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