, who worked with the man who died, gave a message of Life in Christ and told the people that this man is not dead. He is alive and with his Savior! They also prayed for the widow.

No, not all funerals are like this. But this man's life touched a lot of people in and out of the church and community. I know many people donated to the family to help take care of the expenses. It was really a blessing to be a part of this, not only to see different cultural things but to be reminded that life here is short, it is a mist that fades away. Real life starts after death.I gotta tell people!  

Just a little Wunlanyili for perspective

I was all ready to whine to you and complain about my week.Then I went to a different village for church. My complaining seems so petty when I see things in this perspective. Village life is simple. But it is hot and it is hard work. But there is a strong sense of community and care for one another. The place is called Wunlanyili. It is about 15 km from Tamale…on really bad dirt roads. Hopefully I won’t have to go their during the rainy season because I don’t think a car could make it.People are not sleeping in the church, we are praying. I didn’t want to take a pic with everyone looking at me since I was sitting up front. I know the children would have made a commotion about it and disturbed the service.

We will see!Language is still progressing. I still am amazed at all the interruptions that happen. Like, my shower was clogged and I couldn't open the drain to clean it, my glasses broke and the eye clinic did not fix them correctly and ruined them, my car is getting fixed, it is still so hot, I am not sleeping well...blah, blah, blah...but there were good things this week too. Like, getting a couple new dresses back from the tailor (one being the green one I wore to church in the photos), finding chicken breasts in the shop, consistent electricity, time memorizing verses, and when I forget to pull something out of the freezer to eat, it quickly defrosts!Thanks for praying. Since I have been memorizing this week, God's Word really has the power to help me set my mind on things above, not on things on earth. He continually lifts my heart when I want to cry or quit. He fills my mind with promises and stillness. It has been incredible. Such a hard, yet satisfying week. I don't know how He does it. Following Him is...is...being full. I wonder when I will be able to explain that in Dagbani? :)Love you.

Easter

In case you didn't know we celebrate Easter over here in Ghana too. Kidding. Of course, you know that! But, I am sure, it is not celebrated like it is here. Ghanaians are totally celebratory people. They know how to party, maybe not be on time for the party, but party when they get there nonetheless :)In Tamale we joined with Good News Bible Church for their Easter Convention. It was 20 km away in a village called Nyankpala. It started Thursday evening and went until Sunday afternoon. It was held at a public school grounds (kids are on break). People slept in classrooms or if they knew someone in the village they stayed there. Damary and I came on Saturday and then we went home and came back on Sunday. Different pastors spoke and also my team leader DooShik.Yes, it was HOT. We sat under a canopy and I felt like an egg slowly frying.  But, everyone was hot and you just deal with it. It was encouraging to see people together listening to God's Word and singing and dancing and eating!Sunday brought on the real celebrating!

So, how much dancing and rejoicing did you do at church today?