Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

The building on the land! This is looking through to the library and resource rooms. The Lord has blessed this ministry so much to have the building built this far in just a year.

Sorry, the picture is blurred but it is of the kids at the end. They did an amazing job.

The kids are getting ready to perform!

Merry Christmas or Afrishipa(spelling?) in twi! This is a little after Christmas but it is still the holiday time so lets continue to celebrate!

After returning from the village, the Volta, and surviving Christmas with all the kids(see below), my next project was the Christmas play at Auntie Jeans. Brittany and I ventured up there on Monday to help out which at that point still needed a lot of work before Friday. The kids were working hard despite the hard rain that postponed a lot of our practice. Since English is not their first language, they have to learn all the pronunciations so they sound clear and we can understand it. Noone expects these village children to be able to speak well in English but they work so hard to prove everyone wrong.

I must give a shoutout to Brittany who unfortunately left on Tuesday, a week ago. I am so thankful she was able to come and bless so many in Ghana. She came in and embraced the culture right away as this helped the people embrace her. The children loved her in the village and were sad to see her go. People were shock that she was able to learn so much Twi in a short span of 2 1/2 weeks! It was so fun to share Ghana with her as we are similar in personality and love to pour out to the children. We were able to see and do a lot in just a short amount of time. Most importantly, we were able to build each other up in the truths of Christ and I really needed that from a sister in Christ. Please pray for Brittany and her adjustment back to America along with processing what she has learned and experienced here.

Alright, so I spent the rest of the week at Auntie Jeans rehearsing for the Christmas Program. The kids were kept until 7:30 at night and by that time you can imagine they were tired, hungry, and done! Oh I love children at this breaking point! They worked extremely hard though and by the time of the program, they were ready.

On Christmas Eve, the day of the program, it was my job to set everything up at the venue before everyone arrived. It rained in the afternoon but this was welcomed as it was early enough in the day and I pretended it was my snow showers. You know, a girl can dream! Anyways, by the time the show, should have started, they were just setting up the sound system and decorating the stage. I read a book once about hot and cold climate cultures. They said in an African village, which is obviously a hot climate culture, if a wedding says it starts at 2, they don't start setting up until 2. Well, I definitely live in a hot climate culture and that is definitely true here. I am starting to embrace it though since their is nothing I can do about it! So if you invite me to something this summer tell me an earlier time or I will be extremely late. Anyways, the program started just an hour late and although it was kind of insane and kind of unorganized, it worked and most importantly the gospel was given.

While rushing around during the program fixing the powerpoint, getting kids on stage, and figuring out who needed the microphones; a realization came to me. All these beautiful children in a village tucked up on a hill, reminded me of the Little Town of Bethlehem where our Savior was born. He was tucked away behind the main crowd of people in a lowly stable. These children are looked down upon by most that they cannot function as well as the rest of the world but yet they have the Love of Christ and live a life trusting in Him. The center where we had the event, overlooked the city with twinkling lights. It really was like our own Bethlethem. Christ came to earth not in a grand entrance but only welcomed by barn animals and shepherds. I love this truth as it shows that God came for all people and not just to royalty. It is the same with these children. They do not have much at all, but Christ loves them and they truly love Christ and truth in Him as they have nothing else. What a blessing it has been to learn from these children and see their JOY for life without much materialistic things. God was definitely present for the Christmas program and the children will have the memories to last a lifetime.

On Christmas day, we made the trek down to the land which looks a lot different than last summer as it now has a partial building in it. Last year we were praying that the building will start and this year we were praising the Lord for answering our prayers. How amazing! There is still a lot of work to be done, but progress is being done and God willing by next August, Children of the Light will be moved in. When looking back in a year, God works wonders in such a short amount of time. At the moment, it is hard to see that but when you look at the big picture, you realize how much obviously the Lord works as He can move Mountains!

I traveled back to Accra on a trotro which is always fascinating on Christmas Day. At home during a typical Christmas, I sit in the comfort of my home with my family, smelling the fresh evergreen and listening to Christmas classics while wearing my pajamas and sipping hot tea. Oh the life. However, this is not the typical scene in Ghana as the people I passed were still chipping away on rocks, selling products in the market, and driving taxis. Life does not stop for a majority of Ghanaians on Christmas because they can't affordto take time off of working as they simplydo not have the means. This is always a real eye opener for me as people here do not have the luxury of taking a rest like we do. Life is about working to supply them for the day and then they must work the next day again to survive that day. It is just a different world. Please pray for the people of Ghana and otheres would by open to helping them

Merry Christmas. and a Happy New Year!

picture from Christmas with Kids Club

I know I look weird but we are praising the Lord through song, I promise!

Once we finally got all the kids to sit, well except for the ones by Brittany jumping on each other, we acted out the Christmas story with some of the kids. With that many, it was hard to get all of them to listen but we did our best. God's message was preached so that is the most important thing.

Look at them all! Aren't they precious? The line just keeps on going. There are still more to the right of this picture and sitting opposite of them. Thank goodness that God provided and we could be in contact with 84 kids. Even though it was a lot, God sent us a blessing and I must be thankful.

All the kids, including myself watched Charlie Brown Christmas that was projected onto the wall. The kids looked pretty entertained, fixiated on it at least as this is a treat for them. I think I will have to have more movie nights. It calmed them down at least.

84 what?

So a week ago from Sunday, we had our second annual Christmas Party for the kids on the street. I told the kids we would have a Christmas Party so they were expecting something. I decided to play it calmer this year and only serve them cake and popcorn. I tried to make extras but that obviously wasn't enough as Brittany and I had 84 kids at the house. I am not sure where they all came from, from the cracks in the sand or something. When Brittany told me that number, I said, 84 what? I don't get it because I didn't believe that could be the number of kids. So, we were running out of things to give them as you can imagine but God provided. Brittany said afterwards that we should have prayed over it like the fish and bread, God does work miracles. The younger kids just didn't get as much as the older ones but they survived. We sang songs, tried to give the Christmas story while acting it out and then watched a Charlie Brown Christmas which does tell the true meaning of Christmas which was projected on the wall in my compound. The kids didn't understand the movie as well but they enjoyed watching something. Even though the evening was crazy, the kids behaved themselves pretty well and seemed appreciative of what we could give. For days later, they would come out of their houses shouting, "Sister Christy, hello." Daniel said the parents appreciate our efforts but they would never come and tell me that. That is just part of the culture. It is funny that they would just allow their kids to come to an obruni house without even knowing us but they figure we can't be too bad if we are singing Hallelu, Hallelu, at the top of our lungs and reading God's word. Please pray for these kids as they try to learn in the public school district which isn't easy to do here. Pray that I can help teach some of them their alphabet and the letter sounds as they just rote memorize it at school. These children are precious and deserve the best.



Thank you to those who donated money for kids club or just the general fund so it was possible for me to buy the needed supplies to make this event happen. I guess I will have to plan for 150 next time! God is good and sovereign and as it says in the Bible, let the little children come unto me. I pray I never turn down a child or never get irritated to not spend time with them because they are truly precious in his sight.

Have a Seat, Connect the Mosquito Bites, and Laughter equals beautiful smiles

This picture is out of order but this is in the village which I have visited before. The kids just found out that they were receiving cups and candy from us and this was their reaction. Isn't beautiful? I wish all kids were as satisfied as these. The whole classroom erupted in cheering. These children do not receive much being so far away from the town so this was a huge surprise for them.

This is Brittany in the village(explain below) looking a little knife happy! The kids were teaching her how to make a broom. You would all be so proud of me! A lady in the village invited us over for dinner consisting of fufu(pound of casava and plantain) which you dip in soup with your fingers and swallow it without chewing. This was a challenge for me but I did it. You can tell we are all enjoying ourselves with the kids, goats, dogs, and chickens running around somewhere.

This is probably my favorite picture as the kid holding the knife is 1. We were sitting where the picture was taken above and just watching him with the knife as the mom and all the kids were just watching from afar and laughing. Just a different world!

We made crowns on the last day for baby Jesus with the little ones who learned how to use scissors for the first time. Brittany was wondering how the kids would keep the crowns on their head since they were too small but then we remembered that we are in Africa and they can keep things on their heads without any problem!

We made nativity scenes out of triangles with the older kids. They turned out cute and the kids were happy to make a craft.

These are kind of out of order but this is in village that I went to last year as well, Apeboso. We helped the older kids learn an easy Christmas program in 2 days! God does work miracles! You will see in the pictures below that we used parts of the palm tree for angel leaves and head bands. There are so many uses for the palm tree and these people are so resourceful in knowing how to make the most of what they have instead of the American culture where we throw away everything.

This is Praise, Christine's little boy with his angel wings. He is full of energy but has a great heart.
Brittany is busy tying on angel wings and making sheep ears while everyone else wants to join in also. These children have not been exposed to a lot but they have sweet spirits and love experiencing new things.

Oops, the picture is sideways but this is Christine and I in the Rainforest! Yes, a genuine rainforest which is right next to the village. I hope you can tell that they are leaves shaped in the form of heart sto represent our heart for Africa!

Oops, sideways again. When we were in town with Christine, we put up Christmas decorations which was a blast since I haven't done that in awhile. These are all the kids that Christine and Kirk are taking care of in the town so they can have a better education. If you can't tell, we are pretending to be cold although we are really sweating! I feel like part of the family here!

Brittany had already been here a week when we took our first adventerous trip to Christine's house about 5 hours away. We were suppose to leave the house at 4:15 a.m. but I mistakenly woke up at 4:30 in a panic! Fortunately when we arrived, the bud had not left yet and in fact it was only 1/3 of the way full. This game of waiting lasted 3 hours with 5 hours of driving time on top of that! Oh happy day in Ghana! A saying I have noticed is applicable to most situtations in Ghana is have a seat. They are always telling me to have a seat when I am waiting for someone even though I prefer to stand. this says a lot about the culture as they want you to be comfortable but also because they know it will take awhile for anything to happen. I will say that God is teaching me a lot of patience! While we were waiting, I entertained the other passengers on the bus but exhausint my repertoire of twi phrases. When every least seat was taken the passengers yelled, "Acuia, pray for us." Acuia mean Wednesday born as this is important in the Ghanaian culture. I was a little confused at first but Brittany told me that they really wanted me to pray for their trip. I then went on to pray for Ghana and safe traveling which we don't take lightly here! The Ghanaians all in unison shouted amen and we were officially on our way! Brittany and I pretty much dozed in and out of consciousness the grueling 5 hour but ride. Thankfully, the light at the end of the tunnel came and it was worth the hassle as I was able to spend time with Brittnay in village life and hear sound advice from Christine, who has been a missionary in Ghana with her hustband for 16 years. We spent the rest of the evening playing uno with Christine's girls and listening to many of Christine's stories. This is how life should be, relaxed and not gated in seclusively but among the Ghanaian people.

Sundays are typically hard days for me in Ghana as it reminds me of missing home. This happened today especially as Christmas is approaching. However, God is sovereign and decreases my fears and insecurities. One of the songs we sang talked about, "It's you I live for Everyday" This was a great reminder as it is Christ and Christ and alone that I want to live for everyday. I must make it a priority to think of Him first everyday and devote my daily life to taking up my cross and following Him. After church we spent the afternoon "making Christmas." I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this as I haven't decorated in two years. I made cookies with one of the girls from the villlage who now goes to school in town. We even wore aprons and hats although mine was too small. Ophelia is quite the Betty Crocker. During this ime, we put out a small Christmas tree with ornaments and taught the girls how to make snowflaks while tryin to explain to them that a snowflake was. Brittany had betterluck than I did. We spent the rest of the evening playing games while Praise and the girls decorate cookies while we played games. love life here bcause we just live for how it is and give the children they care for the dearest, the best experience possible I a not stck in my nice home with four walls and a guard. This is whee I feel at homeand in my comfort zone. I did hve a choice to come next year to stay with Christine bt I feel that I am not finised at AIS yet. However, it s so har being here knowing I can't do anyhing long term to help these chldren at the moment. Some of the teachers are not even teachers while others have over fifty kids in a room. How will they ever learn in this type of environment? God will bing me to the next step of my journey i due time and I mut b faithful to His timing.

Monday, finally arrived where we were greeted with man smiling faces in the village, Apeboso. It as so amazing to see familiar children who permate he town of Ape. As always, they came running when they hear Christine's car nd as always they bring in the multitude of supplies like little working ants. They love to help and enjoy any interaction we have with them as everything is a new experience for them. You must understand, that a lot of them have not even seen a paved road before or a movie so they take everything with wide eyes and a thankful heart. The kids attached on to Brittay right away as she taught them new songs.

When we arrived at Christine's, she told us that we were going to help the children put on a Christmas play that they would perform in town for her church in town. Most people in town think the kids in the village are backwards so she really wanted the to shine for this Christmas program to show them all that they are capable also. The kids in the village are better off as they are self sufficient with their farms and can take care of themselves unlike the towns people who rely on the goods of the village peope to survive. Anyways, Christine gave us a small children's poem of the birth of Christ so we had one child ead it while he other children acted it out. I will admit it that it was difficult at times to get them to understand our directions but they worked hard and by God's grace produced a fantastic play. It took many rehearsals but the kids enjoyed working hard to accomplish a goal. One day, I told them we would rehearse two more times and then play games. Once we fnished two times, I asked them and they all said they wanted to keep rehearsing! What a differet world we were in as the kids loved to work hard.

On the first day, Brittany surprisingly taught the KG, 1,2, and class 3 class all together where the little ones didn't know any English. They did have a teacher but she didn't teach them anything and just stood there as Brittany scrambled around to figure out what to teach so many children at many different levels. That is teaching on the whim 101.

On the second afternoon, we went into the Rainforest which is in the backyard of the village. Yes, a real, certified Rainforest complete with exotic plants, vines winding around like a jungle gym, and trees you normally make expensive furniture out of. God is so good to produce amazing wonders like the Rainforest which produces so many rich resources for us and is pleasing for our eyes to gaze at.

By Wednesday, the kids had produced an amazing play which they performed for the people of the village. They even got down swaying at the same time during "Joy to the World" which believe me was no small feat. The kids are so resourceful compared to kids in our culture as they made all of their costumes out of palm branches. Who knew there were so many uses for a palm branch? They made angel wings, headbands, you named it and they looked amazing. The kids were so proud of themselves as they accomplished a goal and achieved it. These kids don't have much but they understand the importance of working hard for goals and I am so proud of them for that.

One of my most memorable evenings was when we went to a lady's house in the village and helped her make dinner. Brittany got to pound the fufu, which ends up in a gooey ball like bread dough. Then came the best part, eating it! For those of you who know me, you know that I love eating new and exotic foods! Alright, I am a picky eater and it was difficult for me to do this but it was more important to eat in fellowship than anything else we could do for them. With fufu, you don't chew it, but just swallow it. You put it in soup with fish and other meats. I have been avoiding it since I have been here but I did it and will say that well I really don't want to eat it again. To eat it, you put some in your fingers, dip it in the soup, and anchors away, in the mouth with one large swallow. Yummy! THe fufu doesn't taste like anything, just whatever the soup is. There was fish in the soup and Igues goat meat but I stayed away from the fish. I tried to take small bites but the lady kept saying "didi" which is eat. The other part of eating this is you eat all from the same dish, so Brittany, myself, and the lady with her youngest child all ate together with the rest of the children eating all around us plus the goats, chickens, and dogs. One big old happy family! I even found a gnat in one of my almost bites. but good thing I checked first. This is what life is all about in Ghana, reaching out to people and getting to know them on their level in their setting. Even though I became pretty disgusted, we made her evening and that is what it is all about. Christine and all the kids are like a second family to me. I feel at home there and pray that maybe I will have a place there in God's timing although AIS is home for now.

Oh for the title: One day I am going to write a book about Ghana and it will be called, "Have a Seat" as for some reason the Ghanaian people don't like it when we stand when we are waiting for something. "Have a seat," Have a seat" that is all we hear. For some reason they don't think obrunis can handle standing for a long time. Well, really it just shows how hospitable everyone is and the laid back mentality. You might as well take a seat because you don't know how long it will be until the people show up. You got to love Ghana!

We were in the village, we were eaten alive from mosquito bites. It would have been a fun to connect the bites, make a pretty design! Both of us didn't take malaria pills so pray we don't get anything!

Last one; the kids in the village don't know how to smile for a picture, so when you say 1, 2, 3, they have to laugh. It is hilarious watching them all laugh as you take their picture. I love them so much.

Sorry for reading this super long blog!

Early Christmas Present

Brittany, myself, Faith, and Kim at the beach with the high schoolers after teaching at Pram Pram. Yes, windy but beautiful! My beautiful kids performing at the Christmas concert. I was so poud of them!

Myself and two of the students before the concert. The boy looks thrilled to be in the picture with me right? The girl is to busy coloring! Oh well! They are all so unique and I can't believe a semester has already gone by with them. I miss them already and can't wait to teach again(did I really say that?) as I am forgetting how to teach!

These are all of my kids on the last day before Christmas break with their flat people.

Brittany and I on Brittany's first trotro ride. The first of plenty of other trotro rides!

This present wasn't late due to the postal service or Ghana issues. This present arrived on time and couldn't have come a minute sooner. Alright I won't keep you guessing any longer. My friend Brittany from college came to visit and we are enjoying each moment together! She arrived last Saturday in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas program. When I went to pick her up, I got a taxi out of the airport because I knew it would be cheaper. Then I had him wait for us. However, Brittany's plane was a little late and by the time we got outside, the driver was gone. It was definitely not what I needed at the moment as I had to get to the Christmas program but a great welcome of Ghanian culture! The security guard found us one but then a huge argumet broke out which we could not understand. Supposedly our taxi driver was illegal and they would not let him out of the airport. As they continued arguing, I grew impatient as I had somewhere to be and this was not leaving a great impression on Brittany. As always, God answers prayers and takes care of us in stressful situations. As we were arguing with the taxi and the airport security while trying to take our luggage out, a family from the school saw us who were just dropping off a friend at the airport. The girl plays soccer so I know her pretty well. Thankfully, they stopped and offered us a ride home. What a blessing as God is faithful in his timing! How can we never praise God when he makes stressful times disappear in such a huge way as that was certainly not a coincidence. Needless to say, we rushed home and quickly got read so we could leave for the Christmas program. The program was where we normally have it although we couldn't use te larger room so we were crammed into a smaller one. My kids had to sit outside and wait for their turn but luckily I brought papers for them to color! You always have to be one step ahead of them! Despite the crowdedness of the event, God's message of sending his son as a baby to die for our sins was beautifully presented. I just pray that all of the families present thought about this message a little deeper as it is my prayers that everyone will come to the realization that Christ is the true meaning of life and is the only Savior of the World.

Well, I didn't give Brittany anytime to rest as we went to Pram Pram the very next day where we lead Sunday School at the Children's home once a week. I love this place so much as the children are so sweet and they worship the Lord with all their might. Voices are lifted up to the Lord and dance joyfully infront of the Lord. The high schoolers that went with us did a good job presenting the Christmas story to the kids and we spent the rest of the time making a nativity scene. It was fun to watch our high schoolers getting down at the kids level and coloring with him. It is such an unique opportunity for our AIS kids to put theirselves aside and reach out to love on kids who are relly a blessing from God and really need personal love. Brittany of course attached right onto the kids and they loved her right back as they gave her a bracelet they had made. It was so fun having Brittany here as we both have a passion for children and Africa.

Brittany was a real trooper as I had my last week of school. I can't believe the first semester is already finished! I have taught for three semesters and I still have no idea how I know what to teach everyday but I do know that the Lord sustains me and gives me the knowledge and stength to engage these developing minds. Praise the Lord for his direction! It was a fun week with the kids as we did activities geared towards Christmas although I still made them work quite a bit. I know, what a Scrooge I am but I think I blended work and play in together. I had been wanting to read Flat Stanley and do an activity with it but I had to do it in forward motion as it came a week before our break. Flat Stanley is about a boy who gets flattened by his bulletin board and even mails himself to friends house because it is cheaper than a plane ticket. The kids had a good time reading this book and we even made our on Flat People. The students are required to take them on holiday with them and take pictures of all of their travels together. They are also suppose to journal about these times. I pray that the students to this assignment as it will be fun to see the creativity and imagination of what their "flat people" did over Christmas. I loved watching the kids make their flat people as they all showed themselves in different ways. We had very large flat people to very smal and skinny people with extremely long legs. Each one of my kids is very unique and I love them to express their own personality through their work. It was a blessed week especially having Brittany in the classroom as she was such a tremendous help with all the kids. I want to team teach with her! She also reminded me of the patience I need to have for each kid and to take the time to listen to each kid really get to know. It is hard sometimes to meet each kids need during a busy day but she gave me a renewed desire to pour into each child and offer them a listening ear whenever possible. I do love teaching in a Christian school where I can openly share about Christ and celebrate Christmas for the true reason. I got to share with my kids that we celebrate Christmas for God giving us the best gift his son, and the kids openly shared their desire to worship the King. I have kids with extremely strong faith at such an early age and they have remind me each day through their witness of the reason why I live and why I serve the might Savior.