Who is serving on Ghana Mission 2008?

The 9 members of the Ghana Mission 2008 team are:

Seth 
Rachel
Tara
Donna
Ron
Elizabeth
Tommy
Cheryl
Lucy

We are all eagerly anticipating our arrival in Accra on Monday, July 21st! We will spend a couple of days there, and then continue on by van to the western region where we'll be serving.  The majority of the team will be departing from the East Coast of the U.S. on Sunday afternoon, and are scheduled to arrive in Accra on Monday morning.  Traveling from the West Coast of the U.S., Tommy & Lucy are scheduled to arrive in Accra on Monday evening.

Joyfully,
Cheryl

GHANA MISSION 2008: July 20-August 3, 2008

Preparations are underway for Ghana Mission 2008!

This mission, like previous ones organized through Friends of Ghana, Inc., involves taking a holistic approach to helping those in need in some of the rural villages of Ghana, West Africa.  Our team this year is relatively small.  We have 9 participants, 5 of whom are serving on their 2nd, 4th, or 5th mission to the area.  Our 4 newcomers are all young adults/youth.

This year our primary focus will be on assisting those who live in and around the village of Boekrom which is located in the western region of the country.  Our project goals are:

• Provide free healthcare services using local doctors and nurses ;
• Purchase and distribution of mosquito nets to combat the spread of malaria;
• Support construction efforts on a village chapel;
• Continue scholarship assistance to needy Senior Secondary School (high school) students from the Busua area;
• Distribute food for the children at OOEIM orphanage near Cape Coast;
• Fund school uniforms for needy children at Busua;
• Evaluate and possibly expand micro loans project to empower women in the greater Azani area.

Although computer access issues sometimes makes communication a challenge, I will begin updating this blog as frequently as possible once we arrive in Ghana.

Joyfully,

Cheryl

on behalf of Friends of Ghana, Inc.
and the 2008 Ghana Mission Team

Meaningful moments throughout...

     One important item (among many no doubt) that I forgot to mention regarding our return trip from the Busua area and the western region to Accra on Thursday was that along the way we again stopped at the Aduagyei orphanage in Elmina -- this time to drop off a large bag of rice, some fish, and the entire batch of gari -- made from the "first fruits" of the newly installed cassava processing equipment in Azani.  It became clear during our previous visits there that one of the most fundamental needs of the 85 children at the orphanage is food!

     Below are a few thoughts from some of the mission team members shared with me on Saturday and Sunday about what experiences over the past two weeks touched them the most/were the most meaningful:

     Janelle (youth, age 16):  The first night of evangelistic outreach at Akwadaa as we waited for the sound system to be set up was her favorite experience.  Specifically, her interactions with the kids as they sang songs to her and taught her the words for the parts of the face.  Also as they asked her questions like, "What is Christianity?" 

     Denise (adult):  Any time she was in the village of Boekrom was special for Denise, but especially the first day we were doing the medical clinic there as she spent much of it playing and interacting with the children.  Also, the night we did evangelistic outreach in Boekrom.  We arrived later than we had at the villages of Akwadaa and Sankor, so the sound system was all set up.  Following the message, we spent time praying for and with the kids -- which was something they very much wanted us to do.

     Ann (adult):  The worship services and each of the evangelism teams that included participation by so many of the community and so many children were significant to Ann's experience.  She especially remembers her conversation with 10 year old Martina at Akwadaa who captured her heart.  Martina was "so present" and so sweet.  She was touched by the way the moms swadled their babies and young children which kept them connected as they carried them on their backs.  In addition, Ann was impressed by the dental clinic services provided by Dr. Hellaine Smith and her team.

     Debbie (adult):  Two-year old Constance from the orphanage melted her heart.  She was also touched by two kids from Azani who had difficult tooth extractions, but who came back to the dental clinic a couple of hours later to say, "I'm OK now".

     Jennie (adult):  The medical team time she spent at the village of Sankor was most meaningful to her -- and specifically seeing the way the older women were brought down by the younger women to the community center where the medical care was being provided.  The way these old women were respected and given preferential treatment by the younger really spoke to her heart. 

     Charlotte (adult):  For Charlotte, going to the villages and working as part of the dental service team meant the most to her.  She really enjoyed the teamwork and being able to be a part of it.

     Candace (adult):  Her most heartwarming experience this time was singing with the kids in Akwadaa before the first evangelistic outreach service there.

     Jennifer (youth, age 12):  Giving free medical care to the people in the villages was the most rewarding part of the mission for her.

     Garrett (youth, almost 16):  He most enjoyed going to the village churches -- especially in Akwadaa -- and seeing that even though the people don't have a lot, their faith in God is really strong.  The current church in Akwadaa is pretty small; it holds about 50.  However, they're building a larger church on the other side of the bridge that will hold 250.  In terms of participating, he enjoyed helping with the masonry work for the polytank that was installed at the chapel in Azani because he felt like he was able to really make a contribution toward that effort.  On the fun side, he really liked the bartering/haggling to get the best prices possible for items in the marketplace.  (Others on the team put that skill to work for their purchases as well.)

     Fred (youth, age 15):  Fred liked going to all the villages, seeing the kids there, and trying to talk to them.

     Cheryl (adult):  For me, choosing just one or two meaningful times would be too difficult, but among the most significant points I would include are the time I spent serving with the medical team in the rural village of Boekrom for 3 days, praying for the children during the Sunday morning worship service we conducted there -- and most especially for young Samuel with the brain tumor, and attending and participating in the evangelistic outreach services in the actual villages where we conducted the medical care so that the link between the care we provided for their physical well-being and the source of that care was hopefully apparent.  The time spent singing and dancing with the children in Akwadaa before the first evangelistic outreach and hearing about the way the Lord has been working in 18 year old John's life (whom I first met during the vacation bible school program we conducted 3 years ago) were also quite wonderful.

     I hope some of the experiences listed above have given you a sense of how the Lord was working in some of the mission team members' lives as well as in the lives of those we sought to serve during Ghana Mission 2006.  As I receive thoughts and reflections from others who participated this year, I'll post them to this weblog.  In the mean time, may the Lord bless you as abundantly as He has blessed us over the past two weeks.

                             In Christ,
                             Cheryl

God has taken care of us

     With the exceptions of Pastors Seth & Dorothy who are remaining for some much deserved vacation time, and Candace who is doing her ministry fieldwork in Accra for the next few weeks (and her husband Ron), Ghana Mission Team 2006 arrived safely in Boston this afternoon.  I have some thoughts and reflections to share from some of the mission team members, but will do that later.

     For now, we celebrate the Lord's goodness in returning us safely home to our families.

                                           Grace & blessings,
                                           Cheryl

Showers of blessings continue!

     Yesterday morning, most of the mission team traveled via the church van to the University of Ghana at Legon for a quick visit to the bookstore where we purchased a variety of books and maps about Ghana and speaking Twi.  Pastor Seth also pointed out the main buildings where he did his undergraduate studies as well as  the locations of his dormitory and Pastor Dorothy's dormitory.  Then the van dropped us off at the Cultural Arts Center where we shopped, and shopped, and shopped.    Some of us got great deals, others did "OK", but we all contributed a fair amount of cedis (Ghanaian currency) to the local economy.  Shopping at a marketplace like that which basically consists of stalls upon stalls of eager vendors' displaying their handiwork and goods can be intimidating as they do their best to persuade shoppers to visit their shops and buy their merchandise.  Haggling for the best price is the rule in the marketplace with both seller and buyer vying for the best deal.
     
     During the early evening we drove via the church van to Calvary Methodist Church for the dinner Franklin Acquaah-Harrison had arranged.  Since the van was needed by the local United Methodist Women for a function, we left the hotel early and arrived at Calvary early -- which gave us an opportunity to listen to their Junior Choir rehearsing.  Later in the evening, the Junior Choir which is comprised of young men and women between 10 and 25, officially performed for our group.  Their voices and the musical accompaniment were outstanding -- truly a joy for our hearts and our ears, and many of us purchased a copy of their CD.  Following greetings of Akwaaba (welcome) from the area District Superintendent, the steward of the church, and Franklin, we sat down to a delicious church supper -- some things are truly universal.  We were most grateful for the hospitality Franklin and his church family extended to us.

     This morning (Saturday), some of us were shuttled by car and others walked from the hotel to the arts and crafts booths located nearby at the "circle" (rotary).  The variety of available items is considerable, and most of us spent a solid three hours exploring our options and negotiating for our purchases. 

     We'll leave the hotel for the airport by church van around 6:30 p.m./7 p.m. tonight since our flight leaves Accra at 11:10 p.m.  We're all pleased to see that our layover in Milan is considerably shorter than on the flight here, and we're hoping that the refueling that was done in Lagos, Nigeria (while we sat on the tarmack) will not be necessary on the return flight. 

     Throughout our time here, we have shared times of laughter, struggle, rejoicing, weariness, learning, teaching, celebration, and the ongoing confirmation of the Lord's presence with us at all times.  To paraphrase a hymn, "Through it all, through it all,  we've learned to trust in Jesus, we've learned to trust in God....Through it all, through it all, we've learned to depend upon God's word." Great has been God's faithfulness throughout Ghana Mission 2006, and His compassion does not fail -- his mercies are fresh every morning.

     Indeed, through it all, God is good -- ALL the time, and ALL the time God is good.

     "Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance." (Jude 2)

                                       Trusting in Jesus,
                                        Cheryl