Hello friends!
Here we are, already in June! I do not know about all of you, but life lately has been a little bumpy for me…. literally! I recently returned from a trip out to a remote area in the Central Region of Ghana. It is a long trip to get there which involved bumpy roads, isolated communities that lack access to basic medical care, education for children, and other essential needs. Despite all of this, these communities are resilient in their existence after generations of fishing from the sea, and other ways they have managed to keep pressing on as a society. As we entered one of the communities after a long tiring, and bumpy ride, we were met by a group of around 30 plus children that gather every Saturday to learn numeracy and literacy skills taught by volunteers that invest in them weekly. Right away, it was evident that these children are met with love and care weekly. Even in the harshest of environments, Grace abounds among these precious children of God.
The past month has been filled with bumps along the road, but The Lord has graciously reminded me of the Grace and Mercy that only He can provide when we seek His face. There is so much to learn from moments we try to avoid or regret at the time, but in hindsight always render such humbling evidence of God’s presence. He never leaves us, even on the roughest and beaten paths that are tempting to avoid. As I reflect on the recent trip, there were so many moments I was uncomfortable either because of the length of travel, continuous bumps on the road, or stand-still traffic from passing through the nations capital to get to our destination. But, if we had taken a detour around traffic, or avoid taking the bumpy roads altogether, we would have missed out on witnessing the abounding grace of God in meeting with the precious children in the remote community we traveled to. We would have missed out on the opportunity to encourage the volunteers that are investing tirelessly and selflessly in the lives of those children. I personally would have missed out on being humbled by the realization that I can do nothing by my own strength. It is only by His abounding grace.
Earlier this month, there were a few other bumps in the road in planning and implementing a children’s ministry training for the town of Aflao. The Lord put this vision on my heart to organize a collaborative training for different churches and schools within the town of Aflao to establish more Christ-centered unity among these various groups. As I met with different leaders and shared this vision, I was quickly met with several challenges such as misunderstandings, miscommunications, and conflict of dates that kept some from attending the program. But, by the abounding grace of God, we were able to organize and implement a training with around 50 plus participants from various “groups”. Through prayer and allowing God to naturally break down barriers through learning activities that require teamwork, by the end of the 2-day training, everyone who were in attendance received new skills and ideas to establish children’s ministry programs that are Christ-centered, and volunteer based. We played games together, laughed, sang songs, and learned new strategies, followed by concluding everything in fellowship with a delicious meal of the local dish called Wayke! Glory be to Him!
I want to share another example of God’s grace recently which unexpectedly provided an opening into a high school sports program. I had been itching to play basketball once again for some time, and through different mutual connections, I was introduced to a group of boarding high school students in the town of Ho that play sports every Sunday afternoon. I showed up one afternoon ready to play, and it was so much fun! It resulted in a possibility of collaborating with the school administration to form an unofficial FCA group. There are still some bumps in the road in this process, but trusting that if it is The Lords will, that if I am not the one that is to establish it, that God will direct me to the one to present this opportunity to so that these high school students can know the love of Christ through their passion for sports!
As I close, I want to thank you all once again for month by month riding the bumpy roads with me on this journey through reading these updates, praying, and supporting financially the ministry here in Ghana. We are all together in this, and it is truly humbling to realize how connected we all are globally. The picture above is from sharing a story from The Word of God with children that come from a background that are nomadic herdsman. They know what it is to walk bumpy roads following cattle around. My heart prayer for them, is that they will all one day follow Jesus down the road He calls them to for His Glory.
Sending love and prayers from Ghana,
Chelsi
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