The Babbling

Hello Again

2011-03-11T03:15:00.000-08:00

A wise man once told me that when blogging, one shouldn't apologize for long absences, but simply plow ahead with new posts--start fresh and continue forward.

I am ignoring that advice because I think it is too obvious that I have had a prolonged absence from blogging. I can't blink past nearly two years without a post...is that right...two years?!?!So here is my apology--if anyone is still following this, I'm sorry to have been gone so long. I hope from now on to be able to offer you fresh posts every time you journey over here.

In the time I have been away, I have done quite a lot. I got engaged:

I waded with my fiancé through the U.S. Visa process and we got married in Michigan (finally):

Max and I had a whirlwind tour of the States after the wedding:

(It was really bright in DC that day, thus the closed eyes)

We came back to Ghana then went back to the States for Christmas although we stayed in one place...I'm guessing that most people that follow my blog know all this, but just thought I would fill you in.

We're back in Ghana yet again, and continuing our lives as globe-trotting missionaries (ha, ha).

Thanks for reading,

Rachel

2009-05-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

March has been a full month—one of seeming constant activity as we prepared for and launched out into the long-awaited ministry to the elderly of Tema and the surrounding communities. Initially we had concerns about whether we would get a response.It seemed like the people we were coordinating with at the local Social Welfare office were impossible to pin down. But we were persistent, and when the day finally arrived, we were expecting to have close to 100 people come to our mission center, where we would offer food, fellowship, and haircuts. We were surprised to say the least, when over 200 people showed up, and that’s not counting the people we had to turn away because our buses were all full. I personally had a brief moment of panic when the Social Welfare officer called me about half an hour before the program was supposed to start to tell me about an extra hundred people who were ready and waiting to be picked up in locations we didn’t even know about! So then we had a new issue to consider of whether the food we prepared would be enough to feed twice as many people as we planned for.

But through the course of the day, everything we needed was provided for. From food to money for transportation, anytime we thought we were about to run out, there was enough to last till the end. I can’t tell you how happy I was to see our dining hall full of people from all over the area, enjoying the chance to socialize, and also to see the impact the event had on those that were volunteering to serve food, cut hair, or just sit and chat with someone. Our hope and plan is to hold this kind of event once a month to start and increase the frequency as we get more accustomed to the work. And after that I can’t wait to see the Mercy Ministries expand to other areas—prisons, hospitals…and everywhere else we can think of. 

On a personal note, I spent the afternoon with some friends at the beach recently, and was struck once again with awe at the majesty of a seemingly endless expanse of water stretching far as the eye can see. The phrase “Be still and know that I am God” takes on new meaning for me any time I start to really look at nature. I tend to want answers as soon as I’ve come up with the question, and lately I’ve had a lot of questions I’ve been asking God on various topics, but as I sat on the sand I found that all I could do was think about the goodness of God. Just think of it—there we were, unsure that we would get people to come, and at the end of the day, God not only brought people, He provided enough food to feed them! It was so encouraging to me to see God go so far beyond expectations. At the moment I’m at a loss for words…and I am waiting in eager expectation to see what God will do in my life next.
Rachel

"Looking Back..."

2009-01-17T10:30:00.000-08:00

Greetings all, hope you're doing well as you read this post. While I was home recently I was going through some old journals and notebooks and came across the journal that we kept as a team for the mission trip to the Dominican Republic in July of 2005. As I read through the entries from different team members, I came finally to the last entry and was surprised to realize that it was mine, I had long since forgotten writing it. But as I read, what I wrote then seems so relevant to the way I still feel today. So I want to share it with you…hope you enjoy :-)

Sunday, July 17, 2005
"…It's hard to know where to begin when reflecting back over the week, but as we fly over the green patchwork of the Dominican Republic I am struck by the view. Through the clouds I catch glimpses of fields leading into forested foothills which in turn lead into actual mountains. And over it all, above the ocean and hills and sea of clouds, the sun shines down, giving warmth and light, illuminating the dark places and stimulating growth and life. All this beauty (in addition to how we've spent the last week) draws my mind to God's abounding love and grace. Just like the sun light pouring down, God showers us with His love, even when the clouds seem to cover it, His love is always there. This week has been such an amazing time not only to show God's love to the people of the Dominican Republic, but also to receive His love and grace through the very people we came to serve. As a "seasoned" mission trip participant, I would half expect to be used to this by now, yet somehow I am always surprised and feel a sense of wonder at the way God works in and through people.
Through all the thoughts and feelings fighting for space on this page, one word keeps coming to mind: grace. The simplest definition I have heard of grace describes it simply as "getting something you don't deserve". Did we deserve to show and be shown God's love? Was there something we did that somehow earned us the wonderful experience we just had? No, of course not… 'For it is by grace you have been saved,' and as the worship song says, 'freely I've received, now freely to give.'
I know that in the future I will look back at this past week and remember many things. Some memories will fade, only to be brought back by looking at pictures, while others will require no photos to jog them. I think the images of the Project Child Orphanage will be burned into my mind for a very long time. No camera could capture the joy contained and shared in the smile of one boy in particular.
Well, by now I'm sure you get the picture…I've rambled on and waxed poetic long enough. I think the best I can say is: WOW! What an indescribable gift! In closing I leave you with a prayer/song that has been sung at countless family dinners and church services in my life:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen!"

"A Breath of Fresh Air"

2009-01-10T10:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, no sense trying to deny or make excuses...it's been way too long since I've updated. Sorry about that, but the good news is, I'm updating right this very minute! That's gotta be exciting!

The past five months have been pretty crazy busy for me. In September I started a three-month long course at the base here in Ghana. (That is I attended the course, not that I ran it) As those of you who read my last post know, around that time I was feeling some growing discontent with the status quo, and a real desire to be challenged and pushed to change. Well, that is exactly what I got in this course, three months of intensive challenge and growth. I'm not going to go into too much detail here for the sake of time and space, but it was an amazing time of re-evaluating, and then stretching, my comfort zones.

So, that course ended on December 6th, and Ghana held their elections on December 7th...and I flew back to the States on December 8th. My arrival in Michigan was followed quickly by a whirlwind of activity including speaking to the senior high Bible classes at my old high school only two days after I arrived. The flurry of activity continued right through the holidays and on till January 5th when I boarded a plane to come back to Ghana. (By the way, I discovered some time ago that it just isn't possible to see all the people you hope to see and do all that you hope to do during a one month visit home...there's just not enough time...unless you give up sleep that is)

But now that I'm back in Ghana, a different flurry of activity is getting ready to commence. There's a lot of work to do to catch up for the past few months when my attention has been focused elsewhere, but the thing I'm most excited about getting going on is the work with the elderly in Tema and Ashaiman. As some of you know, this is a project that we've been talking about getting off the ground for a long time now, but for a while there we weren't getting much in the way of help from the local Social Welfare office (a main source for finding those senior citizens who might need assistance). But the great news is that in the last month, the people at Social Welfare have started calling asking when we want to get started because they're all set and excited to see this ministry started! Really exciting news for me, and I can't wait to start, which will be next week with a trip to the Social Welfare office.

There are of course, many other projects going on right now, but in the interest of space and time, I'm going to cut this short now, and promise to write another post before the end of the month. By the way, thanks to everyone who was so encouraging to me while I was in Michigan, it was really great seeing everybody and I wish I had more hours in the day so I could have spent more time with everyone...
Love you all!
Rachel

"The Winter of my Discontent..."

2008-08-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

“We do not aim just to control behavior, but to change the inner castle of the soul, that God may be worshiped ‘in spirit and in truth’ and right behavior cease to be a performance.” Dallas Willard ~The Divine Conspiracy

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

Wow, the last month or so has seemed like a whirlwind. I can hardly believe that August is almost over and here I am writing yet another long overdue update. Actually, I have a confession to make…I started writing this about 2 weeks ago, and just haven’t been able to finish it…please forgive the delay. Although at home June, July and August are our summer months, here it is the time of the year that is cooler due to the rainy season, so I’ve been enjoying (sort of) the “winter”, although I wish I had some warmer clothes, and it makes me wonder how I’ll handle snow the next time I face it… So much has been happening lately here…in the last month we have had an ordination, a Speech and Prize-Giving Day (for a school of over 900 children), Discipleship Training School starting back up, trips to the orphanages, a training Seminar for teachers and parents at the school, a children’s day camp, about a hundred other little things, and birthdays galore (including mine a couple weeks ago, thanks to everyone who wished me well). Even a couple of weeks ago when things are “slower”, I found myself running around on a Monday to arrange a surprise for a friend’s birthday. At times I look at the calendar and I’m surprised to see how quickly time is passing, so that without even realizing it three months have passed since I was home last.

In the midst of all this activity, though, I’ve been learning so much about myself, others and God. I wish I could really explain all that I’ve been seeing and hearing and learning, but that would take so many pages, I’m afraid you would all fall asleep at your computer screens trying to get through it all. So instead let me focus on one thing that is becoming abundantly clear to me lately.

I am not content.

Probably you’re wondering now, “Does that mean she’s not happy? Is she coming back to the States? Is she going somewhere else?” I’m not talking about discontent with where I am or what I am doing, with the things I have or the people I know. What I mean to say is that I am not content to stay the same and not grow, not press on, not push deeper into the things of God. Lately I’ve really been feeling a growing discontent with the status quo of faith. I don’t want to simply say, “God’s grace has given me forgiveness of sins,” and go on sinning. I don’t want to say, “I’m doing okay, at least I’m not as bad as that guy. I’m not as ignorant of God as that person.” By no means do I want my life to simply be okay. I want my life to be extraordinary. I want to match up with what Paul says in Philippians 2, I want to be “blameless and pure, [a child] of God in a crooked and depraved generation, in which [I] shine like stars in the universe as [I] hold out the word of life…” I am no longer content to say, “I can’t preach, others do it better than I do, so I’ll just let them do it.” Who says I can’t preach? Who says I can’t teach God’s Word? I had an amazing experience the other day. I was invited to go speak at a children’s program in a town not too far from where our base is in Tema. One small problem—I thought it was going to be a week later than it turned out to be. So I got a call on Wednesday from the person coordinating the event asking me if I was all set for Saturday. I had a moment of complete mental panic where I thought, “I thought I would have another week to prepare, there’s no way I can be ready!” But for some reason, I said it wouldn’t be a problem. So Wednesday through Friday afternoon I was (somewhat frantically) trying to come up with some amazing talk that I could give that would really speak to the kids and the adults that were there. I came up with something, but as I was talking it over with a friend who had agreed to go with, she asked me whether it wasn’t a bit advanced for kids to grasp (which was actually exactly what I thought when I first came up with it). This was at about 9:30 pm on Friday. I went back to my room feeling so frustrated and looking at what I had prepared, trying to think of some way to adjust it. Finally I just kind of threw up my hands and asked God whether this was going to work at all. All of a sudden, I remembered a sketch we did on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic in 2005. It illustrated the parable of the lost sheep and the kids everywhere we went loved it. Then I remembered a kids’ song I learned from a friend on a trip to Mexico that sings about just wanting to be sheep, and the kids loved it. All of a sudden the ideas were flowing and I was at peace. So when it came time for me to speak the next day, I was more than ready, I was charged up! I was surprised at the emotion I felt as I talked, at the energy. As someone who has never really enjoyed public speaking, I loved this. And here’s the thing…it wasn’t me. It wasn’t me who came up with the ideas. It wasn’t me who picked what to talk about. Even the depth of feeling didn’t come from me, it came from God. And that’s the whole point…when I surrendered control and stopped trying to do it myself, God took over and used me. It is a truly humbling experience, but one that empowers at the same time.

The thing is that if I try to become more like Christ on my own power, I will fail. If I try to demonstrate the love of God to the world on my own strength, I will fail. If I try to become the woman that God created me to be on my own, I will fail. But if I give in to God, if I relinquish control, He changes me. He makes me more than I thought I could be. He takes me to places I never thought I could go. He shows me things I never thought I could see.

In a sermon I listened to recently, the Pastor said that success is contentment with what you have, while still reaching and pushing for your desires. This is actually what I am talking about. Although I am content with where God has placed me and what He has given me, I want so much to see the fulfillment of who God created me to be, to attain a measure of Christ-likeness in this life. One thing that I am so grateful for is the atmosphere in which God has placed me. Living in this community, I am surrounded by people who challenge me to grow, often without any conscious effort on their part. As I read God’s Word and look at their lives, I find myself encouraged to press on, to go deeper, and to ask myself “how am I doing in that area? How can I grow? What areas do I need to improve in? Where am I growing now? How have I changed from a year ago? Six months ago? A week ago?” Because definitely if I want to grow and change, I have to stop and take stock and make sure I’m growing right.

Having said all that let me close with one last scripture.

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining on toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14

"Happy 1st of July!"

2008-07-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

Based on the title you’re probably wondering whether I’ve forgotten national holidays in all my travels, or if maybe the hot sun has addled my brain just a little so now I subtract three from every date. Neither is true, so don’t worry…actually, as it turns out July 1^st is a national holiday for Ghana too—“Republic Day”. I haven’t gotten a clear report of what year Ghana became a republic, but apparently it happened on the first of July. Unfortunately, they don’t celebrate Republic Day the same way that we Americans celebrate our Independence Day, so I didn’t get to watch fireworks, light sparklers, watch a parade or eat massive amounts of potato salad, but I did get the day “off” and got to hang out on the base…which was nice.

The thought recently dawned on me that we’re actually halfway through 2008. This made me think about a couple things… First, my birthday is coming up pretty soon (JULY 23^RD), and second (perhaps a deeper thought…) half of another year is over—how has it gone? Remembering back to New Year’s Eve, sitting around at midnight, praying the new year in with my sister and a good friend while eating Christmas cookies sent from home. Okay, maybe the praying wasn’t simultaneous with the eating of the cookies—kinda hard to talk to God with your mouth full of coconut macaroon. Anyway, I was just thinking about how quickly time passes and how easy it is to miss it. Thinking about all the things I was praying and asking God for at the beginning of the year, how are those things going now? And I don’t mean “God please give me a husband” or “God I need money”—I mean more along the lines of ways I want to grow in Him this year, paths I’m hoping He’ll take me down, where He’s leading me. Have I been sticking to what I’ve asked Him to help me with? Am I holding up my end of the bargain? I think it’s really easy to go to God with requests and sit back and wait for a miraculous change to take place. But I think even though that’s easy to do, it’s really important to keep up with it myself. To constantly check myself to see where I’m progressing and where I’m falling behind. In Amos, there is a point where God shows Amos an image of a plumb line and a wall built true to plumb. God then tells Amos that Israel is no longer true to plumb and describes the judgment about to befall them. As someone who has worked laying blocks in Mexico I can appreciate this imagery. I know what will happen if you allow even one row to be unlevel… as you build up on unlevel blocks, the whole wall gets progressively worse and before you know it the wall is bowing out (or in) and you have to remove several rows of block that you’ve laid to be sure of the structural integrity. This is the kind of thing I mean…it’s very easy to just keep building and “eye-balling” whether you’re level or not. But if you’re off, it’s going to be a lot more work down the road to get yourself back in line than if you had been really checking and monitoring little by little as you work. It’s the same with life…what’s my plumb line (or level)? Am I checking myself against it? When I do check am I in line or do I need to go back and tear down all the ‘progress’ I thought I was making? Just something I've been thinking about lately.

In other news, it looks like we're finally getting the feeding program for the elderly off the ground, which is really exciting! Please pray for us as we really launch into this--it's an exciting time, but it also requires a lot of work and we really want this to bless the community.

Thanks for all your prayers and support,
Hope you had an awesome Independence Day!

Rachel

"When you're gone, colors seem to fade...or do they?"

2008-06-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

"And I'll take with me the memories, To be my sunshine after the rain, It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday." Boys 2 Men

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature " 2 Peter 1:3-4b

So I’m going to be one of those people who talks all about how great it is not to be around you. What? Are there really people like that? Okay, maybe that came out wrong. Let me start over.

I remember my High School graduation. One of my fellow classmates (there were only nine of us, mind you) got up to sing the Boys II Men song “It’s so hard to say goodbye”. It was very sweet and touching, until he started to give his speech after he sang. He started out by saying, “It’s really not hard to say goodbye, it’s time to go…” Now he was right of course, we couldn’t very well stay in high school forever and the time had come for us to leave. But, man, what a way to say it! Just to boldly proclaim “It’s easy to go!” That’s how I feel lately. In case you didn’t see me there or you didn’t know, I recently took a trip home for about a month before returning to Ghana. I have to say I was really excited to get there, and enjoyed my time a lot. I got to see friends and family (including a new niece and nephew!), got to visit churches, meet with my Pastor and other spiritual mentors and take some time to rest and recoup. But to be completely honest, I was probably more excited to get back to Ghana than I had been to go home in the first place. Now, before all my family and friends stop reading and cut me off for saying that I’d rather be here than there, I love you all and I would absolutely love to be around you all the time. I just think that would work out better for me if all of you packed up and came with me :-) Something that I’ve been coming to realize is that, having once tasted of the plans God has for you, nothing else is quite as satisfactory, no matter how wonderful it may be. I would probably have said before that I knew this, or something along those lines, but there are just some things that you don’t really know until you’ve experienced them firsthand. Of course, this doesn’t mean that everyone should move to the mission field because you’ll be so much happier than you ever were before. I think most people wouldn’t love it for long periods of time, not because they’re not cut out for it…it’s just that not everyone has the same purpose in life. That’s why God made some people to be missionaries and some people to be pastors and some to be businessmen and some to be…I don’t know, astrophysicists. My point is that I’m where I’m supposed to be right now and I love it.

So what is it I love exactly? Well, lately I’ve been keeping pretty busy. We’ve made several trips to the orphanages we work with since I’ve been back…taking them food and soccer balls and just going to hang out with the kids in general. One thing that has made this in some ways even more fun for me is my new camera… While I was home someone got me a new digital SLR camera and it is totally awesome! Point being: up till now we’ve usually gotten a photographer to come on these trips so that we can send pictures to supporters who sent money to buy food or whatever the case may be. However, with that method we ended up having to scan the printed pictures before we could email them at all. So with the cost of the photographer and the hassle of scanning, it was taking a lot of time and money to get pictures. That is no longer a problem thanks to me and my new Rebel xTi--with my handy digital SLR I am now, more or less, the official photographer for…whatever. So I get to go around snapping pictures of everything that’s going on, and let’s face it, every kid loves having their picture taken so it makes me even more popular than I was before. Plus the pictures come out amazing. (Can you tell how much I love my new camera?)

Aside from trips to the orphanages, I’ve also been working on the filing system for Fountainhead Christian School. Filing can be a mess, and if anyone wants to donate filing cabinets and hanging files we will welcome them with open arms :-) We’re really looking forward to a lot of work the rest of this year, with some ministries we really want to see get off the ground before 2009 starts. I think I’ve mentioned both of these before, but two of the ministries we’re looking at starting are a prison ministry and something along the lines of a soup kitchen. The prison ministry is one I’m especially looking forward to, having heard about the conditions of prisons here and the complete lack of even the most basic necessities like toilet paper and enough food to eat. The soup kitchen is also an exciting prospect, but will definitely start slowly. We want to reach out to the elderly in Tema who might not have family that can take care of them and so can’t really get enough to eat or enough social interaction for that matter. We’re looking at starting by hosting a meal once a week or so, providing haircuts and other needs, and eventually maybe doing the meal on a more frequent basis. One of the main things to figure out is where to have this take place. We definitely have room on the base here, but whether it’s too far out of the way/too much trouble for people to get here would be the question. On top of those, the next Discipleship Training School starts up in July. We’re praying for lots of students and for God’s provision for them for their school fees, so join with us in that!

I’ve really been blessed by something over the last couple of months. In the past couple of years I’ve managed to accumulate friends that have ended up flung far and wide across the globe. Not that long ago, the only possible international call I could have considered making would have been to Mexico. But all of a sudden, I find that I have friends in Singapore, Ukraine, Tanzania, Costa Rica, Holland, Iraq, South Africa, Switzerland, Romania, Nigeria, Israel, Sierra Leone and probably some other places that I’m leaving out (if you’re there please forgive me). Most of these people are in missions in some way, and I get reports from them as to how things are going. I cannot tell you how encouraging it is to hear what God is doing all around the world. I get to read about orphans in Ukraine, Iraqis showing interest in Christ, border guards along the Gaza Strip risking their lives to bring a sick child to a waiting medical team amidst falling bombs, Bengalis hearing the Good News in a foreign country and then going back to Bangladesh, and the list goes on and on. Our God is a wonderful, caring, compassionate God and I am blown away by His love for us.

One last note before I leave you…while I was home, I did not keep up the habit I had started here of jogging every day before dawn (the earliness was more to avoid the heat of the sun than any great ambition of mine). This was a very, very, very big mistake. Can I just say that if you have started exercising regularly (or any other disciplined activity for that matter) you should NEVER stop for a month at a time. It’s a lot harder to get going again once you’ve stopped and you often have to start back on a lower level than where you left off. That being said, I have started back up and am now just trying to get up earlier… seriously, by 6:40 the sun is up in almost full force and you get tired a lot quicker.

Grace and Peace to you all!

Rachel

An incomplete thought...

2008-02-14T19:01:00.000-08:00

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:9-11

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope that everyone who reads this (and those that don't too) has a great day and experiences a little bit more the love God has for you. I've been thinking a lot lately about the Kingdom of God...due in part to some sermons I downloaded, in part to a book I'm reading and also because it's just been on my mind (I'm guessing that's a good thing). Today, in honor of Valentine's Day, I've been thinking about the love aspect of that kingdom. Specifically, trying to think about how the world would be different if half of us who claim citizenship in the Kingdom of God truly operated in the Love that God pours out on us and should then be poured out onto others. The thought alone boggles the mind (I've always loved that expression by the way, but don't get enough chances to slip it into conversation). Just so no one thinks I'm going on some super-spiritual ego trip over here, I'm by no means claiming to be operating in the love of God myself. If I'm honest, then I think at best I really get to that place only rarely and for short periods of time, but I think God is starting to open my eyes to the possibilities...
--Everyday I walk past a small house where three little girls start jumping up and down at the sight of me saying "Obruni, Obruni!" ("white person, white person"). I've always waved and responded, "Obibini, etiseyn?" ("black person, how are you?"--not offensive as it might be in the States) and enjoyed the excited response, in English "I'm fine, thank you, and you?" (this cannot be truly appreciated in written form unless you've heard it from countless Ghanaian children with the exact same intonation). Lately, I've started crossing the road and shaking their hands across the gutter, and am thinking about the next step closer...
--Orphanage ministry here remains the best part of any day or week, except for the part when we leave...
--Looking at starting a ministry to prisons. This means bringing things like toilet paper and food to the inmates...a very different experience to be a prisoner here than in the States...

As the title of this post says, this is an incomplete thought, about to be less complete than I had planned because my time at the internet cafe is almost up...

God bless you all, I appreciate your prayers and concern (and letters and emails too!)
~Rachel

A day in the life...

2007-12-02T13:36:00.000-08:00

"Now to God, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen" Ephesians 3:20-21

It has been brought to my attention(many, many, many times) by none other than my dear mother, that I haven't updated in a looooong time. I wish I had some great excuse, but I have just gotten busy and suffer from that age-old illness of the dreaded "writer's block" at times. It has also been brought to my attention that there may be some (or many) at home who aren't clear on what it is that I do here besides work on my tan ;-) I would also like to apologize for that lack of clarity on my part. Don't have a lot of time today, so this post is going to be short, but I just want to give you a rundown of things I typically do on a daily or weekly basis.
-write letters/e-mails to supporters of YWAM Ghana
-type sermon/lecture notes
-edit papers/journal entries for School of Communication students (not part of my official job description, but still surprisingly fun)
-go to orphanages, bringing donations, taking pictures, getting swarmed by kids (I'm getting better at carrying multiple kids at a time)
-speak to Junior High kids at the Christian school run by YWAM Ghana
-occasionally give tours of the base
-take part in hospitality for the base
-get invited to and sometimes take part in children's ministries in the area

There's more that I do...and I'll try to elaborate more in the future, but as I said I don't have much time today and I'm trying to make my mom happy by updating :)

On a final note I would just like to send out belated Thanks to some people in honor of Thanksgiving:
To Mom, for being a driving force
To Dad, for encouraging me
To Matt, Sarah and Noelle, for being part of my life for the last 26, 22 and 20 years
To Kristy, for being my new sister
To Grandma V, for writing such wonderful letters
To Jesse W, for putting me on your blogroll, I'm very honored
To Lori, for being my second mom and missing more than just my cheesecakes :-)
To Ronni, for being my mentor (don't know if I ever told you how much I appreciate all our times over various meals, I love you!)
To Ash, for coming here to visit. Don't have words to respond to that
To Bonnie, because I love you and miss you
To all those who are supporting what God is using me to do here. God bless you so much for your generosity, I cannot express how much it means to me
To all those who are praying for me, as always, I am a frail human being and if I ever claim that I don't need your prayers, it only means I need them much more than before.
To anyone I have left out, I'm sorry, but please know that for me to be ableto say thanks to everyone would require a much longer blog and more time in the cafe than I have today. I love you all, and miss you, but I pray that in my absence God will bless you all beyond your expectations.

~Rachel~

The Isolation Tank

2007-10-14T08:10:00.000-07:00

“He loves Thee too little who loves anything together with Thee which he loves not for Thy sake.” St. Augustine

You may be wondering about the title…I’ll come back to that. Let me just start by saying that things are going very well here. Between work and friendships and washing clothes by hand, I keep pretty busy and have a lot of fun while I’m doing it. Sometimes though, difficulties come along even while times are good and the circumstances we find ourselves in can either push us closer to God or distract us from Him.

Question for you—is there such a thing as a forced fast? I’m not talking about someone depriving you of food or a situation like famine or poverty preventing you from eating. A fast is not only from food, and if you look at the purpose behind Christian fasting, you realize that there are many things other than food which should be fasted from. According to John Piper in A Hunger for God, “If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.” (Emphasis mine) Recently I started to see something going on in my own life that I feel relates to this question. For the past few weeks, I’ve felt in some ways isolated from certain people that I know. People who are normally very good about keeping in touch suddenly seem nowhere to be found. E-mails, phone calls and text messages go apparently unacknowledged and no response is sent. Usually, this situation would really get under my skin—why aren’t they replying? Can’t they at least let me know that they received the text/email/phone call? But this time around I started to wonder whether this was a great opportunity to rely on God more than I do on people for companionship, friendship, fellowship whatever you want to call it. I could see from my dependence on people responding to my messages that my soul has been stuffed—so to speak—with human relationships and communion, when I should be turning to God more. Just as I was beginning to consider this, I was praying with one of the school leaders on the YWAM base here, and he started to talk about times of isolation from family and friends, and how they’re times we can use for building our relationships with God. Needless to say, I was surprised, here I was just thinking about this and he was speaking my thoughts right out to me (although with more and better counsel to go along with them than I could have come up with), and I found myself once again wondering at God’s provision and guidance when we ask for it. So, back to the earlier question—is there such a thing as a forced fast? I think that sometimes we find ourselves in situations which can be amazing opportunities for us to learn and grow in our relationships with God, if only we’ll turn our attention away from what we lack and focus on Him. For me I can see that human relationship can be a huge distraction from my relationship with God. Unfortunately, I think most of the time, we’re not paying enough attention to see the dry times in our lies for what they are—chances to deepen our faith. We notice that people don’t respond to us in the same way they normally do, and instead of turning to God we rather push harder to get a response from our friends. We’re experiencing a dry spell financially, but instead of turning to God for his provision, we pick up extra hours to scrape together enough money. Time that we normally devote to other things suddenly becomes free, but instead of using that time for fellowship with God, we just look for something else to fill the minutes and hours.

I don’t want this to seem like a rant against the people who weren’t returning phone calls, etc. That is not my intention at all, I realize that life and circumstances prevent us from responding at times. But life and circumstances aside, if anything I should be thanking them for their role in one more lesson that God is teaching me. So if you haven’t been able to reply, Thank you! I appreciate it :)

At the same time, don’t feel like you shouldn’t talk/email/text me just because I’m trying to draw closer to God, I still want to hear from you too!

More later

~R~

P.S. I've added more pictures to my photobucket account, you can see them by following the link to the right.

"Here Comes the Sun..."

2007-10-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

Greetings once again in another long-awaited post to add to all my previous meandering babble. I hope that as you read this you are doing well and that you are getting some enjoyment out of what probably is for you a higher speed internet connection than I have access to : )

Continuing to enjoy my time here in Ghana—the sun, the rain, the work and the emotional ups and downs that come with life in general. Lately I’ve really been noticing how if we’re not careful, if the foundation of our faith isn’t firm, the things that life throws at us can tear away at our confidence in Christ little by little. How do we square up our faith in a loving, caring God with constant reminders of the pain that goes on all around us? I’m not going to go into a long discussion of the problems of pain in the world, deeper and better thinkers than me have done a very good job of that and if you want to read some of their works, I recommend Ravi Zacharias and C.S. Lewis for a start. I only bring this topic up because of recent events that I’ve been confronted with. For a couple of weeks now, it seems as if every other day I’ve been hearing bad news whether from home or from friends here. Friends experiencing real money problems, illnesses and deaths in people’s families have all come up more than a couple times. For me personally, the challenging thing of hearing these reports has been that my immediate reaction is to do something to help. When I find myself in a situation that prevents me from doing anything (such as bake cookies, because I think that even though they don’t solve the problem, chocolate chips are a great comfort), I usually get frustrated at my smallness. Recently however, I’ve discovered something incredibly liberating—the only thing that I can do is pray. Somehow, by truly realizing just how incapable I am, I’ve felt a weight lift off my shoulders. I think this is because at the same time that I know that I’m utterly powerless, I also know that my God is bigger than every situation and that by pouring out to Him all the cares and concerns I have, I’m freed from the thought that I have to fix this. I know that God is able and so long as I’m turning to Him and joining in with His plans, I can also be free from worry. This just throws into focus why Paul is so adamant when he writes “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

I went on some sight-seeing last week and saw a real contrast in the two places we visited. The first was Kakum National Park, and the second was Elmina Castle. At the park we went on a Canopy walk—rope bridges are strung high in the trees and you walk above the foliage in a small piece of rainforest that once covered a large part of West Africa. I was struck, as I usually am, by the beauty of God’s creation. The intricacy and creativity He employed when designing this world we live in never cease to amaze me. However, the second site was less awe-inspiring. Elmina Castle is one of many former slave castles that are scattered along the coast of West Africa from Sierra Leone to Nigeria and more. Seeing yet another example of the depths of cruelty man can sink to left me pretty much speechless. Even now, getting close to a week later, it’s hard to find words to respond. I worry about talking lightly about something that was so utterly wrong and destroyed so many lives and has probably been the single largest factor in the racial conflicts in the last 500 years, so I end up rather not saying anything. I think there are some topics that you just can’t talk about freely because of the pain associated with them. To me, the worst part of it all is that the Portuguese who built the castle originally came with the mindset to spread the Gospel of Christ, but over time the use for the castle changed to the “trade” of human beings. I hope that I’ll be able to write a better response to it at some point than I’m doing now, but I just wanted to get something down to start. If there’s one thing that that trip helped me to see more clearly the problems standing in the way of racial reconciliation today. I’m not saying that reconciliation can’t come, just that it is going to take the Grace of God (as in so many areas of life) to bring it about. Definitely a topic I encourage you to be praying into, and keeping your eyes open for the opportunities that God is giving you to join with Him in what He’s doing in that area.

I have some pictures of these sites, but they’re on someone else’s camera, so it may take a little bit before I can add them to this post. Don’t worry, I’ll get them up here, or at very least onto my Photobucket account (there’s a link to that on the right side of this page).

One last note before I close…I just want to say how thankful I am for the technology we have available to us in this world. I’ve been listening to some sermons from home that I was able to download from the internet, and it has been very encouraging and challenging. I really recommend them to you, the series I just finished listening to is called the Summer of Discovery done mostly by Jesse Wilson, head pastor at the Milan Vineyard (It’s a church, not a winery, don’t worry). It’s all about discovering what the Father is doing and joining in…really good stuff :-) You can download them yourself at the church website: go to www.milanvineyard.org then click on the link for sermons on the left hand side of the page. (Jesse if you’re reading this I really enjoyed the sermon from September 9^th and I look forward to hearing more of that series! Also, I hope it’s okay that I just did a plug for the church on here…)

God Bless!

~R~

P.S.—wish I had some great, deep explanation behind the title today, but really it was just the song that I had playing when I started typing, and it felt like a good tag on the post.

African Rain…

2007-09-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

So I’ve been here for nearly a month now, and so far everything is going well. I have settled into my room and back into the rhythm of life here. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been really getting into the work there is for me here. My official role is “personal assistant” to Faithful and Mary Biney—the directors of YWAM Ghana. This means I do a lot of letter writing and sending e-mails and various other computer work, which if you would have asked me not too long ago whether I would want to do that, I would have responded with a resounding “no”. But the amazing thing that I’m really coming to realize is that when you go where God has sent you, the more you throw yourself wholeheartedly into the work He has sent you to do, the more you enjoy it, and the more passion you begin to have for that. Of course, along with office work, there are other things I’m doing, just the other day we got to visit the “Save Them Young” orphanage. We took vitamins to the kids, checked the progress on the building of a kitchen for the orphanage and got to spend a little bit of time just hanging out with the kids. I really loved it, but as with all my other experiences in orphanages, the biggest problem is that I don’t want to leave when it’s time to go, but would much rather just stay and hug all the kids and love them. I’m hoping that as time goes on I’ll be able to spend more time there. Here are a couple of pictures from that trip:

This boy on the left came up to me as soon as we got there and held out his arms to be picked up (I of course obliged), the girl in the other picture held my hand the whole time I was around. You can see why it would be hard to leave, they’re just so precious, if anyone in the world needs to feel the love of God it’s these little ones who have been left alone whether by choice or circumstance. But I think that when faced with injustice and sadness in the world around us, ultimately people have three basic responses: 1—they find the problem to be something that is either out of their control or none of their concern and so they do nothing; 2—they find the problem to be so overwhelming and see it as so large that they can’t possibly do anything that will really help or don’t know where to start and so they do nothing; or 3—they see the problem and respond in any way they can, no matter how “small” the amount of help they can give may be. It seems to me that too often people fall into the second group which to me is the saddest group to be in. You want to help in some way, but you’ve convinced yourself that whatever you give can’t solve the problem so it’s better not to do anything at all. But that is not the life of love that Christ has called us to. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” (Mark 12:30-31a NIV) He didn’t say that we should only love our neighbors if we have enough money to solve all the problems they have, or that we should only love them if we can heal them. He simply said to love them. Furthermore, Jesus teaches that whatever we have done for the “least of these” we have done to him. So if all we can do is take the time to hug a child or talk with someone at a soup kitchen, then that is also a service unto God. I think that we need to be careful, however, that we do not simply do these things because it is a service to God, but we need to look into our hearts as we’re doing them. We need to check our motives, is this simply something I am doing because I was told to do it? Do I really care about the people or is this only to make myself look good? Ultimately, the entire message we are given by God can be summed up in one word: Love. We are to Love God and Love others. Unless that is what is pushing us on, all of our pursuits will be meaningless no matter how “good” they seem on the surface. Paul illustrates this truth when he says that “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all the mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV) Now I don’t want you to misunderstand me, I am not saying that everyone should pack up, move to an orphanage and just love the kids there, that’s simply not realistic and it wouldn’t be productive. Even the apostles were not all in ministry to the same people. We’re not all called to show God’s love in the exact same way, but we are all called to show His love. So if you can do nothing else or you don’t have a clue where to start, then I think the best place to start is with prayer. You can pray into situations that you hear about, but have no control over. I feel certain that if you are praying and asking God for opportunities to show love to others, He will not only give you the opportunity, but He will give you more of His heart and more of His love for those He’s sending you to. I could give many examples of how often God does this for His followers, but since this entry is already longer than I intended, I’ll give only one. A dear friend of mine recently moved into a new community and, in what I think was an unexpected side effect of her new job, was given the chance to interact with a certain group of people who are generally looked down upon in American society. In a recent email she told me how the more she was able to spend time with them and simply care about them, the more she realized how much she loved them. The God we serve is more loving than we can think or imagine, and we need simply to ask and He will pour into us His love for those around us.

I’ve also been given the opportunity to speak to some of the students at Fountainhead Christian School, the first (perhaps of many) time will come this Friday—speaking of which, I would appreciate prayer support in selection of topic and the usual hurdle to be covered of me speaking clearly so that my accent doesn’t get in the way of the message. As always, it is only by grace that we can do anything :-)

As you probably noticed, I titled this entry “African Rain”. Right now Ghana is in the tail end of its rainy season. For those of you that know me well, you know that one of my favorite things is a good rain storm, and I’ve certainly enjoyed hearing the rain fall here. However, there are some negative effects from so much rain all at once. In the northern regions of Ghana (Northern Region, Upper East Region and Upper West Region) there has been some pretty intense flooding that has resulted in the destruction of crops, lands, property and loss of human life. Now on top of the damage and pain that has already come from this kind of flooding, there is fear of a Cholera outbreak in the affected areas (not only northern Ghana, but also in Burkina Faso, Niger, and some other countries where the rains have lead to severe flooding). Please pray for those who live in these areas, as the situation has continued to worsen almost daily.

One final note in closing…I was able to go last weekend with the current DTS on their “fun time”—a day of recreation and just having fun with each other. We went to the beach and it was my first time to really go to the ocean here, although I’ve ridden past it in the car many times. Even though it was very rocky, and the jean capris I wore were probably not the best for wading, I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to walk in the water. I’ve officially stepped in both sides of the Atlantic Ocean now :-)

Amsterdam in five hours or less...

2007-09-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

Amsterdam in five hours or less…
Well, I am on my way to Ghana, haven’t arrived yet, but have already had a mini-adventure. As some of you know I had a five-hour layover in Amsterdam before flying on to Ghana. I was informed by friends that it doesn’t count as “being in” a country unless you actually go somewhere and do something. I had no intention of leaving the terminal, let alone the airport as we began our descent into Schiphol International Airport, but then I found out that this airport had baggage lockers, and a train station in it, and was only a 15-min trip from Central Amsterdam. So, for the first time in my life, I decided to ditch my paranoia about leaving during layovers, and set foot on European soil (also a first for me). I have to say that I loved my 2+ hours that I spent walking around the city. Granted you can’t see that much in such a small amount of time, and the prices were too high to be able to eat most of the places I passed. But I was able to see the canals and old buildings and fun stuff of that nature. I also saw more bicycles than I have ever seen in my life…I really think that if you took the sum total of all bikes I had seen in the past 26 years, that number would pale in comparison to the plethora, the multitude, the whole big mess of bikes I saw today. I had no idea that the Dutch loved the bicycle so much…but now I know and knowing is half the battle. One other thing I did during my time out on the town was to pay an exorbitant amount (18 Euros!) to buy a pass on the Canal Bus system. I almost didn’t do this (because that’s entirely too much for me to be spending on this trip for as little use as I was going to get out of it), but in the end it came down to me REALLY wanting to see Anne Frank’s House (Anne Frank Huis). I’m glad I did, because let’s face it who knows if/when I’ll come through Amsterdam again? I didn’t go in because the line was reeeeeallly long, it even wrapped around the corner, and as I said before I was in a bit of a time crunch.
I think the thing that surprises me the most about this little excursion is the fact that, if the same situation had occurred a year ago, I don’t think that I ever would have made the decision to go out and have a look around. Unless there was someone else with me any fleeting thought of leaving would have been quickly squashed by my practical side—that would be the side of me that sees pretty much every single possible negative outcome, and decides that the risks far outweigh the benefits of deviation from the plan. In fact if I had been with a friend and they had suggested going out, I probably would have been the “Voice of reason” and once again would have given in to timidity and not taken the risk.
So the next question I have to ask myself is where does this confidence come from? Sure I didn’t have much to fear with language barriers due to the fact that almost everyone in the Netherlands speaks English, but still I don’t think that is necessarily what would have made me nervous in the first place. Again I think that it is very much a question of confidence. Ultimately I think it comes down to knowing where I fit in the world around me, to having a knowledge of what God has placed in me and is preparing me for. During my DTS one verse seemed to stand out to me. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.” The truth is that timidity doesn’t fit into the plans God has for our lives. God intends for us to be bold, to have confidence in the abilities that He has placed within us. How can we be worried and timid when we know that before He created the foundations of the Earth, he had plans for us? I think that far too often we fail to grasp just how much God cares for us, which leads so many of us to believe that maybe He cares for creation as a whole, but would He ever take a moment to make real plans, and furthermore to instill in us what we need to see those plans come to pass?
I don’t think that it is coincidental that during the commissioning at Westminster Presbyterian Church on Sunday (the very day I left), the beginning verses of the book of Jeremiah came up.
“The word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’ ‘Ah, Sovereign Lord,’ I said, ‘I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.’ But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a child.” You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you and will rescue you,’ declares the Lord.” ~Jeremiah 1:4-7~
If God is for us, who can be against us? I find that simply knowing the truth—that God cares for me personally—has gone very far in changing the way that I view not only myself, but the world around me as well.

~Rachel~
p.s. sorry this is over a week old...sometimes internet connections fluctuate here. will try to get something new up soon :)

"That OLD"

2007-07-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

"It is so comic to hear oneself called old, even at ninety I suppose!"~Alice James

"People like you and I, though mortal of course like everyone else, do not grow old no matter how long we live...[We] never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born" ~Albert Einstein

Well, one more year officially under my belt. When I was in Mexico this year, an adult in one of the groups heard that I would be turning...dare I say it?...26 years old. Her response was along the lines of "She doesn't look that old!" Now, I think I can justifiably have two responses to this statement. #1-'Thanks, glad to look younger than I am' :) and #2- 'Is 26 old? Since when?' Having said that, I want to add that I don't feel old, except for when my joints start aching and I realize just how old my niece and nephew are :) My goal is now simply to live up to "another year older, another year wiser" rather than the alternative.

As you have probably guessed, I returned from Ghana at the beginning of June. The last month and a half has just been a whirlwind of activity. Two short weeks after arriving from Ghana I flew down to Mexico to spend two weeks volunteering with Faith Ministry (Ministereo de Fe), building houses. following that I was at home for a little over a week and then took part in the Westminster Presbyterian mission trip to Detroit. Now I am firmly entrenched with no plans for future travel for the time being--for the next 20-something days anyway--and have taken up employment at a hotel here in Ann Arbor working in the laundry to put a little bit of money in my pocket.

I assume that the many astute readers out there will have noticed that I imply that I will be traveling beyond the 20-something day range...this is not only an implication, it is fact. I think I have mentioned in earlier posts that there was a possibility of my plans changing and that I might be returning to Ghana. Well, my plans did in fact change and I will be returning to Ghana on August 26th for an indefinite period of time... This time I will be on staff with YWAM Ghana getting to take part in a few different ministry opportunities. There will potentially be: a soup kitchen, weekly visits to a school to do evangelism type puppet shows and the like, computer work a couple of times a week in the office (apparently I have mad skills on the computer), helping to arrange apprenticeships for single mothers, and working with orphanages. I'm really excited about all these different areas, but the one that I'm most looking forward to is the work with orphanages. Over the past year I think God has really been opening my eyes to the needs of those in our world who are least able to protect, defend and fight for themselves--children. I think that God is preparing me for some sort of ministry to children, and my hope is that whatever areas God takes me to I'll be able to convey his love to those around me.

While I don't have a definite end date in sight for my service in Ghana, I do know that I will be coming home mid-April of 2008 for a short visit. I am still seeking God's guidance and direction for the next step after Ghana, but right now I'm trying to focus on balancing between making plans and leaving things in God's hands and just learning to be ready when He tells me to move.

As always I appreciate your prayers and support. This final month home is going to be a very busy one for me, between working and raising financial support and trying to fit in as much time with family and friends as possible, I'll barely have time to think, but by the grace of God, I can do all things!

Grace and Peace to you!
~R~

2007-05-19T14:30:00.001-07:00

Hello all, here is an update from Rachel's mom again. Rachel is approaching graduation in just a few days. For the last couple months she has been at Akuse, Ghana. I tried to look this up on Google Earth, but the resolution is not the best. Her daily activity has included the early wake up call, much time spent in prayer, praise and worship and work duties. This phase of the program has involved outreach. This includes direct outreach and evangelism, street evangelism, coordination of programs at the church where Rachel is staying including teaching services and prayer meetings for those they have invited in the external evangelism. The attitude in Ghana has been quite different then would be expected doing these types of activities in the US. People do not automatically react with suspicion. Rather they will engage in conversation and are attacted to the street evangelism activities. Rachel provides a unique draw. The children in particular are interested in the seeing a white person. The conditions are relatively primative, without the modern plumbing we appreciate and also without regular electricity. It is obvious when talking to Rachel that these things are inconsequential relative to the spiritual growth she has gained.

Rachel returns to the US on June 2. I know that she would like to return to Ghana relatively soon. She will be spending two weeks in Mexico from mid-June to early July, so that she can keep her Spanish in shape and visit friends in that part of the world. Hopefully we will be able to schedule a time when she can share her experiences with you all.

Carol

Photos

2007-04-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

This post is from Rachel's mom. Rachel sent home some photos. The children are from a YWAM sponsored school on the 50th anniversary of Ghana's independence. That is Rachel's room. The people in the picture are Helen and Haruna. Helen was a former staff member with YWAM, Haruna is a current staff member. The group photo is of Rachel's classmates when they were on an outing to visit a Mercy Ship. And the last is Rachel, dressed up for a wedding in traditional dress.

The end of phase one...

2007-03-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

So I know that I've been really bad at keeping this up to date and I wish I could promise that I will do better in the next two months, but the truth is that soon we will be heading out to the outreach phase and the odds of finding an internet cafe just down the street are slim to none...but who knows...God can provide anything we need :)
As I keep saying we've really been learning alot in the classroom. Over the past few weeks we've been enjoying the teachings of a couple from England. They are in their 60's and have taught on a variety of topics, from the Sermon on the Mount to the Tabernacle to Knowing God. As you may imagine, with them coming from England and with me coming from the U.S. they have teased me not a little about my "american-ness"--spelling differences, foods, the War for Independence--especially since I sit right in the front. But I'm mostly just thankful that I can understand them perfectly clearly (some of the African students have not had it so easy).
So you are probably wondering what the outreach phase involves, so I will try to sum up. The basic goal is to preach the gospel. We split into two teams that will be going to two different locations and using various methods to convey the message that Christ taught to those we meet. In the villages (think rustic--maybe drawing water from river/lake possibly), we will do dramas, door-to-door evangelism, mercy ministry, children's ministry, pretty much anything you can think of... It's really exciting to think of being able to put into practice all that we've been learning over the past three months. At the same time however, it's somewhat bittersweet bcause it means that of the 25 other students that I've grown close to in my time here, I will have to say goodbye to 13 of them for two months, since we won't be near enough to visit during that time.
We had sad news this past weekend, one of the students went home to Benin over the weekend and while he was there, his father passed away. The father was a strong Christian, so that is comforting, but of course the separation is difficult. Please be in prayer for Franck and his family.
Well, time is almost up, please keep praying for us as we prepare to head out into the practical portion of our training. God Bless YOU!
~Rachel~

The end of February...

2007-02-24T09:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I know I haven't been doing the best job of keeping this up to date, but I hope that the little I've posted has been enough to keep you coming back--although if you're reading this, then that's a pretty good indication that you are indeed coming back...
As I seem to keep writing in e-mails and letters home, I don't even know where to start in describing all that I'm learning here about God and how much I'm growing closer to Him. I think that first I should clear up some confusion--I am attending this school, not teaching. It is a training program so to speak--and the field of training is in Discipleship with Christ. Because of this, we have many requirements on our time--tasks to complete, books to read, being time concious is highly stressed. But I think the two most important aspects of the school are the lectures and the prayer time. We're assigned no less than two hours a day when we should be in prayer-our quiet time in the morning and our prayer walk in the evening. I'm learning alot from the lectures, but the time spent in prayer is so valuable to me, because if I don't have conversation with God, then how can I say that I have a relationship with Him? And I'm seeing Him respond to my prayers--for example at the beginning of February I asked God to teach me some various things this month...and we have covered almost all those topics in the lectures!

In addition to just what's going on within the school, I'm really getting to experience Ghanaian culture...in the past three weeks I've been to both a wedding and a funeral. The ceremonies of both were not terribly different than what you might see in the States--some minor differences, but essentially the same formula. Bear in mind, however, that I am in a large city (700,000+/-) and the services were both with people in the Church--due to this they have been highly influenced by the western way of doing things. As I said there were some differences, more dancing in the wedding, but that's normal in Sunday service, so it's not surprising to see in the wedding. And after the funeral, at the reception, I got to see some tribal dancing. It seems to me that once the burial has taken place, they are not as somber as we are in the States--especially if the person who died is older, they use it as a time of rejoicing...

Please continue to pray for God's direction as I look at the future, as many of you know, before coming here I had some things planned out for the next year, but now I see that God may be leading me elsewhere...

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Prov. 19:21

God Bless you!
~Rachel~

The Obruni

2007-01-20T10:05:00.000-08:00

No, that's not a name for a tribe here, that's the word for "white person". Classes have started in full force this week, and we had the wife of the director of YWAM Ghana for our speaker. She spokke on a few different topics- prayer, integrity and inferiority complexes. It was a very worthwhile time for me especially.
I had another adventure in the market today, trying to find a gift for a baby shower, let's just say that gift shopping here is very different than at home where you look up the registry and go get the items off the shelves.
I also got to try what seems to be the national food today-- fufu (spelling?)--no utensils need apply, just make sure that you only use your right hand, especially since it's eaten out of one big bowl.
I only have a couple minutes, so I can't sa alot, but I'll try to write again on Wednesday...
Blessings!
~Rachel

Akwaaba!

2007-01-10T07:55:00.000-08:00

Akwaaba! Welcome to Ghana!
I arrived safe and sound in Accra on Saturday night (here, around 4pm at home). The flights to and from London were uneventful for the most part. In Heathrow I saw Keanu Reeves! He is a scruffy-looking man in person :-)
On the plane to Accra I sat next to a man from Finland who informed me about his country throughout the flight, and he also let me know that Finnish people and Russians do not get along and that is why so many young Finns like American culture.

The program is just getting started and we are in our orientation week right now. There are supposed to be around 30 students total, although not all of them have arrived yet. The students are mostly from West Africa (Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana so far), although my roommate is from Switzerland (the french part) and so far the only other white person in the school. The days consist of waking up around 6:15 (1:15am EST!) and doing work duty, followed by breakfast and then orientation meetings, lunch, more orientation, rest, dinner, study time, free time and then sleep. This schedule is pretty loose right now and will get harder next week and I'll give more of an idea of a typical day later.

The conditions are pretty good, electricity (usually), running water (sometimes)-- all the comforts of home ;-) I will say that it is very hot, especially at night, which is taking some getting used to, or maybe it's all the mosquito netting that is different. They tell me that right now we are in the middle of the "Hamattan"--a season when it is very dry, and not too hot.

We went to church in a local church this Sunday and it was very different than church at home, louder and more energetic! We sang alot and people danced and it was really cool to get to experience something different than the way we do things at home.

Monday afternoon we went to the market to get a couple of things that we needed...Quite the experience. I got a SIM card that I thought I needed for my phone for only 65,000 Cedis (about $7). I felt very funny carrying around a huge wad of bills when I hadn't changed that much money!

Things are going well over all, although there are some things that will take some getting used to.
I appreciate all your prayers and support--please pray that I will get over homesickness, I'm already struggling with it and have only been here 5 days!

More later!
~Rachel

A little bit about Ghana...

2006-11-30T13:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I am only about 35 days away from departing for Ghana and more than a little bit nervous, to be completely honest. I've really got a strange jumble of emotions going on at the moment... I'm excited, but I'm worried and about a hundred other things all at once. But in the mean time, I'd like to let you know a little bit about Ghana itself.

Ghana (The Republic of Ghana, formerly The Gold Coast) is located in West Africa, and shares borders with Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The capital city is Accra and the total population in 2005 was 21,029,853. The majority of the population survives mainly on subsistence agriculture (60% of the work force accounting for 40% of the GDP). The main exports are gold, timber and cacao (used to make chocolate!) Due to a wealth of natural resources Ghana has twice the per capita output of many poorer West African countries. Although, they have a higher per capita GDP than other countries nearby, it is still only $2,643 per year, placing it at 127th in the world's economy. (The United States has an average per capita GDP of $41,600)

The official language of Ghana is English, and while there are only nine Government-sponsored languages, there are as many as 79 tribal languages in use throughout the country.

The city where I will be spending the majority of my time while in Ghana is Tema, a port city about 15 miles east of the capital Accra with a population of over 200,000

Population Make-up (Comparison w/ U.S.A. in parentheses)
22,409,572 approx. population (298,444,215)

63% Christian/ (78% various Christian beliefs)
16% Muslim/ (1% Muslim)
21% Indigenous beliefs

74% Literacy/(99% Literacy)

3.1% Adult HIV/AIDS prevalence/ (0.6%)
350,000 Adults living with HIV/AIDS/ (950,000 Adults)

Life Expectancy at birth
58.87 years Total Population (77.85 years)
58.07 years Males (75.02 years)
59.69 years Females (80.82 years)

55.02 deaths/1,000 live births (6.43 deaths/1,000 live births)

31.4% of population living below the poverty line (12% in the U.S. live below the poverty line)
20% Unemployment rate (5.1% unemployment rate-2005)

Some well-known Ghanaians include: Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations; The National Soccer (Football) team that kicked the US out of the World Cup in 2006

Another interesting fact: in some parts of Ghana you are named based upon the day that you are born. So there are only 14 possible first names (7 for boys and 7 for girls). Kofi Annan for example, was born on a Friday. The second name is chosen by the father, and is usually the name of an ancestor. You may be wondering what happens when two children are born on the same day...well, then you would get a number--Kofi and Kofi Manu "second Kofi". On top of that you don't take a family name at all, but the parents can choose as many other names as they want, so people may have anywhere from 3 to 10 names!

There is certainly a lot more to learn about Ghana, but this is just a sample.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghana
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gh.html CIA World Factbook on Ghana
(https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html used for comparison)
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ghtoc.html Library of Congress Federal Research Division Country Study