Fun Before the Groups Come

All four of us interns have been trying to keep ourselves busy before all of the groups come and the summer starts to get a little crazy.

We have been cleaning up the church, making schedules, calling groups, taking pictures, videos and eating :) I have been making Doug run with me.

We made some Friends with at the park we will be doing kids camps at. There is a group that comes to play hand ball and they said they would teach me. I am excited to learn.

Even though we are trying to keep busy we still can not wait for the teams to arrive. Saturday is when the first team comes!

Downtown Philly

We figured we would be living in the city for the summer we should probably do all the touristy things so we know what is around.

We loaded up the van, all four interns, the baby and we took a long with us Emmerald (the oldest girl we live with) and her friend Amanda. They are twelve years old and have lived here all their lives and have never been downtown.

We learned all about the history of Philadelphia. My personal favorite is the Liberty Bell. We also went to the old white house and joined the continental army :) That was fun.

Oh and of course we all got a Philly Cheese Steak.

Home in Philly

Here is the house I am staying in for the summer.

There is a family with four kids, ages 12, 10, 6 and 10 months. Marcus and Cathy who are the project leaders and their baby Ramyiah. Jenn is in charge of the house. Then there is the three girls, Sara, Melissa and I. We are all in Jenn's room. Doug is staying in a room in the church.

It is a small house but it will do. We have AC in our room and I try to go to the bathroom right before I go to bed because I can not get in there in the morning. I have to walk over to the church to go, which really is not that far just have to take three giant steps outside and unlock a massive red door.

In Philly

I made it to Philly last night.

My whole team came to pick me up! It was really exciting, nice to be with them again.

We are living in a house the is right next to the church and when I say right next to the church I mean there is not space between the two buildings but we still have to walk outside to get from one place to the other.

Went shopping for food today and did a little exploring.

11 Sheep

Another successful day of sheep shearing. I sheared, well helped shear, a total of 11 sheep! I got better at shearing the second day.

What a great experience and I sure hope the girls form Massachusetts loved it as much as I did.

I am leaving in the morning to drive back to Albuquerque, flying to Texas for a short lay over and then to Philly. My team is driving there from Georgia and will be there in time to pick me up from the airport.

After a week of being here I have really grown to love New Mexico and all the people here. Would love to come back one day. Maybe next year for memorial day to shear some more sheep...

Sheep Shearing!

Today I sheared 4 sheep!

So ok... I may not be the best at actually shearing the sheep but I am really good at rounding them up and tackling them to bring them to the shearing tables. That was my favorite part. I was pushed around a little at the beginning but by the end I jumped right on to those sheep and brought them down. I got a little dirty in the process.

Then we took a ride to Canyon De Chelly. It was beautiful.

Picture: Yep that is me in the sheep pen catching a little (well rather BIG) lamby. These things were like twice my size!

Zuni Reservation

After church and painting the sign for the church we drove down to the Zuni Reservation for youth group. The church is called the mission and the pastor is Pastor Roger. He is awesome!

The Zunis live in clans and there are over 11,000 of them in the reservation.

Less than 1% of them are believers. They have a native religion where they believe in spirits and medicine men. Zunis believe that Christianity is the 'white man's' religion.

If a Zuni makes the step of faith they are often persecuted for their actions. There are about 10 high school students that go to youth group.

It was great to see their enthusiasm and play some games and share stories with them.

The picture is of us on the ride back. We stopped at the cultural center and took a picture of God beautiful creation.

Group Arrived

The group arrived today. They are very nice and very helpful.

There are seniors in high school, Kelly and Melody, one sophomore in college, Amandah, and two leaders who are both parents and teachers, Emily and Karen. They are all from Massachusetts.

We had our orientation and time of listening in prayer. Many things have happened prior to this trip to make it seem as though this trip should not take place. I know in my heart, and through lots of prayer, God wants this trip to happen, even is Satan does not.

It was evident today during our time of prayer that God is at work. He spoke to each one of those girls today and most of them were even willing to share it with the group. He is going to do amazing things!

Be in prayer for guidance, strength, safety and compassion.

Sheep Scissors

I got a good night sleep last night at a friends house and woke up early to drive back to the airport to find my luggage.

My orange suitcase and I were reunited at the United counter. I then met a really nice man at the visitors center who gave me a map of New Mexico.

I drove 2.5 hours to the church in Gallup where I am staying. Met the pastor, got the keys and went shopping. I got food for the group and I for the week. I also went to the T and R Market and picked up a pair of really big scissors or in other words, sheep shearers :)

I am meeting the family that has the sheep tomorrow morning and the church group comes tomorrow afternoon.

Albuquerque

I made it to Albuquerque

Driving a PT Cruser and heading to the Reservation in the morning.

Stuck in Denver

I am currently on my way to New Mexico to lead a mission trip.

I left from Atlanta, GA and had a lay over in Denver, CO. Well there was a tornado in Denver and my flight to NM was cancelled.

I am now working on finding a new flight.

Once I get to NM I have a 2.5hr drive to the Indian Reservation.

It will be interesting.

New Mexico

Sometimes you have a plan but it does not always match up with the plan God has for you...

A project leader had to back out from leading a trip in New Mexico so AIM (adventures in missions) asked me to go lead the mission trip. I said yes and asked what they are doing there. Oh, they are shearing sheep of course... Ummm that sounds great but what exactly is shearing sheep?

Well, for those of you who are from the city... shearing sheep is cutting off the wool of sheep. And I was told there are thousands of sheep.

The packing list requires me to have shears and well, that is just not something I own so I will have to get a pair of these really sharp scissors when I get to New Mexico.

I am leaving on Wednesday to spend a week on an Indian Reservation in New Mexico with a high school group shearing thousands of sheep with really sharp scissors.

To be honest I actually may not be strong enough to do shear sheep but it will be a great NEW experience.

In GA

I flew into Atlanta Ga yesterday for training with Adventures in Missions or AIM.

I am working with them for the summer and leading mission trips with high schoolers. There are three other interns with me Sara, Melissa, and Doug. Our project leaders are Marcus and Cathy and they have a 6 month old little girl. (I am excited for that) :)

We will be in GA for a week finishing training and helping out. Then our team is driving to Philly, yes even with the baby. Hopefully we will stop in DC for a night. We will start driving on June 1st.

Training has been great. We are living in a cabin with bunk beds three high with a total of 36 beds! There is not electricity and we have to use out houses. No big.. I just got back from Ghana :)

I'll keep you posted on what is going on.

Summer Plans

I got an internship with Adventures in Missions.

I will be living in Philadelphia and leading high school mission trips all summer. I will be working with the homeless, people with adictions, and a children's ministry. There are three other interns with me and all four of us will be living in an apartment in Philly.

It will be a different summer (not working with kids with specail needs) but this is where the Lord has lead me. And I am excited.

Graduation

I am done, finished, through - I graduated!

Wow - It is hard to believe I finished college already. Those four years really went by fast but I was able to cram as much as I could into those four crazy years. I will remember it forever.

I graduated :)

Teaching Video

I made a video for class about my view of teaching. It is video and pictures of my students during my whole student teaching experience. Enjoy

Lordy

Lordy is a teacher at the Wa School for the Blind. She went to the university and graduated about 2 years ago. Lordy was lucky to find a job at the school. She is the homeroom teacher for the P6 class. The students love their teacher and Lordy loves her students.

She is about 23 years old. After college she got married and moved from her village to the city of Wa. Her husband is currently in school for his job and is gone down south during the week. Lordy is lucky if she is able to see him on the weekends.

After being married for a year Lordy and her husband has a son named Jackson. Ghanaians pronounce his name as Yackson. He is 6 months old and very cute. Yackson comes to work with his mom every day.

Lordy grew up Catholic but I do not know if she believes that Jesus died for our sins so we can go to heaven. She does not attend church but instead watches it at home on her TV. After school and on the weekends she loves to watch TV.
Lordy and I became good friends over the 10 weeks I was in Ghana. She showed me the good placed to buy fabric and made me many different Ghanaian dishes. Lordy has just moved to Wa this school year and I had was very new to Wa. She understood how hard being new person could be and she helped me out a lot. Lordy is a great friend.

Fuseini

Fuseini is 19 years old and is in P5. He is the captain of his class which means he has the duties of making sure his classmates do their homework, collecting papers, making sure the class is clean and communicating between the class and the teacher.

Fuseini is from a small village in the Upper East. Most of the people in his village are Muslim and Fuseini himself says he is a Muslim. The Upper East, including Fuseini’s village, is at civil war and is often dangerous to travel there.

He was caught making out with a girl (another student) and was reprimanded for it but it was kept between me and two other teachers. He is a teenage boy.

Fuseini has sight and if he has the opportunity to get glasses he could see normally. But if he had glasses he would have to stay at his village and work. Since he is considered blind he has the opportunity to get an education.

When I asked Fuseini what he wanted to be when he grew up, he told me a pastor. I then asked how he can be a Muslim and a Christian pastor at the same time. He was not sure but knew he wanted to be a Christian pastor. His favorite verse is Luke 22:33, ‘But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”’ A powerful verse.

Fuseini is very shy but some what of a jock at the school. He was elected as the sports prefect of the school by the staff.

He has a lot going for him and hopes to graduate from the school in 2014 to go to secondary school, then to college and then become a pastor.

Pictures: Fuseini is in the black shirt working on a math assignment. He is excited after the radio station.

Russell Family

The Russells were missionaries in Wa for the last five years. God led them to Wa and gave them the opportunity be a light for Him. During their time in Wa they helped many churches start, lead many people to Christ and helped out around the community. The Russells have a passion to work with the unreached, specifically the Muslim population in a poverty stricken area. That is just what Wa, Ghana is or rather was.

After five years it is evident that God has used the Russells to show how great our God truly is. Although Wa is still majority Muslim, there is a great increase of Christ followers. Churches are being planted all over the city as well as the surrounding areas. It is clear that the Russells have done what the Lord called them to do in Wa. They are now moving back to America.

Returning back to America is not easy task after living in another country for five years. Much change has occurred not only with the Russells but with family, friends, churches, and culture. The Russells now have a 10 year old, 5 year old and a baby on the way. Issac and Rachel will be going to school. Bess, mother, will be having a new baby. John, father, is looking for a pastoral job. The whole family is just awaiting new things such as a house, car, food, clothes, aspect of time, friends and culture.

I can only imagine how hard it was to leave Wa. Leave their friends, churches, belongings, Lizzy (their nanny), Abu (security/house helper), dogs, house, and so many memories. They know the Lord is going before them and they have complete trust that he will provide and that this is the right thing to do.

It is Sunday, April 25, 2010 and they are currently on a plane to America. If you can be praying for the Russell family and the transition they are going through that would be great.

Pictures:
Bess is doing some medical care in a village
Rachel and Issac with Lizzy
John praying over a church building in a village near Wa

Ajara

Ajara is about 19 years old and is in P5. Ajara is totally blind but she does not let that stop her from just loving life. She is always smiling and is always willing to talk with you. She tries very hard in school, even when it does not come very easily to her.

When she grows up she wants to be a singer. Ajara sings in the school choir. She has a great voice and will sing whenever she gets a chance. Often times she will just start singing during afternoon class just to give everyone a little break.

Ajara is a great example to all of her classmates. It is evident that she loves the Lord. She might not ask questions but she does attend bible study every week. Ajara is just has a wonderful heart.