Glimpses of our Life in Ghana

  I want to take you on a bit of a journey back in time. Back to 2019. They were looking for a new helper for Kenny at the shop. The board asked us if we have any recommendations. We thought and prayed about it and Jarell Zimmerman kept coming to mind. The board agreed to ask him. Little did we know that earlier that year when they were looking for someone Jarell had actually considered it, but then someone else stepped forward and he forgot about Ghana.   He moved into our home in January. It was a bit awkward for a few days because new adjustments always are, but it didn’t take long for us to see how well he fit into our family. When Kenny’s parents came to visit, his mom told me before she left, I couldn’t pick a better young man to fit into your family. And she was right. The older man Albert also passed away earlier this year. Another reminder life is frail. Treasure each moment.                           ...

This little girl walked to Abbina with Brent and I. Her name is Saviour and I don't know much about her home life but I know it isn't very good. She was so sweet this day and happy to walk along quietly. There were days she came with other children to play and she wasn't very sweet! Brent spends hours on the floor with his toys. His imagination isn't what Austin's is but he still has plenty! This dump truck delivered sand. Our water tower is currently metal and is rusting through. We are hoping a concrete one will work better. The only vehicle available was this one which isn't the end of the world, but it was at the shop because it wouldn't start. Thankfully after doing this several times it decided to just start when asked the first time! The sunsets have been gorgeous! Or maybe we have just been going away enough that we see them. Some day I want a house that I can see sunsets from! Time for a game before bed. I suddenly remembered another picture I took ...

 It is said missionaries burn out because there are more needs around them than they will ever meet. But there is another side to that. I think the main reason is because the needs are so complex. They don't need a handout, they need mentoring and teaching. When someone wants money for a medical need, to be effective, you need to take them to the hospital, help them through the process, and follow up with them.   There are many examples of this. There are three specific young men (14 to 17 years old) that I am thinking of. None of them have fathers being fathers. All of them live with their mothers who struggle to make ends meet and pay school fees. Some of them, the church helps with that. The youngest one doesn't attend school even though his great uncle pays his way. All three of them need food and clothing (to one extent or another) which we could give easily enough. And to be fair, if any of them was actually starving or sick, we would help. But at their age they also sta...

We had some good rains in October. Austin likes to go to the shop with Kenny occasionally before school which works fine since school is just down the road. We took our mower over and mowed at church one evening. Since it is on Living Hope property they normally mow it but their mower was broken. The clouds were beautiful that evening! Austin likes to help cook. His favorite job is peeling things. One of our family members sent the boys some Tractor House magazines. They spend a lot of time looking at them. I can tell Brent hasn't been around farm equipment. He is learning the names of things though, with Daddy's help! I remember Kenny and I talking about what he will do if he runs out of cars to work on. They hadn't done a lot of outside work before we came and not that many people knew about the shop. We should never have worried! Word spread. Unfortunately he often gets cars with problems no one else could figure out. And that every one else has already modified once or ...

We knew September was going to be busy with graduation in the middle of it. Thankfully the beginning of the month was quieter and I had several projects that I got crossed off my list. One of those projects was adding some fun to the children's bed rooms. I don't like a lot of extra things around to collect spiderwebs and dust, but paint on a wall does neither so I went that route.  Kelsey was invited to a birthday party at the Wonders. Heidi and I took her and Rachel and helped out. It was a tea party and they decorated mugs. One Saturday we rode along to Takoradi with Kenny to get car parts. He buys most of his filters from this man. I think they both enjoy haggling about prices! And of course this was the children's real motivation for going along! I think spending time as a family had something to do with it too, but the burgers were the highlight of the day! And of course I was happy to do some grocery shopping and get some items that aren't available in our area. ...