School is here!!......almost!

       As many of you know, I arrived back in Ghana on the 26th of July!  I am so excited to be back and ready to start a brand new school year!  Pray for AIS as we begin this new year, pray for the staff and students that we would witness God move in miraculous ways in our lives this year!

     I arrived in Accra in the evening on the 26th of July and headed out to City of Refuge the next morning!  It was awesome to start out my second year in Ghana with a 2 hours tro-tro trip!  I can't think of a better way to start out my time in Ghana than to spend hours hanging out and playing with the family, volunteers, and kids at City of Refuge.  Friday was spent coloring, playing games, and watching "Field of Dreams" for movie night!  Saturday I traveled into Accra to the mall for some pizza and a movie to celebrate Caleb's birthday.  I was able to spend a lot of time with the volunteers who have come from all over the U.S. and have great stories as to how they ended up at CORM.  I love hearing how God is working in the hearts of His people in so many different places and in so many different ways!  Sunday was church and then hanging out for the rest of the day.  Late in the afternoon I went out and played some soccer with a few of the new boys (CORM rescued 14 new kids this summer!! 12 of them are boys!!!).  I also tried to teach Edwin, Malvin, and Joel how to take turns and share!  One of the new boys was pushing them around on a bike with training wheels, and each of them wanted to ride on the bike.  Sometimes I had to pull them off of the bike, but eventually they started to understand that they we going to get another turn if they just waited for a little bit.  It probably helped that while they were waiting I walked around while they clung onto my leg and sat on my shoes!  I thought they were actually understanding how to share and take turns, but at the end they returned to fighting and crying when I tried to get them to take turns.  Ooooo 2 year olds and their resistance to sharing!  Sounds kind of like some adults I know, including myself!

Edwin

      Monday morning me and 5 of the volunteers went for a hike up to Pride Rock, Ghana, West Africa! We walked across the street from CORM to the village of Shai Hills and then walked up toward Pride Rock.  We walked through plenty of thorns and some of the group climbed up onto Pride Rock!

Where we are headed, Pride Rock, Ghana

Of course we were allowed to be there!

The thorns and undergrowth we walked through to get to Pride Rock

A side view of Pride Rock with the village of Shai Hills below

Some kids saw us while we were up at Pride Rock.  Naturally we decided to teach them the YMCA motions.  Here are the results!

     Monday evening I had another chance to play some soccer with a couple of the new boys.  It was great to simply just play and see the looks of joy on their faces when they would score on me!  We played the same game for forever and they never grew tired of it!  Now those are my kind of kids!!  We only stopped because they had to go eat dinner!  The new kids are awesome to be around because everything is so new and fresh to them!  But they still have issues they need to work through!  They are not very proficient in English yet, and they still have that bitterness and anger inside from all of the tough times they have been through!  2 of the boys were exchanging words and fighting with each other and I had no idea what they were saying to each other!  They kept repeating the same word and I am assuming the word wasn't the nicest of terms.  All these kids have ever known is hardship, so they learn to be very defensive and cruel towards others.  I grabbed both of the boys by the wrist and pulled them to the house where someone would actually be able to understand why they were fighting and how to encourage them that this is not the way to settle disagreements.  Soon enough the love of Christ that is so evident at CORM will invade their lives and change their hearts!  Pray for all of the new kids at City of Refuge as they are learning more and more what it means that GOD LOVES THEM!  Also, pray for all of the kids there as so many have been through tough circumstances that they will never forget.  There are certain days where it is evident that there is pain still deep inside of their hearts!  Pray for them to be freed and liberated by the love of Christ, and that He would use those hardships to bring glory to Himself!
     Tuesday I headed back into Accra to start getting ready for school to start.  On the way back in the tro-tro from Ashaiman to Accra a man in the front seat stood up and just started preaching away!  It was a new experience for me and I think most of the people on the tro-tro!  He preached on how God did not intend for man to be living the way he is now.  He was so passionate (as most Ghanaian pastors are!) and was an encouragement to me that I can be and am a representative of Christ wherever I am!
     Over the past week and a half we have been preparing for school to start.  It is exciting for all of us as we begin this great opportunity to share the love of Christ with our students and community!  We are all excited and hope you will join with us in praying for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all of us here at AIS!
One thing that has been keeping me from getting too bored with meetings and paperwork has been the opportunity to hang out with some of the boys from the neighborhood.  This past Saturday I played soccer on the sand field across from the school with Eddie, Fefe, and two other boys.  It was great to just play and interact with them after not seeing them for 2 months!  We spent all afternoon together on Saturday, and then Sunday afternoon Eddie, Fefe, and Daniel came by and hung out at the house with me and JJ.  We played soccer, football, and ping pong.  Now that Fefe knows where I live, he has come to the house every day at least once.  Sometimes I think of it as an inconvenience because I have my own plans for my time, but God is continuing to teach me that my time is not my own!  I don't earn time to spend on myself, God gives me opportunities to share His love with others and I need to use them!  Not because God will like me more, but because He loved me first and I want to love Him and glorify Him in return!  One moment especially sticks out in my mind about my time with Fefe.  He came over and was playing some ping pong when he turned around and asked me, "Are you going to stay here forever?"  Now, for a 12 year old boy that's about as close as you are going to get to them sharing how they really feel!  I don't know if I will stay here forever, but Fefe's question really makes me think about it!  Please pray with me specifically for Fefe!  I don't know if there is something going on at home, or if it is simply he just wants to spend time with me and JJ, but I really want to share the love of Christ with Him!  I hope that through the time I spend with Him God can continue to work in his heart and mold Him into a bold man of God!

Playing some ping pong and listening to some tunes

Fefe's drawing of me....striking resemblance don't you think?

      Pray for our school as we have our first day this Monday!  Pray for all of us as we start this magnificent opportunity God has given each of us to invest in young people's lives!  Here is a video from CBC Junior Camp to close out the blog.  These are the 5th grade boys who were lucky enough to have me and Andrew as their counselors!