From my Eyes... by Emily R. Smith

I got to spend the last two weeks with Amanda in Ghana, and it has been amazing. I not only got to see my sister, who has been half a world away from me since August, but I also got to see her loving these kids and serving God through it.

I was greeted upon coming to the airport by a three foot tall little boy that attempted to carry my four large suitcases with him, and from the moment I watched him try to move them, he had my heart. Getting to Haven of Hope, though, it was overwhelming to try to meet 47 kids that all seemed to look the same. Amanda, to note, can tell who they are with just a glimps of the back of their heads.

I came to visit at the perfect time, not only is it between terms, so the kids are on break from school and in high spirits because of it, but it is also the begining of the dry season, and the weather has been perfect. I have definitely done my fair share of sweating (which is something I choose not to do at home, on principle), but it has been cool in the mornings, and this morning, I woke up with goosebumps. It was still a welcome break from the knee high snow that was at home when I left.

Spending two weeks with them has been full of adventures, from fishing with the boys (which is distinctly different from fishing I've done back in North Dakota with my brother, I would have to say these kids haven't quite mastered the art of catching anything larger than two inches that isn't already stuck in seaweed), to dancing to High School Musical with the girls (which is exactly like being with a group of tweens in the United States), it has been wonderful to be able to spend time with the kids at the home and show them love. I would love to be able to say that after two weeks, I know all of them, and I would love to have further opportunities to know them all. This is not where God has called me, though. What I do know is that these kids have been through experiences that I cannot imagine, and God has brought them to this place of safety for now and given them people like Amanda to love them.

I would never have thought I wanted to come to Africa if I wasn't visiting my sister, and I would never have thought I would love it as much as I do. Pray for Amanda and for the other teachers as the new school term starts, and pray for leadership at the home, for wisdom as they make decisions, and most of all pray for the kids, that God's unconditional love for them would become real to them.

Glory to God in the Highest

Christmas has been a bit of a blur around the home, and I find it’s already the new year. Helping in the effort to make Christmas special for 48 kids is quite the challenge, but it’s been fun. We’ve been baking cookies, decorating, taking trips to the pool (outdoor in December… woah), wrapping presents, making crafts, PICKING UP MY SISTER EMILY, caroling, planning Christmas parties. Not to mention all the other day to day activities and responsibilities. Somehow, even amidst all the chaos and busyness, the pace is still different from that of other Christmases. There has been more time to think about, talk about, and reflect on what God did for us on Christmas. Maybe it’s because my focus has been a lot less on me, or maybe because others in this culture don’t put as much emphasis on Christmas, at least not the material aspect, or maybe it’s just that I’m in a place where the Christmas story seems more real, a place where it seems like the events talked about in Matthew and Luke could really happen. I’m just working my hardest this Christmas and hopefully throughout the year to bring “glory to God in the highest.”
Hopefully I’ll get around to posting more about what’s been going on soon. :-)

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.