BY HIS GRACE ALONE...

…YET NOT I, BUT THE GRACE OF GOD WITH ME.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:10

Hello to all!

I am humbled to share that as I type this newsletter, I have been in the States less than 48 hours. I could think of no better way to process and debrief the past month other than writing about it. Thank you all who were aware of my recent travels that reached out and encouraged me with prayers, love, and support!

“By His Grace” is a common phrase heard throughout Ghana by followers of Christ. At first, I thought it was just something attached to a greeting. After spending a few years in Ghana now, I have adopted this phrase as my own motto as well. Because truly, everything that has happened and anything that has potential to happen is by His grace alone. Without Him, I am nothing and can do nothing. Without His grace, my dear friends and ones that have become my family in Ghana would have no hope or future. Because of His grace, babies are born in a village without healthcare with no complications, children survive a whole day without adult supervision, families get by with barely any income, serious accidents turn into miraculous testimonies of recovery, and people can come out of addictions and lifestyles of darkness into a new life in Christ Jesus! There is no other explanation for the things I have witnessed, especially recently, other than the undeserving grace and mercy by our Almighty Father in Heaven. Glory to Him!

By His grace…. God placed me in an area where two beautiful families live beside me with plenty of children. These famlies have many struggles financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Both of the women are raising their children without the fathers’ presence because they have to travel to find work before they can come back around with some money for food. A few days after I took these photos, the woman in the first photo gave birth to her 6th child (the oldest boy is not pictured above). She gave birth at 4:00 am with no medical assistance. I did not even hear a sound! It was not until 5:30 am that I found out about the birth. By His grace, there were no complications. She took him for a review at the local hospital, but she had never done any kind of prenatal care before. This is not all that uncommon in our area. Women have plenty of children, but rarely get the proper educaion or instruction as to how to take care of them in the first few months. I am so grateful, because of funds given, all of these children in the photos have their first term of school paid for! We still are not sure when exactly school will resume for children in Ghana, but as soon as it does, these children have the funds to go back.

By His grace… We have been able to put on classes for the children in our area for the past 3 months. Every day from 9am-12pm around 75 children would gather in various groups spread out with different teachers. We had whiteboards, pencils, and learning material for them to use. All the resources were purchased by funds donated! The children really treated the classes as their school time. The last Friday I was there we were able to serve the children with rice and stew in place of the Milo and groundnuts we normally do on Fridays. The classes will continue until December 18th. We are praying that normal school will resume in January for these children that desperately need not only the education, but a consistent place to go in the day to be supervised while their parents are gone all day until evening looking for work to provide for the family. The group photo is of all the teachers that have been working with the children the past 3 months.

By His grace…. A widowed woman named Sherrita is now able to start a business of selling charcoal in the area to provide for her 7 children. Sherrita has been helping on Fridays to prepare Milo hot drink and groundnuts for the children coming to our classes, but recently we were able to purchase enough charcoal for her to begin selling. If she can manage well, then she will be able to sell the charcoal and from the profit, she can purchase more charcoal to sell as well as get the necessary needs for the family. Recently, Sherrita’s family experienced an intense situation. Her oldest daughter was beat by her boyfriend. When we took her to hospital, we found out she is pregnant. For a few days some of the children would come hang out at our place for safety while Sherrita went to sell coconuts in the area. We are praying that now Sherrita has committed to be apart of the local church community, she will now have accountability and receive the encouragement and discipleship to depend on God to sustain her through all her hardships. She is a strong woman, but by the Grace of God, she will be able to fight her battles with the sword of Truth rather than any other worldly weapon that will fail her.

By His grace…. There has been a bond and relationship with the Muslim community in our area. The door was opened through this precious girl Rumana in the first picture. Through an ongoing relationship of loving on her, there have been several other friendships develop over time. In the next picture is my friend Hayatu. This is not her baby, unfortunately Hayatu has yet to give birth for her husband. I worded it that way because that is exactly how it is viewed in their culture. It is a woman’s duty and responsibility to marry, give birth, and raise as many children that the man wants to have with her, along with the multiple wives he may have. The more children a man has, the more respected he is. Women are not important…. These are the exact words from my friend Hayatu. We recently had a very long and vulnerable conversation concerning these different issues. We discussed the differences in the Koran and The Bible and our conflicting beliefs. We were both very transparent and bold with each other in our words. That is only possible because of the Grace of God that has created a trust and friendship between Hayatu and me. After our long, and at moments, heated conversation we were still friends. Although, my heart still aches for her and all the women in that community. They live a vicious cycle of hopelessness in a false belief. I cannot do or say anything to change that for them…. Only if they accept His grace.

By His grace…. These two brothers, Prince, and Precious, have had life changing experiences. Prince went from near death to new physical life. He is now a testimony of the Grace of God and His mighty Ways. Precious is currently on the road to recovery from a lifestyle of drugs and alcohol from a young age. Precious is 20 years old with the goal to complete high school and be the first in his family to go to university. His mom and stepdad deal drugs and sell alcohol right there in their family house, so it has been a long and difficult road for Precious to leave behind those struggles. I want to give glory and thanks to God that recently, Precious had a sincere and vulnerable moment before The Lord. We were having our Sunday devotion in the house when we ended our time with the song: “I have decided to follow Jesus”. We watched the video with the backstory to the song, which is very powerful. After watching the story to the song, Precious said that he was ready to truly follow Jesus no matter what. He no longer wanted to turn back to smoking weed or drinking. It was such an incredible moment!! There is still a long road ahead for him, but I know that by the Grace of God, Precious will continue to be spiritually fed by truth! The photo of him is from the day we went to the market to purchase his things for boarding school. I look forward to how God will continue to use Precious’ story to encourage others to leave behind the old and walk in new life.

By His grace…. I am thankful how God has provided community, sisterhood, and friendship over the time I have spent in Ghana. There are many challenges about living in a foreign country. Cultural, language, and even food barriers can often be frustrating. Some days, I question why I am where I am. It never fails that as soon as I begin to question, God reminds me exactly what He is doing in my life. He is drawing me closer to Him by allowing me to experience life in a place where dependence on Him the only way to get through day by day. Loneliness can easily seep into one’s life if there is no consistent community. These two girls have been my God given community. They are sisters and have over time become my sisters. God has allowed me to pour into them as well as they have poured into me. Recently, we have all been able to pour into Precious as he has come to our house for weekly Bible study. We have all committed to each other that we will Abide in Christ in all areas of our life. In each other we have community, accountability, and unconditional love…all made possible by His grace.

By His grace… I have so much to be thankful for. From February until December first, I lived in Ghana with no plan or expectations. Covid19 was a huge surprise which ended up placing me back in the village of Zuime. Everything that has happened since then has been so overwhelming in the sense of how God has provided when things seemed impossible and hopeless. I was able to find a place to live for myself and two sisters, funds were donated to fix the place up in more livable conditions, and ministry was able to continue, even in difficult circumstances. Medical care was provided, food was distributed, funds for learning resources were donated, teachers were sponsored to continue education, funds for vulnerable women were donated for trades to be learned and selling business to be started, and most importantly discipleship was able to take place. I want to thank everyone who so fearlessly and faithfully gave generously towards The Lord’s work in Ghana.

I am now in the States. I have no concrete plan for anything. I am waiting upon the Lord for His direction. There are several things that are in the works as far as partnerships for going back to Ghana. Lord willing, I will be able to go back under the name of an established organization. I hope to connect and meet with anyone interested in learning more about the vision and ministry The Lord has laid on my heart for continuing in Ghana. Please feel free to reach out to me at anytime via email or Facebook.

Since arriving back, in this short amount of time, I have felt and witnessed the tension that this country is facing right now. My prayer is that we, the body of Christ, can stand firm in unity for and with each other. Paul speaks of similar times he went through. We must press on towards the goal, no mater what. Let us turn our eyes up Jesus who gives grace upon grace.

God bless you all dear friends!

Chelsi