FRUITS OF HIS SPIRIT

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

Hello All!!

This update is long overdue, please forgive me for that! Most days, I am not even sure what day of the week it is. That is what living on “Ghana time” will do. There really is no concept of time when it comes to normal day to day activities. This can prove to be both stressful and peaceful at times. The longer I stay here, the more I am aware of the things in me that God needs to change so I can be His ambassador here. In this season, He has been teaching more about how to live out His Fruits of The Spirit. I have been meeting with another Equip missionary monthly on zoom to walk through a study specifically focused on how to stay connected with God in a cross-cultural context. I am thankful to be doing this because it has allowed me to take step back to reflect and be more intentional in WHY and for WHO I am here. In the day-to-day mundane tasks, I have had to refocus my heart to align with The Fruits of The Spirit. Whether it is in the early morning chore of washing clothes, the hot walks around the village to check on my friends, the draining journey to go to town and pick up items on a hot day, the unexpected power outages that tend to come right as I am about to prepare a dinner, or the constant chatter in the language of Ewe which I do not fully understand, in ALL of these things God has shown me how I need to focus more on considering it ALL joy. When I do that, I notice the little things that do bring me joy. I can enjoy the early morning washing while praying to my Father. I can enjoy the moments of laughter I share with my dear friend Prince as he is now a walking miracle and we get to do exercises together in his home, or when my other friend Rumana greets me and calls my name from afar alerting all the other children in the area to come running excitedly when I come to visit them. Even the power outages have moments of joy as my roommates and I will sit outside under the stars having deep discussions, or simply laughing about how we are fiercely swiping mosquitos because it is too hot to be inside and how our laughter may carry to wake the surrounding neighbors. It is not always easy to practice The Fruits of The Spirit, but when I do, I am able to love sincerely, consider it all joy, be at peace when then circumstances are out of my control, and be patient in The Lord’s timing. I am thankful for all the little things which add up to be a big picture of the evidence of God working in this village of Zuime, even when I may feel drained, frustrated, or inadequate because through all of these circumstances, I know God is in control.

I am excited and humbled to share that after several weeks and many back-and-forth trips to the Capital of Accra, I have received a resident permit under the NGO I registered called: Sustaining Love Kids! Through this whole process, God has shown me His Ways are greater and His timing is best. I had to be careful not to become impatient during this time, and to trust that in all things God was in control and had a plan. In the meantime, as things were being processed, there were many opportunities to represent the love of Christ to those I was working with in processing the paperwork for me. Often, I had to remind myself to be patient and trust that, ultimately, God is in control.

In the season of waiting for paperwork to be processed, I am thankful to share that time did not stop. While there were moments to be still before The Lord while making certain decisions, there were also many moments of God working amid an unknown time of waiting.

One thing I had hoped of implementing during my time here was a cross-cultural connection between teachers from the US and here in Ghana to meet online and discuss educational strategies with a Biblical Perspective to encourage one another. We have been able to do two meetings so far, and both times were unique in their own way! The first meeting the power went out right before the meeting started. Despite that challenge, the meeting went on thanks to flashlights and power banks. The second meeting had some network issues, but still, we were able to do the meeting using my phone on WhatsApp. The Lord reminded me during all of those challenges to consider it all JOY! What could have been super frustrating and stressful moments turned out to be entertaining and joyful, especially to for the teachers here in Ghana who were loving every minute of the connection with teachers in the US! Special shout out to those teachers who took the time to meet with us, Lord willing, be able to continue to do so!

I believe I mentioned in the previous newsletter that my neighbors have been coming to me after school for homework help. As you can see in the picture, I have several neighbors! Since this picture, more have been added. Our routine involves doing homework together, listening to songs, dancing, flash cards, and sometimes a special snack! This picture makes me laugh because it appropriately demonstrates the sometimes chaos of a freshly poured cup of lemonade spilling onto a notebook…. But we consider it all joy! Many of these routines are foreign to my little friends, so this has been a great practice for what is to come during the Sustaining Love Kids after-school program. In the local language of Ewe, Deka Deka means one by one. This is my prayer that one by one we will plant seeds of fruit in these precious children’s lives.

I also had the opportunity to visit one of the schools in the town of Aflao to make some connections and see how things are run there at the school. The owner of this school is the same guy who will be allowing the usage of the compound in the village of Zuime for the after-school program. These “God Connections” are all helpful towards the common goal of helping support the educational system here. The online courses I have been taking through CCU have also opened my eyes and broadened my perspective on cross-cultural educational strategies, especially in teaching English to other native speaking students. Here in Ghana, the international language is considered English, but many remote schools in village settings do not have quality training or resources to support the English language acquisition, which unfortunately leads to children promoting to a higher grade without the solid foundation of literacy skills needed to be proficient in the English language. All these new insights have given me a more focused vision for implementing the after-school program!

Sometimes, an unexpected blessing can come from a horrible circumstance. There can be beauty in brokenness….This is the story of my new (temporary) roommate named Georgina. I would like to briefly share a testimony of this sweet girl who has overcome intense situations, and by The Grace of God is now showing this beautiful smile! It was discovered that she had been moved to three different living environments, all in which she had experienced various forms of abuse. After hearing of this, my roommates and I were able to take necessary action to arrange for her to come and stay with us. Her mother lives in the border country of Togo, while her father is living in Accra, so she has no relatives currently living in this area. She has been staying with different families so that she can complete her junior high school classes and promote to high school here in Ghana. In the middle of her crucial time of studying for the upcoming national exams, these unfortunate events were happening to her. She was broken, depressed, and unable to focus when she first came to stay with us. After days of wresting through the trauma of her circumstances, she is now in a more peaceful state of mind by The Grace of God! My roommates, who are also teachers at her school, have helped to love, support, and disciple her during these few weeks she has been with us, and it has been such sweet time together of sisterhood. I have been encouraged by her constant prayer life as she rises early to pray and prays passionately before sleeping at night. She has also been joining me after school to go and visit people in the community. I am excited to see how God will continue to use her life as a testimony of His grace and protection to encourage others she will meet who have gone through similar circumstances that she can relate to.

The rest of my time has been spent visiting my friends in the village. Despite difficult living conditions and hardships, these friends, along with several others keep demonstrating joy amid certain challenges.

As I wrap up this long newsletter, I would like to share a few continued prayer requests for the ministry The Lord has me here for. Now that I have obtained the NGO registration and resident permit, the next several weeks will be crucial in setting a firm foundation for the after-school program. There are many factors at play in making sure this can be done in a the most effective and “sustainable” way. My heart’s prayer is that everything will be done according to The Will of God, and not my own. There is no actual rush or timeline. That is why I ask for patience to do all things according to God’s timing and provision. The new goal is now the first of the year to officially kick things off! In the meantime, I hope to establish one or two trainings for the ones who will be helping with the program. The group Literacy Evangelism Ghana is still working with me to finalize a time they can come host a training for us in their Bible-based literacy curriculum. It is also important that community understands the goal and vision of the program as well. I am clinging to Habakkuk 2:3 during this time:

For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

I pray all of you who have read this newsletter are doing well in the various journeys of life The Lord has you on. I am always humbled at the reminder that we are all one family, and no matter the distance of miles or cultural norms we find ourselves in, we are connected in Christ. May the Fruits of His Spirit be the source of your day-to-day activities. Thank you all so much for the continued love, prayers, and support. Please do not hesitate to reach out via email, or any other platform, if you have any specific questions.

Also, Happy Thanksgiving from Ghana!

Love and prayers,

Chelsi