Last Sunday was filled with celebrations of how the Lord has
worked through Harry and Bea Ward. The
impact they made was evident as numerous people gave testimonies, sang songs,
and preached about missions. Although it
is difficult to see them leave, we praise the Lord for the mighty work he has
done in their life and continues to do so.
Sunday afternoon, I went to a program at church for the young women
which is any age from 13 to single women.
The time was spent learning new songs, praying to stay pure in the Lord,
and reading scripture about allowing God to abide in us. Most of the meeting was done in Ewe except
for the bible reading which were all done in French. It was interesting to me that they read the
bible in one language but then read the bible in another. They are so talented. Thankfully, the first grade teacher from
school went and she translated everything into French for me. I have enjoyed getting involved in church and
getting to know other women who are just wanting to please the Lord through
their lives.
Monday, Bea and I found ourselves on the road again as we
visited three schools which Dongoyo being the farthest. This school is in Kara which is closer to
Benin and about 6 hours away. Although
it was a long journey, I love seeing the countryside and it actually feeling
like Africa with the dirt roads and tropical foliage. I loved visiting the Kara school as they only
have 60 children and most of them understand French better than the mother
tongue. We arrived right before school
commenced again for the afternoon session so this gave me ample time to play
games with all the kids. I love
interacting with all of them and seeing their smiling faces to play with a
Yovo. I was also impressed with their
classrooms and the posters they hang everywhere to make up for lack of
lighting. We then left early Tuesday
morning to visit the rest of the schools 5 hours south in Lome. What a blessing it was to see the teachers
active in their students’ learning and making the best of their situations. Some of the rooms are very small and tight
and others just have too many students like 70 in a second grade room. I visited one second grade room before school
started for the afternoon. I was
pointing to the pictures of Moses and they were telling me all about the life
of Moses and how his sister Miriam put him in the river. I was so impressed by their ability to
understand stories in the Bible and I tried to express the love that the Lord
has for them. They even understood the
French lessons that I had helped the teachers with over the summer which is a
great sign.
By Wednesday afternoon, we had successfully visited 14
schools in 5 days so Bea could have a picture of each school and pray with all
the teachers. I missed two days of
teaching but it has been so helpful to see the large picture with the
functioning of all the schools. Please pray for one school in particular who is
struggling at the moment to pay their teachers.
Pray they take the responsibility for their own action and decide what
is best to do.
I have forgotten to tell you about a huge prayer
request. A Togolese man who has helped
Bea for years has three daughters. The
youngest one, four years old, became very ill a few weeks ago and they
discovered that she has a tumor in her head.
This is a huge concern in the states, but we are in a third world
country where there are no brain surgeons.
After looking at many options, they have decided to transport her to the
states for surgery. Of course this is
difficult to do as she first has to receive a national card before she can get
a passport. A national card is pretty
much an easy way for the government to make money. While we were in Lome on Wednesday, we went
to the national government office and with the help of a lawyer, we were able
to get her papers signed. I must explain
that when we entered the office, there were stacks of the pink national papers
by the secretary office, just hanging out in the hallway. They looked like they had been picked up
several times after falling from run-ins.
What a fabulous filing system and we wonder why things take forever
here. The paper was supposed to be
signed by the afternoon but now we are waiting on the passport and then the visa for the stats. Please pray that she can fly to the states by the end of this week to have the surgry. God is sovereign.
I was excited to return to my school on Thursday and
everyone was very friendly to welcome me back.
I was especially grateful to see my students and continue learning
English. They don’t understand why we
don’t write more down because I need them to understand instead of just copy
down words to memorize so we are learning to trust each other. I have been helping the middle school teacher
create some activities to help with verb conjugations and I watched an
excellent lesson as he had the students match the words together in a variety
of ways. I was really impressed. Well, at one point he did have a student
kneel on the dirt ground because he didn’t conjugate the verbs correctly but we
are taking baby steps. The math teacher
asked me why he shouldn’t announce the students’ grades aloud. I tried my best to explain that it could stop
the kids from trying if they get discouraged but I don’t know if I convinced
him. He also had the tests arranged from
worst to best so I quickly shuffled them around while he was talking to the
students. I know I am a pain but these
middle school teachers haven’t had much training so I am trying to help them
out although my methods might not be the best way. Bea has taught me that we must help the
teachers understand why we do certain things in a certain way. The teachers must constantly be thinking, are
the students benefiting if I call their answers aloud or leave the room for 10
minutes at a time. It is all about
forming new habits which I am still working on as well. I feel bad giving them advice but I try to
remember that I am learning as well and don’t have all the answers. We are all a work in progress.
The beginning of the week came with beautiful welcomes, and
the end of the week brought tough good byes as Harry and Bea left for Ghana to
fly out today. I have enjoyed every
moment with the Wards and have learned so much about the culture and how to
best help the schools. The Togolese are
very thankful for their ministry here and I will never be able to replace them,
just continue the work that they have started.
Luckily, they are only an email away and I know we will be in constant
contact. I have been privileged to have
an amazing mentor and I must now make her proud by staying focused on the
schools.
Saturday brought an exciting adventure as I traveled into
Ghana to meet up with my friend Kim from AIS.
We met about 2 hours outside of Accra by Lake Volta which is the largest
man-made lake in the world(There is your interesting fact of the day!) I know it seemed ridiculous to travel 4 hours
to see someone for about 4 hours but it was so worth it as she is a dear friend. We also like to do ridiculous things so this
was right up our alley. I was able to
hire a moto to take me to the border and then took trotro’s the rest of the
way. I kept wanting to speak French
while in Ghana but my Ghanaian accent luckily came back and I was good to
go. I was so blessed with the
opportunity to see her and I love traveling the countryside as God has created
so many spectacular sights for our eyes.
This week I have learned that friends come and go for a
season of time but the Lord continues to be there for us day in and day
out. There is never a moment that he
leaves us nor forsakes us and what a huge blessing that is to constantly have
the Lord by our sides through thick and think.
Continue to thank the Lord for his blessings that He gives us each day,
no matter how small it seems.
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