Giving Christmas Away

Our first Christmas in Ghana, away from family and friends, has been a mix of emotions. Of course, some sadness at missing all the gatherings we had with family and friends, but also joy. Joy for the fact that a holy, loving God would send his only son into this sinful world so that we can have intimate relationship with Him. I think once you become a parent the impact of the sacrifice is even greater. I cannot imagine choosing to send one of my girls somewhere that I knew they would be mocked, ridiculed and eventually crucified. John 3:16 says, "He so loved the world", can you imagine a love so strong that you would give up your only child? I cannot imagine the heartache and pain for the Father, but oh, the joy for us! That a way was provided for us to have relationship with our Father, our Creator. How can we keep a joy so great to ourselves? We can't! Or at least we shouldn't! We spent part of our day "giving Christmas" away, as did other missionaries in our area. We went to Kaneshie market and handed out about 125 meals to "market kids". These kids live and sleep at the market. Most kids were teens, but some were younger. There is a man who helps them that also grew up in the market. He sees the potential for these kids. So many kids who have no home, nowhere to go. They look out for each other, but it has become a dangerous area at night. Some kids have had property stolen while they sleep, others abused in unspeakable ways. There are many people who want to help, so we are praying that together something can be done. Until then, some hungry kids received a meal, water and a treat of candy and soda. Two girls, Gloria and Lucy, came home with us. Both teens, both pregnant and living on the street. So excited to see how they come out of their shells in the coming weeks and months. We also brought home a little boy. Right away we could tell he was sick. The man who helps the kids says that this boy is sick a lot. So the decision was made to make room and bring him home today. Already I see a difference in him, in just a few hours time. His eyes were so sad and he needed a bath! Tonight at our Christmas celebration, he had gotten a haircut, new clothes and a bath. He was hesitant at first, but was encouraged to dance during our party and let me tell you, this boy can dance! His smile came out and it lit up his whole face! His name is Bright. Please be praying for all three and their transition to life here at CORM. 

On our way back home, I saw an old tro-tro, wheels off, rusty and sitting in an empty lot. It was clear from the clothes hanging on the doors and the two men sitting outside on stools that these two men were living there. Everywhere I looked today, there were reminders of how blessed we are. I am reminding myself that "giving Christmas away" should not stop on Christmas Day. It should be happening all year long! I KNOW that God provides opportunities for us to do this daily, but how many of us are listening? So as we approach a new year, I remind myself, that it's a year full of new opportunities and I don't want to miss a single chance to give "Christmas" away. How are some ways that you can join in? Can you help a single mom you know? Mentor a youth in your area/church? Visit a shut-in? I know everyone is busy, but I know that God will be placing opportunities to give Him away in our paths. Let's be watching for them! 

Dawn

Check out the song, "Give This Christmas Away" by Matthew West.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9BVGkb5bxRY

December Update

    Merry Christmas!!!

    Sorry it's been a little past time to write an update. Sometimes, I am amazed at how fast time passes, and we have been really busy here at the end of the school term. Our last update was mainly about our trip to Volta. Since then, we have been very busy with finishing up the first term of the school year, and planning for classes next term. Our volunteer season has pretty much wound down. We had a couple large groups last month, but with them gone now, things will slow down a bit. It will be a little lonelier here in our house too, as Autumn has left for the states for two months. 

     I won't lie... The holiday season has been a little difficult for us here. We have made the best of it though. For Thanksgiving, we had been saving up food items that volunteers had brought for us, and we had a very traditional Thanksgiving celebration. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green been casserole, sweet potatoes, pies, and my favorite dessert, cherry delight. It was nice to have a little piece of home, but it was still hard to be away from family. 

    Christmas will be much the same, but it is really strange for us to be where it's 95 degrees and dry, when we are used to snow. I can say with out a doubt we will NOT be having a white Christmas here!

    We also wanted to thank those of you who have sent us letters, even though we may not have received them. The ones we have gotten are two to three months old! If you would like to send a letter, please email us for an address of a volunteer that would be able to bring it with them. We will be sure to get it this way.

    Dawn and I did get to take a couple days and relax at the beach. You can read a little more about that on our blog if you like. I tried to post some pictures, but we have been having a lot of issues with our internet capabilities lately, and uploading photos, whether it's to facebook, our blog, or in emails, it is almost impossible. I think part of the reason is that the season is changing here. It's getting hotter and the air is much drier and dusty. You can see the dust in the air, and I think that is causing some issues with our cell reception. This season will last for the next few months.

    On Christmas Day, we are planning on going and handing out meals to street/market kids (these are homeless kids who live/sleep in the market), so we would appreciate your prayers for that. The building projects here continue to go strong. The Corm office building is nearly finished, they are putting the roof on the new children's home now, and the new apartment house is nearly ready for the roof. God has continued to provide funding for these projects in amazing ways.

     We also wanted to let everyone know that we will be coming home for 6 or 8 weeks in early April. Caylan, our oldest daughter, will be getting married! We are extremely excited for the wedding, and to come home for a while, but it's also a trip home that we had not planned, so we would appreciate any financial help we can get to help with airfare.  We also would be happy to come and share about our experience here in Ghana so far, and to give a ministry update, especially for those churches that have been supporting us faithfully. Please email us and let us know what dates you might have available so we can start making our schedule. We have not confirmed a definite date that we will be home yet, but probably the first week in April. We will also be figuring out where we will be staying, but would be happy to spend some time at different places if folks would have us! 

Prayer requests:

Health/healing - Many of the staff and kids have been sick with colds due to the changing season, and some with malaria.

Christmas Day ministry to market children

Caylan - health and being apart from us for holidays

Second school term starts on January 12th

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support! Praying that you all have a blessed Christmas!

Cayle & Dawn

A Weekend Away

   So after being here in Ghana and working here at CORM and the school for the past 8 months, Dawn and I had a chance to get away for a weekend and relax. It's the first time we've been away since we've been here, so it was a much needed break! I'll just give you a quick summary of our weekend. 

We went to a place called Maranatha Beach Club in Ada-Foah. Its an area on the coast where the Volta river empties into the Atlantic. Our travel to get there was as much of an adventure as anything else. So it is with Ghana public transportation. We left CORM and walked to the road, where we flagged down a Tro-Tro. Tro-Tros are like mini cargo vans with rows of seats. They are usually rickety and noisy, and sometimes you can see the road under your feet if there are cracks in the floor from all the bumps and holes they hit. We rode the first one for about 15 minutes until the transmission broke in it, and everyone had to pile out and find another one. After another 20 minutes or so, we arrived at a main station in Ashaima where we found another Tro-Tro going to the area we wanted. We got pulled over at one of the police checkpoints, and I'm pretty sure the driver paid a bribe to the police so we could keep going(another common occurrence here). When we finally arrived at Ada, we were persuaded by a couple of guys to let them take us to our next stop. We rode on the back of motorcycles through a marketplace and down dusty dirt streets to a small path that led down to the water of the Volta river. From there, we rode about 10 minutes down river to the place where we were staying. We had finally arrived at our getaway.  

Maranatha Beach Club is a resort area on a narrow finger of sand between the Volta river and the Gulf of Guinea. And don't let the name fool you. Don't get me wrong, it was a great place to relax. But it's not the kind of "resort" you might be thinking of. The beach was awesome. Nothing but sand and palm trees. But our 10 dollar a night coconut hut had sand floors, and little rodent visitors at night! Not exactly a Holiday Inn, but it was great. We got to sit on the beach and watch the sun set, and just spend a couple days doing nothing. It was  a good recharge.

Then we reversed the process to get back home this morning...minus the transmission problem! It was a good retreat for us, especially as the holiday time and our being away from family and friends has been weighing kinda heavy lately. Sometimes resting in God's creation is the best thing for us.

Cayle 

Leading by example

Tomorrow at youth with the girls, we will be talking about leading and serving. One of our goals at school and at CORM is to build up servant-leaders. I am reminded often of how leadership looks in the world. Often those with more seniority or experience want to lead, but don't want to lead by example. As I was searching scripture to share with our girls, I was reminded that over and over again, Jesus was a servant-leader. He told his disciples that leadership looks different by the world's standards than it does by Kingdom standards. That is more clear than ever when we read John 13. The heading for the passage is "Jesus Teaches His Disciples" followed by the subheading " Jesus Washes the Disciples Feet". Jesus taught by example. Washing feet was the job for the lowest servant in the house. It was a dirty job, but Jesus, God in flesh, did not consider himself above this menial job. 

In Matthew 20:25-27, Jesus tells his disciples, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." In the world, many who consider themselves higher up the "ladder", whether in age, social status or experience, want to lord it over others. They want to be served. However, Jesus says in the Kingdom, whoever wants to become great must first become a servant. Too many times we want to follow the world's leadership example instead of Christ's. Imagine though, the light we would shine if we served each other joyfully. We'd be like a city on a hill! 

I am praying that as I share and learn with our girls at youth that I will be an example to them in serving. I want to be able to say them as Paul said to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 11:1), " Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." 

Are you a servant-leader?

Dawn

Life is messy

Life is messy. Sometimes, it's hard to see the beauty for the mess. A couple weeks ago when we traveled to Lake Volta was such a time. We were full of excitement for the two boys we planned to bring home, but the outcome was so different than what we expected. The realization that the lies and manipulation had been going on for over two years and still was going on even as the truth was being revealed was frustrating. Knowing that no one but the Holy Spirit can change Delali's heart, and only if he's wanting to change, makes me want to cry. In those moments it's easy to question God, ask what He's doing. In the midst of the conversations and the emotions surrounding that day, I still know that God is in control...even in hard situations that I have trouble wrapping my mind around. The reality is that life is hard because as humans we are all sinful, but I am so thankful and in awe of our God who is full of grace and mercy. He is a God of redemption. 

As I look out the window of our room, I can see our newest children's home waiting for its roof and I'm filled with excitement. There are so many kids still out there, needing rescued not only from the harsh reality of child trafficking, but also needing to be rescued ultimately from sin. They need Jesus and so do the communities where they are living. I am longing to see hearts turned towards Him. No lasting change will happen without heart knowledge of His grace and love. We are human, we are sinful, but God... I love Genesis 50:20. Joseph says,"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." This is still true today, things the enemy intends for harm, God intends for good. If you ever get a chance to hear Johnbull's testimony, you will know that it started with his life and God has used him and his experiences to build City of Refuge for His glory. I see it in the lives of our kids here. Robert has what some would call a disability, and we would love to see him healed, but Robert has a smile for everyone and loves to share about God's call on his life - to be a pastor. These kids are not here by accident. What man intended for harm, God intended for good. He works all things together for the good of those who love him. I explained it to the girls in youth like this: when someone is working on embroidering something, if you only look at the underside, it will look like a huge knotted mess, but once it's done and you can see the finished picture, you realize that the beauty wouldn't be possible without the mess behind it. It's the same with our lives. God uses the messy things in our lives for His glory. Our story is just a small part of HIS story.

Dawn