A New Day

At the dawning of this new day, we celebrated Steve S’s birthday and Brad and Brittany’s 5th Anniversary. Steve shared how special it was to celebrate his birthday with us here, seeing David and Brenda in a place he has heard about for over 30 years, and witnessing all that has and is being done, is overwhelming. At devotions, the Ghanaians said a prayer for Brad and Brittany and their marriage, an anniversary not quickly forgotten.

Pastor Craig delivered a super charged message at devotions this morning, Acts 2:1-4…it was a new day. The promise of God was now on all people, men and women alike to put everything forward for their God. As the disciples gathered to celebrate the giving of the covenant, they broke out from under the law, filled with the Spirit. The best building project ever, the building of the Church. All man-made buildings will eventually fall, but what God builds will last forever. How can you not be filled with joy? We are God’s children and he wants to pour His Spirit into us, and we need to grow, to grow up in this truth. Know…Grow…Go!

Lynne made a special visit to the Carpenter School this morning, taking class and student pictures. These class pictures will be a special gift to the teachers on our last day in class, and the individual student pictures are being printed and given to each student with a note of blessing written on each of them. Gretchen was inspired when she sat to teach her class about Zacchaeus, how Jesus knew his name although he had not met him before. She emphasized to each child in her class how God knows each of their names. Our topic of the day was “Honesty” and Steve G’s idea of using play pirate coins as a great prop to act out an example of honesty was of great success. Brittany was recognized by Adam for her outstanding progress from a nervous kindergarten teacher to a confident and creative one.

Incredibly, Justen and Isaac had still had enough energy after a long work day to join Pastor Gabriel and others for an hour of football (our soccer) before dinner.

Dave reported that today’s theme for the build site was “Down in the Trenches.” This past week has been all about the foundations being set. Coming together with NEA builder Thomas, an efficient plan was set in place and the expectation is that by Tuesday, floors will start being poured.

Aaron, in NEA overalls, joined NEA’s mechanic Jackie in maintaining and fixing wheelbarrows, bulldozers, and trucks. Together they accomplished a lot and enjoyed driving the bulldozer around once they were done.

Mira has been hard at work in the (air conditioned) training centre all week. She has been working on the landscape plans for the hospital. She has also had additional productive tours of the hospital with Brenda, and with NEA staff members as she studies the plants here at the compound.

David Mensah shared with us that the NEA build team has found our team “stronger than we look.” (Perspective. Tender People who are Super Strong.)

Our day ended with an inspirational presentation of the Layaata Ane Project by Mumuni, Prosper, Mary, Rachel and John. Our eyes were opened to the amazing impact this program is having on 160 villages in educating adolescents and decreasing infant death rates. It truly is amazing what God can do when we know, grow and go!