Deep Roots

Yesterday marked another groundbreaking day (literally) in the clearing of the land in Katasie where Auntie Jean has Children of the Light. First of all, I need to tell you a miracle to just remind us how God does work in our lives even when we doubt. Auntie Jean is originally from New Zealand but married a Ghanaian. She loves her ministry and it has grown so much as this vision to have its own place seems to take place. However, she has been feeling guilty for having her children here and has wondered if they would be better off in New Zealand. She prayed that if she was to stay, that someone would donate to the land so she could pay it off. She prayed for just 5 cedis, just to show her something. Of course God didn’t provide 5 cedis. He always goes above and beyond and we forget that every time. The next day at school she received enough money to pay off the land in full, it can now be entirely Children of the Light’s land! Praise the Lord as He always Reigns and continues to show his mercies each new day!
So, now back to yesterday. I want to describe to you in detail the process of getting to her house and just what it entails in Ghana. I will take you on a picture walk and throw in some smells and sounds along the way. You might want to cover your nostrils when I take you through the smells, just a little warning. We left our house at 6:30, walked down the street to catch the next trotro and made it to the next stop where we waited for some friends. The Ghanaians always laugh at us for riding in trotros as they don’t think it is a safe thing to do but it is cheap! A taxi ride for 4 cedis will only 35 pesowas(cents). Can’t pass that up! Unfortunately, a trotro never came or when it did, everyone pushed their way on it first that we didn’t get a chance. We finally decided to take a shared taxi which just means you can ride in a taxi with other people and play a lower price but we knew all the people we were riding with! I got the privilege of sitting on my friends lap so four of us could sit in the back. Don’t worry, perfectly safe! When we arrived in Medina, we were greeted with the usual sights, sounds, and smells. Saturday is Market Day so everyone comes to sell their goods or buy some for their shop. You name it, and you can find it in the market. Dead fish, snails, every vegetable, knock off shoes, fake cleats, jerseys, and second hand clothes. Something interesting about second hand clothes; the word they call them in twih means dead white man’s clothing because they figure someone has to be dead to give up their clothes. Don’t they realize how our materialistic society works? Anyways, this market is how people survive but I think it would be hard to make a living because there are at least 10 other people selling the same thing. They love to see white people as they think we will buy more so they shove products in our faces and try to make us stop at their shop. They haven’t caught on yet that forcing us to buy something doesn’t work. When we get to Medina, we have to push and maneuver our way around the market to get to the next trotro station. It isn’t easy to maneuver around as you have to watch out for cars, wagons pulling goods, other people walking and the sewer. Oh yes, the lovely open sewer; my biggest nightmare! I have this fear that I will fall in it one day and then just go home then. The sewers don’t smell pretty or look nice, don’t worry I won’t go into detail but I will say that when it gets hot out, the sewers become more noticeable.
Once at the next station, you have to ask around to find the right trotro as they are all lined up. Usually we have to wait in line while all the ladies come around with the baskets on their heads trying to sell products. We then push our way to get on the next trotro and away we go up the mountain or hill. There is usually traffic but the trotros are good at off roading it and finding the bumpy, sandy back ways to go until we reached the open road. The road up the mountain is nice since the president has a home at the top. When we finally reach Katasie, we then hike down past people carrying sticks on their heads or getting water at the local water pump. Definitely a more simple life than what you find in the city. Oh the land is so gorgeous and there is now more grass planted. We worked on clearing a new area so they can hopefully plant there this week. There is nothing like good physical labor to get your heart pumping! One of the jobs of the guys was to get all the stumps up. As they were removing them, we realized how deep the roots system were as they all were interconnected. This reminded me of how I should be especially here. If I don’t have good strong, deep roots in what I believe in Christ than it is easier for me to get attacked by the opposition or metaphorically speaking, to get chopped down. Satan uses lies to get to us and to stop the truth from being known but I and other believers must be constantly in the word so we can fight evil with the truth. Here there is a lot of prosperity gospel being given or prophesying. You have to be very careful of what you hear, even in good churches. I am also surrounded by 10 inquisitive minds at school who always have questions. If I am not ready or do not know the answers to their questions(well some of their questions no one has the answers) than they could be missing out on the redeeming message of Christ. I want to have strong, deep roots, that are being nourished by the uplifting message of Christ. I want to be filled with the living water where I will thirst no more. Good News! We can be through a trust in the Lord Savior. I will be honest, I am not always good at having quiet times where I am all the way awake or focused the whole time, so I am working on this. I am not always good at praying all the time but prayer is important as we are trusting that the Lord will work in our lives. However, I want to become better at spending more quality time with the Lord as this is how my deeps will keep planted and never uprooted. Oh what great promise we have in the Lord that He won’t leave us on this earth but instead offers us eternal life!
After we worked for two hours and the sun made its presence known, we stopped for a lunch break. Auntie Jean and the kids cooked lunch over the open fire in a pot. We had rice and cabbage stew which was very good and impressive that they did it over the fire. We always had to do this at camp at the beginning of the year and it never turned out well. Anyways, on the way back we were having a hard time catching a trotro so they taught us the symbol for hitchhiking was is to put one hand on top of the other palms up while you say (Mao Poucho; please) The guys tried this and right away we got two flatbed trucks! We really wanted to ride in them but they said they were afraid of the police. It was worth a try! We settled on taking a shared taxi again so I found myself squashed up in the back seat for a 45 minute ride. At the bottom of the hill, there is a toll booth where you must pay. Our driver got out before that and went to talk to the police. This is never a good sign. He went across the road to the other police and then got back in the car. He told us that on the way up the hill, he was stopped by the police and they made him dash them(give him money). Unfortunately this happens often and the taxi drivers have to give it to them or the drivers will get arrested! Yes a little corrupted but things like this probably happen in America too if we want to be honest. So, the police on the other side made the taxi driver give them money also, I guess they didn’t want to feel left out. Just different than what we are use to!So you can see the ordeal it takes to get up to Auntie Jeans but it is so worth it to see the Lord working in this Ministry and in our own hearts. Please pray for the Christmas program that Auntie Jean puts on every year with the children. Cathy and I will be there to help out, I can’t wait! Also pray for safety as we are on the land(found to scorpions last week), for the grass to grow, and for the plans to come together for the pavilion. Thank you for your prayers and I will pray for all of you. Please let me know what I can pray for. Keep in touch!