Saturday Team Update

David, from Team 1, was kept overnight in the hospital. My understanding is that he is better. He does not have malaria, but a bacterial infection. Thank you for praying. Please don't stop.

Team 2 arrived safely in Tamale today after a very smooth flight. We dropped off our things at GILLBT guesthouse and then went to the Ozments for a wonderful breakfast of mango pancakes and sausage. Afterward, we went for a visit to the orphan home and to see Pastor Tia at the Ghana Bible Society. He gave everyone a Good News Bible in English and we all purchased Dagbani Bibles. We also made a stop at the Cultural Center (market) to do some window shopping.

We just finished dinner. OH MY GOODNESS. We celebrated July 4 with GRILLED chicken, potato salad and baked beans. We finished off our meal with pound cake and ice cream. Mom Peggy and Rev. Paschal are taking very good care of us. In other words, we are being very spoiled!

It is raining now and we are supposed to show the video, The Hope, at Wymba village tonight. God is in control and we are trusting Him to make a way, if that is His will.

Thank you all so much for your prayers. We have a big week ahead of storytelling and VBS in Wymba, a village that has NO Christians (yet!). God has been so good to open a door for us to be able to enter the village and we know that He is going to do great things there.

Saying Goodbye

It was really nice to have both teams together for a few hours this evening. We enjoyed cheeseburgers and fries (more squeals and hoots) for dinner and spent some time telling mission trip stories.

The HCA Student mission team is now at the airport waiting to board for the flight home. They will arrive in Texas on Friday afternoon. Pray for a safe journey.

Tomorrow the FBC Mission Team will travel south to tour the Elmina Slave Castle. On Saturday, we will fly north to work among the Dagomba tribe, an unreached people group.

We give all the glory to God for using our hands and feet for Kingdom work.

Thursday Morning in Accra

My goodness, what a different a good night's rest makes! The team just finished a breakfast of pineapple, yogurt, oatmeal and french toast. Everyone is rested and feeling great. Jennifer, one of my girls, has been running a low grade fever for a couple of days, but she is just fine this morning, praise God. Please continue to pray for her.

I just have to comment on dinner last night. The team did not know we were having 4 different kinds of pizza. You should have seen their faces and heard their squeals (girls) and hoots (boys) when they saw it. They even jumped up and down. What I didn't tell you is that all we had for lunch yesterday was bread. But it was Ghanaian sweet bread, which is heavy and filling. In fact, we all LOVE the sweet bread. You'll eat anything when you are really hungry, right? Today is chicken and rice for lunch.

Pray as Team 2 continues their travels here. They will arrive at 3;25pm in Accra. We are 5 hrs ahead of Texas time here. The entire team is very excited to see them and share their stories. Tomorrow, Team 2 will travel to Cape Coast and tour the Elmina Slave Castle.

Team 1 departs Accra at 10:45pm tonight so pray for them to have a safe journey home. Also, pray that everyone stays healthy.

I've encouraged the team to email home (slow slow connection), but most of them don't have the patience to wait on the computer to load. You will see them soon, though.

In our team meetings, what I keep hearing over and over is that they know that this trip has not been about them, but about others. They got it.

Our prayer has been and will continue to be that God is glorified in all that we say and do.

I just realized that the last time I posted, it was to the wrong blog. You can click here for our previous update.

Yesterday (Mon) we went to Tarikpaa village and did evangelism with about 300 school children. I've never seen kids (ours and theirs) have so much fun together! We divided the children into 3 groups. Group 1 heard Bible stories using puppets. Group 2 sang their hearts out and Group 3 played football (soccer) using the Evangeball. After about 30-45 min, we rotated the groups.

In the afternoon, Cheryl had the opportunity to meet with the women at the village well and tell them the Biblical story about the woman at the well. Good stuff. Incredible, actually.

Today (Tues) was Healthcare Registration in Sankpem village. We registered 300 people for national healthcare. In addition, the team divided into three groups and went with translators to the homes of those being registered and told them the story of Jesus.

Two of our team members heard about a widow in a neighboring village who was very very poor. She has 5 children, and the oldest (a boy) is sick. The team members met with her and have provided funds for healthcare registration for the entire family. In addition, the 2 team members will provide funds for the children to attend school. The costs are very minimal.

We are having a wonderful time and no one wants to go home! We depart at 7:30am Thursday for Accra. Tomorrow in Accra we will go to the Market and then we will go visits Beacon House Orphanage.

On Friday, the team will visit Pastor Mohammed's home church in Agbogbloshie. This will be a very difficult thing for the team, so pray that God would prepare our hearts, minds and eyes for the experience. This is a Dagomba village, that is literally built on a dumping group. There is no sewer system or electricity. The people are beyond poor. We are going there to help encourage and strengthen the church.

The team departs from Accra for home late Friday evening. Please pray for a safe journey.

Team 2 will arrive Thursday afternoon (depart USA Wed aft), so please pray for them as well.

Thank you all so much for your support and prayers. It has been such a wonderful journey and I know that each team member will have many stories to share.

We will be posting pictures of Team 1 and updating the mission for Team 2 in the days to come, so check back.