Oh Christmas Tree

Those of you who know me and have lived with me know that I like Christmas. I like singing Christmas songs, I like Christmas cookies, I like the energy and spirit, and I really like decorating for Christmas. With that said, I'll admit my roommate and I did something many would deem inappropriate and put our "Christmas tree" up before Thanksgiving...

Now this weekend we headed into the kids' dorms armed with bulletin board paper, ribbon, construction paper, yarn,glue scissors, tape, and glitter to make some trees with the kids. They got pretty into it and made some pretty creative trees.

We aren't sure if more glitter ended up on the trees or on the kids...

<3Seyram

All for a rabbit

I used to frequently write cheesy poems for my friends, but I have neglected to write any for a while, so I thought I'd try my hand at it again...

The other day Sylvester came up to me,

With a rather unique plea.
He wanted to go a little ways away,
To get a rabbit to bring to the home to stay.
I reminded Sylvester I can’t drive the car
And to walk with a rabbit it would be a little far.
“We can ride the bikes” he replied

I said “why sure I will,”
but on the way I took a little spill:-(

(Our gravel road is not mud, rut, or puddle free)
So instead of just Obroni I heard “Obroni, your knee”
We arrived at Rita and Regina’s home,
Where the rabbits, kittens, puppies, guinea fowl, etc. roam.

We put the rabbit in a container shoe-box like

It’s a good think he’s better at riding bike!
Now so long as the dogs don’t eat her,
In not too long we’ll have plenty of rabbits for sure!

This Thanksgiving the only turkey around is the paper one on my fridge...
earlier this week I took supplies down to the boys dorm to make the same paper turkeys, but before we could make them I had to explain what a turkey was... not that I expect them to celebrate thanksgiving here, I just needed to do a little something in honor of the holiday I'm missing, and the kids are always up for a craft.
Since it is Thanksgiving it seems only right that I let all of you know some of the things I'm thankful for this year. In all actuality Thanksgiving did come at a good time because I needed the reminder to take a little time to think about the many blessing God has given me.
I am thankful for...
all the friends and family I have supporting me while I'm here
the opportunity to show 47+ kids the love of Jesus
hugs and kisses from Moses
songs sung by Kweku
Bismark's laugh
the generator that is on right now
the way Seyram squeaks my name
Bernice's huuum
the power of prayer
random questions from Prince
Sylvester's grin
notes from friends
BOMAs from PK and Afua Kyera
and most of all for my savior who is in control of it all.

2 Corinthians 4: 16-18

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

This past week it’s been a little hard to see the struggles at the home as “light and temporary troubles." Since I’ve been here discipline and relations with the kids have been a problem off and on, but not quite like they have been recently.

We had to step in and discipline one of the girls to prevent her from hurting another child. After this happened the girl, as well as a large portion of the other girls and a few boys decided they were no longer going to greet or talk to any of us.

This might not seem like a huge deal, but when you live with these kids who are giving you the cold shoulder and saying things about you in a language you don’t know and they are the kids you have to step in front of the next day in class to teach it gets a little trickier.

It also hurts because I want nothing more than to love on and plan fun activities for the kids at the home, that’s why I moved to Africa; to do crafts with them, to take them on walks, to play games with them, to read with them, to decorate for the holidays with them… the list goes on and on. And that’s what I’ve been doing for the past two and a half months, then you have to discipline someone (who they all saw was in the wrong) and all that progress made forming relationships with some of the kids seems to be gone. It’s frustrating and seems pointless.

This week it’s a comfort to read that what is seen is temporary, because what is seen is hurtful and not the most fun. I pray that someday the kids will understand that we love them and more than that that God loves them. It’s hard right now to think about doing anything fun with certain kids who have been ungrateful, rude, disrespectful, and mean to both kids and adults at the home.
But I’ll keep doing things with the other kids, thanking God that he renews us each day, and praying for those who don’t want the obronis to come near them.

Please join me in praying for them.

Obroni Amanda

Sweet bread

Our cook at the home, Lizzy makes some pretty good bread and this past week (since there was a national holiday on Tuesday) Tawnee and I had the opportunity to take her to Kotoku to mix up the dough. Now I've never mixed large amounts of dough in the United States but I'm guessing the machines don't look quite like this!


The man there cranked the machine to get it started while Lizzy dumped in large amounts of flour, margarine, nutmeg, salt, sugar, banana flavoring, and numerous other things. Once the dough was mixed they threw it through two rollers which would spit it back out at very high speeds.



The machine was very safe though, this belt only fell off three times while we were in there :-)

It was a fun adventure through the back roads of Kotoku which resulted in some yummy sweet bread later that day, and a good spiritual conversation with some of the Ghanaians there.

A bit of costume fun!!

A couple weeks ago we announced to the kids that we would be having a costume party. They were a little unsure about what they could be as this was something a little new to them, but we had a couple of days where they could work on costumes,
and we have some seriously creative kids who came up with some pretty sweet
costumes!

We had Father Christmas (Sylvester)

Superman Bequin





a few princesses...

Fauzia and Linda

a zebra...

Maa Abena

and many more.

Throw in some carnival games, face paints,


and a few refreshments,




& you get a party surprisingly even the older kids who don't always participate in things we plan seemed to really enjoy!

Surrounded by children

I wake at 5:30 or 6 in the morning to the sound of the village waking up over our wall and to the shouts and screams of the kids at the home. I get dressed to the sound of their morning devotions. As I read there are usually at least a couple trips to the door to give one of the kids the kitchen key or something we were charging for them. Breakfast is eaten to the sound of the kids running around doing their morning chores and to the sound of the van bringing the kids to school... then the school day starts. I hear my name Miss Amanda, Miss Amanda (or miss miranda, mianda, amernda etc) all over. After school most days there's a brief siesta. After that it's on to reading club, taking the kids for a walk, opening the library, playing games with the kids, writing letters with them, doing bible study, reading to them in the evenings, and any number of other things as each day brings them. It can be a lot.

But then some times it feels oh so good to be surrounded by them too.

I am now leading a biblestudy with the younger boys (who range from 3-12). Last night as I was in the main room for biblestudy kneeling at the table with the boys who came the younger boys slowly, throughout bible study made their way into the room (surprisingly and uncharacteristically quietly) and surrounded me. First, Moses came and stood next to me and put his arm around my waist. A few minutes later Kweku brought a little stool and placed it between the table and me and sat down on it with his back against me, and at about the same time Seyram came up behind me and was standing on my legs. An interesting position to be in at a biblestudy, but nice and comforting too.

"As the mountains surround Jerusalem so God surrounds his people both now and forever more." Psalm 125:2 Even through the chaos, the noise, the business, the stress, the fun, I'm learning more and more what it means to have God surrounding me too. Some days, no all days, I wouldn't make it through the day without him strengthening and guiding. With all the children around there are always eyes watching and I want to be the best example of someone who is following after, seeking, loving, and worshiping our Lord that my human self can be. Praise the Lord He is always there surrounding me

Boti Falls

Yesterday we took the second of two trips to Boti Falls. We took one group a few weeks ago, but for various reasons this second trip has been postponed a while, but it was a good one. We figured out Boti Falls is around 60 miles away, which means in Ghana it takes about three hours to get there...It is worth the trip though because it is absolutely beautiful and fun for us and for the kids.

This time we took the hike up to umbrella rock first. It is about a forty five
minute hike that takes you through a cave-like area, a stream, almost straight up a mountain. It is a beautiful hike to a neat rock that you can climb up a ladder to the top of and see miles of beautiful Africa.

Then we returned and took the 250 steps down to the actual waterfall. It is wonderful and the light hits it just right in the afternoons so you can see a rainbow. So after our hike we got to spend some time splashing around and cooling off in the waterfall.
What a great day!

Snakes and lizards and dogs, oh my!!!

Things that have interrupted class this week at various times include but are not limited to:
~a trip to immigration
~torrential rains
~football matchs
~people coming to inspect the home
~and a snake hunt!
On Friday I saw my first snakes (not just one) since I've been here. I was turned writing something on the chalkboard and when I turned around my entire class was looking out the side of the building at the construction crew and a couple weren't even seated. I asked what's going on and they said there's a snake in the tree by the construction (they are working on building school classrooms about a hundred feet away from the activity center which I guess I could add to my list of distractions.)I went to look and all the construction workers were stopped working and throwing sticks,
lumber, and various other things up into the tree to try to get it down. After a short time the Black Mamba fell out of the tree and they proceeded to chase it around with poles... quite the sight they then proceeded to do this same thing with a second snake that was in that tree. But that was not all, later that day one of the older students came up to me with a live coiled up python they had found by the gate and wanted me to touch it... I wasn't quite as excited about that as he was.
Other experiences with nature and animals this week have included having a lizard run across my feet, seeing plenty of them around (see if you can count how many there are in this 1 picture Dana took), escaping barking growling dogs, and wading through streams that are now up to our waists due to recent rains on a walk with the kids to the dam for a scavenger hunt.
In this picture with me is Felicia, one of the newest additions to the home. She had a stroke a few years ago due to sickle cell anemia so she has very little use of the left side of her body and also doesn’t speak a lot of English, but she is a beautiful girl with a sweet personality and I am enjoying getting to know her.

Girl's Night

On Friday we had a girl's night at the house of a missionary friend we have. Now this may look like an ordinary group of girls playing Candyland on an ordinary floor... but what you don't realize in the picture is that we are actually out on the porch playing and it is almost completely dark. Girls night started out a little differently than we expected when we got to Mr. Fred's house and our key to one of the locks wasn't working... Luckily Pastor Sammy rode in on his scooter and saved the day. So after an intense game of Candy Land (which Comfort and I lost miserably... that Gingerbread man) we had an evening of popcorn making, movie watching, air conditioning, bonding, and praying with some of the girls. I can't wait to take the rest of them over the next few weeks.

Homophones

Today I was teaching a lesson on homophones and going through examples of homophones. I was reading and writing different pairs of words and asking if they were homophones. One example I wrote down was the words flower and flour. A few students said “no those aren’t homophones.” I thought to myself, “oh great, I’m failing miserably at explaining this concept.” Until they read me the words and I learned that they pronounce the word flour the way we pronounce the word flat… so those to words are not homophones here. I keep realizing more and more that the way we speak English is not quite as universal as I like to think it is. I learned something today, hopefully the kids did too.

Yesterday afternoon there were no classes held at school, which isn’t completely uncommon, but this time it was for a different reason. The school director has decided to have dorm inspections for the kids once a month. I was put on the committee of teachers judging the dorms as the secretary and was not super excited about it, but I actually enjoyed it.
The kids had spent the past couple afternoons after siesta getting their dorms cleaned inside and outside. It was something that all the kids had worked really hard on together. Some days the kids struggle to do anything together, like playing games or sitting in class so it was exciting to see them work hard together. They got “dressed up” and both the boys dorm and girls dorm had students to greet us, the girls even sprinkled glitter over the path we walked on up to the dorm and had a flower bouquet for us. All of the kids stood by their beds and you could tell they took pride in the work they had done and I think these inspections which are a new thing will really help them step up and take ownership for things around the compound.
I went into it thinking it was a silly thing and a waste of class time, but I realized that this discipline is a part of their culture and it also gives the kids a chance to demonstrate some true Ghanaian hospitality.
This is Ebenezer Aseidu the boy who greeted us at the dorm. He is generally pretty quiet, but almost always looking for a hug, happy and able to bring a smile to my face quicker than almost anyone.

The one month mark

I have officially been here a month! Wow! School is now in full swing and life is busy. I enjoy each day getting to know different children here at the home a little better. Some days it is easy to get frustrated with things at school, with the lack of textbooks, the fact that my papers or students notebooks are constantly being blown away by the wind, the wide range in levels of students, the ever increasing class sizes, switching classrooms, and how the school often operates on Ghanaian time. However, I am learning to work with it, and most of my fifty students seem very eager to learn and I am starting to develop a routine with my classes as I gauge more where they are at and set down expectations and goals.
In the biblestudy I’m leading with the younger girls we have been talking about the fruits of the spirit and going through and studying them beforehand and then again with the kids has helped me to remember to have peace about different things, and patience in the situations that come my way this past couple weeks too. So I leave you with this, “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

My first classroom

My first “teaching job” will not be in a one teacher classroom with four walls. I won’t have spent hours decorating the walls and creating bulletin boards. If it rains, we won’t have class. I won’t have to worry about offending a parent or about some piece of technology not working.
My first class will have a group of students with a great need for knowledge, it will have students ranging from probably 8 to 18, and it excites me beyond belief.
The school is switching to subject teaching where different teachers teach different subjects to different grades so I’ll be moving to and from different classes. They are making this switch so that they can add a JSS 1 (like junior high) class to the school which for now is going to meet in the chicken coop since there is only one chicken.
I am loving getting to know the kids and doing different activities, games and outings with them, but as I begin to plan for the school year I realize how much I like teaching and how important I see education as being. I see all the information I want to impart to these students and visualize ways I can convey those things. Many of the kids here are very far behind in their schooling due to many different things. I want to be able to help these students, and the school, make great strides this year.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the short time I’ve been here it is that I shouldn’t expect anything to go as I plan, so we’ll see what God has in store for the school year and what happens come Monday, but I’m praying we will be able to help these kids get a good education and solid biblical background to hopefully build a brighter future for them, and that we will be able to help push the academy forward and raise the standards they set for the teachers and students.

On the streets

There were kids standing staring at our van as we pulled in to the train area, latching onto our hands and our skirts as we tried to step out. They are kids who sleep on the train platform in Accra at night, kids who push and shove each other because that’s the only way they know to get what they need. They are dirty with uncleaned wounds because they don’t have the 50 pesewas needed to use the public showers or the soap and sponge they would need when they got there. They are kids who are searching for someone to love them, someone who will give them a hug and remember their name. They are living the life that the kids at Haven of Hope have been rescued from. Auntie Felicia goes out and learns the names of these children, she gets to know them, listens to their stories, and works to let them know she cares.
The other obrunis and I went and helped at the ministry she does on Sundays with these kids. We read to the kids, did some basic first aid, helped with a bible story and phonics lesson, and then helped serve a meal to as many of the kids as we had food for, which unfortunately wasn’t all of them. As we prepared to go we heard a little more about the children’s lives and the health and other problems the kids faced. I left and was heartbroken. I looked at these kids and was hesitant to touch some of them because of their lack of hygiene or clothes, when they need someone to love on them more than almost anyone I’ve ever met. My roommate shared with me that she goes and when she leaves she feels inspired because it shows her that one person really can make a difference when she sees what Auntie Felicia does for these kids, and it’s true though it’s tough to see where these kids are growing up, her getting to know them and loving them does make a difference. It pushes me to keep working and loving and praying for these kids more too, and helps me see more how the things we do matter.

This past week has been a blur of new activities... fishing with the boys, doing laundry with the girls, visiting markets, eating Ghanaian food... so many, many things. We also had the opportunity to take the girls to a pool in Tema, thanks to some friends of Lauren! It is crazy to me how excited they were to ride in a crowded van for an hour and a half to swim, but they seem to love and appreciate everything we take the time to do with them which is exciting. They are all so beautiful and I feel privileged to be spending this time with them.
Today we went to help out at the street ministry in Accra, it was really good to see what Every Child Ministries is doing there and help out with it, but hard to be there and see where these kids are coming from and what they go though. More to come on that when I have sorted through my emotions a little more...
I miss you guys,
Amanda

In the photo I am with Maa Abena and Comfort, the two youngest girls at the home. They are bundles of joy eager to get love and attention from anywhere they can.

Some thoughts from my first day.

This is a little something I wrote after the first full day I was here. There are a lot of new and different things I've been experiencing I would love to tell all of you about... it will come though.

Friends, when life gets really bad and difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with Glory just around the corner. 1 Peter 4:12-13.

I made it safely to Accra after almost 24 hours of traveling. Then it was about an hour ride in a van to Haven of Hope. The other three girls who are here from the United States as well as the home directors were more than welcoming, but when we got here at eleven at night after the traveling and had hauled Dana and my eleven pieces of luggage to our apartments and I was being shown around our apartment with a flashlight I was feeling a little unsure about things. The above verse was on a sheet of paper on the wall in my room and it was very encouraging to me. It wasn’t that life was that bad or difficult, but I was intimidated by everything and needed that reminder that God is on the job – which I am sure I will need to be reminded of continually while I am here. This morning was a whole series of new events for me. I woke up at around 6:15 and walked out of my room into our living room area and saw out the window a boy sitting on our porch watching me. The living quarters are more than I was expecting, and while they aren't quite like the apartment I lived in in Fargo ;-) I can see myself living here. The children are beautiful (most of you who know me are probably thinking… when has Amanda seen a child and not thought that). I can’t wait to get to know them more. School starts the middle of September so their schedule is pretty relaxed right now so it gives me a little time to get to know the 47 students here before school starts and there are over 100 of them around. I also got to visit the village that is just down the street with Dana and Tawnee and got a small picture of what many of these kids are coming from and what life is like for many people in Ghana.

God's blessings to all of you,

Amanda

Goodbye familiar

Star-gazing is something I've always enjoyed and it always makes me wish I knew more about the constellations and different objects in the sky. There are a few which I have come to recognize over the years and as I laid outside tonight, I found myself wondering how different the sky will be when I am in Ghana.
There are so many things that I wonder about, so many things that will be changes and require adjustments. It's weird to think that instead of moving back to Fargo, familiarity, and friends in a week for school, I will have even more goodbyes to say and will be heading somewhere foreign where I don't know any of the people. I'm thankful and find comfort in the fact that there is one thing that I can rest assured won't change. God is still the same and he is working everywhere. When I go he will go with me, He will be there helping me and giving me the wisdom and endurance I will need to serve him at Haven of Hope.

Blessings,
Amanda


If you want to see or know a little more about the orphanage and school where I will be serving you can check out their website at

http://ecmafrica.org/36238.ihtml
http://ecmafrica.org/36226.ihtml

Soon...

In four weeks I set off on what is sure to be a life-changing adventure.

It's becoming a little more real and I am experiencing a wide array of emotions about it- excitement, fear, anxiety, anticipation, and the list goes on.

I feel in some ways totally inadequate for the job I am heading over to West Africa to do, but I am trusting that this is where God is calling me and that He will lead and guide me.

I hope to learn to rely on God fully in the absence of family and friends as I am realizing how much can change in a year and seeing how hard it will be to miss out on certain things and events in the lives of the people I care about.

Please be praying that I would learn to "not conform anymore to the patterns of this world, but be transformed. (Romans 12:2)" I will need an abundance of humility, love, strength, faith and many other things, but am hoping to learn more of how to live as Jesus lived through this experience.

God bless,
Amanda