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!
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