Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.
1 Peter 2:24
Hello everyone!!
As tradition, I wanted to share a sunset picture which was taken just a few days ago on Good Friday evening as I was walking home in the village on my way to prepare to host our neighbors for a showing of the Jesus film. This sunset really touched my heart. It has been a whirlwind the past couple of months, but this sunset on Good Friday brought everything into perspective. Jesus was wounded and died for me….and you. This quote from Oswald Chambers concerning the cross of Christ says this:
The cross is the exhibition of the nature of God, the gateway whereby any individual of the human race can enter into union with God.
With these truths in mind, I am pleased to share with you some updates about life here in Ghana and how the nature of God has been evident through ups, downs, praises, and challenges. I pray that you are all doing well and had a blessed celebration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
This is a picture of outdoor showing of the Jesus film. I have a small projector that I brought here with me to do things like this and it has created so many neat opportunities. Where I live is a bit remote from the center of the village, but I have two families that live very close to me that it has been a sense of community living situation. So my roommates and I invited them over for hot milo (similar to hot chocolate) and biscuits (cookies), to view the 2 hour Jesus film in the local dialect of Ewe. Since we used a speaker, we had some people passing through stop and stay a while. It was neat to observe and listen to everyone discuss during the movie what was going on. When it came time for the crucifixion, everyone was silent as they watched the reality of the brutality that Jesus went through for us. As we watched, I said my own silent prayers in my heart for these people I consider family and live with that they would have softened hearts after seeing Jesus being beaten and persecuted to not retaliate and forgave from the cross. That is a challenge here in the harsh living conditions, it sometimes feels as if there is a constant cycle of shouting and acts of aggression towards one another out of frustration. What I pray most is that all of these burdens that people live with will be a catalyst in drawing them at the foot of the cross to surrender all to Jesus. He is the only one that can sustain and give peace that surpasses all understanding to live a life of joy in the midst of an impoverished life.
Speaking of Sustaining Love, the after school program for students has been in full swing. It has been a challenge to navigate some logistical issues, but God is teaching me patience and endurance during this season to take it one day at a time and continue to focus on a firm foundation. It was evident from the beginning that academics is not the only need these children need help with. The aggression and harshness I mentioned earlier has been modeled to the children and has become the way of life here from such a young age as these in the pictures. We took a whole week to focus on KINDNESS and how to be kind to one another. Our youngest ones enjoyed the end of week activity of drawing a picture of their own face and sticking it on a poster which represented the world that said: A Kind Face can Change the World. Amen!
Last week, all of the schools vacated for Easter break, which is 3 and a half weeks off from school. We were faced with a decision to try and continue the program during the break or not. After meeting with the teachers I found out that many of them will not be available during the break, so we decided that we will inform the children of one day a week during the break that they can come for some activities. We chose Wednesdays. During this season of a “break” I have been seeking the Lord’s guidance in the way forward concerning this program. The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. If needed, the format in which we do it may need to change. Regardless, I know that God is orchestrating a plan and I am trying to lean into Him and lean not unto my own understanding, or hopes and plans.
The above picture is from a recent visit I took to the school in the town that is the mother school of the one in the village where we are hosting the after school program. The school is called Start Right, and the one that is in the town is growing rapidly. The headmaster has been so kind and helpful by allowing us to use the school he has started in Zuime village as the host site for Sustaining Love Kids after-school program. We have been blessed in the amount of books, dictionaries, and learning resources that were shipped in barrels a few months ago. As a thank you, we were able to donate some of the dictionaries to this school in the town. The students were so excited and the teachers were grateful to have dictionaries with pictures inside to help the children make connections to the words!
One evening, I was speaking with my roommates and we were discussion about how to be more intentional in outreach. We decided to try creating a weekly event that would allow us to break away from the village and be in a different environment. The past two weeks we have went to the beach in the town on Sundays after church. I have a volleyball that was inside the barrels that was shipped that we have been using the play with. It has been an incredible response. We have met many youth and adults that have been eager to join us each week! Please pray that we are intentional with this unique opportunity to use sports as a way to build relationships with others!
There is a time and a season for all things. It is bittersweet for me to share the news that this sweet family will be leaving our area and moving to Togo (which is just across the border). I have a long history with this lady and her family. Her name is Jennifer, and we have had such a unique and blessed friendship over the years. I met her several years ago as I was lost trying to find my way back to the main roadside. She showed me the way even though she could not verbally communicate with me. Since then, we have had such a strong bond that even language and cultural barriers cannot not block. Her family has gone through some major hardships and heartache, but her perseverance and commitment to her children’s care has inspired me. By the grace of God there has been support made available to them through some donations I have received to help them relocate to Togo, where they are originally from, to a clean environment which has access to clean water and a place a bath house. I am sad to see them go, but excited to see how this leap of faith will encourage others they know to also put their hope and trust in God during hard times.
My heart is full right now. Full of wonder, praise, gratitude, hope, and a sense of readiness. Recently I was able to travel to a place about two and a half hours away to one of my friend’s home villages which happens to have a mountain (Ghana size mountain). There, I was able to go for a hike which my soul has been longing for. Being in God’s nature is how I enjoy connecting with Him through His creation. It is difficult for me to do that in a place where so many people know me which can get a bit overwhelming at times. This hike was refreshing in so many ways. The Lord renewed my strength and has opened my eyes to the possibility of a new vision for Him. I will wait patiently for more clarity.
Thank you all for your love, prayers, and support. I cannot believe the times is going so fast. My heart is with you all as we are all going through similar ups, downs, praises, and challenges all over the world. But our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ and righteousness!! I am sending out a specific prayer request that has been on my heart concerning the harvest is plentiful and the workers being few here…. Please join me in prayer that if there is someone either here or anywhere in the world that can specifically join and partner with me in the Lord’s work, that I am open to hear from or connect with anyone that may come to heart and mind. Also, it is the Ramadan season, which means that Muslims all over the world (according to their specific start and end date) are practicing day long fasting and prayers. From 4:30am until 6:10 pm the Muslims here do not drink water or eat food during this time frame for a whole month. It is a time of specific dedication to know Allah and show commitment to him. I had a long conversation with my friend Hayatu the other day, as I invited her to come see the Jesus film…. My heart always aches when I talk about Jesus with her. The truth has been twisted in her mind so deeply that she can only reply with what she has been told from infancy. When I ask her what she thinks personally, she is not able to and refused to answer. She can only discuss from the perspective of a Muslim as she uses the pronouns we and our in the conversation. The same thing with my friend Fadilla who I took to the hospital because she was so weak from not eating and drinking water during an excessively hot day here. To them, this is a grand gesture of commitment to earn the love of Allah. Let us pray that Muslims will receive divine revelation from God during their time of prayers. May they know that the one they pray to is not the One. May they seek truth and find it. May they see Jesus in dreams and visions. May they leave darkness and come to light. Amen.
May the God of all Grace and Mercy be with you all. Love from Ghana,
Chelsi
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