1/12/2011: Right now I am sitting in the Tamale airport waiting to board. (They are flying this morning so I didn't have to take the bus!) While flying is MUCH more convenient, I surprised myself by being a little disappointed. I think I had my mind set that the bus would be my way to travel and I had started getting excited about seeing Ghana from a different perspective. Forget the fact that I would have had to travel 12 or so hours on an unairconditioned bus, potholes the size of Texas, and w/ people who do not wear deoderant...I had decided that it would have been a grand adventure indeed and was ready for it! Anyway, I am now in Tamale.
It took about 2 hour, 15 min to get here. Greg and I left the house at 4am. He and I talked the entire way. I'm so glad my sister married him. He is truly my brother and I love him so. We were laughing at Nana some. She is a HOOT! Yesterday instead of saying "Deshuba" (good morning) she was yelling "Doosheeebaw!" SO FUNNY! I'll have to tell all of you in person how she greeted the founders son, Dr. Faile. It was hilarious! But the people all LOVE her. And they love it when you try and speak Mamprusi w/ them.
I had to really pull myself together after hugging Greg goodbye. But now that I have said them all I am very much looking forward to the "hello's". I miss my babies sooooooooooo much now. It's because now I have time to "dwell" on it. Please, if you are reading this, continue to pray Is 26:3 over me because I am on the verge of an emotional breakdown!!! (You will keep Misty in perfect peace because her thoughts are fixed on YOU.")
The airport, although very small, is a whir of activity. When I say airport, it's only 1 terminal. (Pause to board plane)
I am now in Accra! An entire day has passed since my last paragraph. I am at a guesthouse owned by the IMB. It is very nice. I arrived very early in the morning so I had all day yesterday to "play". I called Emmanuel, the taxi driver we used before, and had him take me to the cultural market. (Nana and I had gone there on our first day in Ghana) It is like any market in a 3rd world country where they pull you to their booth and say, 'Good price'. You have to be very firm in saying, "NO, JUST LOOKING" but since I had a better idea of the people here I felt much more comfortable. I was able to talk to many of them of Jesus, the one true son of God, and how he paid for their sins and He alone can truly satifsy...He is living water. To one basket maker I said, "Before Jesus I was like the empty basket looking for things to fill me up...but when I found Jesus my basket is always full. My soul is no longer hungry and my heart is always satisfied." On and on it went and I had great fun. Emmanuel walked w/ me to make sure I was OK. Occassionally he would ask me, "You OK?" He took me to a small restaurant where we can buy some ethnic food. they eat completley differently here in the south. Everything I had in the North they have not ever heard of here.
Last night I completely CRASHED. I went to bed at 8pm and didn't wake up until 8am. My flight does not leave until 11:15pm tonight so I ahve another day. I think today I will explore Accra by foot. (plus I'm out of money!) I will probably not be able to write any more until I am home, as there is only 1 computer here in the guesthouse and many people here.
I have cried often since leaving Nalerigu. Especially when I look through the pictures I have taken. There is one in particular that gets to my very core. It's "Mamma Wendy" w/ Sugari, one of the children from the orphanage. I will post it once I return. Since I have no phone, no computer, no company, it has given me a lot of time to "process". This is good for the most part, but I have found myself really missing my family today...the most I've missed them yet. Idleness is not good...so today my challenge will be trying to keep busy w/ very limited resources.
There are many people waiting to use the computer, so let me just close by saying my time alone has been very good for me to process. Amy Hayward gave me a little packet of things to read and one of them said that to have faith in action is to do 2 things: ACCEPT and TRUST. ACCEPT the mystery of hardship, suffering, misfortune, or mistreatment. Don't try to understand it or explain it. Accept it. Then, deliberately TRUST God's protection by His power from this moment to the dawning of eternity.
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