Wednesday Blog:
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
1:07 PM

Hey, people of Farrugut Church of Christ. I am Alex! Well, I had a good night sleep last night. I woke up at 10:00, which is good because I woke up at 7:00 yesterday. But, I feel good, except I have a heat rash. It feels awful! Today, I was in the clinic weighing people. I was also doing eye tests, but I had to stop so Austin could do it. I have seen so many kids and parents today. I saw one kid who all he could do was breathe, blink, and keep his heart beating. He couldn't walk,talk, move his limbs, it was awful. But it made me realize how blessed we are. We don't have malaria or cataracts or blind-sighted and we can walk and talk and serve to Lord Jesus Christ without having to stop and think that we can't move our legs or arms. It just humbled me to think that we don't know what we have, that we just take for granted. It's so awful! I never thought I would love water so much. I feel like I just had a revelation no one can have without going away from the pleasures and the joy of having everything you ever wanted like a house and air conditioning and waking up to go to a school that you hate but you're blessed to have a school and you're blessed to have a home with air conditioning! It is so amazing the things we waste that we would cherish here like COLD WATER and outer blessings like not sweating just by sitting down in a house. And all the people who love those things, that's great that you have those blessings, but you must not take them lightly. You have been blessed by the Lord with that technology that would never have been thought of by the minds of these kids that have nothing but are filled! It's amazing how much we have, yet we feel empty. We must realize that we could never have any of those things without God, Lord ALMIGHTY! His presence is here and it is in these people. It is so amazing how we don't think about these little things like having a church family that loves us. Most of us just care when the next new game system will come out or when a new car will be in the stores or when the stock market will raise up or when the economy will get better. But we have to realize that we are in the hands of GOD and HE IS IN CONTROL ALL THE TIME!! He controls everything that happens even in the bad times, HE IS THERE. In the good times, HE IS THERE. When we're sad or lonely, HE IS THERE!!! Glory be to God for the things he gives to his people! He gave us everything, LIFE, HIS ONLY SON, HIS WORD, AND HIS POWER. He is the ALMIGHTY GOD who reigns forevermore! He gives us so much, yet we give him so little. He deserves our dedication and our love and our worship! It is amazing that most don't give Him what he needs from us! For all his glory and majesty and power. Yet we need to help serve Him in any way we can. It could be giving to the poor or helping the helpless, doesn't matter to God the height of your deed. He looks at your heart! He doesn't care if you have the best clothes, or the best car or the best house, HE CARES ABOUT YOUR HEART!! He looks deeper than man. Man sees the outside and material greatness, but the God who made the heavens and the earth and all in-between looks at your spirit. If it is a spirit of greed or anger or betrayal, then so be it. You can have it any way you want it, just remember, those who choose to be greedy or selfish or inconsiderate, the Lord God is looking at you 24/7. You chose to be the way you are. So be it. Have it your way. Hope to see you in the the Kingdom of God on the day he brings us home.
Well, that concludes my heart pouring out. See you all later. Think on what I said.
Alex
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March 18, 2009
It's been a busy day but a great one. I slept with one eye open last night in anticipation of teaching my first-ever Ghanaian 7th grade class. Come to think of it, it was my first 7th grade class PERIOD. No wonder I lost sleep. Anyhow, I was charged with teaching a reading selection on the North and South Pole expeditions. Think about it! I am assigned to teach about ARCTIC BLASTS in AFRICA, of all places. But with the help of the illustrious Mr. Richard Smith, I was able to present photographs that he had on file on his computer about snow and ice and even Siberian huskies. To get them thinking about cold in 90 degree heat, we used frozen ice packs that we placed on their hands when they had their eyes closed. It must have been ok, since I've been invited back to teach on Thursday and Friday. Wait a minute! Is this my Spring Break? NO?
We also completed day 2 of our seminar with English faculty discussing teaching techniques. The teachers have been really kind and gracious.
Well, I'm feeling a nap coming on. I have to quit all those late nights.
Love you!
Dianna
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Wednesday, March 18, 2009
6:12 PM
I have made many conclusions over the past few days. I have realized a few things.
1. Austin has a phobia of lizard.
2. Lizards are EVERYWHERE!
3. You must bring bug spray.
4. Heat rashes hurt.
5. The kids are awesome.
I have no idea how I'm going to leave this place. I don't know how I will. I feel like I can't leave it. Well, most people can do many things to help God and the Ghanains.
Well...................................................................................................................................................................................................that's it.
Alex Bulldozr63
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Wednesday, March 18, 2009 6:42 PM
A new experience today...the electric went off in the mid-afternoon and so did the fans, lights and all electric motivated appliances. My wet clothes in the washer will sour and be rewashed in the near, well, sometime future. My guess is the power demand on this hot day exceeded the grid capacity and our section of Ghana was taken off line. Sleeping tonight will be a challenge...the sleeping pills may come out again. Showering in the dark will be...interesting; church service tonight in the dark may be interesting.
Now, one of the house parents has sent us gourmet FuFu and boiled fish dip! Austin tried it, Dorian got a big portion of it...others admired and some tried it and graded it as if they were Dining Out critics for the New York Times. All of us looked at it and are glad that we have senses.
My sense is that the battery on this computer will die soon, but then suddenly the computerscreen perked up and the fans came on in the house here and a few of my sweat began to evaporate.
Praise God today for:
-the ability to get scabies medicine for the cases I saw today
-my son saying that he liked it today here...,
Jon
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Wednesday 7:45pm
It has been quite a day. Laurie and I arrived at the preschool this morning and were greeted with, "You teach Bible today." They have a "worship service" (singing and chanting little prayers) and then we were to "extend" the story of Noah. We decided to talk about obedience and how Noah obeyed God. Our skit was...Laurie had a toy and she wouldn't share with me. I was sad and finally reminded her that the Bible says we are to share, and be kind and love our friends and we are to obey God. She finally shared and we had lots of fun playing together. I taught them 2 or 3 new songs and they can really sing!
Then I went to a classroom where the teacher asked what they learned in the Bible story. When a child said "to obey" she added, "Yes, we have to obey God or we will not go to heaven." What? Uh, just a tad strong to be saying to 4 years olds, or even me!
We had two teacher meetings today and hopefully will see some of the suggestions put to use tomorrow. The wood arrived but the lack of power resulted in the lack of shelf building. Oh, well! Things like that are expected when you are here.
It was disheartening to give the two year old class a couple of new toys and by the end of the day, parts were already lost. It is so hard when they don't have a good way to store things. We cleaned out the baskets and junk in that room yesterday afternoon, but today the kids pulled most of the trash out and played with it!! Oops!
We have started a "Go Ask Richard!" list. So far he has managed to amaze us with most all requests. Tape, string, shoelaces, extra fan, two kinds of batteries, snacks, snow pictures Dianna needed, and even a video on his computer of how a snowflake is formed!!
Paul asked for a hot glue gun tonight just so Richard would have to say "I don't have that."
Last night we met a man (Frances) who just graduated from law school. He was raised on the streets of Accra, paying his own way to go to school. When he was ready to graduate, he could not because of all the fees. The Village of Hope paid his fees, took over guardianship of him and helped him to go to college and law school. He even received a scholarship from Pepperdine, although he decided to stay here. Francis wrote a book about his experiences and came over last night to pick up a computer we brought to him. He is very impressive.
James gave us a lesson on astronomy tonight and showed us a star you can't see from home. He used his laser pointer and told us all about the stars.
I plan to go to Sinya in the morning. It won't be easy, but ...
Thank you again for your prayers. We need them and we feel them.
Love,
Jean
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I'm back up from my nap. We had a power outage, so the house was ssssssssssoooooooooooooooo stuffy. (READ: HOT!) Those who were planning to go to church got ready in the dark, and those who went to Fetteh set out in the twilight on foot.

It was an eventful evening at the Fetteh church, though. From all reliable sources, Pastor Paul has set a new standard for professionalism and dedication in the face of difficulty. The scene went something like this:

After two Farragut church children played with matted wild goats in the courtyard, the crowd gathered in the dimly lit concrete block, open-air, tin-roofed auditorium and proceeded to sing in the Fonteh language, which was better, according to Paul than "four-part harmony." (Please do not reveal his sentiments to the staff of the Christian Chronicle.)

Paul proceeded to preach by kerosene lamp -- 3, in all, with one on the communion table, one in the back, and one kindly placed for Paul's benefit on the lectern he was using. Paul, however, armed with his handy-dandy booklight and fearful of the potential fire hazard, kindly offered the kerosene lamp to anyone in the congregation who may need the light to read the Bible.

The scene continued with Pulpit Paul (a.k.a On-the-Ball Paul, Power-Up Paul, Off-the-Wall Paul...) fervently preaching Luke 8, on principles of hearers and the proper response to God's Powerful Word. As Paul pounded the pulpit pronouncing Jesus' power over nature, two bats materialized as if to emphasize Paul's point. The bats relentlessly clicked, squealed, and flapped about the church, pitching and rolling around the pulpit, yet Paul continued to preach for several more minutes before he paused and said, "Just give me a second or two. I am just not used to preachin' in the dark with bats flying around." The bats pitched and spiraled around Paul's head, yet he, unflappable, continued to proclaim the Gospel.

Blake Moore, Paul's 6'2, 290 lb. sidekick, crouched in the back in horror, and continued to pray for deliverance from the darkness and the winged creatures of the night, while another Farragut member, Delores Leffew, looked calmly on. At the end of Blake's fervent prayer, the power was restored and order returned to the Fetteh church. Paul preached another 30 minutes or so, the song of invitation was offered, and another Wednesday night service was history.

"He took professionalism to another level," Moore stated. "He had no fear!"

Leffew had another take on the incident. "Paul preached such a good sermon, God sent bats to hear it," she said.

As Paul walked out under the stars heading back to the Village, he reflected on the evening's events. "It was a great crowd for a Wednesday night. There were at least 50 people there ... 65 if it's a preacher's count," he said. "It was all good."

But the evening could have ended in utter disaster. "We would have been in horrible shape if they had gotten caught in my hair," said Paul. " Maybe the bug repellent and the spikes kept them from landing. Thanks to my hairdresser, I have anti-bat hair! "

Thus ends the saga of a Wednesday night in Fetteh.

This has been Dianna Parham, broadcasting from Ghana.

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