Township realities

I love being able to be somewhere and know that no two days will be the same. Last night around 10 I could not get a hold of Anele and I didn't know if we were doing another outreach or not. If we were I usually pick him up on the way and I was so nervous that if I didn't wake up early and be there at 7:30 then he wouldn't know I wasn't coming and would miss his taxi and train. AH it was a mentally stressful night. Well I woke up this morning with still no word so I just assumed we weren't having one (I was right thankfully) 

Anways so we pull into Living Hope a little before 9 and NO one is there..well that's a bit of an exaggeration but it was not as busy as normal. Well not but 10 minutes after we get in Avril rounds up all 6 of us that are at the office to start cleaning the boardroom. So we were wiping down tables and she said that there was a group of people here one of which is apparently the 37th wealthiest man in America. Who comes up with that stuff anyways?? How can you know that you are indeed number 37? It was business. wealth not personal but still quite blessed in the economic side of things. Haha anyways he is one of the biggest donors to Living Hope and has actually never been here so now all the cleaning began to make sense. Usually its not a big deal. So the group gets there, all extremely nice people and John Thomas traps me in the room with them and is just like well while your here...why don't you tell everyone what you do. So I went through my whole speel about being an LSE(life skills educator) out in Capricorn...part of the OVC (orphans&vulnerable children) team...runs the resource room/library AND part of the men's outreach team. Haha they were actually very enthusiastic about all of it and really wanted to know more about me which was awesome. It made me feel like what I'm doing is recognizable. :] 

Now I feel like I had a God moment today, like he was trying to give me peace about how I'm so unsure about my future and EVEN about how much my heart hurts about not being able to go to Ghana. So during 'tea time'....yes every time we are together in meetings we stop for tea time. Well one of the guys was just chatting with me asking where I was from and what not and I had told him I graduated from ACU in December and he said congrats that's a big accomplishment. He then asked the 'well what are you doing when you get back' question which I hate so much because I don't have the slightest clue. He then said you know what...that's a completely acceptable answer. He asked if I knew the verse about "your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path". He told me that the lamp only lights up your next step...not your future. He said that we might not even make it to October so no need to fret about all that because he has a plan. It was nice to hear that because we do get caught up in the future and what we what our life map to look like. What are bucket list is like and many of us don't just stop and live in the present. So with that said ENJOY each day!! :] 

Now this is when I decided that me going back to Ghana is most certainly a part of his plan for me! While talking to one of the guys I mentioned that I've spent the last two summers in Ghana so it didn't take long for me to get used to trying to understand their thick african accent when speaking english. When I said that he said oh wow, we just came from Ghana. My heart just sank of jealousy, not going to lie. Then another guy came over and said hey I heard you were talking about Ghana what part were you in. I told him Accra and he said wow our main headquarters is in Accra. He knew of the Village of Hope and then we even talked about this certain road that has been redone. Such a small world but it made me so happy to be able to talk to someone who was JUST there about the place. I might stay in contact with him on the off chance I can do something with them while I'm there. But God is good and he continues to show me that he has a time and place for everything! 

The stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas && the blue bench under the mango trees at VOH in Gomoa-Fetteh,Ghana are where I'm most happiest. :] 

Oh big news, today I found out that Living Hope wants to branch out and open up in Kenya and Zimbabwe!!! AWESOME. That would be so absolutely awesome because then I'd already have a connection and could go there when they open to volunteer for a bit. endless possibilities. 

But that was just a little something about what's been on my heart today. 

Special request for my kids. Now..I work with 5 to 12 year olds. Today we were doing surveys and I asked some of the kids what they were scared most about in their communities and the answers they gave were guns..gangsters..drugs..bad people who steal kids..rape..mean people. NO child should ever have to have this as their fear. It instead should be the boogyman..what's under my bed at night..ghosts..

Just puts into perspective how different life here is. Makes you really appreciate everything you have back home. Could you imagine raising a child in that kind of environment? Sadly this is just the norm...and hopefully we will be able to keep these kids from just turning into another statistic. Another sweet innocent child grown up to become another drug addict, another rapist or rapee..another kidnapper. Just pray that God uses our words and actions to be instilled within each of these kids and have kids club be what made them go down a path of righteousness and not a path of destruction. There are still a few boys that I'm working with, two in particular Jeremiah and Denzil that have been on my heart. I have mentioned them before and they are dubbed troublemakers but I'm usually drawn to that kind. Anyways I've found that if I give them tasks, like pass out the drinks they behave and do what their told. Denzil has started to even get on to other kids during story time if they are misbehaving. It's just nice to see how they are changing. A day at a time! 

Anyways love to all.