Team Updates

Today was a scorcher: 40 degrees on the thermometer with intense sunshine. Our JK/SK teacher, Frank, asked Joyce and I about “sunbathing for Vitamin D”. This was something he had heard during his lectures last weekend and he wondered what “sun-bathing” could possibly be! He was also wonderful explaining some cultural issues we deal with.

Ebenezer shared today that although the village chief does not share our faith, he helped clear the land for the church and is excited for it being built. It is known that where there are Christians in a village, the village develops for the better. Quite the testimony!

The roof of the church is six sheets of tin from being complete; the interior walls are all parged; one exterior wall is about two-thirds complete; and the latrine foundation was started.

In school we learned that our JK/SK children love spiders. It was fun to see the Grade 2 class marching around the school yard with tambourines, and to see the large smiles and hear the thrill of the Grade 3/4 class as they ran out of their classroom with their pinwheel craft today! The area school supervisor paid us a visit today and praised the work we were doing.

The excavation team had another ‘weak link’ to take care of with the track chain, but a good six hours of work was done with the dozer. Barring any additional delays, Phil expects the pond in Teselima may be completed tomorrow so they can take care of another couple of projects that David has in mind.

We expect everyone to be back on site tomorrow and are praying for continued good health and strength to finish strong. Phil asked us all to pray that as they finish up the pond, they hit water where there used to be a well, as this would be a real blessing. It would ensure that when the pond fills in the rainy season, it will never run dry. He gave us permission to share this request here so that you can join us in praying for this!

Thanks again for your comments!

Kim

Today several of our construction team were working up high in the rafters finishing the framing for the roof to ready it for the tin to be installed tomorrow. The interior walls were being parged, and tomorrow our team will start to work on the latrine.

Teachers were back to the classrooms reestablishing any routines that they had put into place last week. We were all surprised when a young lady came across the Black Volta by canoe with a gift of yams and dried fish from her father, a parishioner from Yaara who heard we were there.

Phil and Glenn returned late tonight due to the fact the dozer track chain failed once again after a couple hours running, and it took until after 7 tonight to get it running once again. New chains will arrive tonight, but will require a full day to install, so please pray that this last repair will hold so that Glenn can run these last days.

After dinner, the teachers gathered to continue organizing the play day we are having on Friday, and we hope to have some of the Babator ladies help us that day. We are hoping that this will be the opportunity to develop a relationship with them as we haven’t had a real chance to up until now.

Your comments and posts are REALLY appreciated. Please continue to pray for good health, workplace and commuting safety; that the equipment will run well; and that more than anything, we leave behind a beautiful lasting impression of Jesus’ love and provision.

Finishing well,

Kim

Everyone seemed to enjoy the opportunity to sleep in a little this morning. We, along with the peanut truck full of the Carpenter congregation, traveled up to Tinga to worship in and commission the church we had built in 2012. Tinga has a new chief that David had not yet met, so to respect traditions we went to his home to introduce ourselves, and at the end of the service we awaited permission to leave the village since he had indicated he wanted to see us again before we left. He sent his linguist to offer us gifts of eggs and guinea fowl, which added to the gifts from the church of yams and a very healthy-looking goat.

Jacob preached from 1 Peter 2:4-5, challenging us to trust our God the Creator, the Almighty, our refuge and fortress. He is the Living Stone: above all (money, poverty, presidents,…) and we can trust Him.

The afternoon was spent relaxing. Some napped, some played soccer against the Ghanaian pastors (who let us feel good by keeping the score tied), and some toured the village of Carpenter. Local resident David, who was a volunteer on our last build, recognized Jacqueline and proudly introduced his family to her.

At dinner David Mensah taught us a new song, and created a healthy competition by scoring how well each table could sing it. After dinner, the teachers were busy preparing for Monday’s lessons and really appreciated the willing hands of the building team members who helped staple and cut out shapes for them.

It really is a wonderful blessing to see how our team has enjoyed one another in play and in work. Again, your feedback and encouraging posts posts were well-received by your loved ones! Thank you! We are all well and ready to face the coming six workdays. God truly is our provider — physically, relationally and spiritually.

Feeling blessed,

Kim

In Teselima, the bulldozer ran for a couple of hours before it had another challenge that the mechanics felt needed parts, so we expected it wouldn’t be running again until late Monday. Phil and Glenn fortunately were able to improvise, fixing it within an hour so it is ready to roll again on Monday morning!

In Babator, the trusses went up on the church building, and after Monday it will be ready to install the tin roofing materials. The villagers continued digging out the latrine, so we hope it is ready for Monday as well. On the way home from Babator, the team shopped in the Bamboi market, escorted by the pastors to get the best bargains.

In Carpenter, the teachers who spent the day sorting the store room had a very long day and were encouraged to see all of the support our past teams have had with the bounty of school supplies future teams will have to work with. Doris had the privilege of teaching chef Abraham how to make the coconut cream pie she is famous for back home. Although the ingredients were modified due to what was available, it was absolutely the best we had ever tasted. Even the Ghanaians who traditionally don’t enjoy desserts and sweets gave us a thumbs up when they tasted it!

The evening ended with David joining us under the gazebo to plan next Friday’s village meal celebration. After Braden returned from jamming on the drums with Joseph, a keyboard player, he led us in “choir practice” with his guitar in preparation for tomorrow’s church dedication service in Tinga. (That’s the church we built in 2012!)

Thank you all for posting your notes, prayers and comments of encouragement. When team members hear the names of their friends and loved ones commenting, the biggest smiles come over their faces. As we try to keep cool, we really appreciate all of you back at home keeping our driveways clear of snow!

Kim

The construction team was able to get the final bond beam framed and poured by early today, so we were able to drive to Teselima to see the work being done by the excavation team. Unfortunately the parts to repair the dozer had only just arrived, so we weren’t able to watch Glenn operate it, but both we and the Ghanaian pastors and volunteers were incredibly impressed with the work that Phil was doing with the excavator. Pastor Jacob was quite overwhelmed by it all as this is the village where he grew up, and he knows how the pond will make a big difference in the lives of those living there.

In the school, the students were in awe of Braden when came to each class today to share a couple of songs on the guitar — they love music and the guitar, and Braden was a true novelty.

Tonight we are sitting in the gazebo, chatting and playing Bid Euchre while enjoying microwave popcorn!  Continue to pray that the villagers are able to continue the excavation for the latrine as they did today after Ebenezer arranged to wet the soil so that it would soften up to ease the effort required to dig it. Pray that the dozer is able to run so that Glenn can try to catch up to the work that Phil has done. Pray for the build and teaching team as they join together to raise the very heavy trusses tomorrow and as some teachers will remain in Carpenter to pull together and inventory the new and existing teaching supplies for NEA and future teaching opportunities.

With thanks to those of you in frigid -35C temperatures who are praying for us: strength is returning to those that were not 100% well, and relationships are strengthening as we spend this time together in +35C to +38C degree heat with the humidity rising! Please know we pray for you all as well.

Kim

Today our excavation team enjoyed gifts of cokes and malts, but they had a setback when at about noon, the bulldozer broke down. Please join us in prayer that the parts required arrive tonight so that tomorrow morning it can be up and running once again.

Our construction team is doing extremely well! Please pray that the preparation for the latrine is completed quickly so that they can begin work there, too.

Today we teachers came to understand why some children less than two years old are showing up in the JK/SK class! Many of the parents leave early for their farms and leave the small children in the care of older siblings. It’s no wonder their teacher Frank did not know all of their names, as they normally gather and sleep in the back of the classroom while he teaches the students! We also learned that the reason some in the Gr. 6 class seem extremely advanced in comparison to others: it is at least their second time in the grade because they don’t have family to live with in the larger villages or cities where the junior high schools are.

At this point, all team members have joined us on site each day and the weather has been quite comfortable. Please continue to pray for health as some of the team are feeling a little unwell — they are getting the full Ghanaian experience!

Thank you all!

Kim

On Tuesday, the excavation team moved their equipment to the new dam site in Teselema. Their big machines made big changes to the landscape in the area designated for the fish pond. The teachers took over their classrooms and quickly realized their evening would be a long one requiring many adjustments to their well-laid plans in order to suit the children they were just starting to get to know. The construction team got settled in with all of their tools and equipment as the mason team continued building the walls, and the carpenter team built windows and trusses.

On Wednesday, Joyce was called to do more than engage her 40+ JK/SK students when a group of government representatives walked into her classroom under the mango tree! The group then continued over to the build site to introduce themselves, complimenting the team for the work we were doing to encourage health through hygiene training in the school, education through the many tools we brought to the students and teachers, and development in the community with the church and latrine.

Back in Teselema, Glenn and Phil’s excavation work has been greeted with excitement, and hundreds gathered throughout the day to watch them work. They managed to get the pond about one-third completed by working a long 10-hour day, stopping only for a brief lunch and to receive gifts of yams, a rooster and a guinea fowl from the community.

“By the grace of God,” as David would say, a woman’s life may have been saved today because of the serum that NEA stocked. She lives in a nearby village and was bitten by a snake there but, as of dinner tonight, she was reported to be in stable condition after receiving the serum to contradict the snake venom. After dinner, while Braden led the kids of Carpenter in song with the guitar and others played soccer, a few team members gathered with David and the Ghanaian pastors to pray for the woman and other loved ones who need healing. It was a wonderful way to end the day.

May each one of you experience the same joy and blessing we feel for having supported us and this project in so many ways. Your love, support, and prayers are so valuable to each one of us. Please pray for continued physical, emotional, spiritual and relational health and strength to serve well as a team!

Thanks,

Kim

Due to time zone sleeping adjustments, a couple of our team members may have missed their breakfast this morning, but we were all in the back of the cargo truck or in the bus and rolling on time!

Traditions were kept as we met and presented Babator’s dignitaries and villagers with suitcases displaying the school supplies and a small chief gift.

Teachers observed classes, and some jumped right into their roles when needed. After lunch they met with the friendly Headmaster and three Ghanaian teachers to introduce our plans for the coming two weeks. Joyce has prepped extremely well, and they were impressed!

The construction team got right to work with Ebenezer and a new crew we’ve never worked with before. Four courses of bricks were laid, seven window frames are well underway, and the latrine requires a couple more days of digging before our work can begin there.

Glenn and Phil headed back to the Carpenter area to investigate the proposed dam site where they will be working tomorrow. Phil then excavated for a septic system in the hardest dirt he has ever worked on! Glenn started to teach the NEA team maintenance and essentials for operating and transporting the heavy equipment.

We returned to the compound at the end of the day. Scaffolds and ladders were loaded for tomorrow, teachers reestablished their first day agenda, and many team members were in bed early — some with sunburnt skin and rosy cheeks — exhausted from a hard day’s work in the hot African sun (with proper hydration and sun protection at the forefront of all discussions).

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. Although some are tired, we all continue to be well. Continue to pray for the good health, strength and energy our days require.

Kim