“You must establish your heart so firmly in heaven that nothing in this world could ever pull you away from the desire to know everything God says in His Word.”~Jeff Adams
Last night Baba came to our door w/ a HUGE turkey. (alive) It was a gift for us…So Greg, Baba and I all went into the back yard and I watched my first slaughtering. It would be OK w/ me if I don’t ever see that again, but I’m glad I watched it.
This morning I will be going to the “Miracle Brain School” to teach a music lesson. Yes, that is the real name of the school. Isn’t that hilarious? Gotta go…more later…
So…just got back from teaching at the school. OH MY…what a fun experience. I had the older children…ranging from about 13-16 years of age. We did some solfege, some body percussion, talked about voice change, Michael Jackson, etc. It was a hoot! They learned how to sing “Yankee Doodle” in solfege and then in English and did very very well. The teenagers were very receptive.
Now I’m back at the Nyhus house. Today, sadly, is my last day in Nalerigu. Early in the morning I will be traveling to Tamale. I am having to leave a day early from Naleirgu because there are very strong winds coming down from the Sahara Desert and it stirs up so much dust that they have been cancelling flights…so I may have to ride the bus tomorrow which will be a very long 2 day journey. (I am trying to look at it as another adventure and another way to see Ghana!) I will be traveling alone so prayers would be appreciated.
We just got back from eating lunch at the orphanage w/ the children. We had “Gwaba”…basically it is a ball of ground corn, flour, black eyed peas, and oil. This has been the only thing I’ve had here that I didn’t like. I think over time I would learn to like it…but it was very bland. Before the children arrived from school to eat w/ us, Nana, Carter, Aiden and I swept the compound w/ a handheld broom they make out of a bundle of straw. Oh, if only you could see these kids. They are so very good w/ the people here. I’m just so so so so proud of them.
Greg and Wendy are such good stewards w/ the money they receive. They both carry little notebooks w/ them at all times and keep track of EVERY SINGLE PURCHASE. I know many of you back home have supported them financially and I cannot even begin to tell you all the good they are doing. They are personally taking care of the children in the orphanage. They are paying for their schooling, their clothes, their shoes, their food, and the list goes on and on and on. Now that the hens are laying eggs some of these expenses will be paid w/ the profit from them selling the eggs…but they are doing so much above and beyond what is in the job description. Yes, evangelism is a big part of being on the mission field, but Wendy was telling me today it’s also the day in and day out practical meeting of needs that really opens the doors to evangelize. Wendy gave me some very good ideas for those of you who want to become involved in their ministry. $7 Cedis per month is the cost to send 1 of the children from the orphanage to school. (that is less than $4 a month and you’d pay all 12 months out of the year) You could buy a goat to be donated for meat. That would be around $40. (US Dollars) You could donate a crate of eggs for $5. Wendy would give the eggs to the orphanage or the Nutritional Feeding Center here at the BMC. So really, there is almost something for anyone’s budget.
Before lunch we went up to the chicken farm and gathered eggs/fed the “ladies”. We collected 90 eggs! Isn’t that great??? We’ll go back later and collect some more. The other day they laid over 130 eggs. WOW. After that we went to the home of Farmer Ben Awuni. He is who rents out the chicken coop to Greg and Wendy. Unfortunately Carter opened up his gate and all his sheep escaped so I got to try some sheep herding. I’m terrible at it. I think we went around the compound 2 times before finally getting them through the gate. It was a sight to see…I’m sure all the locals were making fun of the white girl trying to herd the sheep! But I told Ben even though I was terrible at it, it was great fun for me to do! He thought this to be very funny. They love showing us their homes. It totally cracks me up to see these mud huts, straw/tin roofs and you peek inside and they have a very nice TV in there. Isn’t that hilarious? It just seems so oxy-moron-ish.
Baba, Laadi, Portia and Clement are coming over tonight for dinner. We are doing to eat that turkey! Wendy said this was a great sacrifice as he could have sold that for a lot of money. They are very poor. But this time w/ them is very important to us AND to them. Ghanaians are very “relational”. For example, let’s say they have to be at a meeting at 9am but they see me on the street. They would rather be late to their meeting than no take their time to greet me. We as Americans are totally opposite. We think it’s incredibly rude to be late. I’m not saying one way is better than the other, I’m just explaining to you the culture here. It’s all about building relationships w/ people. Nana will be very good at this. She will stay here for another 5 weeks and I’m sure she will make many friends between now and then. However, poor thing, she is TERRIBLE at the language. I’ve already picked up quite a bit. Thankfully the locals are very forgiving of our mistakes and think it’s wonderful that we try. They really like it when they see us making an effort to get to know their language.
I have to make sure and journal that my hinder-binder is very sore from sitting in the back of the truck. You ask why would I need to make sure and journal about THAT? Because it’s just part of the experience here. The roads. Only those of you who have been in Africa will truly understand this. I also want to mention that my feet are stained red from the dirt. Talk about leaving a “ring around the tub”!!! Because of the dust you just get filthy!
(Ok, I’m totally laughing out loud because Jim and I bought the Nyhus kids “Pee Wees Big Adventure” and I can hear them all watching it in the other room. Right now I hear the “Tequilla” song and they are all laughing. Super cute.)
I can’t believe this will be my last journal entry from Nalerigu. MAYBE I will write once more after dinner tonight…but I have to get up very very early in the morning. I think 3am. So more than likely I will not be able to journal until I am home. Thank you for taking the time to read about my short time in Africa. It is a wonderful continent…life changing, eye opening, jaw dropping, goosebumping, bone-chilling, heart-tearing, heart-warming continent. I can’t wait to return some day. I love my new brothers and sisters I have met here. I already miss the children in the orphanage. They grabbed my heart and I love them as my own. Have you noticed that I don’t call them orphans? This is because all of them have a mother. But when the father dies, it leaves the women so destitute that they cannot care for their children. However, one of the things Wendy is working on is building the relationship between the mother and child and also is encouraging the orphanage to become a feeding center so that the children can sleep w/ their mothers but have their meals at the feeding center. I know this is very hard for us to wrap our brains around…how a mother could abandon her child…but it’s a cultural thing. So you can pray for Wendy as she continues to build relationships w/ the mothers and EDUCATE them on how God designed families to be. Children should be w/ their momma’s. Period.
Let me close by just saying this: being here has opened my eyes to how important it is to lift our missionaries up in prayer. Get to know your church’s missionaries on a personal basis. Send them an occasional email. Ask how you can specifically pray for them. And if you can, support them financially.
I must go…With love from AFRICA, Misty
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