Counting Down

We are only 11 days away from leaving!  It is hard to believe that we will be getting on a plane to fly to Ghana on March 30th. 

We had our last team training last night, which made it very real.  We talked about mentally preparing for the extreme heat, which will be the hardest part of our trip.  My Pastor has been there 5 or 6 times and will be going with us on this trip.  He said that the people are beautiful and very friendly, but it is hotter then you can even imagine. 

The remote village of Bamboi rarely gets any visitors so we will cause a stir in the village when we arrive.  There will be 14 of us on this team.  Charlie Goodman came and spoke with us at our meeting.  He just got back from Bamboi, and shared his experience with us.  I could have kept him there all night asking questions and hearing about his experiences.  He went with his Son-in-law and just the two of them caused quite a stir in the village.

It was comforting to hear Charlie’s stories.  I have never traveled outside of the US, so I have been a little anxious lately.  Not scared, but not really knowing what to expect.  So much is unknown, which is a little unsettling to me.  I like to have a plan and to know what to expect and I don’t have that.  Everything is vague!  This will be a real faith walk for me.

As I have been praying about this trip, a desire to talk to the mothers in Bamboi has really been stirring in me.  I know that our focus is on the children; we will be doing a Vacation Bible School and a couple different dramas.  I really believe that I am going to encourage the mothers though.  It will be neat to see what God does through me.

We are taking several teenagers on this trip, my oldest daughter being one of them.  I am excited to watch how this expands their hearts and how they rise to the occasion.  Vanessa has already been on a mission trip to Guatemala last summer.  This will be my first mission trip.

It will be really neat to be able to see Bamboi and the needs that they have before we fill and send the shipping container.  Our basement is getting filled with donated supplies to send, which is very exciting.  It is the first time that I have been so excited about having boxes piled every where!  When we return, we will really focus on raising the remaining $8500. that we need to ship the 40 foot container.

Please be praying for the Ghana team!  We will be gone from March 30th – April 12th, 2008.  There will be 14 of us (7 teenagers and 7 adults).  We will be going into a high Malaria area, will be dealing with extreme heat, no electricity, no real bathrooms.  We need prayer for unity and strength and to be able to serve others in the midst of personal uncomfort.  We want to be sensitive to God’s voice and obedient to his call.

I am not sure that I will be able to update this until after I return, but at that point I will definitely let everyone know what happened on our trip.