My RIGHTS!

Am I not free?... Don't I have rights too?!

That's what Paul starts writing about in chapter nine of 1 Corinthians.

Lately, with opposition from all sides (mostly just because of cultural differences) I find myself saying, "I'm free! I have rights! I can do it (wash, clean, dress, talk) any way I stinkin' want to!!!! So there!"

And as I read Paul's words, I realized, "Yes. I am am free! There are rights and freedoms that God has given us."

After establishing the fact that they have rights, Paul continues and says,
"But we did not use this right."

Ouch!

"On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ."

"I have not used any of these rights...What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it Free of charge, and so not make use of any of my rights in preaching it."

He's talking about specific rights but I believe this same principle applies to any and all rights.

As I am reading this I find it painful, because it reveals the shallow willingness inside my heart. I say I want the Gospel shared at all costs but the biggest hindrance I find here is me.

I want to be able to say, "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the [Eve] I became like an [Eve], to win the [Eves]. ...to the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the Gospel, that I might share in its blessings."

I cannot say those things yet, but I can say,  by God's infinite grace, I have a continued opportunity to try. And as I have been convicted, I am working on it.

This summer I gave up some rights and without even having to think, I've taken them up again. As I've entered a new culture, there are new ones I have to give up. So my prayer this morning is:

Jesus, please deliver me from

the desire of being loved (I cannot be loved here the same way I am loved at home. Showered with hugs and words of affirmation and security in that love.)
the desire of being preferred to others (It feels like rejection when I am unable to spend time with the handful people that I am close to because they've chosen so be with other people or other activities)
the desire of being consulted (Often, I am unaware of decisions made and while I have full trust in those making them, I get irritated sometimes when I'm not included. I don't want to be this way.)
from the desire of being approved
from the fear of being ridiculed (I can handle some, but it happens so often here, its like its a special sport to ridicule Sandra.)
from the fear of being falsely or maliciously accused (the accusation as of late is that I have a school here and people are not happy with me ...schools are businesses here. This means the rumors lead people to believe that I am taking money from others.)
from the fear of being forgotten (Irrational, yes, but still I need to be delivered from this.)


So Jesus I pray for deliverance from these rights, desires and fears. And in place of them I ask that You remind me that I am wholly loved by You, that You are surely Sovereign over all, that in You there is no room for fear, only perfect love. Thank you that I am not forgotten. Please help to see what I can lay aside for the sake of the gospel and give me the courage and perseverance to do so! Mawu lolo nutc! God you are so great! Amen.

Meet Edinam

Prounounced "Eddy-Nahm", her name means "God has given me that which I was looking for".

Precious huh? As she is sitting here playing Mancala (or Oware here) she informed me that she is the only girl on her father's side of the family. 

I think her name is fitting for me too. She turns 12 on the 17th of May. She is a sweetheart in so many ways. She is humble and patient. She is unlike other children and adults here in that she does not make incessant demands on me. She will often ask if she can travel with me to which I mostly must respond, "No."

Today is different. Today Mawuko, Godson and I are traveling to Accra for a Sports Ministry Meeting. I have no idea what this meeting is about but it is supposed to be only two hours. For some reason, today I want to bring Edinam along. There is something about her, something within her.

This morning she moved around the room quietly for a bit, observing all the things she's seen before and then she said, "Yesterday Jesus die." My heart lit up for an opportunity to discuss Jesus' death and resurrection with my precious little friend. 

I affirmed her statement and asked if she knew why. She had no idea. I went through a brief story of sacrificial times to Jesus' death. She was in awe and seemed to understand. After we discussed the importance of His death, I mentioned the importance of his coming back to life. "Easter!" she exclaimed, "That is Sunday." 

"Yes, that is the day we celebrate Jesus and His power. And when we follow Him because He is stronger than death, we don't have to be afraid of anything."

She grinned and so did I! It was a special moment, the moments I anxiously await here.

Edinam and I took a picture together but I cannot post it now. In the background there is a cloth of pictures that depict history from Creation to Jesus' return. Kids are absolutely MESMERIZED by it here! So I think I will begin to get the stories down in such a way that I can memorize them verbatim and share them with the children to give them a full picture of the Gospel. 

My joy is full this morning! Thank you Jesus that You willingly gave your life for me, for Edinam, for everyone who will accept it, and even for those who won't. Thank you that you are patient with me when I so often fail to follow in Your ways! Thank You that tomorrow we can celebrate Your power, displayed in incredible greatness, that death itself cannot wave a finger at it. Thank You that You have given us this same power. All praise and glory and honor is for You alone because God, You are the only One who is worthy!

May this Easter be holy, worshipful one for you and yours where we can wholeheartedly focus on the love of a Savior and the power of the One we serve.

Joy in Goats

Allow me to set the scene...

Friday night six of my dear children are invited to stay overnight in the Mission House with Carlin, Godson and I. We fill the living room with foam mattresses and immediately the children start jumping on them! I call the girls into the kitchen with me and we have fun shutting the boys out. We prepare popcorn and cut a pineapple. Edinam and I go to buy Coke and Fanta and Sprite, one drink per child.

We set all the goodies out and the most encouraging thing happens! Godson tells a story from the Bible and the children are ALL ears! They are intensely focused taking in every happening. Godson is asking questions along the way. He is telling of Gideon and the way God spoke to his people through the skin of sheep.

After the Bible story we spend a couple of hours enjoying the refreshments. And then bed time (yeah right!) Eventually we did all go to sleep but not for long. See, outside on the front porch, there are cement blocks stacked up so although the place is fenced off, it is accessible to pretty much any person or animal. This small place is where Godson parks the motorbike at night. It has an alarm but its still better to be safe.

Just a few hours into the night, I hear goats making all kinds of noises! The living room has seven windows and it often sounds like the rooster/child/goat/anything that makes noise is right there with us, especially because the room is nearly void of everything aside from four plastic chairs and a plastic table. So we hear the goats making noises and I try to write it off as normal goat-ness and go to sleep. The children are sleeping soundly.

Then I hear the motorbike alarm shrilly sound "beep-beep". And I know the goats are on the porch. But it's dark, everyone's asleep and I don't want to get up. My thoughts are that surely they will stop trying to get out and just sleep.

Nope. It continued until finally at five in the morning I got up and moved the twenty or so blocks, only after disastrous attempts at conversing with the neighbor who only speaks Evegbe and a 5 minute effort to get the goats off of the porch. Then I wanted to just lay back down but my dear children were already up and sweeping up the goat poop from not just the porch but from around the entire house! So I swept with them and then we went inside and had tea and bread. With them around, even starting at 5am, it was a great day.

Before I left for Ghana, I attended two goat trainings in hopes that I could use goat milk as one way for children to get protein. These goats around here are not milking goats, they are small. But as I waited for the water to boil that morning, I had to laugh because this was not the experience with goats for which I had planned. Nevertheless, as it turned out, the children had a good time listening to me try to explain in Evegbe to the woman my problem with the goats and I had a good time being with the children.

If I could equate this lesson to anything it would be...
That night was a depiction of my life here. I had hoped to milk goats and feed children but as it turns out, right now I'm just protecting my house from them and shoveling their insane amounts of poop. Life isn't always as we expect. But God knew from the beginning that Friday night would turn out like it did. So I'm not worried or disappointed (at the moment) because this morning, I am aware that all things are in His hands! Goats. Children. and Sandra.

God is good!

Communication Issues

So for a while I felt totally secluded and abandoned here. Okay, that's a stretch but seriously, over the last week or so, most of my communication efforts have failed. When trying to call the US, most often I can hear the other person but they cannot hear me. Using Skype, neither of us can hear each other. Email would connect but not let me do anything. The only two people I'd been able to communicate with were my mom and brother. It was a bit disconcerting.

But yesterday I had a couple of breakthroughs. 1) My internet here is like a Pay-As-you-Go phone. You buy credit, top up, and use your phone. The modem takes a SIM card and is used the same way. As it turned out, I had run out of credit and couldn't connect. 2) A dear friend called me via Skype and at first it didn't work but then we were able to chat for over thirty minutes. It was a connection I dearly needed!!

I have now posted several things on here and have been able to connect with some dear ones through Facebook. Connecting with others back home, keeps me in check, brings a touch of reality, familiarity and accountability.

Now that I am no longer in a world saturated with technology and passive forms of communication, I'm grateful for the communications I have had. I'm grateful for my conversations with my mom, Kaden, Kat and others. Thank you Jesus!

God is good y'all!